Last weekend was uneventful then the kids went back to school after spring break. After the week of illness we had, I was very much looking forward to a little quiet. And it gave me time to get more written about our Paris adventures a month ago. My plan is I’ll be posting about 15-20 photos per post starting Saturday, with about two posts a week, over the course of a month or so as to not bog down your browsers. I really, really enjoyed taking these pictures and wanted to share them as if no one had ever seen Paris before (like me!).
Day Seventy-Eight ~ Hitchcock Sky
Friday brought spring showers to our area and boy, was it dramatic! I had my camera out for nearly an hour getting shot after shot. The clouds came rolling in first with a fierce wind. The sun was just setting so the front of the house was still glowing while overhead, ominous clouds gathered as if to reach down and drag us away. I thought this shot looked a horror movie still from a Hitchcock movie.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/9 | 1/5 | ISO 1250
Day Seventy-Eight ~ One Off the Bucket List
I’ve been trying to get a lightning shot for nearly 6 years now, but I’ve never had one turn out to be share-worthy. This was taken on my back patio, it was a 3-second exposure, with 3 shots composited. What a storm!
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/8 | 3 | ISO 400
Day Seventy-Nine ~ Testing the Setup (and UGH!)
Saturday, River Chase held an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids. We have a very nice photographer in the neighborhood that usually shoots events (Clicked by Lara), but she was going to be out of town. She recommended me to the Events Coordinator, Chelsea. Chelsea had an adorable setup in the clubhouse with sweet Easter decorations. We had about 40 families come through for photos. Here I had arrived and was testing my settings and focus. The exposure is good, but the UGH in my post title refers to how heavy I am. I worked so so so hard to lose 74 pounds in 2013 and into 2014. I was in the best shape of my life. The move here then the two major surgeries 6 months have wreaked me. I’ve gained more than half of it back and it’s all I can think about. My weight is consuming me, I’m beating myself up constantly. Though now I’m glad I got my thyroid out… my doc said she got my final pathology report on the follicular neoplasm tumor and it was pre-cancerous. I hope this can become my second “before” picture soon.
Nikon D750 | 85mm | f/3.2 | 1/200 | ISO 800
Day Eighty ~ Sunset Sliver
It was getting late on Sunday when I realized I hadn’t really taken a picture yet. It was one of those days where everyone stayed in their pajamas so no one looked very presentable for a photo, ha. I glanced out back and saw the sun setting with just a sliver of sunlight hitting the palm tree. Everything is so green because of all the rain we’ve gotten, it was beautiful. I can’t wait until it’s a bit warmer and we can swim again.
Nikon D750 | 85mm | f/3.2 | 1/320 | ISO 400
Day Eight-One ~ Phoenix Saloon
Curtis and I went out to lunch on Monday. One of our favorite places is the Phoenix Saloon, it has the best veggie burger I’ve ever had anywhere and their fries are amazing too. I saw this couple outside the front windows and thought it would make a cool shot.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/4.5 | 1/1000 | ISO 400
Day Eight-One ~ Newly Minted
It was serendipitous that Curtis and I ate there on Monday because the Chamber of Commerce just announced the Phoenix Saloon as a historical marker. They just got their plaque!
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/4 | 1/500 | ISO 400
Day Eighty-Two ~ Studying Up
We only have another week and a few days until we get Anna’s cockatiel from Houston. Today she received her gently used training book in the mail. She was more excited than she appears here, lol.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2 | 1/160 | ISO 640
Day Eight-Three ~ Anti-Gravity Treadmill
Anna officially started physical therapy this week. One of the first things Dr. Katie had her do was try the anti-gravity elliptical machine. This thing is so cool! You put on these scuba-like shorts that zip into the top part of the elliptical. It creates a vacuum that they then pump full of air (like a bouncy house). You can then adjust the weight of your body to be just a fraction of what it really is. Dr. Katie said it feels like you are walking on the moon. Anna was so scared to try it. It took a lot of coaxing and cheering but she did it! She really rocked her first PT session.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/2.2 | 1/125 | ISO 400
Day Eight-Four ~ Uh-Oh, Full Moon
I got a note from Dominic’s behavioral specialist yesterday saying that he was having a hard day. She said a lot of kids were off yesterday, must be something in the air. I’ve always noticed the kids have hard days on full moons. Weird.
Nikon D750 | 35mm | f/3.5 | 1/320 | ISO 400
The first batch of Paris pictures coming Saturday! Hope everyone has a great week.