Vision. Week 45-52

A few weeks ago some dear friends asked me if I could, gulp, take some pictures of their newborn.  Since both sides of their family are huge Cardinals fans I had this vision of getting some baseballs in the background of the shot.  But I had never imagined that this little baby would be so tiny... he truly was a vision to behold in his dad's baseball mitt.  

Wide Angle. Week 44-52

Is it just me or do the remaining themes on the list look impossible?  Or maybe I just did all the ones I found inspiring too early.  Either way I am at a loss.
So I am just covering the main points of the weekend.... leaves and a kitten.  One of the pics isn't even wide angle...
So here goes: raking leaves, blowing leaves, jumping in leaves.... repeat.

And here's the kitten...somehow we found ourselves with a new kitten this weekend. She's darling.

Tradition/History. Week 43-52

Our Halloween traditions involve 1. Carving Pumpkins.  2. Getting super excited about the trick or treat event at the local library and then hiding between daddy's legs the entire time and 3. Making Halloween cupcakes at our friends house.

 The crazy cupcake decorators!

Barren. Week 42-52.

Things look pretty barren after the salt water ocean has stormed across your path...hurricane sandy damage one year on.

I actually took this one earlier in the year for another project but it made me think of barren.

Autumn. Week 41-52

Last week I joined up with a group for a local scott kelby worldwide photo walk.  We went to a local reserve that was devastated by hurricane Sandy.  A year on and it is looking beautiful again.  A lot of the leaves and colors captured Autumn for me

Of course we also walked through the house and these fish just made me laugh.  pucker up

and finally autumn isn't complete until your child has run wild through the corn maze.

Light. Week 40-52

I love what light can do for a photo.  Especially early morning or late evening.  These were some early morning ones in our garden.

Midday sun streaming through a window

Midday light on a house but I like the contrast with the shadow in the window

and I liked this for "light" - an old light, some new energy efficient light bulbs and some natural light at the window.

Water. Week 39-52.

Sometimes I like to challenge myself... try the water theme in a big concrete jungle... when you force yourself you can find your theme anywhere.  You just have to look.  I found water fountains, standpipes for fire engines and the Hudson river.

Wildlife. Week 38-52

I was hoping for something more exciting.  But this is the exciting wildlife within 1 mile of my home...
Butterflies in the garden

Geese and gulls by the lake at the bottom of our hill

Commerce. Week 37-52

Just spent a lovely weekend at a family wedding in Portland, Oregon.  I loved Portland and I hope they do keep it weird. A great town.  I didn't see anything that was typically "commercial" but I loved that it was a city of food trucks.  This one was my favourite.

And I loved that this doughnut place had an insane line just for making quirky doughnuts.  I guess successful commerce is all about the sale of goods and services.  I thoroughly enjoyed the goods (mainly food) that I bought in Portland.

Summer. Week 36-52

Tomorrow our Summer is officially over. School, preschool and work all start back with a vengeance.  Urgh.  Summer was so lovely and warm and full of great colourful adventures... farm stands and flipflops, freshly squeezed juices, kayaks and of course...sunscreen.

Religion. Week 35-52

When I moved out to the suburbs of New York I discovered that people take their religion seriously... and their boating religiously.  This captured both.

On the Road. Week 34-52

In England, if you want to see what is on the road you have to look right.

For my kids it is so exciting to look for the double decker buses and the black cabs.  The best shot of all that though was at Legoland!

Curves. Week 33-52.

Having fun showing off London to my kids this week.  Of course I spent most of the time trying to find curves! The curves below bridges..

 The curves of the London Eye and its staircases

And the tide was so low in the Thames that the girls wanted to go down the steps.  I liked the curves in the chains.

Daytime Week 32- 52

I chose Annabelle's 3rd birthday for "daytime."  We just arrived in England so our daytime and nightime is a little muddled but we had fun outside all day.   Meeting her newest english cousin and playing with family.  I wish every daytime could be this wonderful.  I really should have believed the little sign hanging in my parents kitchen!

 Meeting our gorgeous cousin

 playing with the new pirate ship

Pirate Annabelle gets ready to blow out her candles

She's having such fun celebrating her big day

Her other little cousin likes to see the world upside down

Playing with their grandfather.  What a lovely day