Day 57: Toesies

I am so happy with how this photo turned out.  It was for a crop assignment in "Oh So Composed" and I combined it with the aperture perspective principles I learned a few weeks ago to focus on just Rose's little toes while she sat in the afternoon sunlight streaming through the window into Clara's bedroom.  There were books and toys and pillows strewn about her that I didn't want in the image (the room was seriously a disaster) so the close crop and low aperture helped to minimize those distractions.  And by cropping her face partially out of the frame (without decapitating her in the process) it kept the focus on the toes instead of first looking to a blurry face and only second noticing her feet.  Yay for a picture I feel really good about!



50mm, ISO 2500, f/2.5, SS 1/640

Day 56: Frozen Bananas

There are multiple frozen banana stands on Balboa Island that claim to be the original.  We went to "Dad's Original Frozen Banana" stand and got two of the - one with toasted coconut and sprinkles, and the other with chopped peanuts.  They were delicious and I love this picture of the girls sharing.



24 mm, ISO 2500, f/4.0, SS 1/2000

Day 55: Magic Kingdom

It was insanely hot at Disneyland, but Rose and I found a spot in the shade to wait for the parade to start while Paul and Clara were riding Star Tours (2x in a row because Clara said she wanted to).  Like last time, the parade was the highlight of the day for the girls.



35mm, ISO 1000, f/4.0, SS 1/2500

Day 54: Sunset

Paul had a work retreat in southern California, so the girls and I tagged along to make a weekend out of it.  His firm put everybody up at Terranea, which was absolutely amazing.  We flew down Friday morning and Paul spent the day in meetings while I took the girls to say hi to Tabby in Asuza.  Then we met up to go swimming at the pool with Paul before he went back to the firm dinner that evening.  I took this picture of the girls on the lawn behind our room after we showered and cleaned up to go get dinner ourselves.  They were looking over the Pacific Ocean watching the sun sink lower and lower on the horizon. 



ISO 400, 28 mm, f/6.3, SS 1/400

Day 53: Fairy Catchers

At the farmer's market each week there is a booth with a free craft for the kids.  This week it was making "kites" on wooden dowels.  But I told Clara they were fairy catchers and after they were finished the girls and I went over by some trees and swatted the fairy catchers around, snagging fairies left and right and then releasing most of them back into the trees.  Although Clara told me that she had stuffed a few down her shirt to keep until we got home.  When she hopped out of the car at our house, she ran out into the yard, stuck her hand down her shirt, and let the fairies go so that we have some at our house now. 



65 mm, ISO 1000, f/4.0, SS 1/1600

Day 52: Beef Wellington

Ugh, this photo is so not awesome.  But it is all I took for the day.  A friend of mine has come over most Wednesdays this past year and we have tried recipes that have elements that are more challenging for us and since she is moving next week we decided to attempt Chef Gordon Ramsay's Beef Wellington this week.  It involved a mushroom duxelles, an herb crepe, Prosciutto di Parma and filet mignon, all wrapped in buttery puff pastry.  I was super pleased with the cook - it was a perfect medium rare, but overall it wasn't bad but not my favorite thing ever.  Paul said he loved it though. 

 

50 mm, ISO 4000, f/2.5, SS 1/250

Day 51: Vineyard

There is a vineyard not far from the gym I go to and we stopped by this afternoon after my bodypump class so we could explore a bit.  When the girls realized the vines were covered in dark blue grapes they started pulling off tiny bunches and sampling them.  Their hands and faces were covered in juice but they were so happy.


105 mm, ISO 100, f/4.0, SS 1/160

60 mm, ISO 100, f/4.0, SS 1/80

60 mm, ISO 100, f/4.0, SS 1/80