These are the last remaining flowers from all the bouquets we received after the birth of our beautiful daughter Audrey in January… some dried out roses. I can’t believe it has already been almost four months!
While the flowers died a long time ago, the bouquet of basil that Luke gave me for Valentines day is thriving in one of the vases that came with Audrey’s bouquets!
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.
- Benjamin Franklin
I am at that point in my pregnancy where all I really want to do is bum around in comfortable clothes, skip the social events and just relax as much as possible between the spurts of cooking and cleaning. For that reason we were planning to stay in for New Years Eve- have some great food (because that’s ALWAYS a part of our plan), relax, and hopefully stay awake for the ball drop.
When we found out lobster was on sale for $3.99/lb at ShopRite, the ante was upped… Luke got 4 5-pounders and his parents decided to join us! It was a super chill evening with all the delicious food, of course. We watched the Dick Clark tribute Rockin’ New Years Eve, and I actually made it to midnight!
I am not generally big on New Years Resolutions, since I believe in continuously trying to improve myself throughout the year. I might make one big resolution though… A few years ago I made the resolution to do a 365 photo project and succeeded for the most part. This year, my only resolution is to be the best mother and wife I can be to this little family we have begun. I am looking forward to giving birth to our firstborn son or daughter in the next couple weeks, and I think 2013 is going to be a fabulous year full of amazement and surprises and love!
A while ago my flash pooped out, and it would have cost almost as much to fix it as to replace it. I’ve been without since, but keeping with tradition, when I got my year-end bonus from work I treated myself to a new piece of gear! Introducing my new SB-700 flash!
“If you see something that moves you, and then snap it, you keep a moment.”
– Linda McCartney
I am listening to this discussion on “Become a Better Photographer in 2013” by Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski, and it gets me thinking. Not about my lack of shooting recently- I haven’t had the time nor the energy to focus on photography lately! Soon enough though my baby will be born (I’m sure I will be shooting LOTS of photos of the little one!), I’ll head back to work, and life will take on a new normal. The video discusses finding your niche… what you really enjoy photographing. Usually you will be the best at what you love the most!
I have thought about this before and have realized that I do not want to shoot weddings, portraits, food, landscapes… I will play around with shooting lots of different things, but my passion lies with the uncontrollable. I have realized that I do not want to pose anyone or tell them what to do. I don’t want to control all the elements of background and lighting beyond the basics, or spend lots of time planning out the perfect shot. I don’t want to use tons of equipment – just my camera, a few lenses and sometimes a flash.
My passion lies with capturing moments as they are. I like shooting events where I can be a fly on the wall, animals as they go about their business, moments between people. I like to observe and immortalize! They are the moments you can’t create… you just have to wait for them, and when they happen, capture them as best as you can.
Here are a few of my favorites from 2012!
I confess, photography is pretty much the last thing on my mind… I slacked on both my apple project and food photography project, and who knows when I will have another installment of either. I have baby brain and there is no way around it. I am now 36 weeks pregnant, meaning next week I am full-term! I am in the home stretch of pregnancy, and all the little energy I have left after working full-time and holiday events is spent on all the final preparations for this little bundle of joy rolling around inside of my belly!
Inspirational childbirth quotes for around the house!
Baby laundry… blankets, sheets, mats, pre-folds…
Adorable gift from Grandpa Tedd & Grandma Celia!
An apple… what’s more simple and perfect?
Years ago I did a project for an art class where we had to take a common object, and represent it visually in as many ways as we could using fine art media such as pencil, pen, and paint. I chose the apple, and my final project (as far as I know) hangs in a place of honor on my grandparents’ dining room wall.
My new idea is to recreate this project using digital media instead of fine art. I shot the photo above, and will try to think of the apple in as many ways as I can, starting with…
I am open to ideas for apple manipulations!
Animated gif made from a video we did a while back about the stress-relieving benefits of Bubble Wrap!
Just because… and no, we were not drinking!
I mostly use Twitter just to keep an eye on what’s happening in the Coyne world, tech world and Paleo world, and occasionally the World world if something big enough happens to break through the clutter. I also take a look at everyone who follows me to see if I want to follow them back. In this way I discovered something awesome. @AcousticNickNY, a.k.a. Nicholas Gunty, followed me yesterday, and so I after reading his description I checked out his music. He is an unsigned but exceptionally talented musician- kind of folk, indie-pop. I immediately shot his links over to my Great Aunt Alison, who I knew immediately would LOVE him (she did). I feel compelled to spread the word, so check out his self-published album here —>
Also, here is his website, nicholasgunty.com (no word of a summer tour yet), and you can buy his album on Band Camp or iTunes.
Since this is still a photo blog… tomorrow it is supposed to be almost 70˚F- I know it’s probably a fluke, but I am looking forward to spring! Here is a picture from last year that makes me happy…
Remember this horrible white kitchen…
With the giant beam cutting off light from our big windows?
Well, we ripped it out.
The dogs didn’t know what to make of it.
The new cabinets started going in…
These guys worked hard!
My parents were in town on their way home from Africa, and the base of the countertops was in.
The countertops were finished and this is the first thing I ate there…
The backsplash went in, and I lined all the drawers:
The glass went into my glass cabinet, the backsplash was polished, and the little details were complete! Here it is…
The hardware:
Martigan likes the new counters:
The backsplash:
So much light!
Pretty light fixture, 10″ deep sink, glass cabinet!
Many thanks to Bob and the crew at KraftMaster Renovations for their fantastic work!
