Photographers Everywhere - I applaud thee.

Is it already Springtime 2011?  Life has been laden with unexpected and long visiting struggles lately and many things have been neglected or re-prioritized, I may be down, but I'm not beaten and here are some pictures to catch you up to speed.

Everyone in the kid's class seems to be celebrating a birthday.  We had two parties at the same place, for girls with the same name in two weeks.

I am surrounded by blogger friends who are amazing photographers, I am not a member of that elite group, I admire them from afar.  If I remember to bring a camera, and actually pull it out to use it, that is a rare and happy occasion.

I don't know how to edit, light, focus, crop or any of the other key terms used in photography.  I have never read the directions for any camera I purchased.  Point and shoot or get out.

This explains the plethora of horrific photos taking up space in my computer's memory.

Than factor in the uncooperative brood I co-habitate with.  The youngest two who have created a family tradition of disrobing the moment their feet enter the home after a long day of being clothed at school.

Most of their time at home is spent in various states of undress.

On this evening, the only poses they would agree to were with eyes closed and mouths open.  Funny,that is the exact opposite of what I was requesting.

I did have a moment of inspiration, where I invited Aubriana to get dressed up and have a mini private photo shoot.

 My main problem was an invisable prop failure, she asked for lipgloss and some lipstick, but her body had an instant reaction to the applied substance and as you can see in virtually every shot, her lips (of their own accord) responded to the extra "weight" of said product as if they had been injected with Angelina Jolie DNA or suctioned into a 4th dimension. 

She looks like she smelled something, and not in a pleasent way.

I pleaded with her to retract them inwards.

Then, ths joker arrived on the scene, uninvited and apparently unaware of the dress code.  Nothing like a little opposite composition to keep it interesting.

"What part of get out of the shot" does he not understand?

At least his eyes are open and his lips look normal.  I'll work with what I've got.

  

Party part deux, they were even both "Dora" themed.

Buried in plastic, substitue the balls for credit cards and that's my story.

Zip line fun.

Guess who wanted lipstick and gloss for the party?

Enjoy the beauty of spring, if you can't capture it with a camera, at least commit it to memory.  Happy Spring Everyone.