Picture Spring: Day 28, Charmed, I'm Sure

Photograph taken Wednesday April 28, 2010 at 9:51 am. ISO 200, SS 1/320, f/2.
Commemorate your favorite charm, necklace, or keepsake in a photo.

My favorite necklace of late, the antiquing in the letters has been sort of washed out from wearing it 24/7 in the hospital, including into the shower. Andy purchased this for me from The Vintage Pearl. I loved the necklace, but we also used it as a tool with Penny's hospital admission anxiety. She took an immeasurable amount of comfort in knowing I was wearing it, that I couldn't forget her if I tried, that she was always with me in my heart, and around my neck. When Josh doesn't feel well and I am snuggling him, he likes to rub the discs between his fingers as well.

Penny does insist her disc has to be on top, always.

Photo taken on top of Josh's security blanket, I thought it was fitting.

Picture Spring: Day 27, The Shape of Things

Taken Tuesday 4/27/10 at 2:21 PM. ISO 200, SS 1/200, f/2.8.
Allow yourself to discover a shape of delight, a surprise of spring--a blossom.

Unfortunately, laundry blooms always come back around here. I thought the swirl and the colors of the clothes had a little bloom to them.

Picture Spring: Day 26, Make a Wish

Photograph taken Monday April 26th, 2010. ISO 200, SS 1/100, f/1.8.
Take sometime to go on a dandelion scavenger hunt today, and its magic.

Because we unfortunately douse our lawn with fertilizer and the like, oh the suburbs and HOAs, we only had this one dandelion to be found. It was a wet and the fluff of it was sort of clumped together, but it still had magic in the setting sunlight.

Picture Spring: Day 25, Spring Board

Photograph Taken on Tuesday April 27th, 2010 at 1:57 PM. ISO 200, SS 1/125, f/2.8.
Find a shot that you love and let it inspire you and put a spin on it all your own.

My spring board was this shot by Elena Wilken. It's the kind of image that will make me a lifelong follower of her work, it just spoke to me. It took me a few days to be able to find the subject, and then the light to take this photo. My son was very curious and many of my photos had him in the background, but this one turned out quite lovely. And as this photo class was conceived, I truly enjoyed the experience of taking this photo.

Returning to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Hey everyone out there. Just wanted to let you know that the "downtime" here at Circle the Sun should be lifting soon. April has been full of hospital visits and stays for my son, and then I went and got sick (bad plan), and the husband was out of town (directly coinciding with the former, yeah, really bad plan), and then more hospital time for the boychild (only one chemo week left to go, thank everything).

I, with clan in tow, am hoping to ease back into our version of normal this week (I'm scared of the laundry pile. . .it's. . .scary), and that includes some photo editing and returning emails! I can not express how much it pains me, the things that have slipped through the cracks this month, it has been a long mind-numbing haul.

For any of you that are curious, I have been keeping up with the daily photos for my e-class, they just haven't been getting posted, so I'll have those to share as well. And well, since I can't post without a photo, some happy sunshine for you all.



As always thank you for your patience and support, it means so much to me that so many of you are willing to put up with my often lack-lustre and spotty customer service while my family plows through the last of this second chemotherapy protocol. You all rock.

Picture Spring: Day 24, Love is in the Air

Photograph taken Saturday April 24th, 2010 at 6:10 PM. ISO 200, SS 1/80, f/1.8.
As a symbol of caring and connections, find a pair of something to focus on.


I had actually hoped to use some strawberries for the heart themed day but found another subject instead. These were the last two strawberries and I got 45 seconds to pose a shot before putting my son to bed. Unfortunately when I returned from his room, my subjects had been eaten. Would have loved to play with some different lighting, but they still make a lovely pair.

Picture Spring: Day 23, Project Minded

Photo taken Friday April 23, 2010 at 3:03 PM. ISO 200, SS 1/80, f/2.
Whatever your latest endeavor, celebrate what you've started with a photograph.

Ha. I fully intended to take a great picture of the patio remodel after the kids were in bed. But then Josh vanished from the basement where Penny and I were, and was found on the couch asleep. . .with a fever. And we decided it would be much more fun to go do a hem/onc run to the ER instead. I got home after midnight, and I could have taken a photo the next morning, but I decided this little project, the keep Josh alive project, deserved celebrating too.

Picture Spring: Day 22, Bursting with Color

Photograph taken Thursday April 22,2010 at 3:24 PM. ISO 200, SS 1/1000, f/1.8.
Today, seek out impossibly vibrant, vivid color.

I don't think even the camera can handle this kind of vibrant. I used a really shallow depth of field and I love the effect it created.

Picture Spring: Day 21, Daily Rounds

Taken Wednesday April 21, 2010 at 3:32 PM. ISO 200, SS 1/80, f/2.
Digging a little deeper we discover that circles are the symbols of unity, wholeness, infinity, and female power. Find the hidden circles in your day.

Circle plate, circle croissant, circle blueberries. A circle of yum.

Picture Spring: Day 20, Flirting With Flare

Photograph taken 4/20/10, at 3:03 PM. ISO 200, SS 1/500, f/16.
There is no right or wrong way--it's art.

In a previous post I took a photo of the crab apple blossoms when they were young and pink, so I thought they would be the perfect subject for this project.

Picture Spring: Day 19, Hidden Messages

Taken Tuesday 4/20/10, at 5:52 pm. ISO 200, SS 1/1250, f/2.
Find a word/words that offer you encouragement, kindness, or the gentle reminder you just might need today.

Kourage the Kauzbot, she's purple and sweet.

I had a hard time with this assignment. I decided I was going to have to write something out by hand, but then couldn't decide what I would write. The next day, as my son was rolling through my grass photo my daughter insisted on bringing out my/our new mascot. Kourage.

I picked her up in the clearance section of Nationwide Children's Hospital gift shop during our last stint in the day hospital. I needed a break from my son's room, he needed a pick-me-up as it had been a tough day. I got him a little airplane, and some candy. Near the candy was the discount area and all of these little robots, I just had to look at them, they were calling to me. I liked a white one and the purple the best. The white was for periodontal disease. . .nah. Purple, well she hit home.

Her name Kourage. Her cause: George Mark Children’s Hospital – family-centered pediatric care for families with seriously ill or dying children. As we know several children who have lost their fight with Wilm's Tumor and have taken advantage of hospice care at home for their final days, and sweet Celia who requires longer term hospice as Batten's Disease steals her life from us, this one well, it was meant to be.

Each robot comes with a heart tucked in their back pocket. The day I bought Kourage she was it was as though she had been planted in the store just for me. It's hard to put into words the messages sewn into this little stuffed toy, but when I look at her, there is encouragement, and kindness, and a gentle reminder to have courage, and go on our way.

If you are looking for a unique gift, please consider purchasing one of the many Kauzbots, the families whom these charities support thank you. Locally in Columbus they are stocked at the fabulous little boutique, Lottie Da.

Picture Spring: Day 18, Appreciation Day

Taken Tuesday 4/20/10, at 5:51 PM. ISO 200, SS 1/1600, f/2.
Take a long look at the grass beneath your feet and capture it's perfection.

My Josh ate my homework.

Seriously, try taking a picture of grass with him in the yard and this is what you get. Of course one of the ways we appreciate our grass is because it is so soft and it is really good for, well, rolling in. Thank you for being our soft outdoor vibrant carpet, and for putting up with my kids' not so gentle loving.

Picture Spring: Day 17, "Punchy Patterns"

Taken Saturday 4/24/10, at 12:39 PM. ISO 200, SS 1/4000, f/3.2.
Discover a fabric that sings of spring.

Ok so apparently we don't own any springy fabrics. Took me a while to actually get this photo taken, and only because my daughter was kind enough to become obsessed with this umbrella at the store. It definitely says, "SPRING!!" I just wish she would have held still so I could have taken more than one photo. Still cute.

Picture Spring: Day 16, "Out of the Shadows"

Taken Saturday 4/17/10 at 5:02 PM. ISO 200, SS 1/800, f/5.
Beyond the obvious objects that might catch your eye, look for shadowy shapes.

Wow I would have loved to really go on a shadow hunt for this photo assignment, but I just did not have the time, or the light, or the energy. But I do like how the shadows are as much the subject of this image as the strawberry plants themselves.

Picture Spring: Day 15, "Looking Back"

Taken 4/24/09, 3:30 PM. ISO 200, SS 1/1250, f/2.8.
Find a shot from last spring and reflect on how you've blossomed.

It was hard to choose a photo from last April, but this one is a favorite. I know if I had time I would take this photo differently now, but if you take photos of children you know that you don't always have time to compose your shot before they stop doing the really cute thing. I love how absolutely identical their faces look, they definitely are related, and mine. . .er well, at least they definitely belong to my husband, I think the me-ness is a little harder to spot.

Picture Spring: Day 14, "Picture a Canvas"

Taken Thursday April 15, 2010, 8:45 AM. ISO 200, SS 1/80, f/5.6.
Create a masterpiece, take a painterly out of focus approach to a photo.

Our Crabapple blossoms before they opened. When they are still budding they are pink on the outside, but as they mature and bloom they turn white, which is always a disappointment to my pink loving daughter. I love that the two blossoms in the front left blurred into a heart shape, and that even out of focus there is still some perfectly circle shape sparkly bokeh.

Picture Spring: Day 13, "A Whole New Point of View"

Taken Tuesday 4/13/10 at 4:35 PM. ISO 200, SS 1/640, f/5.
Try seeing the season through a companion's perspective, something that is important to them.

This one was taken by Josh, with a little help, from the top of our slide. The slide takes on a whole new look when you look at it as the kids do, and yes that's a water gun at the bottom.

Picture Spring: Day 12, "Awakening"

Taken Tuesday 4/13/10 at 4:11 pm. ISO 200, SS 1/500, f/5.
Capture something that is just waking up and honor it saying, "I see you little one."

I actually took a number of photos of little flowers waking up, and then the next day my daughter went out to talk to our new tree and she was so tender and sweet, and I heard the quote from the prompt "I see you little one." This tree is quite a brave one, it was growing through the bracket attaching our gas meter to the our home. Extracting it was a true miracle. And ash-leaved maples, yeah, they look a whole lot like poison ivy, so in past years I had been rather unkind. In fact I figured out what it was by googling "poison ivy tree." This little tree had a tap root about 7 feet long that was snuggled in the insulation next to our foundation, and we weren't sure it would survive the transplant. But it did. And, hello little one, we are happy to see you, sorry I pulled, cut, and sprayed you with round up the past four years, way to go having a huge growth spurt this year and last so I could finally see you were woody, you know like a tree. . .to be honest you did look a lot like poison ivy.

Picture Spring: Day 11, "Heart Shaped World"

Taken Sunday 4/11/10 3:12 pm. ISO 200, SS 1/100, f/2.8
"Find a heart shaped sweet-nothing today, or create one)."

You know I had ideas for creative heart shapes and all sorts of things, but then I looked over on the floor and saw my husband making this in our daughter's little composition notebook. Well, that worked.

Picture Spring: Day 10, Catchlights

This is my son Josh, and his new frog pop-up toy basket.
Today's assignment was catchlights, he was the most cooperative, gotta love that bald head.

Picture Spring: Day 9, Everyday Beauty

Today I cleaned. I found the countertops in our kitchen, put ~2 dozen mugs in a box, because at most on any given week we use <1, recycled a heap of disposable tupperware that is lidless, because I am tired of looking for lids, culled the easter candy population, and reorganized some of our kitchen cabinets (read removed all that stuff we "set inside to get out of sight from the kids but never actually do anything about. . .ever).

But my favorite everyday thing that struck me with it's beauty today was pulling these sneakers/canvas mary janes out of the washing machine. They are absolutely Penny shoes, in every way. Sparkly, girly, scuffed up, and well loved. She's only had them for a few months.

The depth of field is super shallow on this, which was an accident, but I love how the sparkles on the back shoe are lovely bokeh.

And I am really glad they survived their first spin in the washing machine. Yeah, I did laundry too, there's always laundry.

Long Awaited

Baby Henry is finally here. An absolute treasure of a mini-session in the hospital, mr. man was about 34 hours old.

Picture Spring: Day 8, The Sparkle of Spring

Yup we were supposed to get a shot reminiscent of spring showers. Today it rained most of the day. One would have thought I had this in the bag. Yeah, no. It was a clinic day for my son, and then life was just busy. I did get to hold a little newborn not even 2 days old. I came home after sunset and was able to find one big fat rain drop on this little succulent. I was still amazed how much sparkle it had even in the waning light.

Picture Spring: Day 7, Pastel Palette

Spring can be a time of such vibrant and bold color bursting forth from the dead of winter. Today I was encouraged to look for the pastel softness of spring. Unfortunately today just didn't go that well. And the few photos I did take of white flowers were in full sun and very bright. The next evening I came home from a newborn session at the hospital, and saw these little pastel balloons all over our mantle.

A static filled little gift from my daughter, one of the most vibrant people I know.

Picture Spring: Day 6, A Fresh Face

I have to admit when I saw the assignment was a self portrait, I groaned. I like being behind the camera. But I got a call my new glasses were ready today, so I decided to take the plunge and actual take a shot of my face, or, well, part of it.

I sat my camera on the kitchen table and knelt in front of it when I got home with the new glasses. Yes they are crooked. My glasses always are, one of my ears is about 1 cm higher than the other, you can't adjust to fix for that. One of my nostrils is also bigger, and finishes lower onto my lip than the other. I am all sorts of asymmetric. Hence the not liking being in front of the camera. I also have no eyebrows. I also hadn't showered or put on any make-up (well that last one is status quo).

I do like my yellowy hazel eyes.

Picture Spring: Day 5, Ground Level

Just couldn't choose between the two.

Both shot by placing the camera on the ground and aiming/estimating from above (instead of through the viewfinder). It took a few tries, but I love what I came away with. Above is Josh watering the grass with a little watering can, and below, Josh playing with a yoga ball that blew up against our fence.

I was "allowed" to look through the viewfinder and just lay on the ground, but I did that 2 days ago for the 30 steps assignment, so I thought I'd give the viewfinder-less approach a whirl.

Picture Spring: Day 4, Sky

Today's assignment was to take a picture of your sky. Most of the day was a blue sky with a hazy whitewash. In late afternoon the clouds actually had a bit of form to them and then the planes started adding their mark to the sky.

That is my sky, we live on the approach path to the airport, we see a lot of planes.

As suggested by the course teacher, I converted the photo to black and white. I liked it in color, the sky was a lovely blue shade, but when flipped to B&W there was all this texture you couldn't see before in the clouds and the contrail popped more than in color.

Picture Spring: Day 3, 30 Steps

The assignment for the day was to take 30 steps from where you found your camera and then find something to capture. I headed toward the backyard and my kids joined me. I had to pause at step 11 and put on shoes, and then my son was absolutely insistent I follow him. Step 30 left me in a rather unremarkable spot next to a cherry tree. I took a few photos of some buds, got yelled at to come play and departed.

Later I came back to the spot as from the top of the playset I had noticed these little white flowering weeds that I had completely missed when standing right next to them. I laid down on the ground to take this photo. I would like to think I would have found them had I been able to stand at step 30 for more than 45 seconds the first time, but maybe I wouldn't.

Picture Spring: Day 2, Morning Ritual

Today we were encouraged to capture a vignette of our morning ritual. And while I read the message at midnight as I went to bed, I did not have the time to take such a picture this morning, I even tried after Josh was in bed when there was some waning evening/psuedo-morning light to compose a shot I would have taken this morning had I the time to have done so.

But then I was reading over some of the course materials, and a line jumped out at me, "shoot from the heart." This course isn't about completing assignments but about discovery as a photographer.

This is my morning routine right now, most days, and especially this week. Him.

I do my best to fly out of bed, corral Josh into the car, match the local high speed traffic into the city to the hospital, and then excruciatingly drive up all the floors of the visitor parking garage, behind inept newbies and spaced out frequent flyers, and of course, past an array of open spaces.

Because Josh likes the roof, he likes the number 5, and he likes red. All these align in a trifecta of perfection as the roof is the fifth floor, and the giant number 5 sign, it's red.

And on sunny mornings, he runs around and laughs and goes to his regular roof spots and I take part in his hospital visit ritual, which always includes him telling me not to take pictures, to come with him "hurry!," and after his little routine we always come down the elevator. . . late.

But that too is part of the routine it seems. And we go through all the other steps of the day hospital routine, signs to read, art to say "good morning" to, buttons to push, paths to choose, familiar faces to find and chat with, fish to greet, ice cream to grab from the kitchenette--all so we can go sit in a windowless 6'x10' room for hours, and poison him.

And even though his routine can be tedious, as we sit in that room, I know we both are wishing we were back on that roof, enjoying the sun, and that is the part of our morning ritual I remember the most clearly, because that one does more than provide a comfortable set of steps to follow, it sustains.


april 2, the last friday I poison my son.




(I would have loved to compose this better, and got his whole shadow, but as I said, getting sassed for trying to capture it is part of the routine. in the backpack is his IV infusion pump)

Picture Spring Day 1, in two parts

I enrolled in a month long class, this month.

I know, I need something else to do this month like I need a hole in the head, let alone something to do every day of the month. But I did it, because I think I need something else to do, for me.

The course is called Picture Spring, "a 30-day guided e-class that will encourage and inspire you to use photography to celebrate the season of new beginnings while honoring and nourishing your creative spirit." She sucked me in at, emphasizing losing yourself in the process, and immersing in the joy of just taking the photograph, for you. Getting back to why I had to have a camera for my high school graduation sunk tons of money into film taking rolls of pictures of the same local park.

Of course my month this month isn't all about daffodils and private moments at sunrise. And I think I may have either over-achieved or broken a rule on the first day. . .either way, um, I think I can get a doctor to write me a note. The prompt today was about beginnings. Any kind. Just looking around and finding them.

So I have two pictures to share as my day was in two parts, with a hopeful, and very important beginning dominating my day. Today, hopefully, was the beginning of a lot of ends, for real this time. My 3 yr old has cancer, for the second time, it relapsed immediately after the first course of treatment. By summer we hope to finish the second treatment. So today marked the first of what I hope are the beginning of a lot of lasts.

With my first diptych, I documented a beginning happening for this family, the last thursday I will drive Joshua to Nationwide Children's Hospital, to sit in the Day Hospital of the Oncology Unit most of the day and poison him. Because we are more than ready to move on in our journey, to better things, like "no evidence of disease" and "remission."

But being a sucker for nature, I couldn't let Day One close and not get some nature in too, because, this is my life. These are my days, where 2/3rds of a day can be consumed and utterly focused on Mr. Handsome Pants, and then there is that other third. And in the mix of other jobs of wife, daughter, sister, mother, friend. . .somewhere in it, I get a second to shake my head at the blue bells. . .again.

Because they like me, can be in such a hurry to start on an awesome new beginning, that they do it the hardest and most astonishingly absurd way possible. They thrust up through the leaf litter, not breaking between the leaves, but through the leaves themselves, carrying them up with them as they grow. Constricted, blanched from lack of sunlight, practically incapable of blooming, they squeeze upward until I come out, every year, and pull the leaves of last year away and allow them to have a chance at saving the show and blooming this year. Again.

Me and blue bells, we learn the hard, really awkward repetitive way in some cases.

You know like staying up till midnight trying to pass off 4 pictures for 2 diptychs because your day totally had 2 different parts to make up your assignment on the first day.

You know, when one would have sufficed. . .and was asked for.