angela auclair photography

i have moved!

2013-05-18T21:31:00.003-04:00

please find me here:

http://angelaauclair.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/obviously-i-have-nothing-figured-out/

i will post little reminders for a while. change is hard;).

glee

2013-04-25T22:37:00.001-04:00

G Major, St. George's School of Montreal

diamonds are a girls best friend, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

You heard me.

Show choir.

It exists in Canada...in real life, not just on television.
I know this because my kid is in a glee club at her school. G Major, to be exact. I thought that was pretty cool, especially when she made it onto their national team.
But I still did not really understand what she was becoming a part of.

Now? After a weekend spent immersed in joyful song and dance? I get it.

It has been a long time since I have been surrounded by artsy types. I do not just mean hipsters hanging in galleries...I mean individuals who live and breathe their art. Yeah, yeah...it is just Glee, you might be saying.

But it is not.

The environment that I got to be a part of in Toronto last weekend is one that I have not experienced since existing in a dark room as a Cegep student, anticipating what would emerge, created, from the trays, and the excitement ( and potential disappointment ) that that moment held.

This weekend there was song, and there was dance but there was also passion and discipline and mistakes and missteps and beauty and excitement in it all. There were tears and spontaneous outbursts of happy during these performances. And in between? Reminders of how important having the arts in our schools is for so many kids.

These talents were celebrated this weekend.

Several of the schools participating are arts schools, ones where you audition to gain entrance to the enriched arts program, and then audition again to be part of the show choir. Etobicoke School of the Arts and Wexford Collegiate shared performances worthy of professionals.

Mixing Mumford and Sons and Les Mis? Well, thank you for thinking up that combination, Gleeks.

A tribute to Bob Fosse, ESA?
Well, okay, if you insist and all that jazz.

And while these were highlights, there were smaller stories, tucked in and around the competition. Like D-Verses from Marc Garneau Collegiate, with Yang Chen, a science student with a love of show choir who brought together his Romeo and Juliet inspired set on his own, no teachers, no vocal coaches, no pro choreographers. Their set was filled with heart and soul, showcasing the love of song. While it may have lacked some of the polish of the other groups, D-Verses certainly won over the audience with the hard work of it's 17 year old student director.

Show Choir Canada brought together 11 Canadian school show choirs from across the country. These groups were adjudicated and given the opportunity to learn and grow. And those judges were tough. Industry professionals, they were not there to pat these kids on the back...they were there to guide these performers, through criticism and recognition, to improve and move forward. What an opportunity.

I may have gone in expecting the Glee I know from t.v. but what I was left with was a fantastic reminder that hard work in your discipline brings about results. I know the time and effort my kid and her group worked to get to the nationals. They are a small group that danced away with big results ( third place behind ESA and Wexford and the top non performing arts school result) but passionate leadership, youthful enthusiasm and a love of the arts paid off. And I think it is safe to say that this rings true for every one of those kids and schools present last weekend.

So hats off to the artsy kids, the kids that dance and the kids that sing and the kids that create.
You were something else this weekend.

Some video goodness ( not mine ) of the event:

G Major, Finals Performance -

Wexford Gleeks, Finals Performance -

not going to get all oprah on you

2013-04-12T08:06:00.001-04:00

spring, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

but she did remind me that when you do the things you love, you are fulfilled.

i can't really argue with that.

1,000,000 Smiles

2013-04-05T11:15:00.000-04:00

David and Rose

This is how the press release reads and I am very proud to be able to share something that my in laws have done for the community of Cornwall, Ontario, a community we raised our kids in for many years and still have so much love for.

Rose and David have been a part of Cornwall, Ontario for over 50 years with the family business, Morbern. A few years ago they decided to make a donation to the Cornwall Community Hospital that would make a lasting and permanent difference.

Today, that news is being shared and we could not be prouder of the two of them or happier for a hospital that has served us and our family so well.

Please share in this good news with us:)

Hospital’s New Diagnostic Centre Named  after Visionary Philanthropists

Cornwall –With the upcoming opening of the Hospital’s new west wing, Cornwall Hospital Foundation is now able to unveil the name of the $1,000,000 donors to the Our Hospital Our Future Campaign: Rose and David Bloomfield, owners of Cornwall’s Morbern Inc. The Bloomfields, whose gift remained anonymous for years, will now leave a long-lasting legacy in the city. Cornwall Community Hospital will name its new diagnostic department The Rose and David Bloomfield Diagnostic Centre in their honour.
Given through the David Bloomfield Family Foundation, this visionary donation was a catalyst gift received early during the Our Hospital Our Future Campaign motivating several other donors to support the project.
“This region is important to us”, says David Bloomfield. “Rose and I started Morbern Inc. in Cornwall over 50 years ago. During that time we’ve learned a few things. One of the most important is that in business, as in life, people are precious. With this gift we wished to help sustain our family’s, our friends’, our coworkers’ and our community’s health and welfare for years to come.”
“The Bloomfield family epitomizes the true spirit of philanthropy”, declares Connie Vardy, Executive Director of Cornwall Hospital Foundation. “It gives me great pleasure to be able to announce this gift after so many years. Mr. and Mrs. Bloomfield were definitely champions of the campaign. Thank you to the Bloomfield family for their commitment towards the entire region.”
“We are very thankful for this generous donation”, says Jeanette Despatie, CEO of Cornwall Community Hospital. “The Rose and David Bloomfield Diagnostic Centre was an important part of the redevelopment project. The diagnostic centre is the crown jewel of our hospital which is something to be proud of.”

“We feel privileged to have been able to make this gift”, adds Rose Bloomfield. “David and I feel that we all have to do our part to better our environment however we can. We wanted our contribution to last well into our children’s future and into our grandchildren’s future.”

The Our Hospital Our Future Capital Campaign was initiated in 2004 to raise $12.1 Million from the community to fund Cornwall Community Hospital’s redevelopment project. The Campaign reached its goal in 2009 after receiving gifts from 3,166 donors. With its partners, Cornwall Community Hospital’s mission is to provide, facilitate and enable high-quality health services and education to the communities it serves; in doing so, it is committed to providing services in both official languages and to the effective management and use of its resources.

Cornwall Hospital Foundation is a registered charity whose mission is to work in collaboration with the Cornwall Community Hospital, to enable sustainable healthcare philanthropy to support the Hospital in providing high-quality health services to the communities it serves.

what happens when you just let it happen

2013-02-14T22:27:00.001-05:00

what happens when you just let it happen, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

his teacher and i both gave each other credit for him starting to write...
turns out?
he was just ready.

third time round, i have found that there is a lot to be said for letting your kid be a kid.

is that like mind blowing parenting advice, or what?

he can also play nicely on his own and run the entire morning routine with the dogs.
including chastising them with a loud "nein woofen! nein woofen!", while we sleep.

so all that four year old angst i was whinging about a few weeks ago?

forgotten.

until tomorrow, maybe.

( and nope, no valentine post. i have od'd on cinnamon hearts and cupcakes. who knew that was possible )

tea?

2013-02-07T21:37:00.001-05:00

more tea, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

actually neo citron is more appropriate these days.

we have been sick since christmas, unable to escape the germ cycle. tea and honey, lemons, cold FX, vicks capo rub on chest and soles of the feet, tylenol cold and flu child meltaways, advil cold and flu for adults...you name it, we have tried it.

washing hands, opening windows, cold air humidifiers, raised pillows, lysol.

and still we can not shake the bug.

flu season? oh yeah. it has taken out two of us already and has been toying with the remaining three, mercilessly, endlessly.

hell, even the dogs have been sick.

and no, we did not have the flu shot. we should have had the flu shot. next year we may be first in line.

and speaking of neo citron, my go to sickness comforting godsend...where are you???
pharmacy shelves are empty of you, replaced by "hot lemon drink" which pales in lemony comparison.

i have one package left of the good stuff. it is likely past it's due date since neo citron has been removed from stores since march ( amazing what google can tell you ) i compared ingredients, i KNOW the new stuff is not going to cut it, and i am saving it. for tomorrow.

because dammit, i am sick.

( and thanks to holly for her patient tea cup modelling in the frigid cold )

four at four

2013-01-09T15:34:00.001-05:00

four at four, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

four photos at four
four pm when you are four
four

it is just tiring some days.

for him, not for me. i just have to remember that he has a lot going on ( growing and learning is demanding stuff ) and that it is hard to keep it together.

and the end of the afternoon is when it always unravels. four o clock is meltdown o clock. we can count on it. i have moved around his schedule, fed him, played with him, taken him for drives...but these days? i am just coming to terms with the fact that four o clock is no one's friend.

it is just as though he can not find anything soothing or any distraction to take away the frustration of not being able to get everything out that he has in his head. he is trying hard.

"i have been patient"

this is what he says when he feels he has reached his limit.

and so i remember to be patient with him.

it's been snowing

2013-01-06T21:54:00.001-05:00

it's been snowing, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

and snowing and snowing and snowing.

and we have been sick.

and now it is time to go back to school and it feels like this holiday escaped us.

well...not for the kids so much. the big ones said it was the best christmas ever.

but i feel like we missed too much due to the snow and the sick.

blech.

on to a new ( and healthier???) year.

121212

2012-12-12T21:48:00.000-05:00

on the last sequential date in our lifetime, i did what i have done on the last two ( 101010...111111...), i took pictures on the hour, for the equal number of hours for the date.

so, today, 12 photos of my day.

which was quite a regular day - sick kid, kid home studying for exams, a room being painted, stuff ( even COOKIES!) being delivered, another day of dressember. it is a good life.

when people around me complain about the most minor of things these days, i look at them and just think...what is wrong with you? we have so much good in our lives. i think people just forget.

so, here is to the little minutes of quiet and chaos that make up our days, every day. not just the cool numbered ones.

dressember, day 7

2012-12-07T21:49:00.001-05:00

dressember, day 7, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

one week in and digging it

what is dressember you ask?

well, it is just the most fun thing i have done in awhile.
a dress a day for the month of december.

visit blythe hill, for the history and the details:)

blythe hill

and you must visit amanda.

aka manda.

aka @amandafiona.
she is, of course, the person who gave me the itch to play along.

aside from enjoying her daily dose of fashionability, amanda is also raising money for charity this month, through her blog. donations can get you a print, yes an original print, of amanda's.
um, yes.
this is a fabulous chance to get some of her work on your walls ( rumour has it that there is a chance you can snag some of her partner's work as well...). giving is great when it is this much fun.

run here...

amanda's dressember

that's it:). just some fun on cold and grey days. at least here!

you can follow along on instagram and twitter using #dressember2012

for my first 5 days, i only took photos on instagram, so here they are. i am still taking mobile images everyday ( with all my dress deets ) but i am throwing in some real photos along the way.

Days 1 - 5

day 6

bacon

2012-11-19T09:12:00.001-05:00

who does not love bacon?
especially when offered from the depths of the pockets of a preschooler.

dogs + kids are just fun.

i know...chewed baseboards, chaos when the doorbell rings, furballs everywhere, never ending paw prints on the floors, lick tracks and nose smudges on the windows.
i know.

but the love going on in our home, with these dogs?
there is really nothing like it.

a little bit of france on a monday

2012-11-13T09:53:00.001-05:00

le st urbain, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

last june, i traveled to france with my camera, photographing for a magazine.

(those adventures are yet to come!)

on this trip, i made several new friends, one being the lovely melanie, from france atout. this woman knows france inside and out, from the heart of montmartre to the smallest of vignobles in the quiet countryside.

she is sympa.

comepletely sympa:)

and this week, five months after guiding newbie me through the french countryside in a van with seasoned writers and rainy skies, melanie once again introduced me to regions of france previously unknown to my non traveled being, managing to completely captivate me within minutes.

a lunch celebrating the french regions of Gard, Ardeche and Vaucluse was where she ( with the help of lysianne, clemence and cecile ) led me this time, through a delicious offering of the specialties of the region, accompanied by Inter Rhone wines, at a charming off the beaten path restaurant, le st urbain.

a little bit of france in montreal.

a natural fit, of course.

of course, no meal would be complete without fresh artisanal bread, made in front of us, at the restaurant's sister bakery, la bete a pain, dipped in virgin olive oil and topped with a sprinkle of fleur de sel ( salt ) from Gard. and of course accompanied by mulsum, a roman wine.

a roman wine? not french? well, this part of france is resplendent in roman history.

pardon?

really. from spectacular amphitheatres ( like the one in Nimes ) that host concerts to this day, to aqueducts, like the spectacular Pont du Gard, the countryside is rife with well preserved monuments from the roman age.

and this historical surprise is just the beginning...wineries, fields of lavender, beautiful gorges and even donkeys

( yes, donkeys )waiting to be discovered. donkeys. how can i resist a draw like this?

and so, after a moelleux des marrons and a sip of muscat des papes, i decided. that is it.

it will be france next summer for our family. history for the older kids, donkeys for the youngest and wine for us...now...where to start...

i am sure melanie will guide me well:)

we have been talking about traveling to france for ages, since alex took his first steps in paris, over three years ago. it is time. i will be exploring where we will be heading for the next few months and then once we are there? sharing all the fun that is traveling with a family.
feel free to share your experiences in france with me.

paris, musee d'art moderne, 2009

juno beach

2012-11-11T09:38:00.001-05:00

juno beach, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

juno beach

france

I had the privilege of visiting the Juno Beach Centre last June, while photographing for dabble magazine.

The experience of travel is always exciting, but nothing prepared me for the emotional reaction I would have visiting the beaches of Normandy and seeing where so many Canadians died. Young men, full of life, dreams and fearless. And then to hear the stories of the survivors, so brave in their survival.

This museum is a special place, created by Veterans for Canadians and the French citizens that formed their community. The stories are incredible and heartwarming, even funny...and of course heartbreaking.

The animators are all Canadian students, the same ages that the men landing were, that day. Nothing I can write can capture the feeling of standing on this beach, looking out into the waters, knowing the events that followed.

I have no veterans in my family. But I understand now that the men who sacrificed on this day are my family.

www.junobeach.org/centre/index.html

This museum survives on donations. They also offer an incredible program for Canadian students to work and live on site at the museum for 4 months. The students we met were incredible and wonderful ambassadors, please take a moment to visit it and even consider it as an experience for your children.

so while i take it easy with my back

2012-11-07T22:37:00.000-05:00

kitchen by lux decor

i spent the day photographing pretty houses yesterday.

lux decor, a lovely little slice of design heaven tucked away in the quirkiest mall in the universe ( it is a dog friendly mall!!! how cool is that? ), has had me out to document their projects over the last little while.

the homes are beautiful. big houses, smaller houses, new, old and in between...every time i walk into these homes i am taking notes.

however, despite my love of design, and my increasingly frequent contact with true purveyors of pretty ( oh wait till i share my adventures with nick in jamaica!)...none of this talent and savvy know-how is rubbing off on me. not one bit.

i return home with memory cards full of brilliant, daring choices and i look around my home...and sigh.

where to start.

(oh, i can hear sun-ah, one of the owner/designers of lux yelling "ONE ROOM AT A TIME" at her computer right now)

what if i make a mistake.

(it can be expensive to change an entire room...which is why you need help. well, why i need help because i am terrified of choosing and regretting)

what i like is really hard to find.

(for that i blame my friend vickey. she is the one who brought me to france, introduced me to gorgeous knives with bumblebees on them and with them, the idea that it is important to wait for the very exact *thing* you want, no matter how long it takes. do it right. and exposing me to 15th century chateaus with wineries, filled with inspiring pieces handed down generation to generation, did not help either).

i have become deft at identifying what needs to disappear from my home. you know, the broken dresser from 1976 and the lamp with no shade, that just can't live here for one more second. or the really ugly office furniture that i have despised ever since rushing that purchase in staples twelve years ago? whoops. mark does not know about that one yet...

my upstairs hallway is presently filled with furniture that i am surrendering to others. they are great pieces...they just need new homes. except for the office furniture. that piece is just really wrong on many levels. not sure where that piece is going.

soon i will have no choice but to commit to something...anything...because i will have nothing left in my house.

until then, i will fawn over the chic living spaces of others, running my fingers down their velvet banquettes and wondering when the pretty will be mine.

until then, little kid chic and dog durable remains the theme here.

livingroom by alex

library by milo

i have been benched

2012-11-02T13:45:00.000-04:00

by my back.

i am sitting at my computer frustrated and sore today, having finally admitted defeat.

back in the spring, i hurt my back. this is not an unusual occurance for me, having thrown out my back seriously when holly was two. i would have episodes every couple of years and then recover quickly. The summer before we moved, i did it again while weeding the garden for our then for sale house. and, for the first time ever, i did not bounce back quickly or well. i survived the worst of it, pathetically crawling into the office of a massage therapist who finally gave me some relief, and managed to return to an almost normal state and stature.

then last spring, as i mentioned, i did it again. not in one dramatic event...just a little bit at a time until one day my back just gave out. of course, that was the same day that i got an email from dabble asking if i was free to travel to france to photograph.
off to the doctor i ran, medications and suggestions were obtained, and off i went on my grand adventure.

well, my back got worse.
but...

i am busy.
i have a little kid, who can afford to stop?
i have big kids - they have people to see, places to get.
i got another awesome offer from dabble to go to jamaica to photograph.
i started photographing for lux decor.
i went to parties.
i threw parties.
i had a vernissage.
i even shot a baby.

until

i couldn't.

this week, after one last party, i realized i was done.

i miss not being in pain.
i miss running ( i swear i do )
i miss playing on the floor with alex
i miss being able to walk around the mall without wincing
i miss being able to take a picture and not have to brace myself for the inevitable jarring shot of pain
i miss not being cranky
all. the. time.

so, this week i started to do something about it.
and, surprise, surprise...it is going to take time to fix.
i have messed up my axis pretty badly ( look! physio talk! ), having lovingly and irresponsibly nurtured the injury for a few months too long.

so here i sit, uncomfortably, but hopeful that i will soon be feeling much better.

but until then, can someone spin this feeling of uselessness into something positive? because i am feeling really old right now.

it's fall. no biggie.

2012-10-25T16:55:00.000-04:00

thanksgiving marche

2012-10-08T17:55:00.001-04:00

alex + apple, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

we took a walk today, on our thanksgiving monday. alex and i and my sister in law and some of the cousins and my inlaws. and lady. we can not forget lady!

some of us were at the movies, others dealing with jeeps that did not want to work, others yet writing english essays on 1984...but the nice thing is, those of us who could go, did.

and it was lovely. bumpity path and all.

the evil heron triumphed

2012-10-05T17:08:00.001-04:00

the evil heron triumphed, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

last spring, as i prepared the pond, i heard a swoosh and saw a shadow over me.

it was the biggest heron i had ever seen, suddenly sitting on the branch above me. watching me. scouring the pond for signs of life.

at that point, there were no fish in the pond, as i detest fish. she stayed for a minute and then flew away, wings whooshing.

despite my distaste for all life aquatic, we eventually acquired fish for the pond later in the spring...fish that i have ended up liking, despite their fishiness. they are calm and always came when i brought out their food. they are my little fishy friends...kind of like dory in their simple ways...but sweet all the same.

well. they were my friends.

see that evil heron above ( the one on the left...the one on the right is a decoy heron meant to scare off the real deal...nope. did not work)? she is a nasty, rotten city bird.

i had fed the fish minutes before she landed in our yard. despite the barking of the dogs from inside, and the pounding on the windows of little four year old hands...she stayed, eyeing the pond confidently. i finally had alex open the door and release the hounds...hoping to be rid of her. as beautiful as she is, i know what she was there for. and i preferred to keep goldie and meyer and the rest (yes, i named the fish)...alive.

well, i had to leave to run errands and i fear that the evil heron returned in my absence and ate all my fishies. they were not small fish. they had grown to be large fish. very large fish. so i hope that stupid bird has a wicked stomach ache now, as my fish food floats aimlessly in a pond that no longer has any inhabitants...

nature is cruel. i told alex that the heron took the fish to feed her little heron babies...

but i know the truth.

she is just a hungry bird who outwitted me. and ate my fish.

Sunday Night Entertainment

2012-09-09T22:26:00.001-04:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

You'll love Shutterfly's award-winning photo books. Try it today.

So, once in awhile social media *klout* pays off.
Got this sweet little deal on a photo book.
Like, for free.
So I made one.

Our team manager, the lovely Kirsten, organized us on Shutterfly this year to keep us organized and in touch.
We had a lovely team of kids and parents.
And I hope this little book reminds Alex of the fun he had for years to come.

the august break, twenty eight

2012-08-29T15:09:00.001-04:00

the august break, twenty eight, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

i have to aim up to capture her now. that is weird.

her omi made that hat.
which she will likely wear from this point on.

this morning miss h started at a new school and i have fingers crossed for a very exciting day and a very happy girl at the end of it.
yes...the all girls school is now a thing of the past. somehow i think this is not such a big deal. the soul suckingness of her first year of high school is behind her.

no more demerits. or rather, the threat of demerits, since she never really earned any.

what kind of environment is that for kids to learn in? making girls more concerned about the length of their skirts and non-academic minutia as opposed to encouraging them to learn and thrive in a positive environment.

hey, new high school? you have a lot to live up to;) - do not prove us wrong!

(note: my oldest has already been at this school for a year and we are actually going in knowing it is terrific:). i mean, if it can make jake happy? then we are set. in his words? it was "sick" today).

so, my hope of my old all girl high school providing the same kind of fabulous memories for miss h has been shifted. instead, she will be free to engage and perform and embrace school in a whole new way.

and it should be fabulous.

see, while i loved my experience, i had a sister who did not. a creative, funny, outrageous girl who...well...did not necessarily bring out the best in the nuns. and they failed her completely. and my girl? well, she is somewhat like her aunt. perhaps not quite as crazy. so before we went any further with what we knew was not working, we chose to learn from the past and made a change. putting my nostalgia aside for something new.

and the nun that scowled at holly on the first day, last year? we should have taken it as an omen.

the august break, twenty seven

2012-08-27T21:32:00.001-04:00

the august break, twenty seven, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

milo

i got a new lens today.
and aside from this shot, really can't tell you much about it.
busy days, i tell you!
between the silly germans going back to school last week and the silly quebeckians going back to school on wednesday, my relaxed august mojo has been heartily disrupted.

oh, for those long ontario summer days on the dock...

school is meant to begin after labour day and end before st. jean baptiste day. that is the perfect school year.

and as for the lens, it is the sweet little 40mm/f2.8 pancake lens by canon. it had solid reviews and i was in the mood for something little and prime-y and DoF-y. So far it is delivering. looks teeny on the front of my camera though.

i will share more when i have had a chance to play with it a little more.

until then, still taking a photo a day, just not having any time to write about them.

kids, sun, pool, pups, repeat.

four more days of the august break. then september insanity begins for real.

the august break, seventeen

2012-08-17T21:46:00.001-04:00

the august break, seventeen, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

a tale of two

i am a bit of a fan of supporting artists that i *know*, either in real life or through a friend who knows a friend who knows a friend.

about five months ago, through another photographer's blog, i found the work of michelle wilson, a photographer writing and illustrating ( with her own photographic works ) a book.
*a tale of two* is the story of two sisters...

which plays pretty close to my heart right now.

well, i received my book today:), after a few impatient weeks.
michelle, who i do not know in real life, is hysterical. she produced little videos all along the way of the production of her book, keeping her supporters in the loop. her last video was of her adventure mailing out the books, so i knew it was coming!

and the book? it is beautiful and creative.
there were only 500 printed, and the pages feel wonderful and the images are just unique. it is a pleasure to read.

here are a few links for the book and about the journey that brought it to fruition.

noneofitistruth.com/tale-of-two

www.indiegogo.com/A-Tale-of-Two

i always find it fascinating when people find the way ( or ways ) to bring their passions from the idea stage to reality. and this book is a pretty fab example of this.

it now has a little place of honour in my library if you would like to stop by for a read:).

august break, eleven

2012-08-14T20:58:00.001-04:00

august break, eleven, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

so, i dragonboated on this day.

i wasn't planning on it.

five minutes after i took this, i found myself being frantically tutored in paddle handling ( well, i was frantic), wearing a life jacket and being loaded into a very impressive looking boat.

i am not a natural at anything on water. or anything athletic, really. but honestly? i did not even have the time to think about it. sometimes you just have to roll with the moment. right. okay.

all i could think about is how i was going to ruin the chances for any victory for my boat mates.

you see, my friends are super athletes...like mega triathlete, marathon loving, black toe sporting, should be in nike commercial worthy sportinistas. they are awesome. and place first in their age groups. and run in places like boston and new york and overnight through the mountains of new hampshire to raise their hands triumphantly in the ocean...i am the thing that does not belong in this group.

and yet, there i was.
no pressure.

just follow the paddle in front of you. just follow the paddle in front of you. just follow the...DAMN!
i almost did not ruin it for them:(.

we came in second...the longest 45 or so seconds of my life!

and thanks to the earth shattering thunder and lightening storm that immediately followed my historic debut, the team finished in second place as the races were canceled due to weather. the first non third place finish in three years!

historic indeed:)

the august break

the august break, ten

2012-08-13T22:30:00.001-04:00

the august break, ten, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

so, i may be a few days behind.
the posting of photos, the writing down of the moments got away from me this weekend.

not the taking of photos, of course. that never stops.

although how i take my photos is changing...the mom of the littlest guy on the right is now the owner of two of my favourite lenses. no more 10-20mm...it has moved on to a new family, as has the never used enough 35mm. they have a lovely new home and i can not wait to see the images they help make for my friend.

well, if she can keep up with her little guy;).

i am back using my 50mm/f1.4 as often as possible. with a stupid back that will not play nice, a sweet, little light lens is just the way it needs to be now.

i think i will always fall back to that lens, though, even when i get my back back.

while i do love the complete versatility of my 24-70mm/f2.8...it is heavy.
and i bang it.
a lot.
on tables and the side of my truck and on the top of alex's head.
for everyone's safety, and the fact that that lens must remain intact for an upcoming adventure, the fiddy returns.

ahhhhhh. lenses. i have been lucky to be surrounded by people who love cameras this summer. camera talk by the pool.
just fun.
and now, with the last of my non full frame friendly glass gone, i can toy with what will be my next addition...

anyone else changing gear out there?

the august break, eight

2012-08-09T21:17:00.001-04:00

the august break, eight, originally uploaded by Jhascrapmom.

i was telling a good friend today about how at the end of every august, that i can look back and see clearly where my priorities were for that month, through the photos i have taken.

but that usually how it takes the full month to see what that is.

and that often i am unclear on what i have really been experiencing until i see the 30 days together, as a cohesive interpretation of my month.

this month? it is crystal clear to me now. today.

it is about the children and the relationships i have because of these kids ( including mine).
and how this year, this month, this day, how these connections make me happy and whole.

the august break, nine

a loss was experienced today, within my circle. the kind of loss that shakes you to the core.

these faces i photograph are precious. and need to be loved and appreciated every single day. because we are blessed to have them.

and sometimes, even in loss, we are blessed to have had them for any time at all.