Where's That Girl?

Tonight was Madeleine's final chorus concert for the school year. Can you find her in the big photo? It's even harder in person because everybody's moving. That's when you borrow a friend's 300mm lens to use as a spotting scope. I'm gonna have to get one of these for myself.

Memorial Day

Today was the annual church Memorial Day picnic at River Road park. A hot and sweaty time was had by all as you can see at the top. Next year we'll take our picture before the playground and ultimate frisbee game.

Forbidden Forest

One thing I love about where we live in New York is that just about everybody has a forest in their backyard; I've never seen this anyplace else. It's fun to explore during the day and take the kids for a hike. But the other night at bedtime Joanie said we forgot to cover the grill, and the cover was way out in the shed. At the edge of the forest. At midnight when everything's creepy. I took a flashlight fully expecting to discover a wildman living in the shed at night. Everything was OK, but I still walked a little faster back to the house, and I may have checked over my shoulder a couple times. She's going out there next time.

Track Star

Today was Malcolm's Field Day at school and he placed in two 5th grade events — second place in hurdles and first place in the long jump! He'll now represent his school in the district Field Day next month.

Arrrrgh!

I'm not sure where the eye patch came from, but I watched Claire put it on all by herself ... I was impressed by her dexterity and that she knew how to wear it. She picks up so much by watching the rest of us, which is scary to think about. After she suited up, she went about her business like it was normal to wear an eye patch around the house. Except, with the loss of depth perception she started bumping into walls and stuff. (I'm just kidding about that last part, she's too smart for that.)

Deliciousness On Sale

Malcolm had his first Scout Court of Honor this week and earned his Tenderfoot rank! The activity afterwards was sign painting to get ready for the troop's summer camp fundraiser. They'll be selling bratwursts outside Sam's Club on an upcoming Saturday. I think they're going to make a bucketload of money — how can they not with those fab signs?!

Jefferson Memorial

Last week in DC I paid my first visit to the Jefferson Memorial. I've never been because it's a little hike from the rest of the monuments. And let me add from personal experience, it's not very close to any obvious bathrooms. If I wasn't so worried the place was wired for video, the Tidal Basin would have registered a little higher that night, my friend.
On my walk down I swear I saw CNN anchor John Roberts ride past me on a bike.
The 19-foot statue of Thomas Jefferson in the center is impressive, and once you're inside you can't help but stare; check out the second photo to gauge the scale.
Was it coincidence that I was out at sundown getting those perfect sky colors? Nope, if it's the golden hour, it's shootin' time. Admittedly, colors in the interior shots are boosted far from their straight gray using a secret new process I invented that amplifies the color of the light sources in place. Dear Colonel Sanders with your secret herbs and spices — eat your heart out.


Here's the view of the Washington Monument from the Jefferson steps. Thirty seconds and a tripod brought out the silky reflections.

Metro

From my DC trip this week. You, too, can achieve these impressive results by resting your camera on a Metro garbage can!

Not What I Remember

I'm seeing a trend in photo magazines and web articles where people adjust colors or content in a photograph and justify it by saying, "Yeah, that's more like I remember it from when I was standing there!" Baloney. Boost the color, burn the sky in, Photoshop out the power lines, sharpen it, whatever. It's a given that you can no longer trust photos, so get on with it and drop the guilt trip. The magenta filter idea comes from Bryan Peterson.