August 31: Day 236

We were playing with the sidewalk chalk in the driveway and Ethan decided to "smell" the blue chalk. Looks more like he tasted it to me!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/400 sec
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

August 30: Day 235

I just love little toes! These happen to be Ethan's little toes as he's sitting on a kitchen chair with our cocker spaniel on his lap.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/320 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 60 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

August 29: Day 234

I really hate it when I realize I still need to take a photo for the day and it's after 10pm. This time I spent 60 seconds in the kids' bathroom with their nightlight on and took some photos of the sculptural sink faucet. Love the bokeh in the background!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

August 28: Day 233

Movie night! Relaxing on bean bags, eating popcorn, and watching a movie. This is the life.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

August 27: Day 232

Playing in the backyard with the kids and blowing some bubbles.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/400 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 67 mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

August 26: Day 231

Surely there must be a market for weed photography somewhere because I kind of like photographing the lowly weed. They're all so unique and interesting in their own way. I like the strong vertical feel of this composition.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/320 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 54 mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

August 25: Day 230

I love how abstract this photograph feels. It's actually a close up of some tree bark at a park I found that is ideal for photo shoots in north Portland.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 59 mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

August 23: Day 228

Tonight we kicked off our MOPS year with an ice cream sundae social at the park. Both kids had a fantastic time playing with their friends they haven't seen in a while and got fantastically dirty and sticky. A total success.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 45 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

August 22: Day 227

This was the view that I found outside our tent Sunday morning. It was a foggy morning and the sunlight shone through the trees in beams. Gorgeous!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/18.0
Focal Length: 60 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

August 21: Day 226

We camped at Beverly Beach Campground and enjoyed playing on the beach a few times during the weekend. This was from our first visit Saturday morning when Ethan put the finishing touch on the sand castle we built. He had a great time!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/500 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 47 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

August 20: Day 225

We got to the campground a little later then planned Friday evening, but we still had enough light left to put up the tent and enjoy our dinner of hot dogs and hamburgers. Here's James hanging out by the campfire waiting for dinner.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/400 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 33 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

August 19: Day 224

I took this photo right after going through the Little Caesars Drive Thru. I parked the car, grabbed my camera, and spent five minutes taking photos of the weeds in the field behind Little Caesars. It just screams summer evening to me.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/400 sec
Aperture: f/18.0
Focal Length: 66 mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

August 18: Day 223

We were up in Portland today and spent some time in the Hoyt Arboretum hunting for a photo shoot location and couldn't resist stopping by the Rose Gardens and the playground right next door. The roses were in full bloom, perfect time to visit!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/250 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

August 17: Day 222

Forgot to get a photo during daylight again which left me hunting for a subject indoors. This time I spotted this first edition of The Silver Skates on our bookshelf. I love old books, but this one happens to belong to my husband.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

August 16: Day 221

I forgot to take a photo before the sun set so I hurried outside for a twilight photo. These branches are from the scrubby trees behind our house. I used a patio chair as a tripod to keep the branches in focus.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/15 sec
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 75 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

August 15: Day 220

I took this photo of our pink hydrangeas in the early evening to capture the sun flare. I almost missed it because the sun sank too low for sun flare photos within minutes!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: f/18.0
Focal Length: 60 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

August 14: Day 219

The kids and I went to the Polk County fair with our friend Katie today. I love our county fair, it's always fun to see all the exhibits and recognize some of the names of the people who entered. These flowers are from the flower exhibit, though my favorite exhibit is probably the photography exhibit (surprised?). I saw several familiar names there which was fun!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

August 13: Day 218

We had a fun night playing games and eating ice cream sundaes with our friends Pat and Katie. I was going to take a photo of one of the board games we were playing, but the first one was a card game and the second one was way too complicated to photograph. Ice cream it was.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 54 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

August 12: Day 217

David gave me a beautiful orchid for our anniversary. Now I have to figure out how to keep it alive!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/5.0
Focal Length: 71 mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

August 11: Day 216

Today marks 9 years since my husband and I exchanged wedding vows. How did we celebrate? By caring for our daughter who was recovering from eye surgery. Our "romantic" dinner included our 2 year old melting down and candles. Next year we're leaving town.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 48 mm
ISO: 1600
Flash: Off

August 10: Day 215

My daughter had surgery on her eyelid today. This photo is of her in her hospital pajamas sitting on her bed. She looked so small but she was a trooper. For more about her surgery check out my family blog.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

August 9: Day 214

I took this photo the evening before Grace's eye surgery so I'd have a last "before" photo. She's such a pretty girl!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/500 sec
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

August 8: Day 213

We celebrated David's 30th birthday with a boys video game weekend (which the kids and I did not attend) and some pizza and coconut cream pie (which we most definitely attended!). I lit 30 candles on his birthday pie and he managed to blow them all out in one try. Pretty impressive.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

August 7: Day 212

My Mom made these martinis for us to enjoy after the kids went to bed. They're called Diamonds & Dice and they are YUMMY!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 800
Flash: Off

August 6: Day 211

One of my Mom's roses in her yard. Smells divine.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

August 5: Day 210

Bought some raspberries and blackberry honey from the farmers market which went quite nicely with some plain yogurt. Yummy!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

August 24: Day 229

I can't stop photographing Mr. Ladykiller Eyes and can't tell you how many photos I have of my son's big blue eyes and outrageously long eyelashes. It's not fair I tell you. Not fair!

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/640 sec
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

August 4: Day 209

Nothing says summer like blackberries.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off

August 3: Day 208

Our family took a walk on this lovely evening and I brought my camera along in hopes of finding a subject during the "golden hour" of sunlight. As luck would have it I found a field of dandelions just begging for me photograph them! I love photographing dandelions I just don't like them in my yard. Thank goodness I can enjoy them from a couple blocks away.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/500 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO: 100
Flash: Off

August 2: Day 207

I'd love to share the original photo but my husband vetoed it because he didn't like how he looked. So with a little Photoshop magic I came up with this version because unfortunately, these were the only photos I took on August 2nd. The cropped/cloned out version is looking down our desks from my workspace to his. You can barely see the preschool project snowman from Day 23 in the foreground.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO: 400
Flash: Off

August 1: Day 206

We celebrated Grace's birthday with a princess party today. My Mom brought this gorgeous paper princess crown for Grace to wear and the little stinker would only wear it for a few pictures and that was it. It's so pretty! The party was a success and in the next week I hope to blog about it on the family blog. I have to show off the cardboard castle I dreamed up and constructed...it will knock your socks off.

Photo Stats:
Exposure: 1/400 sec
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 65 mm
ISO: 200
Flash: Off