Best photo yet!

I have joined some other ladies who are trying to improve their photography skills. Nothing formal, but a few in the group have more experience and are willing to share some tips. I have lots to learn. Since I missed the first meeting, I promised I would do my homework and read the manual for our "little point and shoot" camera. It has me baffled all the time. So I have read and played around with the different options. I found one option labled "custom". I have set it to photograph things up close without ruining the light. I am hoping this photo is an omen of things to come.

This is my collection of "yellows" (don't mind the aqua bottle base, I used it as a contrast piece). And I realize that there is a small greenish (citron) piece in there. Not sure how it got so lucky to be included. But I love that you can see the textures and various color hues in this shot.

A Morning's Work

 We've had some low tides lately and I've been out before 7 AM looking at what the ocean has washed up. Good stuff!

My favorite pieces were the darker aqua piece on the left and the orange piece of pottery. I don't find pottery very often.

Natural Habitat

Hopefully, my next post will include some photos of where I find my sea glass.
(Not the actual beach, I don't want to give away my secrets) but I want to try and capture the way sea glass looks just before I pick it up. In my mind, that is when sea glass is most beautiful...to see it laying right where the ocean waves have left it. Mother Nature is the classiest artist around.

Thinking about sea glass in its natural "habitat" brought to mind people.
(So many connections between sea glass and people).

I love seeing a great family portrait (mostly because ours never turn out) but the photos I like best are the ones that capture a certain look or catch them unaware. Something about a photograph in a person's "habitat" really catches who they are.

I was thinking the other day about how Princess Diana and Mother Theresa died around the same time (six days apart). They were such beautiful people. But it was the photos of them caring for others (Diana with her boys and her charities and Mother Theresa with the sick and invalid) that made them more than just an interesting face.

Sunday afternoon, my husband came home from church. He was wearing his white shirt and Child #1 was wearing his white shirt. It was a sweet moment, as the two of them were hugging and sharing how much they loved each other. It was a mental picture I don't want to forget....Father and son, their matching white shirts, sharing their mutual adoration.

I don't think a posed picture could capture such natural beauty. I'm blessed to have such beautiful things in my life.

Sea Glass Photos

I'd like to improve my photography skills but it doesn't help that we have a little point and shoot camera that I don't know how to use. Here are a few that I wanted to post.

This is that purple piece I found a few weeks ago. I am still struggling with how to photgraph it in order to show its true color. If nothing else, you get a peek at my backyard!

-Hope spring is coming your way!

Kirstin

Not glass, just a leaf

Today we went to the beach, we had to get out of the house! It wasn't a day with glass on the beach but the sun was out and so were the crowds.

After sailing child #1's plastic sailboat and both children getting water in their galoshes, it was time for lunch. I was holding the hand of child #2, as we walked up the sandy stairs. She suddenly stopped and I heard her exclaim, "glass, glass".

Looking down, I saw her reach for something on the step. But even before she picked it up, she realized with disappointment, "oh, leaf".

Sarah Ban Breathnach

I won't be surprised if that name isn't familiar to you but kudos! if you recognize her as the author of the book Simple Abundance.

I found this book in the mid-1990's. A roommate (thanks Natalie) recommended it to me and we enjoyed it together. Sarah (I'll call her by her first name because she is like a dear friend) writes about finding gratitude in the simple things in life. Each chapter is about 1-2 pages long where she shares her personal thoughts and experiences, quotes,  and occasionally she gives a kind of "homework" for you as the reader to try.

I love her style. She is personable, friendly and understanding.

Well, I had forgotten about Sarah. Somehow in all my moves around the world, my copy of Simple Abundance was lost. So when I saw Peace and Plenty, the similar cover and familiar author, caught my eye and I snatched it off the library bookshelf.

I was surprised to read that the book is about money.
About managing your money and how to deal with money misspent, lost or mismanaged.

Hmmmmm - very different from her first book, which was all about gratitude.

But once I started reading, it was like hearing an old friend! She is so honest, helpful, encouraging and did I say honest?

I read it cover to cover like a novel (which it isn't) in between a quick trip to Arizona to see my grandfather and my daily routine here at home. Sarah, made millions on her book Simple Abundance but somewhere along the way it was lost. She writes in short snippets about what happened but they are not the focus of what the book is about. It is about us finding peace despite terrible things happening.

Her advice is sage because she has experienced financial ruin but her familiar voice is calm, warm and positive.

I loved it! And it made me thankful for my blessings. For a roommate who introduced me to her years ago, for the years I was single and learning how to manage money and for a husband who is financially wise. (Don't worry Sarah, I will still take your advice and have my own, separate bank account.)

Now I need to buy the book, read it again and flag the parts and quotes that I thought were so good! Happy reading!

Pieces from my collection

- The green piece is the base of an old bottle
- The white oval is the solid smooth base of an old bottle
- The red piece is from (I am guessing) a signal light used on an old boat.

I don't know that much about sea glass but all that I do know comes from the book Pure Sea Glass by Richard LaMott. Beautiful book and great information. They have set of identification cards that I use often to get information and to compare colors.

I just found a purple piece last week, but the photo wasn't doing it justice.
 I'll have to wait for some sunlight.

On a different note, here is something I made this week.  (If you can't you tell, it is a child's backpack, it was really cute. The straps pull and tighten the top to make it like a sack that you wear on your back). I made it for a friend's daughter, Lara. She was turning 3.  We put some sea glass inside as an extra bonus, since Lara loves to play with our collection when she comes to play.

I did make sure all the pieces were large enough so they couldn't be inserted in her nose....