Three Goals a Month

res·o·lu·tion (rz-lshn)

n.

1. The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination.

2. A resolving to do something.

3. A course of action determined or decided on.

4. A formal statement of a decision or expression of opinion put before or adopted by an assembly such as the U.S. Congress.

5. Physics & Chemistry The act or process of separating or reducing something into its constituent parts: the prismatic resolution of sunlight into its spectral colors.

6. The fineness of detail that can be distinguished in an image, as on a video display terminal.

7. Medicine The subsiding or termination of an abnormal condition, such as a fever or an inflammation.

8. Law A court decision.

9.

a. An explanation, as of a problem or puzzle; a solution.

b. The part of a literary work in which the complications of the plot are resolved or simplified.

10. Music

a. The progression of a dissonant tone or chord to a consonant tone or chord.

b. The tone or chord to which such a progression is made.

11. The substitution of one metrical unit for another, especially the substitution of two short syllables for one long syllable in quantitative verse.

 

I probably won't do (or deal with) #2, #5, or #11, but the rest are still on the table.

 

I really don't like resolutions, but I love goal setting.  I guess it is the whole year-long thing that bugs me.  So I have decided that this year I will set three monthly goals.  Maybe they will even turn into habits and stick around.  And there's no reason that I can't re-set the goal. Here goes. . .

 

• I have a brand new Canon D7 camera, so I will use it every day so that my skills will improve.  This can be one photo or one hundred.  It is quite a bit heavier than my xTi, so I just want to get used to it.
• I will write notes to at least four people.  Nothing is better than getting a hand written note.
• I will make sure that the kitchen is picked up before I go to bed every night.

 

Prom 2011

I am a little behind in posting prom photos.  Colby's senior has come and gone so quickly that I can hardly believe it!  I had all sorts of big plans, but mostly we are in survival mode.

Colby, being the good son that he is, decided he should mow the lawn on May 6th.  We appreciated his efforts, but he paid dearly.  Apparently his Allegra wasn't really up to the additional allergens. His allergies took a hit that took some of the joy out of the prom.  He went through a whole box of tissues in a 24 hour period. . .

He did put up with a few photos before heading out to pick up the other members of his group, but you can see by the look on his face that he just wasn't that into the photo session.  This was by far the best shot. . .

I was quite impressed this time around that the guys actually had something planned before the event began.  Usually I am prodding Colby to come up with a plan a day or two before the dance.  The hardest part for this event was finding accessories for Colby's tux that would match Brittany's dress.  I printed out color samples to match against that sash and I even visited the dress to make sure that I had a good mental image of the color.  Clash would have been bad.  From now on I will begin my searches for similar items at Men's Wearhouse.  They easily have 3x more choices than the competitors.

Colby picked up Nick, Heather and Brittany before heading over to Quail Park (which is the revised, somewhat snooty name of the American Fork Amphitheatre.)  They were running late because Nick forgot Heather's corsage and they had to go back for it.  When they finally did make it to the park, I whipped out the camera only to realize that I had left the memory card in the computer.  Luckily there was a Wal-Mart nearby, so Papa C went on a tear for a new CF card.   

It was fun to watch all the prom kids with their photographers.  There were some stunning gowns, some 70's tuxes, and lots of giggling.  What fun!  This foursome met up with Garrett and Kayla for dinner and then they drove up to the Prom in the mighty Suburban.  The Prom was actually held in a room at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah.  All Colby had to say about it was that it was way too hot.  He is such a talker.

So, here is Colby with his special lady, Brittany.  She may look familiar because they have gone to every formal together.  That is SO against our family rules, but she is such as sweetheart that it is hard to argue that he should be dating other girls.  We met some of the other girls. . . and Brittany is an excellent choice.

Capturing the Moment

We went to take Jim to the airport in Salt Lake this morning, so we decided to play around for a little while. I absolutely love to watch these fountains at the Gateway Plaza. We lucked out and were there for when they sync up with the music "Citius, Altius, Fortius" from the 2002 Olympics. Very cool, to say the least.

I bought myself a new book this week that was highly recommended at the Scrap Girls conference. It is called Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. I use AUTO mode about 80% of the time on my fancy dancy Canon xTi, because I am terrified that I will miss the shot by being in manual mode. After reading only the first section of the book, I dared to give it a whirl today. I am pleased with the feathery water I got by using a slower shutter speed. I had no idea what I was getting until I uploaded them on the computer!
I love this shot of Reed running through the fountain. I panned with him which is how I got the feeling of movement. I feel like a little kid with a new toy! I have had this camera for two years- and I absolutely LOVE it- but I feel like I am just now figuring out how to use it! Luckily, I have Photoshop skills, too. The picture below would have been trash, with Reed terribly underexposed, but a few clicks and I can see my sweetie's face! BTW, I did not Photoshop the dark blue sky. . . that was a happy accident thanks to my polarized filter and the settings!

We also went to see "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" in 3-D. That was a cute movie, but most of the 3-D effects were lost on Ed and Reed, since they are both nearly blind in one eye!!!!

Darn Camera!

I am happy to be the owner of a Canon Xti Rebel Digital SLR camera. Over the past two years I have taken some amazing photographs and it is the main piece of equipment in my memory keeping efforts. This spring I began to notice dust in my photos, so I had it professionally cleaned by a gentleman who came with high recommendations. He thought that it might be a great idea if I didn't take so many photos at baseball games when it is windy. Hmmph.

Two weeks ago I became quite distressed when I was trying to take pictures of Colby in his room after Brittany filled it with balloons and candy as a "yes" t0 his Homecoming invitation. The image looked very blurry and I could not get it to focus, but once I clicked the photo and oit came up on the display screen, it looked OK. I just kept shooting, thinking that the problem would shake out.

Then I took the matter and did what just about any wife would do. I complained to Ed that my camera was broken. He bought it for me, after all, so he should take some care in the maintenance and repair of said item. Right? Well, he did what just about any husband would do in the same situation- he totally ignored me. Ah, frustration.

So, here I am in Las Vegas with no camera because I wasn't about to bring that broken thing and lug it around for several days. Since I wasn't taking photos myself, I was conscripted into taking them with other people's cameras as an impromtu photographer. The first camera that I used was just like mine. I was stunned that it was having the same focus issues, but I didn't have time to talk to the owner about it because another camera was being shoved into my hands. I figured that I would have to Google it and find out what glitch was affecting the Canon xTi. That thought slipped away as I lifted the next camera, which was a different brand and make, to my eye and realized that it had the same problem! For a split second I thought that was really odd. . . and then the trut began to settle in:

There was nothing wrong with my camera. The problem had to be my right eye and how it was focusing (or failing to focus!) What the heck?????????????? How awful!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now what? The optometrist already told me that I am getting old and that I should just plan on needing readng glasses. Do they make photography glasses or am I doomed to a lifetime of guessing? Dang. Getting older stinks.