Practice | {1500 Miles, 1 Image}

A few months ago, we received notice from the school that all third graders would begin to learn the recorder. I think it becomes more of the curriculum in 4th grade, but my daughter has been practicing quite a bit and did pass her recorder test (on the second try!). I hope her new school has a music program. I played a few instruments as a child, and I would love to see my daughter play some too. It was really neat to see her practice to master the song; it started out frustrating with lots of “I can’t!”s and eventually we got to “I can!”.

Speaking of her new school (and our upcoming move),  Melisa and I have decided to take a bit of a hiatus from this project to allow her to enjoy some family summer fun and for my family to relocate. We are getting close to our move now! It’s very exciting, but a lot of work. We’ll be back to this project as soon as we are able!

See what Melisa’s kids have been practicing here.

Flowers | {1500 Miles, 1 Image}

 

I love all flowers, but tulips are probably my favorite. I love how beautifully simple they are and the wide variety of colors they come in. I would love to have some in my garden, when/if we live somewhere where they can grow. They are a beautiful sign of spring.

Flowers are my second favorite subject to photograph after my daughter. They are always patient with me and I love photographing them and experimenting in my post processing.

(I prefer this image flipped vertically, which isn’t something I do often, and didn’t work for the featured image.)

 

Melisa is probably happy to have some flowers in her life after the long winter she has had! Her post can be found here.

Nature on Film | {The Serenity Project}

I recently shot a roll of Provia 100F. This is a stock that doesn’t have much latitude when it comes to exposure (i.e. it needs to be exposed very carefully). I had never shot this stock before and I was a bit nervous! It’s more expensive to process and it’s easy to make exposure mistakes. Typically I overexpose film slightly because  most  film tends to be very forgiving when it comes to overexposure. In other words, film loves light.

I was pleasantly surprised when I got the scans back, especially the images of nature. These were taken around San Antonio, mostly at the Botanical Garden. All of these were taken with my Velvet 56, which I had also never used on my film camera (this was, apparently, a bit of an experimental roll!)

I love shooting film because it forces me to slow down. I have to be very mindful and careful.

I also like the unknown aspect of it, the little surprises. You don’t  know what your images will be until you get the scans back, which can take a while, especially if you don’t shoot film often! Depending on my mood, a roll of film can sit in my camera for weeks or months.

For me, this  is another advantage to shooting film-when you get the scans back, you have a chance to revisit those moments, some of which might have happened weeks or months ago. It’s a like a little gift to myself.

I don’t shoot a lot of film, and I’m not always happy with my images when I do. But when it works, it works. And it makes me very happy. There is something quiet and gentle about it.

The tones are calming, the process is mindful. It’s a chance to take your time, to practice patience. How often do we get those opportunities in this hectic life?

The Serenity Project is a collaborative photography project. Photographers who participate hope to bring a sense of calmness and peace to their monthly images. Please continue the circle with Wendy May Photography to see what brought her some serenity this month.

 

Green | {1500 Miles, 1 Image}

Green is one of my favorite colors.  To me, it’s a calming and refreshing color. I even have emeralds in my wedding band!

Green is starting to show up all over the place here in Texas at the moment. Spring is in the air! We have had a lot of rain and gray days this winter, so it’s nice to see some color again.

I don’t think Melisa has been seeing much green in her area unfortunately, at least not the springtime kind! Click here to see where she found some green tones this week.