Starry Sky Ranch

Winter Walking with Abbie Rose

It's different this year.  There is no more stroller in front of me. I am keenly aware of its absence I admit. For over a quarter century I have followed behind the wheels. But in place of the familiar hum of the axles spinning there is now a pair of tiny boots skipping, jumping, twirling.  There are two bitty hands reaching, digging, pointing, sharing. Treasures in hand, she trips along the trail joy-filled and breathless checking every puddle and ditchside weed.  And I am right behind, soaking it all in.

Someday - too soon - she will venture farther than I can follow. For today, though, we walk together. I am grateful for every step. 

As we walked this day I felt a coin in my coat pocket. (pictured above) It wasn't a Euro and the saint caught my eye.  When I came home I looked it up.  It is Bulgarian and commemorates St Ivan of Rila (Rilski). You can see it here.  Allen or Zach must have picked it up in Poland, Czech Republic, or Turkey is our best guess. Just made me laugh.  How crazy that this is my life!   I am grateful for this too. : ) 

 

The prayer table - 1st week in lent

Lent is upon us and I thought we would share a peek at our little prayer table and how it looks right now.  It sits off to one side of the living room and the little ones gravitate there when I am working nearby in the kitchen. 

I loved Ann Voskamp's idea for Ash Wednesday so we began lent there. We had a good talk about the Our Father prayer and really listening to what we are saying when we pray.  "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."   Which is essentially saying, Dear Lord, please treat me the way I treat others.  It's a prayer with a bit of a catch.  Sigh. 

Alongside the bowl of 'dust' is a bible and a bowl which holds strips of paper with relevant verses to look up.  Last week they were all about forgiveness.  We have had lots of discussion about what forgiveness is and isn't.  As in, forgiving an offense does not mean you approve of it.  Forgiveness also does not mean you must remain in close contact with the offender.  Sometimes that would not be wise nor safe. But we must always, really and truly, let it go inside. 

Above the table last week was Ann's printable.  Today it was replaced with this illustration of the week's gospel story about the Temptation of Christ.  There are new bible verses: Download Temptation  We have printed some coloring pages and will use some ideas found here and here this week.  (there are obviously more resources on those two link than ANY one family could do.  We will pick one or two this week.) 

Weekend Photography Tips - fill flash

You probably have heard the universal advice about the flash built into your camera right?  As in, turn it off.  It's an oft-repeated tip.  Do I agree?  

Sometimes.

Oftentimes.

Usually.

Depends. 

Natural light is a beautiful thing and I use it primarily whenever I can.  However, there are far more situations than you might expect where flash units come in handy. For starters, even "good" photographers, some of the very best in fact, DO use flash all the time.  Most fashion photography and much studio photography is done with artificial flash units. Usually they are positioned off to the side and often from behind as well.  The one really bad place for a strong flash to hit your subject is full-on in front. Unfortunately this is exactly where the flash built into your camera lands, often leaving blown out or shiny spots on foreheads and chins and big shadows behind. 

That doesn't mean you can't harness and make good use of that extra light available to you.  And you should.  Sadly most photos taken in auto mode end up a bit underexposed. You can fix this.  

This week we are considering your first option - fill flash.  This is basically a lower powered flash fire which augments your ambient light and brightens up faces that might be getting harsh shadows.  If your subject is backlit (like when they are standing back to the sun) your camera may well try to balance that bright background and end up underexposing your subject's face. Camera's are funny that way.  They want to end up with a pre-determined average amount of light.  They don't judge which part of your scene is most important.  They just average the total range of light.  If you can control your flash you can counter this.

Your camera's manual will tell you if you have a dedicated fill flash setting or if you can override your camera and force it to flash when you'd like.  If you shoot in semi-manual modes with a dslr you can also adjust your flash +/- several steps either way, altering the power of the flash. 

In this picture a little flash was added to brighten her face without overpowering the ambient light.  

In this next one, I was shooting in manual but it was at night with a wide angle zoom lens that calls for a lot of light.  (read: kit lens) Fill flash helped to get the right exposure.  

You can see the little circular catchlights right in the center of the eyes in all these - this is the tell-tale flash catchlight, but it isn't awful and is much better than an underexposed shot.

When your flash is set too high, the background goes dark as in this shot taken by Alannah with her point and shoot on auto everything.

 

You can see more examples of fill flash with a simple google search here.

 

Weekend Challenge:

Read your manual's flash section.  Do you have a dedicated fill flash setting? Can you dial down the power of your flash?  In which modes?  Learn how to turn it off completely.  How to force it to flash.  And if possible, how to modify it. Do you have your camera set to eliminate red-eye when using your flash?  

When you are familiar with the settings, try using your flash outdoors.  Stand your subject with his/her back to the sun and force the flash to fire.  Try it in full shade or where the light hitting the face is dappled. Try to use various amounts of flash indoors until you find a balance you are happy with. 

  *Good to know: Your built in flash has an average reach of about ten feet.  If you are much further than that it won't do you much good. So for instance, firing your flash from the top bleacher of the gym is just going to annoy people. ; )  Ditto trying to flash a shot of the city in the distance in the evening.  

living and learning lately

Random slices of the learning rooms lately....

The big draw?  A new science text for Alannah.  She made a comment about one of the images which got one boy's attention.  They started looking through the book and talking and before you knew it a crowd formed.   ON the table. 

When was wasn't studying she was working on some vegetarian dishes for lent.  The spinach mushroom quiche was a huge hit.

This little man learned to divide, much the way the rest of them did - sharing. If there are 12 cookies and 3 friends share them fairly, how many do they each get?

There you have it.  Cookies and friends and fair shares. 

 

The funny thing about floor work is that it usually isn't just the really little people.  I often turn around and stumble over someone else who just sidled up for company.

 

 

These two are inseparable. I mean the two above and the two below who are usually in deep discussion about something every waking moment. 

She tries very hard to keep up with Tess and Brendan and they try very hard to include her or to join in on something of hers.  

high five for that. : ) 

 

some hits lately:

Shopping List game

Addition Puzzle cards

Keep Your Eyes Upon the Rail

Life is like a mountain railway,
With an engineer that’s brave;
We must make the run successful,
From the cradle to the grave;
Watch the curves, the fills, the tunnels;
Never falter, never fail;
Keep your hands upon the throttle,
And your eyes upon the rail.

 

You will roll up grades of trial;
You will cross the bridge of strife;
See that Christ is your conductor
On this lightning train of life;
Always mindful of obstruction,
Do your duty, never fail;
Keep your hands upon the throttle,
And your eyes upon the rail.

 

You will often find obstructions,
Look for storms and wind and rain;
On a fill, or curve, or trestle
They will almost ditch your train;
Put your trust alone in Jesus,
Never falter, never fail;
Keep your hands upon the throttle,
And your eyes upon the rail.

As you roll across the trestle,
Spanning Jordan’s swelling tide,
You behold the Union Depot
Into which your train will glide;
There you’ll meet the Sup’rintendent,
God, the Father, God the Son,
With the hearty, joyous plaudit,
“Weary Pilgrim, welcome home.”

This hymn is attributed to Eliza Snow.  I pause at that line in the middle,

"They will almost ditch your train." 

Many of us know those words, know that truth, we have known storms that come dangerously close to derailing us entirely.  But there is no looking left nor right on the rails.  Backward glances avail nothing.  Our focus must always be onward. 

Always onward.  

So as I listen to one of my favorite renditions, again I ask myself,

"Where is my glance today?"

 

 

Mainz Madness - Fasching 2012

Fasching 2012 was a bit more um, colorful, than Fasching 2011.  At least for us.  Husband had read about the parade in Mainz and heard it was second only to the celebration in Koln.  It isn't all that far away and it seemed like something to to check off the bucket list while we were here.  

I did mention it to my German friends a few days earlier to which they both responded, "Why? They'll all be drunk," with a shake of their heads. Honestly, we took that with a grain of salt.  For one thing, all German festivals involve a fair amount of alcohol.  While drinking and driving is dealt with severely here, open intoxicants and drinking and walking are not considered a problem. So we expected some of that. But "all" sounded like an exaggeration.  Yeah.

It wasn't. 

I am just going to interject here that the little people generally get dressed up cute when going out in public. But sometime in those last minutes before we get out the door Brendan usually reworks at least part of his outfit. Today it was his cold weather gear. So. Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

We arrived an hour or so before the parade was set to begin and immediately found a parking spot.  Rare events such as these always make us pause and go, hmmmm <g> After scouring the street for signs to the contrary, we assured ourselves it was, indeed, a legit spot.  We headed down through the park to the city center. It wasn't hard to find.  You just follow the noise. 

The parade route was lined with beer trucks and pommes vendors, beer and french fries being standard festing fare.  People were milling about and just beginning to line up streetside. We took spots ourselves and settled in.  That lasted about 20 minutes, at which point a crowd of "young people" (ok, did I just say that?  I did.  I think I am very old....)  could be seen carousing down the street in our direction.   When they gathered on our corner and decided to stay I smiled pathetically at Husband and he moved us further down the road.  Right after I taped them. <g>  It's terrible video because you know, there is a fine line between getting footage of drunken revelry and being noticed getting footage of same. 

Untitled from Starry Sky Ranch on Vimeo.

 You get extra points if you can identify the song on that one.  If you watch international soccer you might recognize it.  Give me an H!

 

So we set up again and waited.  A long time.  Two more hours actually.  Which required some pommes to convince Abbie it was going to be worth it.  

The crowds grew to massive size by the time the parade reached our end of town. Like, massive. Like, the kind of crowds you see on the news massive.  The rest of the event could be summed up thusly: music, costumes, and public drunkeness.  All in large quantities.

You might think you have a visual, but if you haven't been here I am venturing to say you probably don't. I am not posting all my pics here (though several will likely end up on the website by the end of the week) because some were a little over the top. Like the guy dangling the little girl out of the window ala Michael Jackson.  Or the old folks in the parade chugging tiny shot bottles of vodka as they marched.  Or the bottles and broken glass that literally covered the streets like peanuts at the Organ Grinder.  (Did I just date myself?  Someone tell me there are still Organ Grinder restaurants someplace?)

(this was my little space before things got rockin'.  The dirty clogs are mine, the vodka wasn't though)

Don't get me wrong, it WAS a cool thing to say you got to see in person.  Still, we did form a human chain and got outta Dodge before the parade was over. Seemed better to leave before the crowd no longer had something to focus their attention upon.   Our German friends said this year was particularly rowdy and the news was all about it last night.  So Tina, if you are reading this - you were right!  

Anyway, I was pretty pumped that I did get to see those giant puppet head guys finally.   The kids mostly had fun - if sometimes in a deer in the headlights sorta way.  Always an adventure in this family. Always an adventure.  They will never be short on stories!

If you want to get a feel for the place and the day I made this slide video. The music is one of the party songs you hear at all these things.  I apologize in advance if you are singing "La, la, lalala" all day now. If it makes you feel any better it is stuck in my head now too.  "So a schöner tag..."  Remember I already explained this event so you know that this may be a PG show ok?  Ok. 

Untitled from Starry Sky Ranch on Vimeo.

Enjoy!  As for me it is four minutes to lent now.  Probably my cue to go to bed instead of sitting up snacking as though I was storing up til April.  Even if I maybe was. <g>   

If you want to learn more about Fasching in Germany you can check out last year's posts here and here.  

Perseverance

It's funny because I have certainly read to the kids about Lincoln over the years. In fact, we read one of our favorite biographies last week.   Perhaps it was seeing it laid out this way that caught my attention: 

1. He had a difficult childhood  

2. Less than one year of formal schooling

3. Failed in business at age 22

4. Defeated for legislature at 23

5. Failed again in business at 24

6. Elected to the legislature at 24

7. Fiancee died when he was 26

8. Defeated for speaker at 29

9. Defeated for electorate at 31

10. At 33 married a woman who became a burden not a help

11. Only one of four sons lived past age 18

12. Defeated for congress at 34

13. Elected to congress at 37

14. Defeated for congress at 39

15. Defeated for senate at 46

16. Defeated for vice president at 47

17. Defeated for senate at 49

18. Finally elected president

 

Defeated. Defeated. Defeated.  Surely a man would have reason to consider that to be the operative word in that life list... at least if you didn't know the rest of the story.  And Lincoln did not know the rest of his story while he was still living it. He just chose to ignore those repeated defeats and press on.  That is no small feat, especially for a man who is thought to have suffered from depression. It takes an iron will and great vision to persevere like that.  

This is what I am mulling over on President's Day. 

At the Cabin

I had to laugh when my son commented on Facebook that a visit to our house typically includes your involvement in a play, a concert, or a photo shoot.  This is actually true, particularly if you are a guest of one of our middle kids.  You may well find yourself swept away into a throwback fantasy world - at least for a little while. It's all good fun.

If you visit, dress warmly.

We may end up hiking over to the cabin at the pond...

Weekend Photography Tips - composition

There is one instance in which it is actually less than desirable to be 'centered'.  That is, when it comes to your photographs. (Actually this applies to all forms of visual art.) It is generally accepted that a composition is more pleasing when the subject is slightly off-sides rather than dead center.  For a couple hundred years now this has been referred to as the rule of thirds. 

If you imagine a nine-patch quilt square superimposed over your image, you want to try to position your camera so that the subject is roughly near one of the four points on the center square. This can be done during focusing or later in editing. There is a trick to doing it in camera however because most point and shoot cameras tend to hunt for a center object to focus upon.  

First things first, you need to track down the way your camera is currently set to focus.  Does your camera have face recognition? Does it have flashing boxes in the viewfinder letting you know what it is selecting as focal points?  These are important things to know because whatever is outside the little flashing box(es) may well not be in focus, particularly if you are in Aperture or Portrait modes. 

Next, get your subject into a focus box and press the shutter half way down.  This will lock your focus and exposure.  Many people don't realize that your camera needs a half second there to do that. If you routinely press the shutter button completely immediately without that pause you aren't allowing your camera to focus properly. 

So, you have your subject locked in.  Now, move your camera slightly one way or another to frame the scene and then depress your shutter button the rest of the way. If this takes too much time you can always play around with cropping in your photo editing program.  They all have that. I would suggest making a copy of your image first and then try cropping it different ways for comparison. 

This one is pretty obvious. 

 

In this shot the tunnel is centered, but you can see that the girls themselves are aligned at the 1/3 and 2/3 marks.  This makes for a more symmetrical composition than Aidan's but still works. 

When she was solo, however, I moved Tess slightly left.

The Rule of Thirds doesn't apply only to portraits.  Some gorgeous examples of landscape and still shots here.

Weekend Challenge: learn to identify your camera's focus indicator and practice holding the shutter halfway down and recomposing your shot.  Alternatively, choose some of your older photos and play around with cropping.  (remember, always edit COPIES, never originals - cardinal rule of editing)

Learning to Love

"There are many who want me to tell them of secret ways of becoming perfect and I can only tell them that the sole secret is a hearty love of God, and the only way of attaining that love is by loving.  You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so you learn to love God and man by loving. Begin as a mere apprentice and the very power of love will lead you on to become a master of the art." 

- St Francis de Sales

Little love apprentices at work around here this week.