Leaning.......

This is Gabby. Gabby is five years old and a friend of my own five year old dd.
Her mother is a friend of mine.
Gabby got sick in the middle of the night last night.
So sick that they had to fly her to Spokane for treatment.
She's still terribly ill and needs good thoughts and prayers sent her way for herself, her loving family and the people close to them.

It was slow day here as we all held our breath and our own five year old children a little bit closer.
Hug your babies a little longer tonight.

Thanks.

L,
J.

The trouble with Spring is..........

that it's too hard to stay inside and blog, I guess.
It was gorgeous here this last week but no worries, it snowed all day long today and now we're under a snow advisory.
Montana Spring.
It could continue like this for weeks. I have on several occasions seen blizzards in June. Daffodils with frostbite. Many sleeveless Easter dresses scrunched inside of snowsuits for the egghunt.
It comes to my attention that I haven't updated the blog lately.
By lately I mean since like, January or something like that.

"Not once?", I asked my patient brother.
"Nope, not one time", he said patiently.

Geez. Um, sorry.

I HAVE been taking pictures, however.
So I'll post some of my boring outdoor practice shots and continue on with the "Favorites" theme, because I have a lot of favorite things and I remember and discover new ones almost daily.

Favorite thing: Bokeh

Excuse me?

Yeah, bokeh.

An excerpt from Wikipedia:
"Bokeh characteristics may be quantified by examining the image's circle of confusion. In out-of-focus areas, each point of light becomes a disc. Depending how a lens is corrected for spherical aberration, the disc may be uniformly illuminated, brighter near the edge, or brighter near the center. Lenses that are poorly corrected for spherical aberration will show one kind of disc for out-of-focus points in front of the plane of focus, and a different kind for points behind. This may actually be desirable, as blur circles that are dimmer near the edges produce less-defined shapes which blend smoothly with the surrounding image. Lens manufacturers including Nikon, Canon, and Minolta make lenses designed with specific controls to change the rendering of the out-of-focus areas."

Bored yet Jake? Good.

Here's some photos taken with my 50mm lens at 1.4 or "wide open" which creates a shallow depth of field and beautiful, creamy bokeh.
Disclaimer.........I am not a professional bokeh maker. I am a practicing bokeh maker so these images aren't perfect but alas, bokeh is one of my favorite things so I must include it here:



and here....



and here...




There.
And for good measure, I'll throw one in of the girl.

Notice H's mouth on this shot. I don't know what she was jabbering about but IT IS INCESSANT lately. If she's not talking, she's singing (she knows every word to God Bless America but instead of "from the mountains to the prairies to the oceans white with foam" she says "from the mountains to the fairies to the oceans white with floam"..ohmygosh, it's FUNNY). If she's not singing she's whistling, which makes my Gma Betty giggle. I love it when my Gma Betty giggles, especially at my daughter. It warms me.
Here she is complete with muddy rain boots, striped tights and sidewalk chalk. Definitely some of my favorite things in here:



And one more bokeh shot of my baubles, lol, that sounds funny (got this idea from Toddlertoes on flickr and I just had to try it). Aren't they pretty?



Thanks for peeking in. I'll try to keep up a little better.
Love you brother.
J.