The Bird in Flight

Lucia and Claire posing for the camera for a special Mother's Day photo.  This photoshoot was both fun and an exercise in frustration.  Dan had taken them to a professional photography studio in the local mall, and while they had gotten a few good pictures, we just had to try to get more.  So we bought some sheets at target along with white card/tracing paper, and grabbed all our desklamps and set up a studio in the girls' room.  Guess what, desk lamps aren't nearly bright enough for reflected or diffused light.  I had to shoot at 1/30-1/40 and brighten everything on the computer, killing a lot of the detail.  Also, the kids were going crazy, and Geoff had to help out with coaxing the kids to stay still.

Shortly after producing a few useable pictures, we found out that framing/matting the photos would cost a small fortune.  So we bought a premade frame, a mat cutter, some measuring tools, and uncut mat, and went to work.  The final product, over two days in the making (one for shooting and one for matting), turned out pretty nicely.  I hear Margot liked it, although I haven't seen it hung up just yet.

Click here or on the picture above to see the larger version.

Kiran, Amit, Connie and I went on a short camping trip to Big Meadows at Shenandoah Mountains national park.  On our hike, I attempted to take a few photos of a small waterfall.  The result is both the above picture, and myself falling into the river, causing some serious knee pain--enough that I had to limp back to the nearest road so I could be driven back to the camp site.  I managed to save the camera by holding it high above my head (I even made Kiran rescue the camera before rescuing me), but my poor cell phone swam and died.  Luckily, it came back to life a mere 4 days later.  (Click here or on the above photo for the large version.)

On the drive there and back, we took in the sights of the fabled Shenandoah Valley as well as its breathtaking Blue Ridge mountains.  We came back via Charlottesville and toured the beautiful campus of the University of Virginia.  Good times!  I've also managed to see Fredricksburg recently, so I've now managed to see everything I had wanted to see before leaving Virginia (except maybe Tangier Island, but I hear it's not that great).  Yes, I know, there's tons more of the state to see, but hey, I've gotta leave some stuff for the return journies...