Mulberry Street

Since we had a two hour delay we rushed outside to play in the snow before the bus came.  You never know if the snow will melt by the time school is out in the afternoon so you have to cash in whenever possible. Jake continues to impress us with his non-cat behavior.  He runs through the snow, climbs trees and follows us through the woods despite the cold and wet.  

Difficult Run Supreme Court US Capitol Marine Corps War Memorial

Between the wrong white balance (tungsten light), the wrong shutter speed (too slow) and whatever else I screwed up, I overexposed this photo of Jewel perched on the porch railing.  Because she is a cat, she jumped off before I could adjust my camera settings and take another shot.  I liked the photo enough that I wanted to salvage it, if possible.  Using Photoshop Elements, I went to work - I straightened and cropped, converted the photo to black and white, and then adjusted the lighting (RGB levels, highlights and contrast) to give Jewel back her lovely stripes.  Granted, the photo is still overexposed, but I think it turned out decent in post processing and I can pretend that I "blew it out" intentionally.  The great thing about shooting in black and white or converting to black and white, is that it generally covers up some of your mistakes.  Black and white shots also puts all the focus on your subject by diminishing competing colors or patterns. SOO...

I dug out some more camera gear and, good news - found the wireless remote for the camera.  In my attempts to get in the frame with the kids I realized it would be much easier to use a remote than what my strategy had been - setting the timer, running across the room and then relaxing...in less than ten seconds.   Benjamin tried out the remote for me and we discovered that it does, in fact, work with my current camera body.  Hooray!

Participating in today's march for women meant a great deal to me. I won't be complicit nor complacent while people face real social problems. I will not allow my children to fear their Mexican heritage. I will not let my little girl grow up in a world where "locker room talk" is acceptable. As a mother, I feel the responsibility to teach my children that: "It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences." — Audre Lorde My family and I have a role to play in this important work.

A quaint civil war town that sits at the junction of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers.  The kids had a good time, despite the cold, exploring this old town, watching trains and enjoying hot cocoa.

-ISO 320, f 2.8 at 1/60, partial metering, -2 2/3 flash exposure compensation The cute but far from crisp and unfortunately, over-exposed shots...