then / now

old photo album photo / Nikon

To my beautiful mother who means the world to me. Happy Mother's Day. I am so lucky to have you as my mother. -a lovely, caring, strong and virtuous woman in every sense of the word.

"Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever." -Anonymous

(my mother still holds my hand sometimes - a constant guide, a comforting touch, a friend)

Happy Mother's Day to all of you. I hope it was beautiful in every way.

red & green

L - Nikon / T - phone pic collaborative

listening to: My Holiday

relaxed / uptight

L- Nikon D60 55mm, sooc / T - Nikon D40x Sigma 30mm lens, sooc

tut tut it looks like rain
We had a photo shoot yesterday and got a few keepers plus some serious ones and some silly ones. T is a good model – she knows how to pose. She's very comfortable in front of the camera as well as behind. Me, on the other hand – I'm not completely comfortable in front, or behind, the camera but I'm trying. I desperately want to learn how to be comfortable in front of the camera but I never know quite how to stand or sit or smile. I think we'll have to keep trying all summer until I get it right.
There are more attractive photos than these but I thought it was funny how similar, yet different, these two images were. It shows how relaxed T is and how stiff I am. She knows her best angles, I do not. I shoot in auto mode and she shoots in manual mode. We had brought the umbrella along in case of rain but decided to use it as a prop. We discovered it worked really well in hiding my brillo pad hair. Another thing we discovered after uploading was the drastic difference between RAW setting as opposed to jpeg fine. Her camera was set to jpeg fine and mine to RAW. It makes a difference in the saturation of the image. I have had mine set to jpeg fine and have been somewhat puzzled at the high saturation of pinks and greens in my images. Not until we compared the two did we discover this difference.
I'll post more on my flickr later.

celebrate mothers

solo post - L

"My mother is a poem
I'll never be able to write,
though everything I write
is a poem to my mother."
~Sharon Doubiago

Today, looking at all of the buds on my rose bushes, I'm remembering the tradition of wearing a rose to church on mother's day - a red one if she was living and a white one if she had pasted away. I can remember with fondness my dad helping us find the perfect roses from the bushes in our yard. We would walk in proudly wearing the red rose buds we had picked – they really were not always the finest of roses but to us they were perfect, just like out mom. And on those Sunday mornings the pastor would ask all of the mothers to stand, and then calling out numbers of children gradually the mother with the most children was left standing. Also the newest and oldest mother in the congregation were recognized. They don't do that any more and no one wears roses honoring their mothers, not at our church anyway. Seems so many of these older traditions have faded in time and I think it's sad.
For the last several years my mom and I have had a tradition of celebrating mother's day by going on a garden tour together. This year the one we're going to is the High Museum of Art’s Artful Garden Tour next weekend. I'm excited to see these fabulous gardens, to learn new plants and get ideas for my own yard. Do you have a special tradition for mother's day? However you choose to celebrate I hope it's beautiful in every way.

This is Taylor / this is my mom

I want to thank all of you who have visited us so far and the kind comments you have made. It is appreciated more than you know. I feel like I have met many sincere and warmhearted women through this internet world of blogging. It's fun and addicting so I'll keep at it. However, some things were brought to my attention...
My good friend, Trevor, shared with me some observations he made about our blog today. I have known him for over 10 years and as someone who knows me well he felt there were some things missing from our blog - it's possible that others might not feel the warm, tight relationship my daughter and I have because I have been a little impersonal in the way I write. But the main thing he noticed was that it is difficult to discern the different voices - where I leave off and she, Taylor, begins talking. I was so thankful to him for pointing these things out to me. I was too close to it to see.
So I hope this will clear things up a bit if people were confused. I'm, Leslye, the primary blogger. My photo "postings" are on the left and Taylor, my daughter's photos are on the right. Also my voice is first and her's is second (now in purple). I'm sure our blog will change over the course of the year, but for now this will be the way it will be laid out.

So that you can know us better.
This is my daughter, Taylor. She can always make you laugh. She has a creative mind and an incredible "eye" for photography, loves music and going to concerts (she's become known for her band photography). She likes cool weather... likes to wear scarves and hoodies ... likes chai soy lattes and hanging out with friends. She is open-minded, independent and full of potential. Taylor is my joy.
this is my mom, leslye. mom doesn't like having her picture taken (i secretly took this one). mom is accepting and understanding. mom is the one behind the camera when i am in front of it and is the one that sparks the majority of my inspiration. she needs to paint more. mom loves red and black (fitting since i go to uga now, haha). mom listens to my advice and never ceases to give me some of her own. she has never made me feel unloved or separated. she has never held me back. mom has watched me grow and has been the fertilizer for me. without her i wouldn't be anything like the person i am today. i love her.

Never forget /

Shutter Sisters posed this question today, "Do you have a photo that captures a conversation that you or the subject want to never forget?" All the post were sweet and tender but it immediately made me think of this photo on the left. Every time I look at this photo I smile, even laugh out loud again. My daughter was completing her senior focus project for photography and did a series on Alice Wonderland interpretations. Here we were having a "Mad Tea Party" and I was the Mad Hatter (haha, because I'm short and have crazy hair). This set up was in our backyard and we were just shooting away (she had a timer on the camera). We looked and noticed that there were some people up there, we just starting dying laughing for what they must think of their crazy neighbors. It all paid off because she got a fantastic final photo (the one on the right) and a 100 on her project.
So this wasn't really a conversation that I never want to forget but an occasion that represents the many times we've had fun shooting photos together. I am always overjoyed to be a part of her activities and shooting is a time we tend to bond so well - our creative minds work together and feed off each other - we're a good team... mother and daughter.