He is Risen!

I hope you all have a blessed Easter Sunday.

The Girls!

My new computer arrived. Wow that was fast! So did my new hard drive.
The thunderbolt cables to connect the two of them are in Anchorage Alaska.
Go figure.

I picked up  a thunderbolt cable. For $30 and it allows me to get work transferring files this weekend and I have four days off between grandkids, meals and a few church gatherings.

The process of setting up the new computer has been a breeze - the new Mac communicates with the old. A few things have been copied over that I may delete, but for now I will leave them.
There have been a few glitches and I suspect a few more to come but we will work them out and hey I am posting to my blog from the new computer tonight so this is a good thing. The big external hard drive is chugging away as I type, transferring all my work photos (over 500GB of them) to the new thunderbolt drive.... only 3 hours to go....

Still backing up a few things on the old computer - just in case.
Monday if it is all working as I hope,  I will start the on line back up - because I work Tuesday and it will probably take a few days for that to happen. :) So the Mac and the online company can have at er while I am at work.

The girls!
They were over Thursday afternoon and came to the Good Friday service with us. And what a beautiful, meaningful and heart examining service it was. We were all very blessed.
I wish you all could have been there. A beautiful Gospel message and heart stirring music, a time to consider our sins and nail them to the cross (literally) and I time to reflect on what an incredible Saviour we have while sharing communion.

Eva enjoyed playing with the kitchen set in the 2 and 3 yr old room for the last half :) Norah sat on our lap and listened to the music.

For Thursdays visit to the house Eva played with grandpa's guitar and entertained us with her singing. She sang The Lollipop Tree song. It was priceless and I have it on video.

Okay here it is - no editing because I don't know how. Learning that is on my bucket list. When I have time.
Here are a few lines from the song so you get the theatrics.

Winter came and days grew cold (brrrrr)
And on my tree my lovely tree not one single lollipop grew (sad face)
From every branch the icicles hung the branches bare as bone. (brrrr)
But when I broke those icicles off, they turned into ICE CREAM CONES (insert eating ice cream cone)

ha ha ha
ho ho ho
What a place to be!
Under my Lollipop, lollipop, lollipop
lolly, lolly, lollipop tree!

Norah kept busy in the kitchen. Playing and getting into trouble.

"No grandma you can't see me and no I am not getting into the dishwasher detergent. So don't stop me because you can't see me."

Lunch at Montana's after church Friday.
It was a very peaceful lunch - Eva slept the whole time :) and Norah did what she loves to do - EAT!!

Eva woke up in time for ice cream and chocolate milk. :)

 Norah was full of grins and here she is playing peek-a-boo with the menu. And eating her ice cream cone.

 Back at the house helping Allison with a few errands, the girls were in great spirits. I am still editing out snot! But it is WAY, WAY faster on the new MAC. Can you see me grinning?

 Eva put her own hair band on.
"See Grandma? I can do it myself an it looks lovely!'

By His Wounds We are Healed!

May you know the Risen Saviour!

Blessings and love to all my readers this GOOD Friday and always.

Julie

A prayer from the blog of Scotty Smith

A Prayer about the “Good” of Good Friday

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matt. 27:46

Dear Lord Jesus, it’s the day in Holy Week we call “Good Friday.” I’ve always felt conflicted about calling the day of your crucifixion “good.” That there had to be a day when you, the God who made us for yourself, would be made sin for us is not good at all.

But on the other hand, that you would so freely and fully give yourself for us on the cross, is never-to-be surpassed goodness, quintessential goodness—the goodness by which all other goodness is measured. There never has been, and there never will be, anything more deserving of the appellation “good” than your death for us on the cross.

For out of the same heart and the same mouth came these two cries from the cross: “Father forgive them” (Luke 23:34) and “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). The first required the second and the second secured the first. Together, both of them buckle my knees, still my heart, and loose my tongue in glad adoration, of praise of such a God and such a gift. Yet how can I even begin to adequately express the wonder, love, and praise I feel in response to what you’ve done for us on the cross?

It’s like wanting to paint the most magnificent spring landscape I’ve ever seen, but with a palate of three colors and both of my arms in a cast. It’s like having a passion to write a great symphony in honor of you but knowing I’m just a kazoo player who doesn’t read music. It’s like desiring to cook you a great banquet with my microwave oven, a loaf of white bread, and a can of processed cheese.

There’s simply no way I can possibly offer a response congruent to the magnificence of your mercy and the measure of your grace for us at Calvary. So like everything else I have to offer you,      Lord Jesus, take my humble praise and purify it, magnify it, and cause it to be a sweet aroma to the heart of God.

Lord Jesus, no one could ever take your life from you, and I could never find life on my own. Because you were fully forsaken, I am forever forgiven. Because you exhausted God’s judgment against my foul sin, I now live by the gift of your perfect righteousness. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! So very Amen I pray, in your all-glorious, all-gracious name.

Liars Dice

I have a big job ahead of me. sigh
It's a good job but it will take a while and could have more then a few frustrations and some serious learning curves. Hopefully not too many distractions either because I do want to get er done.
But I am looking forward to it.

I bought a new Mac.

And a HUGE thunderbolt storage system. I should be good until 2040. :)
My new Mac will be fast.
Very fast!

Which means 12 hours of editing can be reduced to less then 6. Time is $

I have Time Machine, so technically I cold just hook up time machine to the new mac and let er role installing all the old stuff on the new Mac and be up and running in no time.

However I think it is best to do a "clean" install. i.e. reinstall all my programs and their corresponding files anew and in doing so keep all the superfluous junk out of my nice new Mac.

I have over a Terabytes of photos alone which will go on the new external hard drive.

That's 1000 Gb

Thats 1,000,000 Mb

Thats 100,000,000 Kb

Thats 1,000,000,000,000 bytes

That's a lot of BIG photos.

Back up! back up! back up! - especially clients photos! When that bride coms to me in 10 years needing all her photos because they were somehow lost..... I will have them.

I will also now pay for  on line storage cause hard drives fail unfortunately.

That being said, I do need to go thru all my personal stuff and get rid of duplicates. Some of these PSD (photoshop files) are over 100 Mb each  I do NOT need 2 versions of them and why I ever had two of them I will never know. :)

So begins the process and 15 minutes into it I come across all the photos of Eva's first year of life - saved a few times and burned to disk for her Mom but well, I don't want to loose these.

And I got distracted......

Because here she is, maybe 6 months old sitting on her Daddy's lap and playing Liars dice around the kitchen table.

sorry if I have posted these before but gosh darn they are adorable.

Liars dice is a pirates game. It is about lying. It is about deceiving.

It is about screaming "YOU LIAR" when you think your opponent is lying.

And Eva was right in there!!

"What ya got Dad?"

"oh cool!"

Uncle Harold -   "4 sixes"

Eva - "Liar!!"

Okay i need to get back to the task at hand. :)

This could take a while!

Black & White

Even flowers can look great in B&W

But of course grand babies are some of my favourite B&W

 Our family loves this game. :)

Norah's Eyes

Norah has such wonderful eyes. So expressive.

 I love this portrait of Norah. I am sending it off for printing because that is when you know if you really nailed it. My only regret is the vertical crop since the one of Eva I love so much is horizontal. I want to print them both perhaps on canvas for their bedroom and hang as a set but, well, I am going to have to think that one thru. Perhaps I can find one of the two of them and hang a set of 3.
Click on the photos to see them much larger.

Mark made the Winnipeg Firefighters Calendar for 2014. 

I took this photo before his try outs - you know, practice. :)

Eva on her 2nd birthday party. Love it! :)

A little bit of South Carolina

Continuing on with B&W

Are you getting tired of my B&W photographs?
It's a Karsh phase and it will pass.... maybe

 I am loving this bride portrait taken last summer. I used a bit of a warm tinge to the B&W
One of my favourite wedding photos. Kristin's absolutely fabulous veil was just begging for this pose. :)

And more flowers because I love how B&W brings out the detail and the texture.

The Girls Visited Last Night.

Eva plays peek-a-boo with me across the table and around the daffodils last night.

Oh my she is just getting so grown up. 

 Norah is still feeling pretty miserable with her cold so when she attempts to climb out of her high chair for the 10th time, I send Grandpa for some ice. And when that wares off (literally) we turn to an ice cream cone.  But no smiles.
This is one smart Grandma you know!

 And as usual, supper here ends with a bath, but grandma bought some new bubble bath. This is where we finally get some smiles out of Norah.... her mom is playing peek-a-boo with her.

Whoever invented that peek-a-boo game should get a nobel prize or something......

More B&W

More....

This is one of my favourite photos of Eva. Her expression is stunning and her eyes caught the lights perfectly. I couldn't have set up studio lighting any better then the natural lights coming in from the restaurant window. Taken last year at City Perks.
I love it when the perfect lighting presents itself along with the perfect subject with the perfect expression. I printed this one and it is, well, way better in print!

Please do click on each photo to see it in larger, clearer format.

 David patiently poses for me while I test my off camera flash.

 Love those glistening eyes.

 This graduate was on his way to play college baseball. I am using off camera lighting along with that huge diffuser in the sky - the cloud covering a bright sun. But the soft light overall gave fabulous detail.  Take a look at the hands and the detail in his jacket by clicking on the photo. Love it!

 I did not pose Eva for this one. Just caught her her in a thoughtful moment by the window..... which is why I love this photo.

Wacom Pen & Assorted Things

My new pen arrived and I have been editing my heart out for the past several days. :)
Pretty space age isn't it? Pressure sensitive on my Wacom tablet.
It works very well....  if you don't pull it apart. :(

But I took today off from photo editing.

Today I got the other stuff done - gym ( oh man am I out of shape), cleaners, picked up some paint - stuff like that. Then off to the grandgirls to run errands with them which included a little "wear your grandma out" shopping. Pushing carts with groceries and little ones thru the parking lots today is a work out in itself.

Eva spotted this hat and wore it most of the time we were shopping... so I bought it for her. It is a perfect sun hat for the warmer days coming soon!

Norah still has her cold which must feel terrible but she still gives me smiles.... and I still have to edit out the snot!

It was a busy day of getting stuff done and marked off the to do list.

I am ready for bed. But first I will share my yellow daffodils - Can Cancer Fundraiser.
They are so cheerful!

Saskatoon Newborn Photography

Meet Griffin!
One handsome dude with two very busy sisters who both want to mother him just a little.
Poor Griffin.
Actually his sisters are beautiful little girls who just love him to pieces.
And love having their photos taken with their new brother.
I went over to Griffins house yesterday afternoon and captured a few moments in this growing families life.

Norah's One Year Check Up

This morning we took Norah to her one year Dr check up with the hopes of capturing some sweet photos similar to the ones I took of Eva on her one year check up.


Not to be....
Not only did Norah wake up with one runny, slimy nose, but she kept smearing it all over her face.
And Norah is a tad more, shall we say, feisty then Eva was at a year.

It all fell apart after this... the curiosity wore off pretty fast and Norah would have nothing to do with this checking her out stuff.

So I put the camera away and we went for lunch.... where Norah gave us a few smiles and then it all fell apart again. Poor girl - just needed to go home and sleep.
This first photo is SOC (Straight out of Camera)
See the snot?
Photographers do not like taking photos of snotty kids because that means serious time in Photoshop.

 The desnotted version

 Below is the 4 seconds where she thought maybe sitting still in her high chair and eating might be okay......
then it fell apart again. :(
I will spare you the screaming kid in a restaurant photos...because I don't have any. Too busy placating the one year old.

But she is still a sweetheart and I love her to pieces, snot and all.
.........
I am off to photograph a newborn in 20 minutes.  They are never snotty :)
Stay tuned.

Beautiful Black & White

Really growing in love with monochromatic photography...

or maybe all this black is just  a pleasant change from the 8 ft snow piles in the front yard that mother nature is adding to as I type!! That is not an exaggeration - EIGHT feet!
 I think I need a martini!

so you know? I used water not Gin. I would never do this to Blue Sapphire. 

EVER!

 Below is a Saskatoon Firefighter in the midst of fighting a fire last summer. It was a very hot day to be wearing all this equipment and heading into a burning house.

I plan to save this and frame it up after her first piano recital. 

I love the concentration. 

here ya go from my iPhone courtesy of Instagram..... those 8 ft piles in front of the house.