The Recital

    Something happened on the way to her fourteenth birthday...see found grace, beauty, poise and calm.  You see here a little lady making her Daddy proud for her dedication to rehearsal, and making the most of every opportunity she gets to dance.  It is with gladness I see a strong Catholic woman growing before me, and sadness when I realize how fast my time with her is drawing to a close.  I also find touch of humor when I find a grey hair or two popping out after a night like tonight.  I just hope it means I will get a crown of glory like proverbs promises!

-ehw

P.S.  Yes this was done on my Fujifilm X-T1.  Mirrorless has come a long way with autofocus and sensor tech.  It is still one of the few nights a year when I long for a 35mm sensor DSLR on a tripod with a good F2.8 lens....But after looking at this I really cannot complain...I got a few great shots and that is all I need.

Friday Night Family

By Friday I am smoked.  Coming home from work all I could think of was getting dinner down and crashing.  As God would have it I walked into the kitchen with four kids all doing their assigned tasks (table setting, feeding baby, getting water) while Mom and the five year old boy spoke to Grandma on the phone about his Valentine card.   Somewhere in there dinner was almost done on the stove.  Each child broke away from their job one at a time to give me a hug before I put my work bags away and hang up my coat.  We had a great dinner, and then my daughter hopped to her newly assigned duty of clearing the kitchen with me.

The reason you see her smiling...is not because Dad was goofing off with his camera ... but because I had her favorite music kicking on my iPad.  We trade turns choosing songs while we work.  It is sweet and fun to be able to enjoy my eldest daughter on nights like this..and let me remember why there was so much more than a nice nap waiting for me at home on Friday night.

For you techies...nothing fancy.  Just a snap with Mr. Pentax K-5, Sigma 17-50 zoomed out to 50mm  So on the crop it gives me a 75mm short telephoto compression effect.  I used a high contrast B&W conversion in Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 with a sepia tint.  I used a U-Point option here to increase the exposure on her face and skin...which of course helped remove some minor flaws just like they do with fancy smancy models.

-ehw