Whirl

This photo was taken after the Focusing Eureka Moment, but before the ISO Eureka Moment (see previous post).   I had discovered that my camera has two focus modes, one being focus priority and the other being capture priority.  I think for the entire 3 years I've had the camera, it's been on focus priority, the result being that if the camera was experiencing focus confusion, it would resolutely refuse to snap the photo.  I really think the camera was just as frustrated as I was: I would tell it to capture, and it would try in vain to tell me that it just couldn't do it (turns out that's what the blinking green hexagon meant).   We'd be at a stalemate and just call the whole thing off.  Ignorance was definitely not bliss!

I took about 10 whirling dress photos and this one is my favorite.  It says everything I wanted to say, i.e. the skirt portion has just the right amount of lift, the hair is delightfully akimbo and it looks as though some funky Spanish dance music might just be playing in the background - can't you almost hear the castanets?   In the debit column, the ISO level is a mite too high (remember, this was before the ISOEM) and in retrospect it looks as though I ought to have bounced the flash off the ceiling instead of the white shower curtain behind me (check out the shadow!).   Baby steps, baby steps.  I'll take any progress I can get.

This is the first dress my daughter made for herself and without bias I can say it's a stunner.  I remember the first sewing project I did in 7th grade.  It was a simple skirt: 2 seams, an elastic waistband and a hem.  I hated it intensely, both the sewing and the final product.  At the time I made lots of mental notes, most of which consisted of various ways of expressing that I would nevermore do any garment sewing.  Here I stand!  When Ruth turned 7, it became apparent that I either had to start sewing or resign myself to buying dresses for her that looked vaguely like she'd be in training for a lifetime of overexposure.  Never say never, people.  God picked me up, gave me a whirl and set me down in a new place and suddenly JoAnn Fabrics was my new best friend. He's always teaching me a new song - hallelujah!  And now I happily pass the torch on to my lovely and talented daughter - may she ever be willing to let the Lord whirl her around and teach her a new song.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; 

Many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD.

Psalm 40:3

Before and After

I finally had a breakthrough in understanding why my camera was using 1600 ISO every time my back was turned.  It was an unbelievably simple correction to make and while I appreciated the "eureka" moment, it does tend to make me wonder if technology and I can ever really be friends.  Here are the before and after photos.  Of course it would have been nice if they had been of the same subject, but cats are funny that way - if they don't feel like sticking around for another pose, they don't (particularly when the two photos are taken 20 minutes apart while the photographer reads a camera book and mutters constantly while trying to figure things out).   You have to see the larger versions of these photos to appreciate the change in sharpness.  

BEFORE - Luna

AFTER - towels

Sometimes all of life feels like a "before and after" story.  Before and after I met the Lord.  Before and after I got married.  Before and after I had children.  Before and after my convictions on things changed.  The Before side of the story is always dark and smudgy, sometimes only in retrospect.  I remember what Pete told me about trying to learn Advanced Physics: "It's like trying to see through a windshield covered in mud - the windshield wipers just move the stuff around and you never get a clear view through the glass."   I didn't know that I was looking through mud before I met Jesus.  I didn't know how my life would change as a result of meeting that young man in the Public Speaking class.   Mud obscured my understanding of being a mother until I held that first baby in my arms.  I still remember the day my convictions about abortion changed; there was a great deal of mud to be removed and it all got swept away in one incredible moment when I saw photos of aborted babies.  The Holy Spirit gave me a clean windshield that day.  Sometimes clarity of vision hurts.

For now we see through a glass, darkly...true that.