OUR COMMON HOURS

Kelli Ann Wilson May 2, 2014

prisming

I know I’m super-late to the prisming party, but I just learned about it this week! Prisming is exactly what it sounds like: using a prism to create reflections & interesting images in photos. You can see some great examples here, or read about it on Sam Hurd’s website. Sometimes it’s really nice to work on something that you don’t have a lot invested in, emotionally. I don’t care if I’m terrible at prisming because I’m just doing it for fun. As with most things photography-related, practice is required. Here are just a few of my first attempts (these were all taken indoors on a cloudy day):

The cool thing about this technique is that it doesn’t require fancy or expensive equipment. You could easily do it with your phone or a point-and-shoot camera, too, so give it a shot (pun intended)! This photo was taken with my Galaxy S4, the VSCO app, and a prism:

I would like to get a longer prism so that I don’t have to worry about getting my fingers in the photo. Sam Hurd recommends this one. I can’t wait to try it outside on a sunny day. Here is my lovely model & assistant holding our prism:

Kelli Ann Wilson May 2, 2014

18 // 52

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2014.”

Lillia: This week you had a big field trip to our state capital, Concord. You got to meet some politicians and learn about their jobs. You told me that our local representatives only make $200 a year which, you quipped, “Makes their jobs really intense volunteer work!” I think you would make an excellent politician: you are very passionate about your ideas; you love to argue; and you have a very well-developed sense of justice.

Zane: You are getting to be such a big boy! This week I decided that it was finally time to start getting serious about potty training. You’ve been able to go on command for awhile now, but you were having trouble realizing you had to go until it was too late. Yesterday, you stayed dry ALL DAY, including during a short nap in the car! Most of me is so excited for you (and happy not to have to buy so many diapers!), but part of me is also really sad. It’s hard to believe that you’re going to be three years-old in just a few months…you’re really not a baby anymore.

Kelli Ann Wilson April 29, 2014

rainbows in ’em

“It always amazes me to look at the little, wrinkled brown seeds and think of the rainbows in ’em,” said Captain Jim. “When I ponder on them seeds I don’t find it nowise hard to believe that we’ve got souls that’ll live in other worlds. You couldn’t hardly believe there was life in them tiny things, some no bigger than grains of dust, let alone colour and scent, if you hadn’t seen the miracle, could you?”

— L.M. Montgomery, Anne’s House of Dreams

Kelli Ann Wilson April 28, 2014

new lens // nikkor 105mm 2.8d

My husband, who is always amazingly supportive of all of my hobbies & whims, got me a new camera lens for my birthday — the Nikkor 105mm 2.8d — and it is wicked cool (pardon my New Hampshire-speak). Can I just say that I am so grateful to be married to someone who not only knows what I want, but knows what I want even before I know that I want it?

I’ve never used a macro lens before, and this one is manual focus on my camera body, so I’m anticipating a bit of a learning curve. Numerous wise people have noted that it’s not just how much you practice, but how far you push yourself outside of your comfort zone, that makes the real difference when it comes to getting better at something.

I give you my inception — withering tulips.

Kelli Ann Wilson April 28, 2014

today is my birthday // i’m 33

One cannot love without suffering or suffer without loving.

Look at the mothers who truly love their children: how many sacrifices they make for them. They are ready for everything, even to give their own blood so that their babies grow up good, healthy and strong.

— St. Gianna Beretta Molla

Today is my birthday, and I am thirty-three. I share my birthday with many notable figures. But, today I learned that my birthday is also the feast day of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, an Italian wife, mother, and doctor who discovered in the second month of her pregnancy that she had a uterine fibroma but refused surgical interventions in order that she might carry her child to term. She successfully delivered her full-term baby daughter, Gianna Emanuela, but died seven days later on April 28, 1962. Although I am not a Catholic, I do place an enormous value on motherhood and I strongly identify with the all-powerful love for one’s children that St. Gianna embodied; I am honored to share my birthday with the feast of St. Gianna Molla.

You can learn more about St. Gianna Molla here.