The Snow Is Here To Stay!!!!!

This past Saturday D, Russ, Michelle, Dean & I were all eating at St. Martin in Kaiserslautern. I happen to glance at the specials menu and it was as if my eyes were drawn to this one menu item like a magnet. I feel it's appropriate to take you through my emotional roller coaster that lasted about 2.5 seconds. First comes the feeling of pure elation... "Beefsteak TEXAS?!?! Are you serious??!?!"  Then comes the reality check slamming into me like a fat kid on the playground "Oh. right. I live in Germany. There is no possible way that this is going to taste even remotely like beefsteak Texas. It's going to be some weird cross cultural hybrid that will haunt my beefsteak dreams forever." And finally the homesickness sets in... "Man what I wouldn't give to be at Texas Land & Cattle right now... shoot, I'd even settle for Texas Roadhouse. Oh how I miss food from home.... and Target... and ginormous cups of coffee... and Hobby Lobby..." Before I know what has even hit me I'm at a full scale missing home meltdown. All because of an incorrectly labeled menu item. Thanks Deutschland. What was even more intriguing Michelle actually ordered this dish only to come to the same conclusion as I did a mere thirty minutes later. Good times.

Last week in my Photoshop class we went over the homework entitled Find Your Light. So often I am forced to take photos in horrible light. I want to master it and learn how to select the light that is my favorite. So I assigned the homework for week one to challenge the three of us to learn the light in our individual homes. How it changes depending on the time of day, from room to room. How it can also change with the weather. I don't want us to be afraid of the cloudy diffused light, I want us to embrace it! Here is one example of my light series showing how the light changes through the day. I started at 10:00 am and went until 3:30, taking shots every 1.5 hours. That was when I lost the light completely. The first two are at 10, the third at 11:30, fourth at 1:00, fifth at 2:30, & sixth at 3:30 (I knew I was losing the light). So interesting!!

Before it really got snowy I managed to capture some of my favorite light as the sun set over our neighborhood. I don't usually care for long shadows, but this is how I will always remember the view from our kitchen.

Well I can officially say I've been through a real German winter now. It has snowed almost every day since the new year (ish). Particularly within the last couple of weeks. I feel like I live in a snow globe. It isn't even the amount per say, it's more that it never seems to stop coming down. Several Saturday's ago, D and I went out to play in the fresh snowfall in the quite peace of the morning hours. It was AMAZING. We went hiking in the woods near Weilerbach. D allowed me to practice on him (again...) and he was even able to catch some shots of me in turn. I wish we could have stayed out there all day, but Dana we were SOOO cold! I have specific gloves that I use when shooting that leave the tips of my index finger and thumb open so I can adjust camera settings quickly. Those gloves lasted me about twenty minutes before the North Face ones went on instead. It was a great afternoon though and I'm content with my snow day photos. Enjoy!

The flood gates for the new year have opened. I have so many things to do this week I can barely keep track! And what amazes me is I keep piling it on... think this week is booked? nahhh... surely we can squeeze some more photo time in there somewhere.... I think perhaps it feels so squished because it's a four day week. Here's to you Saturday, my day of rest after a looooonnnnng week ahead. Hope everyone is having a marvelous week! Happy Tuesday!