This past weekend my 14 year old daughter went on a school trip to Washington DC. The news here was full of accounts of the famous cherry blossoms in bloom. Since she was taking my camera on the trip, I asked her to try to take a photograph of a cherry blossom for me.
There's a reason I labeled this post "Children's Gardens". You see, my thinking is that it's easy to give a 5 year old a seed and say "let's plant this". It's much harder to capture the interest of a child who is 10-17. My theory is that if you give them wonderful moments and memories while they are outdoors, as adults they will seek those outdoor moments again.
So here's the story of the cherry blossom photos. Sunday night we uploaded Emily's photos to the computer. I asked her to show me the cherry blossoms and she started to scroll through the file. The top photo popped up. I didn't have my glasses on and the colors were quite muted due to the overcast conditions. But, being a good mom I immediately said "ooohhh".
Emily turned to me and with that look that only a 14 year old girl can perfect, and said "Mom, those aren't cherry blossoms".
Next came this photo. I could tell it was a different type of tree so quickly I announced "aaahhh". I immediately got another look with the comment "Mom, those aren't the cherry blossoms either, I'll tell you when they're cherry blossoms".
Sheesh.
A few photos later this popped up. I had learned my lesson and kept my mouth shut. At this time Emily informed me I was looking at cherry blossoms. When I asked her why the photos were blurry, she told me that she was shooting them through the tour bus window while the bus was moving.
You don't know how happy that thought made me. There was my daughter on a bus full of teenagers and she was shooting photos of trees. My secret agenda was working!
Thanks to David Perry's wonderful tips on his garden photography blog I used the magical "crop" feature to come up with a pretty decent photo of the cherry blossoms.
The last two photos are really blurry but they also made me so happy. As Emily was scrolling through the photos she pointed out a series of shots to me. She said "Mom, there was such an awesome sunset. I tried so hard to get a good photo of it reflecting on the water but the bus just was going in the wrong direction".
The reason this made me so happy was I had asked her to photograph the cherry blossoms. Photographing an awesome sunset though was her own idea.
Joy in the beauty of nature, that's what it's all about.
There's a reason I labeled this post "Children's Gardens". You see, my thinking is that it's easy to give a 5 year old a seed and say "let's plant this". It's much harder to capture the interest of a child who is 10-17. My theory is that if you give them wonderful moments and memories while they are outdoors, as adults they will seek those outdoor moments again.
So here's the story of the cherry blossom photos. Sunday night we uploaded Emily's photos to the computer. I asked her to show me the cherry blossoms and she started to scroll through the file. The top photo popped up. I didn't have my glasses on and the colors were quite muted due to the overcast conditions. But, being a good mom I immediately said "ooohhh".
Emily turned to me and with that look that only a 14 year old girl can perfect, and said "Mom, those aren't cherry blossoms".
Next came this photo. I could tell it was a different type of tree so quickly I announced "aaahhh". I immediately got another look with the comment "Mom, those aren't the cherry blossoms either, I'll tell you when they're cherry blossoms".Sheesh.
A few photos later this popped up. I had learned my lesson and kept my mouth shut. At this time Emily informed me I was looking at cherry blossoms. When I asked her why the photos were blurry, she told me that she was shooting them through the tour bus window while the bus was moving.You don't know how happy that thought made me. There was my daughter on a bus full of teenagers and she was shooting photos of trees. My secret agenda was working!
Thanks to David Perry's wonderful tips on his garden photography blog I used the magical "crop" feature to come up with a pretty decent photo of the cherry blossoms.
The last two photos are really blurry but they also made me so happy. As Emily was scrolling through the photos she pointed out a series of shots to me. She said "Mom, there was such an awesome sunset. I tried so hard to get a good photo of it reflecting on the water but the bus just was going in the wrong direction".
The reason this made me so happy was I had asked her to photograph the cherry blossoms. Photographing an awesome sunset though was her own idea.Joy in the beauty of nature, that's what it's all about.
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