Thursday, March 28, 2013

Theme Thursday {p,h,f,r}: Lenten Moon

Double linking with Cari and her motley crew of photographing ruffians for Theme Thursday :Celebration and "capturing the context of contentment" with Like Mother, Like Daughter for pretty, happy, funny, real.   

Celebration and {pretty, happy}


Last night was the Full Lenten Moon, more commonly known as the Worm Moon because of the trails left by the earth worms who are just be beginning to emerge from the thawing earth. More importantly, it is the last full moon of winter, and therefore, great cause for celebration! (This year the full moon took place after the vernal equinox of March 21, but it doesn't always, and therefore is counted as the last moon of the winter.) 

Growing up, my dad instilled a great love of nighttime heavenly bodies in us, simply by always being aware of them, their names, their movement, and most importantly, taking the time to point them out and unabashedly admire them. A great gift. 


{funny}

Photo details: This marks the first time I have ever staged a photo for Theme Thursday, mostly because I was fresh out of ideas  for "celebration" during Holy Week. But a couple nights ago we saw the moon looking so beautiful, up before the sun set, on our evening walk, and decided that would make a glorious picture: the stillness of the moon, the movement of dance. But the thing is, I had no idea how hard taking a photo of the moon is, and, also didn't realize that the moon rises at later intervals every night. So by the time the full moon rose last night in our part of the world, the sun had already been set for over half an hour. 

How did I take the pic? Obi, Obi, Obi, and all his patience. He helped me set it up on a tri-pod, then shined a light on the girls so that they would show up in the photo as more than just grainy silhouettes. 

As for editing, I did click the one click editing option on Picasa, which brightened the colors, and then added the vignette feature for the shadowy border. But that was all, the moon was just that large, and just that orangey-pink.


{real}


You should have seen the backstage chaos behind this photo shoot.  It was cold for March in Florida last night, I'm talking 55, seriously. We all (eight of us) marched across the street for this viewing, all freezing. The girls were in their ballet dresses and huddled under blankets until the moment I screamed "Spin!" and they were literally crying the whole three minutes it took us to get the picture just right. Martyrs for their art. Meanwhile, Isaac sat huddled on the ground crying that his bwankey was bwoke, with no one caring. Ansty-fingered Joseph was dying a slow, loud death that he could neither mess with the camera nor be photographed swallowing the moon. And my big patient teenagers kept telling me it was "Good enough, Mom, what is this?" stomping their very loud feet to keep warm and hurry me along because they had Important Plans they were waiting to be delivered to. 

And I? I ignored it all the way only a seasoned mom can do, and took my picture, carried two of the kidsicles in, drove the big boys to their play date, and sat down on the couch to watch Jesus of Nazareth  while all the little kids fell asleep around me. And Obi worked in the other room (almost perfect, but not quite.)

11 comments:

  1. Oh, this is beautiful! I hope your kids see how totally worth it their efforts were. I think the light on the girls really makes for a sharper photo, with fantastic colors. Absolutely stunning.

    Side note: a cold 55 degrees? This Northerner is laughing to mask her jealousy.

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  2. HAHAHAHA! Rebekah, I just adore the way you write. I want to quote my favorite part, but I think I would just be copying and pasting your whole darn post.

    And the photo? Just wow! Martyrdom is worth it.

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  3. Oh my gosh, Rebekah, are you kidding me? This picture is amazing! Amazing! It's so beautiful that I'm going to loftily let the "cold 55 degrees" thing pass (baby).

    I hope you realize what a great shot this is, have it printed big, and frame it front and center somewhere in your house.

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  4. Please tell the dancing martyrs that they did not suffer in vain, beautiful picture!!
    Well done!

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  5. Very cool shot! And I'm impressed that they were willing to undergo the cold for the photo! And it sounds like there wasn't even bribery involved?

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  6. You are a gorgeous mother of six, I might add.

    Great pic!

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  7. I am in total awe of that photo. Gorgeous!

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  8. Love the pic...so beautiful!! And, as another Florida resident..I totally hear ya on the cold 55 degree thing. Brrrrr

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  9. Incredible shot. So great! And I laughed through the entire "real" section, especially older boys and their very important thing.

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  10. 55 degrees? That would be a tropical paradise for us! At 55 degrees, we are running around in short sleeves, panting because of the heat. I guess it is all relative. "Kidsicles"! Ha!

    Thanks for stopping by Home In Douglas!

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