2024 Review in Photos

Welcome to our 2024 Year in Photos. If you are here, you've successfully navigated here via the QR code embedded in this year's Holiday Card! During the process of composing the yearly Family Holiday card, I go through photos from the past year to use in the card. It is hard to cull the photos that will be printed in the card, so this year I decided to add some "technology" to the card in the form of a QR Code to access this post with many more photos and stories from our year. Enjoy!

 

 
Christmas and holiday greetings from our family to yours.

 

 
We enjoyed relative stability over the past year (that’s our way of saying not much has changed) - Scott and Shirley are still in Illinois, mostly retired (Scott took on contract work as a Project Manager). Erica is still in Madison with her dog (Charlie) and horse (Cookie). Brian is still in St Louis. We all traveled to Charlotte NC in the summer for an extended family gathering on Lake Norman. Scott, Shirley and Erica road tripped there allowing us to take Charlie. We enjoyed being with cousins, grandparents, aunties and uncles, taking in the “Lake Life”.

 

 
Brian also traveled to the UK and Europe. Erica took a trip to Seattle. Shirley had the privilege to travel to Japan and Germany with her sister Teresa, who ran the Tokyo and Berlin marathons. Shirley also attended her 35th college reunion in Cambridge MA, reconnecting with so many friends.

 

 
Scott and Shirley also road tripped to Tulsa, OK to visit old friends from their Indiana / GE days, the Bowlins. Jeff and Janine were such gracious hosts, showing us the unique sights in Tulsa, taking us to the Pioneer Woman Ranch and Tallgrass Prairie where we encountered the herd of Bison.

 

 
While we are incredibly grateful for these “big trips / experiences”, we take joy in our daily and local lives - walks to see the sunset, the birds that visit the feeder, our golfing friends, our longtime friends and neighbors, visits to local parks, local college athletics and the myriad of activities available within a couple hours.

 

 
We are so lucky to have friends and family to share with these big and the small things with. We hope your holidays are filled with light and peace, may you take moments of joy with you into the New Year.

 

 
Now for the photos!

 
January brought freezing temperatures which enabled Shirley and her photography friends to take photos and video of freezing bubbles.

 

 

 
In February, Shirley traveled with sister Teresa to Japan. First stop - Kyoto, where we took in massive bamboo forests and temples with their impressive Tori gates and lanterns.

 

 

 

 
Then it was off to Toyko for the Toyko marathon. Teresa's husband, Ray, flew in for this portion of the trip. Teresa and I made friends in Kyoto - Ed and Karen Hsu from Seattle. Ed also ran the marathon so we met up with them during and after the event.

 

 

 

 
We did a lot of sightseeing in Toyko, and of course the food (ramen counter here) was amazing.

 

 
In April, Teresa flew out to Illinois to experience totality of the solar eclipse. We drove south to the small town of Olney and spent the day hanging out in the town's park with friends, white squirrels and other groups of people all present for the almost four minutes of total darkness as the moon crossed over the sun. It was an amazing experience.

 

 
In Spring, Bluebells carpet the forest and woodlands. We are lucky to have access to numerous forest preserves to enjoy the sea of flowers. Shirley frequents the nature preserves with with friends My and Brenda

 

 
Erica riding Cookie in a clinic in May.

 

 
Photos from Shirley's 35th college reunion at MIT. Taken at the top of Baker House, the dorm we lived in while in school. We all miss this million dollar view of the Boston skyline. With friends Robin and Henry:

 

 
Shirley and her favorite group of guys, known as "The Quint" as all five shared a room their freshman year:

 

 
While Erica traveled to Seattle, Shirley took care of Charlie in Madison.

 

 
Shirley and her girlfriends on their annual Fine Lake weekend in Michigan. This year we visited Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids.

 

 
Matty, Shirley and Erica saw Cage the Elephant in concert in Charlotte as part of our NC Family vacation.

 

 
Tubing on Lake Norman. You can see Winnie and Brian out on the water in the inner tube!

 

 
Another group photo on Lake Norman, with Charlie!

 

 
Rocking out at a Royel Otis concert - with Jill and Mary

 

 
In late September, I flew to Germany with my sister and brother in law. Teresa ran the Berlin Marathon, earning her 6th Star in the World major marathon series. We enjoyed great weather on marathon day.

 

 
At the top of the Reichstag in Berlin, the day after the Berlin Marathon with Teresa and Ray:

 

 
The Berlin Wall:

 

 
Then we took the train to Munich - to attend Oktoberfest!

 

 
Our October trip to Oklahoma included taking in sights in Tusla, along Route 66 and Pawhuska, OK. Can you see Scott in this first photo?

 

 

 

 

 
Shirley continues to take photos with her Nikon in challenging situations, including these flying egrets, full moon shots and ones of the comet. She missed photographing the Aurora borealis but hopes there will be opportunities in 2025.

 

 

 

 
Finally, enjoy this outtake from this year's Christmas Card Family photo. It's never a dull moment around here!

 

 
Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for a wonderful 2025!

Read more...

Summer in the Shade

Mid summer normally means hot, humid and sunny days. But this July has been cool with ample rain to fuel the prairie landscape, now lush with wildflowers. I've been visiting various parks every other Monday, to get me out of the house and explore something new. Today I'm at Meadowbrook Park - I think it's been over a year since I last visited. I generally feel this prairie centered park will be too hot or too sunny for me to enjoy outside of early / late golden hours. I was wrong - at 10am I'm able to find ample shade amongst the flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 
The early summer 13 and 17 year cicada broods have peaked, leaving us with the annual species, their familiar sounds now fill the air. The regular cicadas weave their distinctive buzzing in waves through the trees. It’s a pleasant ebb and flow of sound. I’m in a shaded area drinking my matcha. I'm happy to have found flowers dappled in gentle light under the tree canopy. The wildflower prairie glistens in gold from a distance. I choose to stay in the cool shade, but maybe in a couple weeks I'll explore the prairie.

 

 

 

 

 

 
I admit I took many of these photos for the bokeh backgrounds were too beautiful to pass up. Light has the way of transforming the mundane into an ethereal scene.

 

Read more...

Vintage Style - In Camera

Nikon released a new mirrorless camera model a few weeks back, the Z6III, the upgrade to my current camera, the Z6II. While I'm not particularly drawn to this new camera (faster processor, better autofocus, better video), I discovered the ZF camera with 90% of the features of the Z6III in a retro camera body. That retro styling gets me every time! I had a serious case of FOMO, my thoughts filled with this gorgeous camera with metal shutter, ISO, EV dials on the top of the camera. But time tempers the desires of the flesh and now I'm determined to make the most out of my Z6II.

 

 
I viewed more videos on the Nikon ZF and learned about the gamut of picture controls available, viewable via the EVF and playback. Think of a picture control as a style of colors and saturations, akin to film days, also very similar to a "Filter" on Instagram. There are the standard picture controls like Landscape, Vivid, Portrait and Black and White. Then there are 20+ additional special picture controls like "Dream", "Demin", "Spring" etc. The user selects the picture control style and voila, it is viewable on the camera's EVF and back screen. I learned this feature is available on any Nikon Z camera! When you import into Lightroom, that special picture control is automatically applied. Of course the picture control style can be changed in Lightroom since I shoot in RAW. But seeing it as you shoot it is a nice feature of a mirrorless camera. My default picture control is Vivid but thinking about changing it up to a more vintage version, which I did today while taking this photo of a Coneflower in my front yard - I used the "Dream" picture control. In Lightroom, I cropped in tighter and added a vingette - that's it!

 

 

 

 
I’ve come to the conclusion that the advantage of the ZF over my current model boils down to autofocus capabilities. I do struggle with shooting groups of people - only one person ends up tack sharp with the others kind of soft. Probably my error or due to the full frame sensor and depth of field but maybe I am missing something. More research needed!

Read more...

July's Cool Start

I’m making a concerted effort to visit the Japan house tea garden at least bi-weekly, and I visited yesterday. I sat meditating on my surroundings on a perfect morning. Cool, dry and sunny on the first of July, manifesting spring vs summer but I’m relishing it. I take several photos, still focusing on shadows in contrast with light.

 

 

 
I'm challenging myself to observe my surroundings using all my senses. I hear the scuttling of squirrels scaling trees around me, eyeing me as a potential source of cast away food. I also heard the rhythmic chatter of pond frogs surfacing from water’s edge when I arrived. I’m sheltered in dappled shade, morning light rims the leaves of the Japanese maples around me.

 

 
Outside the tea garden I encountered Bell flower / campanula in bloom, a serene ocean blue color with a delicate scent.

 

 
I’m sitting on a large slatted, flat, wooden bench that provides no back support but it allows me to expand physically and figuratively. I originally sat in the lean to area towards the front of the garden but felt it very constricting. I prefer the expanse of this seating space. I am hit in the head by a Maple seedling, dispatched to the ground by the wind. I look up and see pairs of the pods clustered amidst the leaves. Of course I take out my camera and hopefully I captured their lacy wings, tipped in the faintest peach color.

 

 
Update, those photos were meh but I got other keepers - like these delicate reeds edging the pond:

 

 
An inviting path:

 

 

 
A follow up to post on the YouTube video on the present state of music - Rick Beato posted another commentary stating young people don’t want to practice to learn an instrument, they rely on the tools to make up for their lack of mastery. Shudder. But what caught my eye was one of the comments regarding social media:

 

 
“Social media has become a cheap substitute for real life experiences.” People would rather watch someone else’s talent or experience vs doing the work themselves. It’s far easier to be entertained for 60 seconds and get your dopamine hit after hit after hit, the problem is you only consume and never contribute or better yourself. Understandably, hard work is just that - hard.

 

 
So, seek ways to keep growing and learn new things. Eventually, what starts off as hard eases into accomplishment and a sense of enjoyment.

 

Read more...

Searching for Light and Dark

I recently attended an on-line photography seminar run by Two Mann Studios and got inspired to utilize more shadows in my photography. I visited a local Japanese garden and created these images.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Created with my macro lens which I'm using a lot in the garden. Have a great weekend!

Read more...

Soundtrack of My Life - The State of Music, What I'm Listening to in 2024

Yesterday I listened to a commentary, The Real Reason Why Music is getting worse, by Rick Beato.

 

 

 
He first outlines the role of technology over the years, how that tech made it easier and cheaper to create the songs we hear today. From precise drum machines, multi track recorders / editors to auto tune, software and now AI generated music, the hurdles to creating music are so low. One only needs to describe what you want into an AI generator and voila, a song.

 

 
His next observation addresses the impact of streaming services on how we consume music. These services give you access to an artist’s entire library for a low monthly fee. His claim is people no longer have personal sweat equity invested in music they listen to. We used to pay for an album to consume it. Now we open up Spotify and click on what we want to hear or what Spotify thinks we want to listen to. Rick claims this cheapens the listening experience, that the younger generation doesn’t give the music the focused attention it deserves. He describes how this differs from the album listening process of yesteryear.

 

 
On some level I see his point, that in some ways music has been relegated to background noise - but only it you let it be that way. I think it depends on the person and how music fits into their personal values. A person who values music, understands the creative process and hard work required to make it is more likely to discriminate its consumption.

 

 
For me, music is woven into the fabric of my soul. It will always be important and a revered art form. I’m open to discovering new music and artists, those who create authentically. [Note - This is a sharp contrast to my husband, who lives in the past, preferring to immerse himself with the familiar comfort of 80’s music. I understand it - music lives in our memory banks, transports us back in time and allows us to escape the present. My brain, however, tires of that repetition and needs discovery.]

 

 
I consciously seek out different artists and even try to give the trendy music a focused listen. I’m even trying to overcome my preconceptions of artists I’ve dismissed over the years - like Beyoncé, like Billie Ellish, those annoying K-pop bands (ok, I listened to them and still don’t like them). I recently listened to the new “Cowboy Carter” Beyoncé album, thought her vocals on the remakes were great but still didn’t care for her original material. But instead of wholesale declaring the music was “crap” without listening to it, I gave the album my attention and then made an informed opinion.

 

 
I felt the same with the latest Billie album - slick production, catchy music and decent lyrics, but I’m simply not in love with her vocals.

 

 

 

 
So what am I listening to now? Maggie Rogers, who I caught live in concert earlier this month - she is fantastic live.

 

 

 

 
Regarding other "trending" artists - I’ve listened to Olivia Rodrigo, she’s okay (maybe I need to give it another go), I’m on the fence with Sabrina Carpenter (I don’t like her newest release) and the newest album from Kasey Musgraves is pleasant to listen to. My latest discovery is Chappell Roan who I find edgy, entertaining and talented. Her lyrics are interesting, musically catchy and fun. She clearly can sing and each song has a purpose or story to tell. I think of her as this generation’s Lady Gaga or Madonna. I'm linking to her NPR Tiny Desk concert that she knocks out of the park.

 

 
Any new artists I am missing?

 

Read more...

Tokyo Marathon Expo 2024

I visited Japan with my sister as she was running the Tokyo Marathon. The Marathon Expo opened on Thursday, February 29, 2024 in the Big Sight Convention Center. We take the scenic Yurikamome Line (The U Line) from its origination at Shimbashi Station (Stop U1) all around the Tokyo Bay Waterfront to the Big Sight Station (Stop U11). Much of this train system runs above ground so there’s lots of interesting scenery to take in as it moves along the Japan harbor and across the Rainbow bridge.

 

 
Seen along the journey on the Yurikamome Line:

 

 

 
Crossing the Rainbow Bridge:

 

 
The Expo itself was a crazy experience. They separate the runners from the guests and while the runners wait to retrieve their running bibs, the guests are granted access to the Marathon Merchandise Asics store. This was like a Black Friday store opening with people rushing the merchandise racks, grabbing everything in sight only to realize the only sizes on display were XL and 2XL. And not Asian sizing but US sizing! When the Expo Store workers started opening up boxes with smaller sizes in the back, we all mashed up against the door's opening, grabbing garments being thrown to the crowd. It was like a mosh pit. I managed to get XS, S, M jackets for my sister to choose from and she ended up with the XS size jacket. An experience to remember!

Read more...