Tonight's Sunset

We had a spectacular sunset tonight. This is the view out our dining room window. I couldn't believe how intense the colors were. The only post-processing (Photoshopping) that I did was sharpening - I didn't touch the colors at all!

Project 365, Day 4

This is our new (to us)/old (made in the 1940's or 50's) piano. It actually got played today for the first time in a couple of weeks. The boys realized that they have lessons coming up in three days and haven't practiced all vacation long. Oops!

Project 365, Day 3

We are starting to take down the tree and pack up the Christmas decorations. This is our pair of singing snowmen that we got from Hallmark this year - it's our fourth year of collecting these things, and you should hear it when my boys get all four going at the same time!

Project 365, Day 2

This is how exciting our little vacation is this week. I spent almost the entire day helping Griffin put together this Lego set. :)

But we got it done, and he is a happy little boy. And I am a happy Mom to have had the time off to play with him.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a happy, fun and safe New Year's Eve. The Marriner clan has never been much for going out and partying, so we just stayed home, stayed warm and watched the big ball drop on TV.

I try to avoid making resolutions each year, mostly because I believe that when you think of it in those terms, like "I must do this because it was my RESOLUTION!!" then you are setting yourself up for failure. So instead, each year I try to just think of a few small goals for myself. I usually don't share them with anyone, mostly because they would probably bore you, but there is one that I have decided to make public, mostly because you will be seeing my progress here. I've decided that I really want to make an effort to take more pictures that are just for me. The second half of last year I was so incredibly swamped with portrait work that I totally neglected taking pictures of the world around me - my kids, my flowers, the beauty of nature. So in order to motivate me to take a little time each day for myself, I have joined "Project 365." The goal of this project is to take at least one picture a day of something in your life that day. It doesn't matter what it is. Some people try to do a yearly theme, where they only shoot one type of subject, but for me, it's just going to be about getting out there and taking the pictures.

To kick off the year, I have this picture of Griffin, taken this afternoon. He got this guitar as a Christmas gift from my mother and her boyfriend Mike. They weren't able to come up to visit for Christmas last week (they live in PA), but are here today and tomorrow. We had a "second Christmas" today as we exchanged our gifts. Mike plays guitar, and when we visited my Mom for Thanksgiving Griffin was very interested in having Mike teach him to play. Griffin is our little budding musician, so of course he now is the proud owner of his own guitar. And not just some kid's play guitar - a real one! I love this picture because it looks like it could be on an album cover. Maybe someday it will be! :)

Double Digits

The day is almost over, and what a day it has been. My little man is now ten years old. That little peanut who spent his first days struggling to breathe in the ICU is now a swimming sensation (to me, anyway). The sweetie who was once content to play with blocks and watch Bear in the Big Blue House on TV is now programming robots and watching all of the tweener shows on Nickelodeon. And that little mama's boy - well, he's still a mama's boy. :)

Today was all about celebrating Grant's first decade. We started off with a breakfast of french toast, his favorite. Then we spent several hours at the MOST in Syracuse. This evening the boys had dinner from Fajita Grill (the adults in the house are a bit burned out on that particular place, so I made pasta). Now he is involved in his new Wii game - Lego Batman. What better way to spend a day?

And now I feel old. I have a child who is ten. Where has the time gone? And of course, there are pictures...

Grant as a newborn...


...at 5 years old...


...and last month...


Next thing I know he'll be going off to college. {sigh}

My boys

The latest pics of the Marriner brothers...

Griffin at Soccer

I've been so busy with portrait sessions lately that I've barely used my camera for anything else! But Saturday Griffin finally had a soccer game that wasn't held in the pouring rain, so I brought the camera along. His skills have really improved this year, especially on defense.

In the goal...

Here it comes...

Got it!

Eye on the ball...

Almost got it!

Is anyone surprised that he landed on his butt after this one?

A break in the action.


So that's how I spent part of my Saturday. Hopefully later today I'll have a chance to post a sneak peek of Saturday afternoon's portrait session - doggies!! And then if I'm feeling really ambitious I'll put up some pictures of the fall color we saw at Beaver Lake yesterday. It was beautiful!

The Big Yellow Bus

Although yesterday was the first day of school for most kids, Griffin's real first day is today. In our district the Kindergarteners go only for a couple of hours on the first Wednesday, and instead of taking the bus they are driven to school by their parents. Yesterday Griffin and I got to meet his teachers and see his room, and there was an orientation meeting for the parents while the kids spent a little time in their classrooms. Then after a trip through the cafeteria line we got to go home and wait for Grant to finish his day. Griffin likes his teachers, his bestest best friend from preschool is in his class, and in general he seems comfortable with the whole thing. I congratulated myself on getting through the whole process tear-free.

Oh, but today. Today is the real first day. The first day on that big yellow bus. The first day of him trying to find his classroom. The first day that he'll be there for the whole six or so hours. The day that he takes those first steps toward independence. It was not a tear-free day. There were a couple tears early this morning, before Griffin was even up. And a few more after he was on the bus, as I walked back into this big, empty, quiet house. Too quiet. So I've turned on some music and cranked up the volume.

And I'm counting the minutes until 3:30.




Of course there were pictures...


Waiting for the bus.


Such a big first step for my little boy.


Almost to the top...


A quick look back at Mom.

My Kindergarten Boy

My little baby went off to Kindergarten today. :(

I have more pics, but lack the energy to post them right now. Maybe tomorrow. For now, here is Griffin modeling his new Transformers Bumblebee backpack...

The weirdness that surrounds me...

Baseball helmet, Transformers pajamas (in the middle of the afternoon), piano keyboard. For Griffin, these three things naturally go together. Well, at least his piano teacher can see that he's practicing.

Meet Dixie

We have a new member of our family. For the next nine days, anyway. Her name is Dixie and she's an adorable little beagle puppy that we are puppy-sitting for some friends while they are on vacation.

Grant was instantly in love with her. Even Griffin, who has proclaimed "I hate dogs!" for as long as I can remember, is completely smitten. I see a dog of our own in our future.

Baby Sister

This is my little sister. She and my mother are visiting from Pennsylvania, here for my grandfather's funeral tomorrow. Today I brought the boys out to Red Creek to visit with them, and my grandmother, and aunts and uncles and cousins. We had a nice, relaxing day. And much to my amazement (and my mother's), my sister agreed to have her picture taken.

As you can see, she got the looks as well as the brains (she's a lawyer)...




I can't decide which way I like this one better. The color one is nice...

...but you all know how much I love black & white.

Can I tell you how much I hate the fact that she's taller than me now???


After a while, things began to get a bit silly...


I swear, she really is a lawyer...


Thanks for being such a great model, little sis. And for being such a great sister. :)

Slacking off

Yes, I've been really bad about posting this week. But this week and the next couple of weeks are going to be crazy busy for me. Grant is attending two weeks at the Sheldon Institute at the college in Oswego. He went last year and had a blast, and he was very excited to go again. This year he got to pick his own classes, and he is taking Intro to Physics (his favorite class), Exploration in Painting, another art class called "3-D Adventures" and a life science class about predators called "Nature's Bad Guys." I'm glad he's enjoying it - and actually learning something in the summer! - but the schedule is wearing me out. We all have to get up extra early (lord knows I need all the beauty sleep I can get) and then there's the twice-daily trip to Oswego to drop off and pick up. In between trips I've been swamped with doctor and hair appointments, Griffin's swimming lessons, grocery shopping, processing client orders, returning emails... I need a nap! :)

So yeah, it's been a bit busy around here and I haven't had time to do much "leisure photography." But I do have a session scheduled for tomorrow morning that will be a bit different, so stay tuned for that. For now I'll leave you with my favorite picture of Grant from a couple of weeks ago, converted to black and white. A 16" x 20" of this image will soon be gracing the wall of my living room.

More Bubbles!

Yup, the boys were outside playing with bubbles again today. They love them. But really, is there anyone who doesn't like bubbles? I don't think so. And if I come to your house to take pictures of your children, there's a very good chance I'll be bringing some bubbles along with me. :)

Skipping Along

OK, this rainy weather has just got to go. We haven't even left the house today! I was hoping to get up to Beaver Lake with the kids sometime this week. Tomorrow's forecast looks promising, so maybe we'll end up going.

For now, here's a photo of Grant from 2006, which also happened to be that year's first-prize winner in Beaver Lake's annual photography competition. It was the first time I had ever entered a photo contest, and I was floored when I found out that I had won! It was very cool to go the the Golden Harvest Festival that year and see my picture up on the wall with a blue ribbon hanging from it. And Grant thought he was hot stuff when he saw it printed in the Post-Standard. :)

A Door in the Woods

This picture was taken two summers ago, when Grant's Cub Scout pack went fishing at Gulliver's Pond in Palermo. The fishing was ok, but the location was wonderful. There are a ton of old abandoned things out there, all rusty and crusty and decrepit.

I don't know what this little building is, but it seems to stand as a guardian of the woods. Or perhaps it is like the wardrobe that leads to Narnia.

Fort Stanwix

Recently I've been scouring my various hard drives (I have three, and will probably need to buy a fourth relatively soon) in search of what I call the "lost images." These are pictures that I took for one reason or another, and then never did anything with. They just sit there in their own little digital graveyard, never seeing the light of day. But I know these images meant something to me when I took them, so I'm determined to bring them out of hiding and show them to you.

These were taken in October of 2006 on a trip to Fort Stanwix in Rome. The kids had fun exploring the fort and I enjoyed the rustic feel of the place.


I love the reflection in the rain barrel...