This is my latest favorite picture of Burley, taking a look at him from a little *different* angle. If you've never read here before, Burley is one of our dogs. I don't even have the words to explain how much we love Burles. He's not our 'friend', he's our family. Loyal, sweet, beloved, strong, brave, a little bit chubby, and a very good napper. ;)

Go to I ♥ Faces to check out the other entries! I have the feeling there's a lot more beloved pets out there!

I didn't win.

I didn't expect to win.

But it's still fun to share.

(Oh, and by the way, to see who did win and all the other finalists, visit PW's site! They are ALL amazing. I don't know how she ever chooses.)

As I look at this photo and think about the assignment (bugs), I can't help but wonder, is a butterfly technically a bug?

Anyone?

I'm just to thankful for Google. (Which is where I'm headed now to answer my own question.) It helps me mask my ignorance.

A food photo on the photography page? What?!?!? Did Farmer Gal get her site pages mixed up or something?

No, folks. This photo of Strawberry Meringue Pie (a.k.a. Lovebird Pie) is here in honor of I ♥ Faces photo challenge this week... Desserts!

You can find my recipe for it here, and the little story that goes along with it here. And just in case you still want to bask in its glory even more, you can check in here to see where it was featured on the Tasty Kitchen blog!

This pie... It gets around. What can I say...

If your waistline and willpower are strong enough, head on over to I ♥ Faces to see more desserts!

Tomorrow I'm going to ramble on about how much I love spring. But for today, my photo of the week is a bit more frosty. Shadowed. Cool.

One winter day, back in our other life when we were mountain-dwellers and resort workers, we were on our way home when we came around the bend, and all in one intstant, the light and the fog and the whole scene was in just such a way that it took my breath away.

I still remember that moment. Luckily I had my camera. (Although I don't know if this photo really does it justice.) We drove back and forth to the resort day after day, after day, after day... And I know there were many times that we never even acknowledged the beauty of the mountains around us. But there were times -- like on this day -- when we couldn't help but be completely awestruck by them.

I just stumbled upon this photo today and knew it was the one I wanted to share, and that's what 'Photo of the Week!' is pretty much all about... Simply sharing a photo that you love, for whatever reason, because it ignites some little spark inside.

How about you? Any sparks? Share what you've got!

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Miss 80 has shared once again...

Early morning sunflowers. Breathtaking!

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For more details on 'Photo of the Week!', click here. Then join in the fun!

This was taken last week, in the evening when 'we' were plowing up the soon-to-be vegetable garden. Mr. Blue Eyes was primarily the one (i.e. the only one) actually doing the plowing, so the kids and I basically loitered around and watched. It had been a long week of child-rearing for me, to be honest, and my patience was about at its end. Then the kids decided to take up rock collecting for a blissfully undetermined amount of time, which captured their attention, and I was able to simply sit back, watch, and photograph them.

It was one of those days when I just wasn't feeling all that good about myself as a mother. I guess that's why it was all the more encouraging to see them playing quietly and happily. In that moment, and a few hours later as we sat together on the lawn in the twilight and watched their dad plowing up the sod, I hoped that those were the moments they would remember, rather than their mama's dwindling patience and short temper.

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And now for photos from others...

My brother-in-law (Mr. Blue Eyes' brother) is playing along this week! Here's what he had to say about the above photo...

"This simple photo of my brother helping his son is such a good reminder to me. We have 4 boys and they are all much older than my nephew but ahh, they still need a helping hand, a hand of guidance. I sometimes get overwhelmed by all that I think they need. But the simplicity of this picture helps me remember...its just him and me. One moment at a time."

I wasn't thinking of his submission when I chose my photo, but now I see how the two tie together. Oh, the challenges of parenting. They're not going to end, are they? I'm thankful for the experience of my brother-in-law, and his willingness to share. They have done such an amazing job raising their boys... He and his wife are an inspiration.

(Thanks, G.!!!)

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Next we have the lovely Miss 80...

Miss 80 says...

"The first photo was taken last year of Flying Jae with his Grandma. Late Spring they found a stream out in the cow pasture at Grandma's farm where Flying Jae looked for frogs. Reminds me of an old fashioned painting."

I think this photo is beyond sweet. And I love the angle and the way the stream winds around. Catchin' frogs... I would have loved to see his face when he got his little hands on one!

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Do you have a 'Photo of the Week!' you would like to share? It can be of anyone, anything, anywhere. (But family-friendly, please!) Whatever you would like to share, please do! For more details on how to share, look here. Then share your pic!!!

But I don't.

Well, I do.

But I don't.

Most of what is hanging on the walls are photos I have taken. And there are a good 20+ of them used here and there. So I can't say that none of my photos are on the wall. That would be misleading.

What I am trying to say is that, compared to the number of photos I have taken and love and show you here on my site, a very small fraction are actually on display in my home. Actually, most of the ones on my walls aren't even on my site. Most of the ones on my site have been taken within the last two years or so, and most of the ones on my walls were taken about 2-4 years ago, and I haven't updated.

And I'm also just realizing that almost none of the photos I've taken in the last two years are in print form, AT ALL, and it sort of gives me an uneasy feeling. Because my hard drive could crash. At any point.

It's happened before. (Luckily some computer super-heroes saved me and my hard drive from oblivion.)

And I'm also realizing that I have an external hard drive, just sitting here looking me in the face, and maybe I should just go ahead and back up. No need to have an anxiety attack, Farmer Gal, just back up your computer and all will be well!

Alright, I'm done with realizations and talking to myself. For now. All I'm really trying to say in my non-sensical round-about way is this: The following picture actually is one that I have framed in my house...

I just love it. On the surface it just looks like a nice picture of a dad and his baby sitting on a tractor. But to me it says more...

#1: See that wedding band on the finger? :)

#2: You can definitely see the father/son resemblence. (Note the blue eyes!)

#3: I love the contrast between Mr. Blue Eyes tan, scruffy face and Little Blue Eyes smooth, baby-white face.

#4: The back drop is the resort where we used to work. And the tractor is the one that Mr. Blue Eyes used to use for resort work and clearing snow and such. It was so beautiful there. I like to think of Mr. Blue Eyes enjoying his time in those mountains. He loves working outdoors, he loves machinery, he loves being busy and doing a job well. I just appreciate that about him.

#5: I love my husband's hands. I love the hold he has on Little Blue Eyes in this photo.

As I was looking through pictures this morning, looking for one to use, I kept being drawn to pictures of his hands. And there were a lot of them... Lots of photos of his hands holding our children.

This week, his hands have been taking care of us even more than usual. He's held our sick babies, he's held me, his sick wife, he's made our food, washed and folded clothes, taken care of the animals, made beds... You name it, he took care of it.

He's still taking care of it, as I am still not back to 100%, and I keep wondering when he's going to throw those hands in the air and say, "Enough!"

Right now, as I write this, he has taken our two babies to Sunday school and church, where he is helping in the nursery all morning and then going to a meeting afterward, allowing me to rest yet again.

So this is my photo of the week, because this week I am especially reminded what a blessing my husband -- and his capable hands -- really are to me.

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My friend 80 has a special photo to share this week... A couple weeks ago she was able to go down south to visit her family, and while there she was able to share with them the joy of finding out she was pregnant! Look what is in her dad's hand! Such a great moment captured. Congratulations 80!!!

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What about you? Do you have a favorite photo to share this week? Please join in! If you aren't familiar with 'Photo of the Week!', click here and read up. (It's not rocket science, I promise.) You can add a link to your own post in the comments, or if you don't have your own site, send me your photo via email (farmergalsmarket@yahoo.com) and I will put it up here. It's nice to share.

Tracey is busy being inspiring as ever over at Mother May I. For this week's 'My Best Shot Monday', she got me thinking about spring, and things in bloom. Though we're just a hair too cold to really start feeling like it's spring around these parts, I do feel like my creativity has been in bloom. It seems like winter -- more than any other season -- brings it out in me.

Thought I would share this old hydrant this week. Right now its pipes are frozen and no water is to be had, but that's gonna change soon. It's old. It probably has a few cracks in its pipe. My father-in-law put a mass of some sort of sealant caulk on it that keeps it from leaking.

When the right time comes, the time for it to be productive, it will.

What's your best shot this week? Head over to Tracey's to share, and/or join the 'Photo of the Week!' group right here with moi.

For some reason, my mom has ended up in my I ♥ Faces photo challenges for the last three weeks in a row now! Just thought it was interesting that the last three themes have fit really well with photos that she happened to be in. Last week was Outtakes, and the week before was Hands. Thanks for being so photogenic, Mom!

To see more jumps for joy, visit I ♥ Faces...

To share a non-jumping photo (or I guess it could be a jumping photo, if you really want) join my 'Photo of the Week!' group this week!

I'm sure you're thinking, "Pffft... That Farmer Gal... Starts a 'photo of the week' group and then doesn't even host it properly. How rude."

In my defense, I have two sickling children, am a sickling myself, and somehow lost myself in all the nose wiping and thermometer weilding.

Oh, and I got distracted by once again tweaking the look of my site. It sucks me in. I have a love/hate relationship with graphic design.

But I won't bore you with all of that.

This week, my photo of the week just HAD to be one of my kids... Why?

Because they are terribly sick. And I just can't hardly take it anymore. Their little bodies are just too small and vulnerable. This mother's heart hurts. The good news is that Little Blue Eyes seems to be on the upswing after four full days of having a fever, cough, and feeling generally miserable. The bad news is that Miss Peaches is on the downswing.

By the way, can I just say, "THANK YOU!" to those of you who have left nice messages in the comments? Your kind words really do help.

So, with that, I bring to you........ (drumroll)........... my photo of the week!

My sweet babies.

I took this photo last fall on a unseasonably nice day, when we were out on a walk. When I'm paging through photos, this one always pops out at me... Not sure why. I think it makes remember what a pleasant day it was, and it also kind of speaks to their personalities... Miss Peaches hanging out the front, pulling a Titanic (think, "I'm the king of the world!"), and Little Blue Eyes, hanging back a bit, curious and thoughtful.

And now, I have something fun to share... My first email submission for 'Photo of the Week!'

This was emailed to me by a new friend, we'll call her '80'. She is Flying Jae's mama. She is also a budding photography enthusiast.

These are her cutie petutie little boys. They have the best dimples! They are about the same ages as our kids, and Little Blue Eyes has really taken to Flying Jae as his new friend.

'80' has turned me on to some lovely photography sites. And not that I don't love all of you who stop in and read, but it is kind of nice to have a photography friend who exists for me other than in cyberland!

So, what's your photo of the week?

If you're not familiar with the process of how to be part of the group, read here.

Please join in!!! And don't forget to grab my new button...

I wasn't quite happy with the other one... Part of my graphic design rampage. I won't change it again, I promise!

Last week when I wrote a post about shutter speed, I said that I would come back and tell you about something that would help you utilize the concept better... The light meter.

This was wrong.

I apologize.

It's not called a light meter.

I'm sorry.

In my defense, I have written before about how I barely know what I'm doing. You've been warned.

I really don't know how I got that idea in my head. I thought for sure that was what it was called. I even remember seeing it on some diagram labeled as that. But, last night, when I sat down to work on this post -- to write about the light meter, which isn't actually a light meter -- I came upon my mistake and wanted to fess up.

And I also wanted to say that it's not going to discourage me, because trial and error is a HUGE part of photography, and it's how we all get better and more knowledgeable, so I shall charge forward.

So, today, we're not here to learn about the light meter. We're here to learn about the EXPOSURE DISPLAY.

What is an exposure display?

Well, it's not a light meter... I can tell you that much.

Or maybe it is. I'm still unsure. For now we're just going to play it safe and call it an 'exposure display'.

If you have a digital SLR, your camera mostly likely has one of these. I'm going to describe what it looks like in my Nikon D70. If you have a Canon or another brand, yours will likely look similar. I've also seen it labeled as an 'exposure analog display' or an 'exposure meter'.

(See? Meter. I was close.)

It looks something like this...

I showed you mine, now you show yourself yours. (Providing you have a digital SLR, that is.)

First of all, make sure your camera is in either M (manual) mode or S (shutter speed priority) mode. If it's not in either of these modes, you won't be able to see it.

Now, look into your viewfinder. (This is the little rectangular piece of glass that you hold up to your eye when you take a picture. I know that I probably didn't need to tell you this, but you never know. If you're like me, the more clearly things are explained, the better!)

Do you see it? On my D70 it's on the bottom, in the middle. Do you see it?

If you don't see it, consult your manual for more specifics related to your camera. Or, if you still can't figure it out, leave me a note in the comments and I'll try to help.

One note: On my camera I have to push down my shutter release button (a.k.a. the 'trigger' or button you push to take a picture) part way for this viewfinder screen to light up.

So this... this EXPOSURE DISPLAY.... is a wonderful thing. This was my saving grace when I started shooting in full manual mode. The exposure display makes it much easier to get your exposure the way you want it when shooting a photo. (Even if you're calling it a light meter inside your head. It doesn't care if you call it by the wrong name. It will still help you out. It's forgiving that way.)

As you will soon see, it makes sense that I thought of it as a light meter, because it basically is measuring the light that is coming into your camera, and tells you if your result if going to have enough light, too much light or not enough light.

This makes the whole idea of shutter speed easier to handle, because instead of worrying about the actual number your shutter speed should be set on, the exposure display will tell you what to do. It works like this...

When the camera settings are optimal for letting in just the right amount of light, the exposure display will look like this...

Same as the image above.

The following is a photo taken at this setting on my camera...

Not too bright. Not too dark. Pretty blah, if you ask me, but right now I'm not interested in a stunning photo. And we'll do a more dramatic example in just a bit.

Now, if you adjust your shutter speed to let in less light, which is a faster shutter speed, the exposure display will show little bars to the right (towards the 'minus' sign) of the '0' mark, looking like this...

This is telling you that, based on your camera's current settings, the photo you are about to take will be an UNDERexposed photo, i.e. one that does not have enough light, i.e. a photo that will turn out dark.

To demonstrate, here is a photo that I took with my exposure display set like the view above (UNDERexposed)...

A little dark, right?

On the other hand, if you adjust your shutter speed to let in more light, which is a slower shutter speed, the exposure display will show little bars to the left (towards the 'plus' sign) of the '0' mark, looking like this...

Here is a picture that I took with my exposure display on this setting...

This is brighter. I actually like this. I tend to overexpose a lot of my photos just a bit. This probably has to do with my camera, and my personal preference. You do what suits your fancy.

Let's compare the three. I'll include shutter speeds, aperture and ISO settings too, just for fun...

(I keep forgetting my ISO setting is on 1600, which is way higher than I want to be for daylight conditions. I'll try to do a post on ISO too, sometime, but I don't want to get into it too much right now. I will just say this... The higher your ISO setting, the grainier your photo will be. ISO helps to let in more light, which is helpful in darker situations. However, in general I like my ISO to be as low as the light conditions will allow. The lowest setting on my camera is 200.)

Okay, so you've got the general idea, but the difference between those images was pretty subtle, so let's demonstrate something more obvious...

Now are you getting the picture? I hope this makes it easier to see the difference. And I hope this shows you how the light meter exposure display on your camera can be your new best friend!

Of the three photos above, the one in the middle is obviously the best exposed. However, it still didn't quite suit my liking, so I did take one more shot and overexposed (more light, slower shutter speed) it just a hair, giving me this...

Shutter Speed = 1/640    Aperture = f/4.5     ISO = 320

No Photoshop-ing or other editing tricks here, by the way. I want you to see it SOOC.

Now it's time for you -- if you haven't been already -- to go play around with your camera and see for yourself! It's the only way any of this will ever 'click'.

(I apologize for the 'picture' and 'click' puns by the way... They're really not on purpose. I shutter to think what other puns I may come up with.)