Category: Love

A Photo a Week Challenge: Posterity

My parents have a good-sized posterity. They have five children, 19 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren (with more on the way). My mother-in-law counted her posterity up a few years ago and stopped at 56 (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren). I remember a scene from an old movie called The Moon is Blue where the main characters are having a discussion about the state of the world and having children. The woman says to the man something like “So you think it’s unfair to bring children into this messed up world” and he answers “Have you ever heard of a mess being fixed by unborn children?” I love my big family. I can’t think of anyone who we could do without. I love this photo with my mom and my sisters (my brother and his family live in a different state and weren’t able to come because of the pandemic). This was my mother’s 88th birthday party. We had it at a park (and no one got the vid from attending). Most of my mom’s posterity was able to be there. I don’t know how many more gatherings like this we will have. Mom is in good health, but life is too uncertain. I like to think that we should take these moments when we get them.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF EXTENDED FAMILIES.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.
Advertisement

A Photo a Week Challenge: Preparations

Baking always requires preparations. If you don’t have all of the necessary ingredients ready, it can ruin your bake. This is my set up when I make french bread. It’s a very easy recipe, but as I demonstrated in an early challenge (Something Missing), even one thing wrong can spoil the whole loaf.

As a wedding photographer, I’ve had the opportunity to take pictures of brides and their attendants as they get ready for the ceremony.

When I sang with the Utah Symphony Chorus, I was able to take pictures backstage as we and the symphony prepared for concerts.

Sometimes photos of the preparations are as much fun as photos of the finished products. And here’s mine:

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR THREE…) OF PREPARATIONS.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography. Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ and “Photo a Week” tags.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Mothers

with Mother’s Day this coming Sunday, I wanted to dedicate this challenge to the mothers in our lives. This wonderful mother is my niece and her daughter. My niece is hard-working, loves her kids (she has three boys and this one uber-adorable girl), and adores her husband (who adores her back). I also have two amazing mothers: my mom and my husband’s mom. I hope all mothers have a wonderful Mother’s Day with pampering and love and joy.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR THREE…) FEATURING MOTHERS.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography. Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ and “Photo a Week” tags.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Celebration Covid-style

Last year, when Covid-19 first struck the United States, my friend’s daughter got married. It wasn’t the wedding she had started planning when she got engaged in November, but it was a beautiful celebration of love and joy. I was one of twenty-five people who were able to attend the sweet backyard ceremony. It was fun to not only take photos but to help with the decorations and food and just overall doing what we could to make the bride and groom happy.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR THREE…) OF HOW YOU HAVE CELEBRATED DURING THE PANDEMIC.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography. Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ and “Photo a Week” tags.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: #GiveThanks

In the United States, today is Thanksgiving. Even though there is a lot of controversy about our history and what and who we should celebrate, I’m still grateful to live in a country that values freedom. While we may not be perfect at honoring that value, I do believe most of us try. Last Friday, the leader of my church asked everyone, worldwide, to flood social media with posts about gratitude using the hashtag #GiveThanks. It has been amazing to see the tone and feeling of my Facebook newsfeed shift from anger, fear, and division to hope, gratitude, and love for others. I hope that this continues not just through the holiday season, but becomes a permanent part of our lives and thoughts as we give thanks for what we have and who we have in our lives.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, American or not. I hope that your days are filled with love, joy, and happiness.

(P.S. The second photo is to show off a little. I’m loving the flakiness of my pie crust turkey but please ignore the slightly too-dark edge. 🙂 )

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) THAT EXPRESSES GRATITUDE.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Laughter

Last week, the challenge was joy. This week, it’s laughter. As this year is heading to a close, I plan on keeping with uplighting themes for the challenges. I think considering how this year has gone, we could all use it. This is my niece and her youngest child. We had so much fun with their family photo shoot, and at the end, my niece asked me to get some intimate shots with just her and her baby. You can feel the love and happiness.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) THAT FEATURE LAUGHTER.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Happiness Is…

  • The face I love
  • Wild Russell
    Mean Russell
  • Russ and Don (sort of)
    Russell & Don
  • Sleeping
  • Russell in Cedar City
    Russell
  • Nice pose, Russell

With all that is happening in the world right now, we can all do with a fun, positive post. Today’s challenge is to post pictures of something in your life that brings you great happiness. I met my husband 12 years ago, and we’ve been married 11 years. He is funny, intelligent, sensitive, caring, spiritual, handsome as the dickens, and perfect for me. We fit together better than anything I could have imagined. I love him with all of my heart.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF THINGS THAT BRING YOU HAPPINESS.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ and “Photo a Week” tags.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Coronavirus Changes

When I work up this morning, I realized that I hadn’t posted a challenge on Thursday. Sorry for the delay. With all of the changes during the pandemic, my schedule has taken a huge hit. There are days when I can’t remember if it’s Monday or Friday. I live in Utah, and today (Saturday, May 16), the governor moved most of the state from an orange level to a yellow level. This means that all businesses can open, all restaurants can open their dining rooms (with distancing limitations), and we can have gatherings of 50 or fewer people. Even with this new “freedoms”, we are still urged to be wise. You see masks everywhere, and some stores require that employees and customers all wear them, like Costco. There are some stores that hand out disposable masks at the door and some that still limit the number of people that can be inside at one time.

One change that I’ve noticed for me is that I’m getting better at recognizing when someone is smiling even if they are wearing a mask. This is my mother. We did a social distance dinner with her on Mother’s Day (we ate outside on her patio and we all wore masks before and after the meal). For family members who came to visit but not for dinner, we set up a small table in the garage where she offered self-serve strawberry shortcake. My sister made her this very stylish mask. We are very aware of the risks and dangers for my mother (who will be 87 next month) and my mother-in-law (who will be 88 tomorrow). We are allowing them to manage their own risk, and they are both being smart while also being aware that as widows living in their homes alone, complete social isolation isn’t good for their mental health. I’m looking forward to the day when I can give both of them a big hug again.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF A CHANGE YOU’VE EXPERIENCED DURING THE CRISIS.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.