Through the looking glass: finding a photographic wonderland in our backyard

These days I feel like I'm always rushing. Between work and kids and cleaning the house it's hard to not just think about the next thing that needs to get done. I know it's important to stay in the present, especially with kids, but living in the moment can be really difficult. One of my favorite things about photography is that it keeps you in the present, it slows you down, and makes you appreciate things you never even gave much thought to before.

Yesterday the kids didn't have school. I was really itching to get a dose of nature and my first thought was to take them for a hike. Although I love hiking, it can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming with kids- packing up, getting everyone in the car, driving an hour plus, trying to keep them motivated to keep going up the mountain, etc. So the kids and I brainstormed and decided instead to visit the beaver pond behind our house.

The pond is by no means pristine. It's flanked by houses, a school, and a busy street that runs by Lowes, but to us it's a little bit of wilderness that we can easily visit and explore. We bundled up and headed out, Stazy and I with our cameras and Finn with an old cell phone he could use to take photos with as he has also caught the photo bug.

When we reached the pond the kids were blown away. We've visited it many times before, but this time was like a whole new experience. Armed with their cameras they oohed and awed at everything they could see, the reflection of the sky in the pond, the green weeds that dotted the surface, the vibrant leaves and moss. They climbed into stumps, looked under logs, examined old leaves. I kept hearing "this looks so cool" coming from this and that direction. Stazy kept showing me her photos with different textures and colors and patterns. The pond behind our house, that we had visited dozens of times, became a photographic wonderland.

When we got home Stazy sorted through her photos and picked her ten most favorite (the first ten shown below), then edited them all on her own. I think she might like editing just as much as taking the photos as she gets to try out different things and be creative.

I'm not quite sure where our next photo adventure will be but I'm excited for it. It's great to have something we can all have fun doing together, something that turns a not-so-special place into something spectacular.