really the last dance

[OT from cottage renovations]

dance instruction for the kids came back to M^cCathran Hall on more time on Friday evening.  this came as a bit of a surprise to me as I had been under the impression that last week's session was the last in the series, but perhaps it was to make up for the one Friday that had been skipped. 

an added attraction for the evening was an exhibition put on for the kids by Grove dance aficionados Charlie and Mary Challstrom. 

(click on these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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the Gaithersburg Gazette sent a reporter and photographer, the latter seen here committing Julia and Sita to digichrome. 

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Maddie and Dylan

I still hadn't found a way to deal with the changes to the lighting, and decided to try to use it as backlighting.  as one might expect from any endavour where I don't really know what I'm doing, it incurred an abnormally high deletion rate and I wasn't really satisfied with the surviving images. 

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as Charlie and Mary took to the floor, I tried to catch motion, shadow and reflection while the kids watched the moves.

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after the formal demonstration the students went back out onto the floor as neither music nor dancing had quite run out. 

I hadn't noticed this particular move during the classes. 

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Maisie in the choir loft


Maisie and Luna

afternoon light

[OT from cottage renovations]

after several days of overcast and rain, this afternoon's clear sunlight was too much of a treat to miss. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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the Circle

Carnus florida

just a week ago these dogwood leaves were all full of contrast.  but now as the reds finish edging out the greens the colours are settling in and the contrast is provided by the overlapping of these leaves -- the classic Venn diagramme we all recall from set theory. 

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1^st Avenue

roses come and go, bloom follows bud and becomes fruit. 

rose hip

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Jackson Park

with this intensity of light I couldn't resist the temptation to try to catch the optics of honeysuckle berries.  in order to make use of the sky as background one must position oneself below the subject, which in this case meant lying along the E side of Chestnut Road. 

one cannot strike that undignified a pose for the time it takes to compose and capture these images without having some vehicular traffic pass by.  oh, well, the Grove is known for eccentrics ... better a camera than a bottle of cheap wine, I suppose. 

Honeysuckle (Lonicera)