Senior Portraits (draft written in 2008, updated today)

May 25, 2019WritingDona's JournalsDona

Going through my drafts, I found this from the year Clare became a senior. I wonder why I never finished it. It was pretty good. Her photo turned out very nice despite not following the advice of the photography studio.

My all-to-soon to be senior (school starts on Tuesday) is sitting for her Senior Portrait this morning. She missed her first sitting because we were still on our college road trip.

At the beginning of the summer Clare received a letter from Jackson Blanton Photographers assigning her a sitting date in early August at her school. The letter congratulates Clare on being a senior and gives some “suggestions to make the day go smoothly” for her. Here are a few (with my comments):

Nail appointments should be approximately one day before your session. Choose a neutral or coordinating nail color
How many school photos have you seen where someone’s hands are showing?
Bring 1 casual outfit. Don’t forget any additional props you may want in your photos. Arrive dressed in that casual outfit. Be sure all clothing is neatly pressed.
How can you bring something and wear it?
Props? Like what? A lion tamer’s whip? (Clare either wanted to bring her cat or wear a fake pregnant stomach under her clothes)
If you wear eyeglasses, removing the lenses for your session is highly recommended to avoid glare and distortion.
Huh? (The accompanying brochure went so far as to ask your optometrist to borrow a pair of lensless frames for the sitting)

Two newspaper blurbs

May 25, 2019Accomplishments, PeopleDad, DeanDona

A while back, going through papers, I found a couple newspaper blurbs that I wanted to share/keep. In a way they are completely different but in another way they are similar — possibly something that proud parents asked the Elgin Daily Courier News to share. Another similarity is that they are about two men in my life, my father and my husband.

Doctorate: Dean Follmann, son of Willis and Ruth Follmann of rural Elgin, has received a doctorate degree in statistics, applied math, from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He is a 1975 graduate of Burlington-Central High School, with undergraduate and graduate degrees from Northern Illinois University. Follmann lives in Virginia — Dean’s Doctorate degree mention in the Courier News

I put the article about Dean on the refrigerator and Clare drew his likeness on the whiteboard when she visited in December.

article about Dean on the fridge

Clare’s rendition of the article

Suburban wildlife in pictures

May 25, 2019Birds, The Great Outdoorsfoxes, rats, squirrels, suburban wildlife, trail cam photosDona

A few months ago I saw an article about a blog by a woman in Michigan who, using a device called Bird Photo Booth, posted dozens of close-up photos of birds. I looked up the device and saw that it was on back order. I knew that at some point I would buy it because it seemed perfect for me. I could mount it outside my attic window and feed birds during the day while watching the photos on my computer so I ordered it at the end of April. Earlier this week I got an email telling me that my Bird Photo Booth was on its way and should arrive today.

Unfortunately, even though the device has WiFi it is not the WiFi I thought it was, but WiFi to connect to a smartphone. Still, that’s better than the trailcam I bought last year, hoping to get fun photos of birds at the feeder or maybe other wildlife in our suburban backyard. None of my bird photos were very good, except the ones below.

Speaking of the trailcam — in early January, Dean mentioned that some critter had built a large and tidy nest under our side porch composed of leaves, vegetable skins and eggshells stolen from our compost bin. I researched it and came up with the conclusion that we had a opossum living under the porch. I was excited because they are good wildlife. I set up the trailcam to see the opossum in action.

a tidy nest made of compost — The “nest”

Dean, however, had a different idea and wanted to demolish the pile of compost which he did, some that day and more later in the week. He wasn’t happy about having a opossum living under our porch.