Our gorgeous Saturday continued with lake time with my family. My parents, brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephews came over for a dinner and games on the boat. As we drifted along the lake, I looked around at my family and wished I could bottle that day and keep it forever.
We had the most perfect weather all weekend, with temperatures hovering around 75 and low humidity. On Saturday I spent almost the entire day outdoors, which is how it should be on a day like that. I woke up early and began my perfect day with my longest run of all time. I did nine miles along beautiful trails, and had so much fun that I just didn’t want to stop.
I took this photo early in the morning here at Lake Anne. It’s a family of geese swimming through the mist rising off the lake. The babies were just tiny newborns.
The sun was coming in low from the right, and the geese were swimming toward an area shaded by trees. I placed myself at at angle where the geese were in the transition between light and shade. I chose a large aperture to create very little depth of field, to keep the fog soft. I wanted only the geese and their trail to be in focus. I could have zoomed in closer, but I chose this wide angle to give the sense that this family had the lake all to themselves.
This was my view at the end of a yoga class, when I was supposed to have my eyes closed in corpse pose. The reflection of all the corpses overhead was too cool for me not keep my eyes open and enjoy it. What can I say, I’m more visual than spiritual, I guess.
I got up early Sunday morning to check out the Love Your Body yoga festival at Reston Town Center. Then I spent the afternoon with my family on the lake. Yet another great day.
I love this picture! Not only is it a great moment – the three of us at the finish line of our first race as a family – it is also hilarious, thanks to Danny.
Last week I mentioned to Mike that I was considering running the Twilight Festival four-mile race in Ashburn on Saturday night. I asked if he’d be willing to come along and bring Danny to cheer for me. I was shocked when he suggested that he run it, too! Mike isn’t a runner, and has never done a race before. He just thought it might be fun. (It is!) He plays soccer regularly, so he’s in good shape, but he had no idea whether he could run four miles.
We decided to go for it. On Saturday night, we packed the Bob running stroller into the car and headed to Ashburn. Then the three of us ran the race as a family. I was so excited that we would all do it together.
I need to get outside early more often. I took this picture last weekend as I walked along Lake Newport. As everyone else slept, I felt like I had the sunrise all to myself.
I loved the way the sunlight illuminated the hanging willow leaves, so I was sure to include them in the image. I warmed up the image slightly in Lightroom, and cropped it into a pano to simplify it.
I ran six miles with Danny in the stroller today! That was a huge accomplishment for me. Actually six miles of running is a big accomplishment even when I don’t have the stroller, so this is massive. The best part was that I genuinely enjoyed running with the stroller, even though I always assumed I’d hate it. I felt like some kind of Supermom Megawoman when I was done. Evidently Danny wasn’t impressed. I bored him right to sleep.
For the record, I did walk about half a mile of hills, and we stopped halfway through for a playground break. But still it counts! Go me!
Morning light on the fountain, combined with winds that blew the water sideways. The result was a kayaker in a rainbow. Magic.
I imagined this photo before it happened. This boy was kayaking near the plaza, and I hoped he’d approach the rainbow in the fountain. I stood opposite the fountain and waited. Sure enough, he paddled toward the fountain. (Kids always do!) I waited until he was near the bottom of the rainbow and facing the sunlight, and clicked.
By some crazy twist of fate, we have had 70-degree weather this week. In June. In Virginia. This doesn’t happen. So I am making a point to be outside every minute that I can while it lasts. It’s divine.
This afternoon Danny and I went for a walk around Lake Newport and then to a photo exhibit at the Lake Anne community center. Then we met up with Mike and the dog for a walk around Lake Anne. I brought my point-and-shoot and took pictures along the way.
On Sunday I photographed the Reston Sprint Triathlon for Reston Patch. I got up at 5:30am and walked over to Lake Newport pool, stopping first to enjoy the sunrise over the lake. When I got to the race site at 6:30, it was already packed with excited people who were getting their race numbers written on their bodies.
It was inspiring to be surrounded by so many healthy, fit, and motivated people. The participants ranged in age from 13 to 80!
This photo assignment came at a great time in my life, with my newfound love of running and racing. Every time kids tackled their parents at the finish line, I choked up like a fool. It was so much fun to witness. I found myself forgetting any journalistic objectivity and cheering for everyone as they ran past. If only I could swim and owned a racing bike, I would consider entering the race next year. For now, I’ll stick with running and photographing.
My technical strategy for these photos was fast shutter speed and AI servo focus. You can see the photo gallery on Reston Patch here, or click through to see them here:
