What's in a Picture?

Reading my friend, Karen's blog this morning is giving me the itch to get started on another picture project. A few weeks ago, I put a grouping of canvas pictures together that I took while we were in London last fall. I decided that there's no better souvenir than to capture our memories on film...or digital and display them. It all started when David picked up my camera and shot a picture of Kristi and me walking through Green Park in London. He never touches my camera for fear of my raised right eyebrow that is so well known within my family. It was a great shot, I must say, and David was very proud when I had it enlarged and framed. Soon after that the idea of a collage was born. Karen has now made a beautiful collage of her own (top left) from pictures that she took while visiting France. She and her husband, Ed, actually lived in Paris for the planning stages of the project that David is working on here in Doha. What happened is that after she moved from Paris to here, Ed bought her a ridiculously awesome camera for Christmas (surprise!). She had been disappointed that she had missed out on so many photo ops, but lo and behold, Ed comes home one day from work announcing that he's being sent back to Paris for a week on business. Some people have all the luck. Karen grabbed the opportunity and her new camera to make the trek with Ed. Anyway, the results on her wall are wonderful. So now, I'm reinspired by her work to do even more myself. It's a vicious circle, you know. I might have to separate myself from newfound photography buddies or I won't be able bring home all the pics I have enlarged. Framing is CHEAP over here, so I have to take advantage while I can. We've also done a little painting around the villa to add some much needed color. I posted these pics to show you what a difference a little paint can make. The walls still need decorating, but the paint itself has improved the villa 100%. Yes, believe it or not, that is red that you see on my walls. I thought we'd practice on this place, before I paint back in Kyle. I posted a few "before" pictures for you. You can get a feel of how we're getting there slowly, but surely.