charlene hardy photography

One Roll, One Day December

End of the year portraits 2020 done on the Mamiya RZ and HP5 film. What a wild ride this year has been, I am looking forward to saying goodbye to 2020 and welcoming in a new year, hopefully a less interesting year.

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One Roll, One Day- November

This month, I worked on taking portraits for an online class I am currently enrolled in Called Circumferences of Self. I ended up taking so many portraits throughout the month of my kids on HP5, Tri-X 400 and Acros 100. The photos in this post represent one month of portrait taking. I was going to shoot one roll, specifically for this project but the photos I created are ones I want to share. They include my two middle daughters ready to film the Nutcracker (since Covid shut down the live performance), the flu shot bandaids and my son asking if he could sit on my lap while he got his (probably the last time he will ask to sit in my lap), and the togetherness that is forced upon our family but we are slowly embracing the time together.

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This month, I used two rolls of Tri-X 400 film and my Pentax 645 to document Tessa! She turned 15 in the middle of the month, and we had so much fun celebrating her! Tessa is such a kind-hearted, fun loving teen. I am so glad she is a part of our family and I can’t wait to see what next year has in store for her.

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September, the first day of virtual school for these three. No shoes were worn all day and I hope they remember this, one day telling their own kids how they didn’t wear shoes to school for the first month (maybe longer). Somedays, finding those silver linings to the “new normal” feels like a stretch but they are always found when you look hard enough.

All photos were taken with a Rolleiflex 3.5 and Kodak Tri-X 400 film. Please check out Amy Berge’s One Roll HERE!

This month, we took a drive to Wall Walla for a lunch in the park. It was a gorgeous afternoon and we enjoyed walking around and getting out of the house. It is hard to believe that 6 months ago, our schedules would have been so packed with back to school prep, going to spend an afternoon in the park would have been pretty impossible. But thanks to Covid and the fact that our county is still hanging out in Phase 1, we have had plenty of time to spend together and explore the areas around us.

Rollei with Kodak Tri-X 400 and some close up filters.

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July 2020- Michigan Dow Gardens in Midland Michigan. It was over 90 degrees and felt like 1000% humidity! It was a beautiful place but I think we would have appreciated it more if we did not feel like we were melting. This month I took more than one roll of film (Portra 160 +1 stop) and since I was in Michigan sent it in to the FIND lab to get it processed and scanned.

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This month’s one roll turned out a bit different than I expected. My mom got sick and ended up in the hospital with a nasty lung infection, which is scary during any time but in Covid times it was terrifying. We loaded up the kids and made the journey from Washington to Michigan. It was a long 4 days of driving but we got to Michigan and spent time with family. This roll was split over the course of two days, maybe three, it was a whirlwind of travel and honestly the days all blended together. Even though I didn’t follow the one day part of this project, this single roll of film means the world to me. I stayed at my Grandmother’s house, the house that I spent a large portion of my childhood at. I hadn’t been back to Michigan since her funeral five years ago, but walking in felt like I was stepping back in time to my childhood. I am so happy I got to document parts of her house.

The roll also captures the act of pulling out of the driveway before we started our journey home. Ever since I was a little kid, when family left, they were walked to their car and we would all wave goodbye from the driveway. I don’t see many people doing that in Washington and I am guilty of letting that tradition slide when visitors leave our house. As we pulled out of my sister’s driveway, looking at my family waving goodbye was bittersweet and even though I missed the focus on one (focusing through tears is hard), I treasure what I was able to capture.

All photos were captured using the Nikon F6 and Kodak Tri-X 400 film. Developed and scanned at home.

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Mother’s Day 2020- I woke up early to take a hike on Badger Mountain and when I returned, I found my kids with their hair combed (first time since quarantine started for Henry) and dressed up ready for some portraits. It has been so long since I had taken any formal portraits of them and it felt so good to load some Kodak Tmax 400 in the Pentax and take some portraits of my favorite people.

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What a crazy month! I am still documenting our daily life under the Stay Home, Stay Safe order. Some days are better than others but overall, our family is learning to tolerate the new “normal.” I am still using the calendar that the kids started at the beginning of this, so we started out counting down the days until school started again. They started their countdown at 42 days left and are slowly working through to zero (which means nothing now that school has been canceled for the rest of the year). When we get to zero, I am thinking we will start counting again? Who knows-I’ll let the kids figure that one out.

Our family is so lucky to have Tessa who always keeps us smiling!

Stephen is borrowing Tessa’s desk, so he can have a quiet place to teach and go to his meetings. Tessa was helping Stephen do his hair before he taught his Zoom class.

Tessa showing me the markers, she was going to have Stephen sniff.

Evelyn’s notes for her UW classes.

Disney Plus to the rescue. It kept Henry occupied long enough so that Lillian and Tessa could do their ballet class.

Disney Plus kept Henry occupied but the girls still had to deal with the dog that felt the need to take class with them.

Stephen working on faceting a rock for Evelyn.

We were feeling the need to get out of the house, so we decided to go for a ride. We had a picnic in the car and set off down some dirt roads to get away. Little did we know, our enjoyable ride would be quite the adventure!

Pretzel making after our adventure.

Henry winning against Lillian in Old Maid.

Day 31 (I am missing one roll of film, which happens to have the sign saying 31 days left!)

Abby guarding our wi-fi.

Dominos contactless delivery for dinner. It was funny to watch the delivery person toss the pizza on our stairs and run.

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All of the photos are taken with a Nikon F6 and Kodak Tri-X 400 film, self developed and scanned.

My kids have been counting down the days until the ‘quarantine” ends. The oldest two changed our letter board message on the first day our school was canceled. We had our last day on March 16 and were told our first day back would be April 27. Today, the president has lengthen his recommendation for social distancing until the end of April. I am not sure what effect that will have on our countdown.

So much has happened since the sign went up, our plans have changed and there has been disappointment, tears, laughing and lots of time spent trying not to bug each other too much.

The following is a visual journal of our days and what we have been doing to keep busy and keep our sanity.

Having all 6 of us home 24/7 made it hard to keep up on the dishes. We are using paper plates to help ease the dishwashing.

At the beginning of the quarantine, Henry (out of the blue) said he was going to use the extra time to work on his abs. That lasted an entire day and now he is trying his hand at clapping push-ups.

Stephen is working form home, so we get to have lunch together as a family. He is really good at making breakfast and lunch. I keep telling him cereal was invented so we don’t have to cook three times a day but he keeps cooking most (all) of the meals.

We had a surprise package come from my friend at Kodak, disposable cameras for the kids. It was so much fun listening to the questions they had about the cameras. Henry declared that he was going to take the photos very slowly, so he would never have to throw away such a cool camera! It was such a great distraction and I am very excited to see how their photos turn out!

After lunch, we headed to the park to try out the cameras. Henry liked to stop and look at things through the viewfinder.

Ballet class is being held online the next two months. Tessa loves the break during her day and gets into her leotard (with a little help) every afternoon for class.

The day ended with a light shower and everyone having a little fun, locking me out of the house when I went out to take a picture of the blossoms in the rain.

Homework for Henry and “Spring Break” for Evelyn.

Stephen is teaching a class at WSU. The guinea pigs in the playroom (his first office) were too noisy. Tessa offered to let him use her desk, so she cleaned it off (hiding her gel pens) and set it up for Stephen to use. I snuck upstairs to see how he was doing with ZOOM.

Ballet with pointe shoes in the living room!

The kids spent the afternoon making polymer clay animals.

Henry attending his Boy Scout meeting on the computer.

I have enjoyed the down time that kids get to relax and work on hobbies. Henry is researching how to build a laser and has the plans almost done. I am actively searching for a new, less dangerous, project for him to complete!

I can’t count how many times I have heard people tell me that Tessa is quiet. We just don’t see that side of her at home. She has quite the personality and keeps us laughing everyday!

Lillian is trying to convince Stephen that we need a barre in the living room.

We are playing lots of board games in the evenings. Henry has his favorite- RISK

Stamp collections have been re-discovered. Tessa and Henry spent hours trading and gluing together.

Social distancing has been hard on the students missing school. We are lucky to have FaceTime to help them keep connected.

We heard that rumors that a “Stay at Home” order was coming, so we took a drive to the Gorge to go hiking. It was bittersweet being outdoors and enjoying the sunshine and nature, not knowing when it is going to be safe to travel again.

The days are getting long, the novelty of staying at home is wearing off quickly, especially for the youngest.

Before the CoronaVirus, it was very rare for the whole family to sit down together to have dinner. Now it is a regular occurrence.

After a day of online classes and meetings, we took a drive to local trail to get out of the house.

After being outside and relaxing a little bit, I took this photo and thought to myself, “there- I see the light at the end of tunnel.” It is crazy how this whole experience plays with your emotions. One moment, I feel like I can handle the task of staying at home and the next moment, I am wondering if I am really strong enough to handle what is coming next. I feel like every time I think things can’t get worse, something else happens.

Today was such a difficult day. Yesterday, we got word that UW was not doing back to in person classes this quarter or next. Stephen, Evelyn and I woke up early and drove to Seattle to quickly pack her dorm room up to move Evelyn back home. This was not how her first year of college was supposed to end. There has been so much disappointment the past week. It is really hard watching things we had planned change so quickly and it is even harder watching the younger generation have so many of their milestones taken away from them.

It was such a long and emotionally draining day. Seeing Evelyn so disappointed but trying to put on a brave face was extremely difficult for me as her mother to watch. Looking at this photo, gives me a rush of emotions.

Her unexpected move meant that she had over $350 of her food allowance left that would not be reimbursed. We hit up the University store and stocked up on the essentials like junk food!

Henry was so happy to have Evelyn home again!

The last thing we unpacked was her emergency backpack provided to her at the beginning of the year from UW. At the bottom of the pack was this little respirator. Being in Seattle was so strange, it was very somber, quiet and everyone was wearing masks.

The view form under the couch. This was the only place I could sneak a photo without disrupting the ballet class. I love the angle and the reflection of Tessa in the fireplace glass.

It’s only the second morning without school and I find Henry in his closet watching YouTube videos on magnet fishing. He has a plan that includes a very powerful magnet and borrowing a boat. I am going to have to very hard to keep him occupied during the next 6 weeks!

Stephen is now working from home and sharing an office space with the kids’ toys and the guinea pigs.

We decided to go on a local hike this evening. It sure felt good to get out of the house and stretch our legs. I really enjoyed the hike but I am not super excited about all of the sand we took home with us!

The first Zoom ballet class and Abby made herself useful by trying to block Lillian’s view from the computer the entire time!

It is finals week for Evelyn. UW is doing distance learning for the next two weeks until the Corona Virus is under control. It is so good to have her home, safe and sound! She is looking forward to getting back to UW and starting her final quarter. (I think she is mostly looking forward to not having to eat my cooking!) I am so proud of everything she has accomplished!