photography – ToadMama.com

October 25, 2021October 25, 2021

Salt Creek Mystery

The other day, I decided to go to the beach and walk as far west as I could. By “could,” I loosely meant as far as I felt like walking or until I ran into some kind of obstruction. I ended up going about 3.5 miles. Barefoot.

My feet felt a bit raw afterward, and my legs were tired, but it was a lovely walk. I hope to do it again soon, if I feel like it. 😊

I decided I’d share my favorite capture here.

An apparent creek on Dauphin Island, Alabama, where it almost reaches the Gulf of Mexico.

The scene intrigued me for several reasons. The first reason being that what clearly seemed to be a creek flowing onto the beach actually stopped on the beach, forming what was essentially just a big ole puddle of water. I walked around the nano-lake on the beach without even getting my feet wet. And there were fish living in there, too.

The second reason was just the way the photo turned out. I try hard to compose compelling scenes when I’m shooting pics, and I think this one fits the bill. Not only can you see the mini-pond on the beach, you can see the dramatic skies as rain clouds were moving into the area. Also the creek and pond make for interesting lines.

The third reason was to remind me to look up the actual name of the creek and check the map to see if the creek flows out the other side of the island. As it turns out, it’s not an actual creek. It’s what I can only describe as pond or swamp overflow. I’m sure the locals would have a better word for it.

I only wish I’d gotten a pic showing the shore around the watery anomaly. 🐸

October 20, 2021October 20, 2021

The Words Behind the Picture

Hey, y’all. Long time no posting, eh?

Things are going great, mostly. The not-so-great thing? I am STILL struggling to find my missing writer mojo. You know, that hard to describe thing that makes a person want to write. My writing muscle! I’ve apparently lost the desire to use it. I have also run out of rational explanations and plain old excuses to explain the problem.

Rather than waste any more time trying to understand why, I’m just going to move forward.

I figured I would try and ease my way back into blogging by combining two crafts that I enjoy; writing and photography.

Recently, I’ve come to realize that photography is really just a lazy way of capturing and sharing memories with people. When I look at one of my own nature photos, I “see” more than an image. I can usually remember the feeling of the place, too. And why I took the pic in the first place.

I’ve always just assumed others look at my images and experience the same thing. I figure people see my photos and either can see/understand why I took the shot or can at least appreciate the photo for its quality.

Turns out, I may have been wrong.

Right or wrong, as a form of exercise for that atrophied writing muscle of mine, I’m going to start doing posts about particular pictures. I can only share one image per post and I need to write something about the image. I’m thinking the writing will happen in the morning, so the pic may be from the day before. I may throw in some old pics, too.

The rules are loose and may change. Why create pressure? I want this to be fun for me and, hopefully, something others will enjoy, too.

Wish me luck as I struggle to get back into shape. 🐸

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We’ve been at our current location for about three weeks now. We are staying at a campground on the eastern end of Dauphin Island near the mouth of Mobile Bay in Alabama. The campground is adjacent to the beach AND an Audubon Bird Sanctuary. It’s also across the street from the Mobile Bay Ferry landing.

When we first arrived on this small barrier island and I visited the beach, I was delighted to see large bird footprints in the sand. I thought that meant this was a “wild” beach. As it turns out, those tracks were Harry’s. He is, indeed, a heron, but he’s not particularly wild. He is a regular on this beach. So much so, that campers know him by name. I see him on the beach often.

The other day, while walking around with my camera, I was taking pictures of a heron on the beach that I thought was Harry. I even said, “Hi, Harry,” as I snapped some pics.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, I heard some honk-squawking to my left and turned to see the real Harry gesturing wildly at me from the water’s edge.

That other heron was an imposter! Or an interloper. Maybe both.

Harry made some crazy poses for me and then, after I had had time to snag a few pics, took off.

He is a proud, handsome fellow, isn’t he? Not only did I capture a great pic, but a fun story, too.

April 26, 2020April 26, 2020

PMP Reveal #1: Eye Power

Last week, when I came up with the idea to do this weekly photo challenge, I was much more relaxed. I’d successfully completed four full work days, after a long(ish) two-month break. This week was harder, but it was hard in a good way. I feel like a lot of good lessons were learned.

Here’s another lesson… don’t waste energy making excuses. If you didn’t do something you were supposed to do, for whatever reason, just own it.

By that, I mean if you really feel like you have to explain yourself, just tell the truth. If there’s anything worse than a lame excuse, it’s a lie.

I did not set time aside to focus on this week’s PMP challenge.

There, I said it. Because I did not set time aside, I don’t have very good examples to share.

I’m actually more excited to see what others did than sharing what I captured.

PMP #1: Eye Power

Sometimes, eye contact is good. Sometimes, it isn’t. It can change the entire mood of an image. How well did folks do demonstrating the power of eyes in an image?

In the first image, my husband appears to be reading, peacefully.

In the second image, I asked him to look at the camera.

UPDATE: The theme for PMP2 is… Ground, Texture. I’m going to work on this one. 😊

Participants should comment below and include a link to this week’s images. Please link back to this post. Don’t forget to let others know that you saw their shots and, kindly, let them know what you think.

April 18, 2020April 20, 2020

PMP #1: Eye Power

Welcome to Practice Makes Perfect, ToadMama Edition. Or PMP, for short. My new, weekly, photo challenge.

Daughter, Shannon, inspired this challenge when she asked me for some photography practice tips. First, I tried wracking my brain for ideas. I got nothing. Then, I did a Web search for “photography practice tips” or something like that. That’s how I found this post, which has quite a few (40!) good ideas. I actually used a modified version of one of that author’s ideas for our first challenge. (I suspect I may be borrowing some more of those tips to use later on.)

But first, the PMP GUIDELINES:

1. Have fun.

2. Anyone can join. No demerits will be issued if you miss a week or ten.

3. Photos you share must be captured specifically for the challenge. That means you can’t use old images or even a recent capture that accidentally fits the theme. This “challenge” is not a contest. The primary goal is to get you taking more pictures. Other objectives are to get you thinking about making good photographs, learn how to use your cameras various settings and lenses (if you have a DSLR), learn basic photographic techniques that anyone can employ (framing, composition, etc.).

4. When sharing, link directly to your post or album (not your main blog URL, not your main Google Photos or Flickr feed, etc. I reserve the right to delete improper links.

5. You MUST link back to or share the address for my PMP page, to the current week’s post, or both.

6. I strongly encourage you to look at and comment on the work other participants choose to share. Who knows, you might make some new, like-minded friends.

7. Have fun. (Yes, repeating this rule was intentional. If you think of this as a chore, you might be wasting your time. Of course, it could start out as a chore then morph into something you look forward to and maybe even love!)

For now, I think Sunday morning is a good day to target for sharing. I’ll create a new PMP post on that day. Participants can add comments to that post sharing a link to their images.

That’s it for now. Lets just get started with the theme for this week…

Eye Power

Personally, I hate having my picture taken. I’m not sure why. And since I have been working on NOT always going down a rabbit hole to figure out the reason behind anything and everything, I will leave it at that. I don’t care why, I just know that I typically freeze when people ask me to pose for pictures.

I am definitely more-comfortable behind the camera than in front of the thing. That’s true for a lot of people, actually. So, how do you avoid the ole, very unnatural, deer-in-the-headlights stare? Shoot candids. (For the sake of speed, or perhaps a little Saturday morning laziness, I’ll rely on Wikipedia to explain what is meant by candid photography.)

The author of the PetaPixel post I referred to earlier said…

If I’m shooting candidly, I will get close to my subject, and take multiple photos, until they notice my presence. Then I wait for them to notice me, and then I take a photograph when they make contact. Then when I go home, I have the decision of choosing between two version of a photo: one with eye contact, and one without. Sometimes eye contact works better, sometimes it doesn’t.

Sometimes, eye contact is good. Sometimes, it isn’t. It depends on what mood or tone you are going for. If your main goal is just a nice photo of someone you love, have them sit and pose for a portrait. If you want a more-powerful image, have them get comfortable doing something they love and shoot them from a bunch of different angles. Have them look at the camera sometimes and then look away.

Be creative. Your “someone” could be a hated neighbor (captured from a safe distance, of course), significant other, your pet, the cow who lives across the street… whatever. Just experiment and see what you end up with.

I look forward to seeing the results. Happy shooting!

April 8, 2020April 8, 2020

Pretty in Pink

Yesterday, I ventured out into the world for provisions. I wore a mask and rubber gloves when I went into the doctor’s office to pick up a written prescription. I did not wear the gloves in all of the stores, but I did keep the mask on. I still stayed away from people, sanitized carts and hands, washed hands when I got home, etc.

As far as shopping goes, Costco seems to have things most under control (compared to other establishments). As much as they can, anyway. It was an awesome experience. They are limiting the number of people who can go in at any one time, spraying all of the carts with disinfectant before people can take them inside, making sure social distancing guidelines are being followed, limiting quantities on items people have been hoarding, etc.

I could only buy one bag of flour, but it was a 25-pound (just under 12 kg) bag!

I admit, being out and around people was creepy. Lots of folks are wearing masks now. There are still some who are not. Social distancing was being followed, which means the store wasn’t crowded and people were getting out of my way/not crowding me. Many businesses are closed. Supply chain disruptions mean temporary outages of some products. Overall, the mood seemed relatively calm. I guess people are adjusting to this new normal, which seems to change a little bit daily.

I am not stressed out about the virus. Maybe because I’ve spent the last few months learning how to be calm? LOL. That doesn’t mean I’m being irresponsible. I know I CAN catch it and am doing everything in my power not to get exposed.

This is such a surreal period in our lives. I really, truly believe that the world is going to be a better place once the crisis has passed. People are more aware of each other now, more in-tune with their surroundings. We have all had pieces of our lives changed, some more dramatically than others. This virus seems to threaten people of various ethnicities equally. People are starting to recognize the value of jobs like grocery store clerk, food delivery drivers, shelf stockers, etc. I believe a lot of folks may come out the other side of this with a different set of priorities.

There doesn’t seem to be a sense of panic. To me, it seems like people are aware, concerned, and doing their part in terms of minimizing contact with others. Are people I encountered hiding their fear and panic? Probably. Am I projecting the way I want to believe others are feeling and behaving? Maybe.

It’s okay to be scared. The trick is admitting that you’re scared, but continuing to function until the pandemic has passed.

I have a feeling the world is going to be a much nicer place once we get past the crisis stage has passed. Until then, I’m living one day at a time, enjoying every one of them as much as I can.

Yesterday’s highlight for me was getting a close look at a beautiful Pink Dogwood tree in a nearby yard. I even got a few pics to share.

There is a lot of beauty in the world if you take the time to look.

Have you ever watched the sky changing colors before, during, and after the sun rises or sets? For me, seeing sunrise or sunset is not just about watching the sun itself rise above or dip below the horizon, but observing how the entire sky changes, slowly, as the sun moves. Technically, it’s the Earth that’s moving, but I think y’all know what I mean.

And then there’s this sign.

What could they possibly be using? Is it a legit offer? Or scam to prey on peoples’ fears? I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s yet another creepy sign of the times.

Stay safe, friends. Be kind to yourself and your loved ones. Make the best of every day. This crisis will pass. I sincerely hope everyone reading this makes it through to the better world I believe is waiting for us.

June 28, 2018June 28, 2018

Worse Than I Thought

One thing I’ve always enjoyed about having a blog is being able to look back and see what happened, when it happened, etc. But I posted so infrequently over the past year that I can’t even do that! It’s sad, really. Not sad as in “OMG, I’m bawling my eyes out,” more like “damn, now I have to look back through old pics, e-mails, and/or calendar entries…” Gasp!

I am still unemployed. All the “spare time” I thought I might have has been nonexistent. I’ve been “working” full days looking for a job instead. I seriously want to find the perfect job for me, not just accept the first job that comes along out of desperation. I’m a big girl, I learn from past mistakes as well as previous positive experiences.

All “work” and no play makes for an unhappy ToadMama, though, so I’ll have to look for something interesting to post about.

In the meantime, here’s some visual interestingness for you.

Believe it or not, I don’t walk around looking at stuff, thinking, “OMG, I absolutely HAVE to take a picture. I have to share it with my gazillion fans. I must, I MUST! I have to get this online!” Stuff just catches my eye.

What can I say? I’m a visual person.

That’s probably why I so enjoyed my time in San Diego last year. All I had to do was work, take care of one small dog, and take care of myself. I stuck to my Eastern Standard Time schedule, so I had lots of free time most afternoons. The dog got walked a lot and I got to amble around looking at stuff, searching for SD’s best street tacos, sampling a wide variety of local craft beer, enjoying various beaches, etc. It was awesome.

Below are a few images that captured my eye. I have lots more, including a series of shots of the coolest “ART” sculpture(?) ever! That ART thing needs its own post.

Artelexia, a super-cool store in North Park.

San Diego is a really colorful place. I hope I get to explore in a similar fashion again!

I also hope y’all enjoyed that sneak peek.