Imagine That…

I actually got to ride my motorcycle yesterday. Can you believe it?

Golden Moment

I actually have quite a few more pictures to share, but it’s just too nice a day to squander it sitting here tied to the computer.

Instead, I’ll leave you with something to look forward to. 🙂

Happy Fall Sunday!

It’s Not the Camera

I’ve mentioned before how people have made comments about my camera being responsible for the quality of my images. You know, “I love your pictures. I need a camera like yours.”

So when I saw this quote recently, I knew I just HAD to share it here…

It was actually a couple of weeks ago that I saw this quote. Back when my blog wasn’t working properly and I couldn’t post pictures. So I don’t remember where exactly I saw it.

But speaking of pictures… I can’t believe not one person commented about the naked man in the video I posted yesterday.

Maybe everyone thought it was just some dumb weather video? Perhaps I should have said, “make sure you watch for the naked man!”

Or, perhaps everyone was so shocked at the inappropriateness of it all that they just could not comment.

I’m attributing it to the dumb weather video syndrome.

On another note… my posts may be a bit unusual over the next couple of weeks. Hubby and I will be traveling all over Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana with our dear Belgian friends. Shannon will be joining us for a few days in Colorado. I’m going to try posting from my smart phone. You know, the one that’s way smarter than me? Fingers crossed it works. If not, I’ll have my computer along, too. I just thought I’d warn you so you didn’t think the blog was broken again.

The Art of Photography

Photography to me is capturing images of the way I see things. Light. Color. Critters. Dog expressions. That sort of thing. It’s simple stuff. But that’s what I enjoy. That’s my idea of art. Others may not find my images all that unique. Perhaps they’re not. But it’s still the way I see things. Like this purple coneflower…

Purple Coneflower Bloom (SOOC)

That bloom must be six inches across. The flower itself is like four feet high. The size impressed me. So I wanted a shot where the bloom filled the screen. I love the color, too.

Once I saw the image on the screen, I decided to tweak it a bit. Subtly at first.

Purple Coneflower Bloom (darkened edges)

All I did was darken the edges a bit. Maybe you can’t even tell a difference?

Then I decided to add some texture. I’ve seen people do some really cool stuff with texture. It takes practice. It’s yet another thing I don’t have the time I need to invest to master.

Purple Coneflower Bloom (with texture)

The result isn’t all that great. I told you, I need more practice. That’s not the point I’m trying to get at though. What I’m trying to say is that photography can also be about image manipulation. Post-processing (doing things to an image after it comes out of the camera) is one method. Creative scene making is another method.

I don’t even know if that’s how you’d describe what’s being done here. But I just had to share this bit of image manipulation/scene making/staging I stumbled across today that I absolutely LOVED.

This image speaks volumes to me.

Dear Photograph, Thank you for everything we had. @jonathanstampf

It is one of many intriguing images from a blog called Dear Photograph, a new site where folks take photos of old images in the same present-day location. It’s hard to explain. This Happy News article does a much better job.

Here’s another example.

Dear Photograph. We had nothing, but you gave me everything. Thank you for your never ending love. I love you Dad. @okfollowheather

 

The first Dear Photograph image I shared doesn’t need a caption. In my opinion. It’s clear who the subject is in that one.

The second one does need a caption. I can’t tell just by looking who is speaking, although now that I look again, the green nail polish would have been a giveaway.

Mastering image manipulation software and having an eye for what changes to make are one thing.

This sort of image making takes real thought. Not only that, it’s way more powerful. Maybe because the subjects are people instead of flowers?

Kudos to the people who thought this one up and to the submitters who have done such a great job carrying the idea forward.

Here’s one more image that doesn’t need a caption. It speaks loud and clear all by itself.

If you’ve got some free time, have a look at Dear Photograph. Do some of those images really move you? Or does it feel like cheap, photographic trickery?

Quiet Woods

I’ve enjoyed my week here at the WV place. It’s been very quiet. Work has actually been uneventful (no crazy deadlines). I managed to get some stuff done and still enjoy some quiet time with the dogs.

I love walking with the dogs here at the WV place. They REALLY enjoy being able to run, sniff, cavort, roll in stinky stuff, etc. And I just like watching them and observing.

Today I thought I’d give you some random images of things that caught my eye. With little commentary. So you can enjoy your own bit of “quiet.”

Moth on Stump

 

Moth from Different Angle

 

Woodpecker Snack Bar

 

What's Wrong With This Picture?

 

Crazy Climbing Dog

 

Little Lady

 

Respite

 

Born to Run

 

Two Hungry Ladies

 

Walking

 

Running

 

Waiting for Mama to Catch Up

 

On the Move Again

 

Ferns

 

Pretty Purple Surprise

 

Young Helicopters

 

I hope you enjoyed this quiet glimpse into my world.

What did you see in your world today?

Argh! Hosting Woes

I do have lots of pics to share from NYC. And a couple of stories. But I’ve been having some technical difficulties that are driving me crazy.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve noticed that my host (GoDaddy.com) has been REALLY slow. Painfully slow. So slow, that blogging here has become quite a pain in the ass.

It’s sporadic, but has become more and more frequent of late.

Any of you notice any slowness here? Or is it just me and the admin access?

I think I am ready to find a new host. Anyone have any recommendations for a good WordPress host?

There is one picture I have to post. My male readers won’t enjoy it nearly as much as all of the girls who tune in. But I’m going to post it anyway. Because I can.

It’s just an ad I saw while sitting in traffic in New York City. Actually, it was a fairly large billboard-type thing affixed to a building.

Urban Distraction

I don’t usually shoot images for the purpose of photoshopping them. But when I saw this guy, I thought it might look cool to over-saturate (add lots of extra color) the red bricks.

I sort of like the end result. How about you?

Picture-perfect Easter Greetings

After what has seemed like days/weeks of rainy/cold/otherwise crappy weather, today’s weather is picture-perfect. Yesterday was, too, as you’ll see in the images I have shared below.

Another very cool Graphics Fairy image.
Happy Easter!

I may have started with “all is right in the world” except for one thing. We got word yesterday that my Dad’s oldest brother, Bob, passed away. We knew it was coming (based on other news we’d received earlier in the week), but it is still very sad. My heart is definitely heavy on this lovely Easter morning.

We’re at the WV Place (surprised?). We spent most of the day yesterday trying to finish up all the little projects hanging over our heads. Hubby did the last bit of drywall finishing because he got tired of hearing me whine about it. I started hanging the slate tiles on the half wall that flanks the kitchen. There’s one little spot remaining on that wall, and then there’s another little piece of wall to do. I’ll finish that today before heading back to MD.

Hubby made me a fabulous breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and biscuits. It was delicious. Isn’t it funny how food always tastes so much better when someone else cooks it for you?

All of my girls are waiting patiently for their morning stroll. And it’s such a nice day, I’m pretty anxious to get out there myself. But first, here are some very Spring pictures I captured yesterday…

Redbud

(I hope you’re not tired of seeing the Redbuds yet!)

Dogwood Tree
Turkey Hollow Road (our "street")

Dogwood & Redbuds
Dogwood

Here a a couple good pictures of the girls. (Post wouldn’t be complete without them!)

Meg (it was her turn to get dirty this weekend)
K and Belle

I hope you and your family have a lovely Easter.