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I Made Something Interesting

The other day, I was lamenting the fact that I’d missed posting for two days because nothing interesting had happened. Shannon, my oldest, said I should try to make something interesting happen.

She was right. The problem is, I couldn’t think of an interesting thing to make happen.

Instead, I just made something interesting. In a Flickr interestingness kind of way. That is, an everyday thing I could photograph that would be cool because of the colors, and the angles, and the light (if I am lucky). Not to mention the fact, that not a lot of people would think to take pictures of…


… my lunch fixin’s!

I was hungry. Short on time, too. So I decided to multi-task.

I am not mimicking the Pioneer Woman! Although I do enjoy her blog. And she does inspire me to take lots more pictures. I am not sharing my recipe, though. Just my ART.

The tomatoes were given to me by my Dad Tuesday night. They’re home-grown. Store-bought tomatoes, even the vine-ripened ones, never look this red.

Seriously. Doesn’t that look like a yummy tomato?

Nothing says “summer” like home-grown tomatoes. Except maybe corn on the cob. And steamed blue crabs. And snowballs. And frozen blue margaritas! And eating Dolle’s caramel popcorn on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland…

Um, moving right along.

I realize letting you see the salt and pepper is dangerously close to divulging my recipe. But I think the close-up is cool. It is sooooo red and juicy. Can’t you just taste it?

It was fabulous. Simple, but still fabulous. I forgot to mention I was having potato chips on the side, too. With a glass of ice-water to wash it all down.

Maybe something interesting will happen to me tomorrow…

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Crap


BATMAN PT.3
Originally uploaded by kingkong21

I haven’t posted anything for two days. TWO whole days. Sorry. Have you missed me?

Not much has happened that is worth blogging about. Nevertheless, not wanting to make it three days with no post, I decided to look at Flickr this morning for a cool picture to post.

It never ceases to amaze me the things people like to take photos of. Like this Batman toy looking at what certainly appears to be a pile of poo. (Of course, this person may find my nature photos strange.)

The same person took this photo, too, which also features crap, but which I also find oddly appealing. It is odd, but I like it better than this one posted by a different person. Here’s a really cool shot by yet another person.

I found them all on Flickr’s “interestingness” area.

Hopefully something interesting will happen to me soon! Till then, thanks for stopping by!

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It’s Just Nature, Baby.

So, in yesterday’s post, I told you I had lots of nature pics to share. I was going to post them all here. That is until I realized I had more than 30 to share. Even I think that’s a lot of pics for a blog. And I’m a photo nut.

Anyway… I also mentioned the soldier beetle yesterday. Why? Well, ’cause they’re in lots of my pictures.

I was walking with the dogs at our WV place, camera in hand, enjoying the very tall, yellow wildflowers growing in abundance along our driveway. Along the road, too. Me being me, I took a closer look and saw this.

Not too remarkable, eh? Then I saw this.

Um, well, me being me, of course I thought to myself, “Heh, heh, look. Bug sex.” (There’s a kid in all of us you know.)

So I kept looking. The more I looked, the more bug sex I witnessed.

There are lots of yellow flowers. And there were copulating bugs on just about every flower I saw.

Going to town.

I was amazed. Not just at the numbers, but how densely congregated they were.

Next year, I’m thinking there will be lots of baby soldier beetles.

This wider-angle view might give you a better idea as to how many active couples there were.

That one branch of ONE plant, had more than a dozen active couples (go ahead and click on the picture for a close-up, you know you want to).

And there are hundreds of plants! It wasn’t just soldier beetles, either. Check this out…

Amazing. I’d stumbled upon a bug orgy. And I couldn’t resist photographing all of it. Now I feel, well, sort of dirty.

The session wasn’t really all about graphic images of bug sex, but practicing close-up shots. I’m amazed how clear the pictures turned out. Considering I was holding the camera in my hand with no tripod and there was a slight breeze.

Here are a few more cool ones…





If you want to see the entire collection, visit my “Nature” album on Picasa. The SLIDESHOW is the fastest way to see the pics. You can also click on any of the photos above to see a larger view.

I hope you enjoyed the show!

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New Beginnings

Yesterday was a big day in the ToadMama household. A big, big day. The beginning of a new chapter in Hubby’s life. He started his new job. And, even after only one day of orientation, he thinks he’s really going to like it.

“I met about 50 people today,” Hubby reported, as he was telling the family about day one. “And they were all really excited about me joining. It’s been a long time since anyone was excited about having me work for them.”

That just reiterates the fact that his former employers were idiots. It was WAY past time for him to get out of there.

On another front… I do have lots of pics to share from this past weekend. But not enough time right now to get them all posted. So I’ll just share a few. They’re all nature photos. I like nature. And since this blog is letting you experience the world through my eyes, well, here’s the kind of stuff I see.

First, a big, fat toad. He (or she, I didn’t look THAT closely) was on our porch in WV two evenings in a row.


Next, a pretty neat butterfly picture. That’s a SOLDIER BEETLE flying in the background. More on that later this week…


Here’s my favorite ladybug pic. Entomologists call them lady beetles, but that just sounds stupid. “Ladybug” rolls off the tongue better. I think it sounds more natural, too.


And the final bit of nature for today is just another butterfly picture. It’s not a super close-up or anything, I just like the composition of the picture and the vibrant colors.


I hope you enjoyed today’s nature shots. Trust me when I say there are MORE nature shots yet to come. And a weird story, too. I’ll try to get that posted tomorrow.

P.S. – Did anyone notice anything strange about the family photo from my Local Photoshop Disasters post? I thought for sure at least one person would comment…

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Seeing Life from Different Angles

Most folks who read this blog already know me. And know how much I like to take pictures. I hesitate to call myself a “photographer” because I think of photographers as professionals who make money from their craft. “Amateur photographer” might fit. Or “aspiring photographer” maybe.

Shannon, one of my biggest fans, disagrees. She says if I take pictures like I do, I’m a photographer.

I doubt I’ll ever make money at it, but I do enjoy photography. I like looking at pictures, too. A lot. That’s what I like about Web sites like Flickr. You get to look at all kinds of images, good and bad, from people all over the world. It is a great way to learn.

One of the coolest aspects of photography is that it makes you look at the world in a different way. Here’s a good example for you (it is someone else’s picture, so just follow the “example” link). Who looks at leaves that closely? Me. Because I see what others have done using leaves in images.

The lady who took that photo has a whole set of pictures I think you might enjoy. She has titled the set, Phoetry. A great name, if you ask me, because pictures like those in her set have the power to take me away, even if for just an instant, and let me appreciate simple beauty.

Here are some pics from another person, a guy in this case. He calls his collection, Rural Poetry. Another apt descriptor.

Then there are shots like this one from a lady who likes taking pictures of her pet rat.

If you are bored one day and have time to kill, take a look at Flickr. You can start at my page, if you like. Or the Flickr home page. It is easy enough to navigate around. I bet you find at least one shot that moves you (if so, send me the link), probably more.

I hope you have a great Tuesday!

PS – I did walk yesterday and plan to do something today, too. If you were wondering…

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Mind Like a Sieve

I forgot to walk today. Or do any other form of exercise. Seriously. I got so carried away with work, it totally slipped my mind. That’s dedication. Commitment.

It is more like stupidity, really. How can work occupy my mind THAT much? It wasn’t just work, though. There were other distractions, too. Sherree, the wonderful lady that cleans my house, was here today. And CeCe had diarrhea. And I had to go to the pharmacy to get some prescriptions filled. I had to eat lunch, too.

So exercise slipped my mind. Jeez…

I have some pictures to share, which is why I logged on to my Blog in the first place. The first one is a neat one, un–PhotoShopped (except for cropping) that I had forgotten about. Until it popped up on Hubby’s computer screen. His screensaver is a program that cycles through photos.

It was one of those things I saw, and liked. So I took a picture. It makes a really cool photo, doesn’t it? This really is a good example of the world through my eyes. I am always looking at shapes, and lighting, and color contrasts, etc.

Here’s another picture I took. This one is PhotoShopped a bit. I cropped it. And made the sky bluer.

The SOOC version, except that I cropped it, too, is below.

The difference isn’t too dramatic, but it does make a difference. The bluer sky makes the building stand out more. The red bus adds a nice splash of color to the picture.

So which version do you like better? The one I blued-up or the SOOC shot? (Remember, SOOC = straight out of camera, i.e., unedited.)