Category: Thoughts and Reflections

Self-Portrait On My Fiftieth

There has been very few new photo-ops for me as of late. I have been somewhat busy getting the house ready for the approaching winter. Oh, and working. A lot. Today I had planned on chasing the last of Autumns colors and take a nice walkabout with The Bride on this my Fiftieth Birthday. That did not happen because I had to work due to inventory. The upside is I have a job and the house is ready as it can be for the soon the be here winter. The down side is I have no recent images to post.

So what is a person supposed to do? Since winging it is my default mode,  here is a self-portrait of how most people see me. For all of my followers out there, both of you, here is my self-portrait. Enjoy!

Rust At Dusk

I know am not alone in this but when I look at old rusting and rusty things I see beauty. I sense the story that time has etched upon such things. I see life though I do know nothing last forever. So to honor that story I shot a series of photo of rusty old things on our place.

And now I present to you Rust At Dusk!

This an old fence line on our place. At one time it held within its arms a small herd of cattle. Later a small band of wonderfully delightful donkeys kept it company.
A close up of one the post who watched over our place and it’s visitors.
A hinge on the old barn on our place.

Another One Bites The Dust

I am not afraid of extra long post titles nor for that matter run on sentences. As the last one proves that point very nicely. The title is about my recent cameras possible demise. You see my PowerShot S3is had a critical lens error because the motor for the lens burnt out. My PowerShot G3 died last week due to the camera’s card reader pins breaking/bending so the card will not go in all the way. Lastly but the not lest is the fact my PowerShot SX260 HS took a swim with the fishes. Well not really the fishes but in the cats water bowl. What is tragic funny about this is it was one of my the cats who did the deed. It is on rice right at this moment and I will let you know if it truly is dead. So you see it seems another one bites the dust!

Till the next time here is a few from the past week. Enjoy!

A Red Admiral Butterfly on the Hummingbird feeder.
The wind was gusting, as it does here in October, as I took this picture. Wind makes taking pictures of Wildflowers and foliage a challenge but not impossible. I simply timed the shot as the flower reached its greatest flex point. I took this right before it “bounced” back to where it stood before the wind blew.
I have a rough time with the color Red as far as my photo skills go. I hope I get to tackle that issues still again with this camera!

Beauty From The Day

I am a partial to Autumn and all its’ wondrous smells, chills and color shape shifting skills. So today I took a few on the fly shots of the last of Summers almost as wondrous Beauty. Enjoy!

This little bee was a bonus in this picture. Though I get the feeling he was giving me the “What are you looking at? “stare.
I tried the digital end of my zoom out on the PowerShot SX260. This Monarch came out pretty good, though it was hard to keep it stable, at the long end of the zoom.
This Indian Blanket is beautiful till the end.

 

 

Streets of Color

Today The Bride and I had the privilege to attend the street festival called Via Colori. Both the painters (and I) got a late start  on the day because of early morning rains but all is well that ends well. I am posting a few pics tonight and tomorrow on the blog a little something different for me. I was nominated for The Sunshine Award by Rise and Shine and will be posting it later in the day.  Till the next time: Enjoy!

As you can see there was a wide range of subjects on display. As in life variety adds many hues and colors to the canvas and palates of our lives!

Take The Shot

As a hack photographer I am blessed to have a supportive wife in this my photo blogging journey. I am blessed by those who follow, like and comment. I am blessed with having several cameras I can choose from. I am blessed at how wonderful my point and shots are. But all that means nothing if I did not follow through and do one thing: Take the shot.

The two following photos are examples of what I am talking about. One, the Rose, I took the photo in the full on midday sun. No filters were involved in the taking of this photo. I have been told midday sun is bad. Me? I went with my default setting: Take the shot.

The Thistle was taking early morning but almost facing the sun. I took it with my pops FujiFilm S700 he is loaning me. I wanted to catch the dew on the Thistle but knew my pops camera does macro only so-so. Once again I went with my default: Take the shot.

We can always wait for perfect equipment, the perfect weather, setting and such but life is oh, so very short so just take the shot.

Taken with my pop’s FujiFilm S700
Taken with my pops FujiFilm S700. Notice how  the dew looks like ringlets?

Good Enough

I am usually happy with most of my photos but I have struggled with my “stuff” since I started using my pops FujiFilm FinePix S700. Added to the learning curve of an unfamiliar camera is a few more health issues within the Family. My mother-in-law has been sick and has been hospitalized for several days now. It just keeps getting better and better I tell you.

As I make small but important times of quite, I also try to squeeze in a few shots here and there as well. As I look through my stuff and gather a few to post I have made the following observations:(1) I have less to choose from since my time has been limited and I take just a hand full of shots each time. (2)  They are not very good and (3) I am o.k. with that. We do not always get what we want but I have learned to enjoy what I have been given, within the space and time I have, and to find the joy in it. It really is good enough.

 

Needing Some Pretty

As I sit here looking around the faceless landscape of my moms ER room, with the ever-present hums of medical equipment and the cooling system, I reflect on many things. One is how is the canvas of my life going to look when she is gone. Bigger yet how is it going to look while she is still here. Cancer is an ugly beast and the death it brings is usually more so. This is, I am relatively sure, going to be one of a series of visits till what will be will be. We need some pretty about right now.

I showed mom some photos I have taken and stored on my old lap top to kill a little time. The Mac is old but I am grateful to have it  as a diversionary tool from the reality we are walking through right now. The following picture is one she liked because it was pretty. We are needing us some pretty right now.

Picture by The Jagged Man