Day 45- Who’s in charge here?

A few days ago, I bought a modest bird feeder.  I hung it temporarily on our deck, because I couldn’t reach the tree branch- and wondered to myself if the squirrels might be able to reach it.  Yesterday, I noticed there was a LOT of birdseed under the feeder- and a bunch of little birds (sorry, don’t know what kind. . .) and a dove were having a great time pecking around the flower pots getting their fill of birdseed. Today, when I came home, I found an empty feeder and THIS. . .

I took this photo through the glass door.  It was hard to get a good shot of him- but look at the “starburst” in his eye.  That is not photoshopped in- I guess it’s a reflection of the glass door.  It was noon, so the lighting was difficult.

And then, all of a sudden, I noticed THIS (the photo is out of focus, but will give you an idea of what I am dealing with):

Two more squirrels were frolicking on the deck, around and over the plants and railings having a wonderful time.  Their tummies were full, and they were feeling oh so frisky.

I took this last shot before I opened the door, scaring them (temporarily) away.

I am NOT refilling the feeder until it is hung in a better spot.

Melinda3 Comments

Day 43- The joy of seeing. . .

The chrysanthemums beckoned today. . .

One of the things I’ve learned about my Project 365 this year is that it is OKAY (even GOOD!) to photograph something I have photographed before. Every time it is in a slightly different light or I am seeing it in a new way.  The joy of SEEING!

Melinda2 Comments

Day 42- Hearts

Hearts is the topic for today- aptly chosen, because today was our monthly Heart Math group. I looked around this morning for something heart-shaped and found these leaves from my pothos plant. I took a few photos before leaving for the day- and again when I returned and found that the changing light had added a new look to the leaves.

 

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Day 41- Sunset, Mums, and a Selfie

Sunset was beautiful last night.

This morning, I took these photos of some chrysantheMUMS- for the theme, starts with M (only a few days behind on that one. . .) . . .

 

and I also took this self portrait, yesterday’s challenge.  This is what I look like every morning when I look outside, wondering what in the world I will take a photo of today (except that I am usually in my jammies- and I already did a self portrait of me in jammies back in December).

 

Melinda3 Comments

Day 40- Head Shots

What fun I had today pretending I was a real photographer with my friends, Carolyn and Vicki!  They had asked me to do some head shots for them, and it was great practice for me. We had so much fun figuring out the best light and poses!

I was meticulous about doing custom white balance today, because I really dislike doing skin by the numbers in post processing. I still had to adjust skin tones a bit, but, because the white balance was consistent in each setting, I was able to “lift and stamp” the settings in Aperture 3 (this is the same as “sync” in Lightroom)- and I’m happy with the results.

Here are two of my favorites of Carolyn. . .

 

. . . and two of my favorites of Vicki.

 

 

 

Melinda4 Comments

Day 38- Rainy day flowers. . .and a berry

Hurray for rainy days- the first in a LONG time!  I doubt we have had an inch, but I know we need it.  The theme for yesterday was water, so I went out with the intention of capturing some raindrops on flowers.

Raindrops on a geranium bud

I got distracted by the stamens on my azalea blossoms and ended up focusing on them rather than the water drops.

I submitted yesterday’s blackberry photo to my Flickr critique group for the topic, negative space. It was criticized for not having enough negative space, for the negative space being white, for not showing the whole berry, and for having a shallow depth of field (which was a deliberate choice I made for that image).

I went back and found this photo from yesterday which I do like, except I don’t like the shape of the berry.  I submitted this one to the group- the jury is still out. . .

Melinda4 Comments

Day 37- Macroberry

I’m back on track with Macro Monday. This was an easy one- the blackberry left in the bowl. The only decision beyond white balance was depth of field.  I chose a shallow DOF for this one; only the top is in focus. Oh- and another choice I made was to go with a high ISO, allowing any grain present after noise reduction to just BE.

f/4.5, 1/80, ISO 1250 85mm

Melinda2 Comments

Day 36- New

It’s houseplant macros today! I was trying to capture the new growth on my bamboo and ivy plants. The bamboo (first photo) is also being submitted for the challenge, six, because I was photographing a cluster of six leaves, although the shallow depth of field makes this hard to see.

Melinda1 Comment

Day 35- Dedication

Today’s topic is dedication.

My parents were part of the Depression and World War II generation- the greatest generation some say. My father was supposed to be too old to join up when the Unites States entered World War II, but he volunteered for service, serving in the Pacific aboard the USS Ajax, a hospital ship, as a dentist.  He remained in the Naval Reserve until he retired as a lieutenant commander.

This photo is of a tiny plank presented to him when the Ajax was decommissioned.

Melinda2 Comments

Day 34- Rerun

Last year I recorded our plum tree’s first blossoms, which opened on Day 39. This year we missed the first blossoms, which appeared while we were in Kansas.  We returned on Day 32, so the first blossoms opened about a week earlier this year than last. Is this a normal variation- or a response to the lack of winter weather we are experiencing?

 

Melinda2 Comments

Day 32- Handle With Care

Handle With Care is today’s theme.

We flew home tonight. It wasn’t too many years ago that my carry-on contained clothes, magazines, and make-up.  Now it has my laptop, kindle, camera, lenses, and all the technology items needed to support these products. I definitely need to find a better solution than the system I am currently using.

This is my rolling laptop bag, in which I have put inserts from my regular camera bag to carry an extra lens, the speedlight, and the camera wrapped in a fleece jacket (!)- in addition to the laptop, cords etc.  Yikes! After arriving at my destination, I add my camera and 35mm lens to my Lowepro bag, which I use as a purse.  Eventually, I think I will have to get a rolling camera bag that will also fit my laptop.

Melinda1 Comment