8 Degrees of Meghan Markle

My cousin is getting married on Saturday! We aren’t able to make the wedding, unfortunately, and actually will probably not be able to watch the ceremony live (we will be visiting our newest grandson, Caleb!)- but we wish her well!

Yes, I’m talking about THAT wedding!

One of the benefits of working on genealogy for almost 30 years is that you know who your ancestors are- so,  when I saw an article on my iPhone’s CNN app naming Capt. Christopher Hussey (one of the original proprietors of Nantucket Island) as an ancestor of Meghan Markle, I must have gasped out loud- Christopher Hussey is my ninth great grandfather!

Since then, I have researched Meghan’s ancestry in order to place her in our family tree. We are actually both descended from Christopher Hussey’s daughter Mary Hussey and her husband Christopher Page. This makes us eighth cousins once removed (8C1R in genealogy lingo).

Here’s a screenshot from my genealogy program:

I actually tend to add famous people to my tree whenever I find a connection- just for fun.  I can’t say that I’m descended from anyone famous (Lonnie is one up on me, because he has a Mayflower ancestor. . .), but I do share DNA with quite a few names you’d recognize (including several presidents, writers, Hollywood people, and . . . a serial killer).  You likely have famous relatives too- perhaps Meghan Markle!

BTW, the title of this blog refers to the Kevin Bacon Game (6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon), which was a fad about 20 years ago, in case you forgot. And, not to be a name dropper,  BUT- I’m only a few degrees away from Kevin Bacon himself (through marriage not DNA, alas).

Ok- back to photography . . .

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In the Morning

We have been having extremely windy days recently! In fact, it was so windy that I couldn’t photograph flowers outside- so I propped this one in the window to get the best light I could. With the addition of three textures, I’m happy with the resulting image.

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Up to Speed

I remember taking this shot near Yuma, because I was attracted to the way the light was hitting the weeds at the lower left. But then when looking at the photo on the computer, it just seemed like another dusty, dry, shot of an unappealing landscape. It took me a couple years to get used to the harsh desert sunlight here, and this is one of those locations where I was fighting it all the way.

I decided this week to finally get up to speed on the major improvements that happened in Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw recently (specifically the addition of creative profiles to the basic panel). I was not a believer, because I have my usual workflow- and I didn’t see the point of changing. However, I watched tutorials by three of my go-to editing gurus, Matt Kloskowski, Blake Rudis, and Julieanne Kost and gave it a try. I was especially interested in what Blake had to say, because he never does much on the creative side with Camera Raw- he saves that for Photoshop and the plug-ins.

So. . . I used one of Matt K’s new Lightroom/ACR profiles (Crisp Warm) on this photo (plus some other Lightroom edits) and am pleased with the results. I like the way you can reduce the opacity of the profile, which I did here- and that the profiles don’t override the slider settings like presets do.  I also really like that you can access the same profiles in Camera Raw, which would allow me to use them in a layer in Photoshop and mask if I wanted. These changes haven’t rocked my world so far, but I can definitely see using this new feature.

 

 

 

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Not Even Close

It is finally Spring here in Prescott. The trees have leaves, our birds are building nests, flowers are in bloom, and cottonwood fluff is floating in the sky like snowflakes- playing havoc with everyone’s allergies. Our irises are blooming, but getting a satisfactory shot has been challenging. I tried several times and finally settled on this composition.  I took the image into Topaz Studio and ended up with a look that is not even close to my original image- but I like it better.


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Two Flags

Looking back at photos from my Vulture Mine excursion in November, I found quite a few that never made the blog- like the one below:

As I understand it, the company that now own the mine is Canadian- hence the maple leaf along with the stars and stripes.

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Just Passing Through

This guy came through my yard over the weekend and gave me a chance to have some Photoshop fun.

I played with Topaz Studio, which I am determined to actually learn to USE this summer. This preset is called bookbinder and, if I’m understanding this correctly, was one of a zillion filters developed by a “regular” person, someone in the Topaz community. I never ever ever use a filter over my whole image, but this time I did (although reduced opacity). Fun!

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In My DNA

Most people that know me can’t help but notice that I am obsessed with family history. It has been almost a lifelong obsession; even as a little girl I was drawing family trees. I’ve always loved to read, and any book that had a family tree at the front or back earned extra points from me.

It wasn’t until 2017 that I started looking into DNA as a research tool for genealogy. I had already had my DNA tested (and Lonnie’s too) at two different companies (23andme and Ancestry), but like many people, I didn’t realize the full potential of a DNA test to match you up with people you are related to. So last year, I used DNA to finally discover the true identity of Lonnie’s grandfather. That question is now settled (although it still needs the paper trail to confirm it), and I moved on to help Lonnie’s stepmother, Laura discover her birth family. That has proved especially difficult. Laura’s granddaughter and I have been working on it for seven or eight months and, despite having worked on it daily and accumulating a huge file of data and correspondence, we can only say we know she is descended from the Andrews, the Flintoms, the Clicks, the Bordos, and a bunch of other people. Laura’s daughter has again filed paperwork to obtain her mom’s adoption records, which appear to be missing. Keep your fingers crossed!

I’ve managed to squeeze in a small amount of time to work on my own family tree. It is very satisfying to find DNA matches who are descended from the same people that, over the years, I have identified and researched and placed in my tree. And wouldn’t you know that the same ancestors who are my “brick walls” (dead ends on a tree branch) are the same ones whose descendants don’t show up in my matches?!?

Along the way, I’ve uploaded our raw DNA files to Family Tree DNA, My Heritage, and Gedmatch and managed to learn how to use chromosome browsers (which are not part of the ancestry.com service). I can ballpark tell you how closely you are related to a DNA match by the number of centimorgans you share, and I understand how the X chromosome is helpful in determining how you are related to someone.  I knew none of this a year ago and can’t help but think all this work is good for my aging brain!

And how about the mug in today’s photo? It was a prize/gift from the head of a DNA group I’m a part of through our local genealogy society. I won it for being related to the most people in the group and for being the most enthusiastic!  DNA is frustrating, but fun!

Happy National DNA Day!!!

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Whimsical

Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right.

                                                           ~George Harrison

Today our final project is due in my photo group. The topic is whimsical, which has caused a lot of consternation and debate among some of the members. Our teacher included dreamy in his definition of whimsical, but I chose to bring a not particularly dreamy photo which has appeared on this blog previously in a not so whimsical form.

Here is the original photo, taken at sunrise from our driveway.

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