Steeple

I am amazed at how many different styles of steeples there are, I came across this simple gold cross atop of a steeple.

My favorite photo of the day-Springtime

I had to go out this morning and take photos of various landmarks around town anywho, this is my favorite shot of the day. Found this spot yesterday with the help of a friend and went back today. Not the best light but I worked with what I had. About an hour earlier or much later today would have been better but that's life.

Weed

Kids love 'em, gardners hate 'em.

Donny

Meet the newest member of our family, Donny. Well actually this photo is more to show the beauty of his shell. One of my offspring returned from college with this little creature. He evidently found him on the pathway lost and far away from water and has taken it upon himself to care for Donny. I share this with you so you can see the ornate nature of his shell. Absolutely beautiful and the bottom is pretty cool too.

Living in the Country

I often refer to the location of our home as living in the country and there is a reason for that. We actually live smack dab in the middle of the big city but our block was one of the last blocks developed and the house across the street was one of the last houses to be built in our block. The family that owned all the land in our block actually use to own all of the land as far as the eye can see in all directions. The son that owned all of our block kept the two lots next to his house until the late 70's early 80's. I grew up just a few blocks away but always felt like the block I currently live in was in the country. Well today after a huge rain storm blew through I looked out my front window to find this beautiful creature trying to find worms in our yard. It is a yellow crowned night heron. Not sure where it came from but it made my day.

White Balance Nightmare

I got a little bored the other night during a lacrosse game and decided to take a photo of the light standard against the blue sky. After looking at it I now know why white balance can be a nightmare at stadiums. Look at the different color temps of the the actual bulbs. Supposedly they are looking into improving the lights at our stadium which would be nice and not so nice all at the same time. Nice because we could actually get photos without a flash of a running back making a dive into the endzone and see his face, or capture that very common airborne catch in the corner of the endzone. Both photos are near impossible with the light dropping off at about the 5 yard line causing the endzone to be pitch dark. The reason the coaches have gotten behind this is the receivers say they can't see the ball in the dark endzone.

Why you ask did I say it would be not so nice, well because as it is now you have to have an idea of how to work a camera to get a good photo and with great lighting everyone will decide putting their camera on sports mode they can capture an award winning photo translating into even more crowded sidelines. In the mean time I have a much bettter appreciation of the bad lighting after seeing the bulbs in action.

Unexpected Beauty

I have been trying to turn over a new leaf and keep the house clean but today I found a bonus from being a day or too late to toss what was some beautiful tulips. The bonus was I found them to be absolutely gorgeous as they were shrivelling up. They appeared to me at least to look like art created with broad brush strokes. You just never know where beauty will appear next.

Waddler

Thought for the day...Even when you waddle they can't help themselves they have to stop and watch your back end.

Childhood Memories

We all have them, things that instantly transport us back to more simple times of our childhood. It might be a restaurant, a book, a song, a special food or a smell. The restaurant that every child I grew up with would relate to was a place called Jaimie's ( Not exactly sure of the spelling) but the cool thing about it was it was a special place we only got to experience on big days like birthdays. To get service you would raise a little flag on a rope on a pulley system, it was always one of my favorites until it experienced a fire and I sort of remember it being rebuilt or moved or something, but it was never the same.

One wonderful thing about this time of year, besides my birthday is that my neighbor has honeysuckle growing all over his fence. When I was younger, our elementary school fence was also covered in honeysuckle, we all loved to suck the honeysuckle juice from the blooms. The minute the honeysuckle begins to bloom I remember those days I would stand by the school fence enjoying the smell and the taste of honeysuckle. Where has all the time gone?

Gone to the Dogs

Well I suppose you could say this place has gone to the dogs but I just couldn't help myself, so I am posting this image because I like it and it sort of freaks me out. Enjoy!

Wild Dog

Playing around the other day and found myself trying odd things. The dog was running wild due to the airsoft gun just out of the yard being shot by kid. The dog refused to sit still anywhere near me but I caught her standing still and shot her through a bush. Not the basic photo but I think I like it, throw in there the special lens I used to keep only the dog in focus and everything else is softly thrown out of focus. Didn't have too much else to post so her she is, my wild dog.

Details Again

I know I keep hammering this home but details are all around us and in general we never notice them. There I stood at a fairly exciting softball game with beautiful light and all of the sudden I noticed the ball that had been thrown down after a third out. It wasn't so much the ball but the whole scene that caught my eye.

Simple and yet there is something there.

Pleasant Accidents

Sometimes in life you set out to do something but you you find yourself with a final result which is not what you intended and it becomes a pleasant surprise. That is exactly what happened today. Playing around with some fresh flowers I discovered my first shot to be totally different from what I intended but I kind of like, what do you think?

Vacation Reflection

I made this friend of mine stand still for a moment specifically to catch what I thought was an interesting image in his glasses. The best part is that it was pretty bright on the beach and my vision any where from my eyes to my finger tips is not quite what it use to be so I really didn't see the detail that was captured in the glasses until I downloaded the file. The empty morning beach, the beautiful blue ocean and sky. I apologize for my reflection ruining the scenery but the rest of the scene was so pretty and the glasses reflection worked just as I had hoped it would.

Poppies

I love poppies, there is something about a flower that is so bright and cheerful and yet so dainty. Poppies have that crepe paper look about them and yet as the wind blows they dance with joy.