"Storybook" Style

Akron, Ohio has many houses built in the "Storybook Cottage" style. Chuck's, in Ellet, is one of them. Steep gable, box bay windows, deep trim. He had it painted soft green with cream trim, inspired by a house in Kent. Looks quite cute and very much in keeping with the style.

I wonder how homeowners would feel about having me take photos of their Storybooks for a project...

Ice Tea & Mountain Dew

Must be Thursday night at Panera. Come and visit if you're ever in Stow, Ohio on Thursday night - we'll be at the table just inside the door, under one of the gold lamps. Nikon S550

Feb. 18 - The View From Here

A rather blue day at work - crises everywhere, and not a single reasonable solution to be found. Nikon s550. At least it's yoga night...

Love the S550, missing the D60. Maybe this weekend...

Feb. 17 - Crock Pot Chicken

This probably forever disqualifies me from Food Photographers of America. We went to see "He's Just Not That Into You" and the chicken ended up somewhat over-cooked. The movie was fun, and we laughed a lot over dinner with some of Chucks friends from work. And dumped in a salad with Italian dressing, the chicken's not too bad. Nikon S550 - horrors!: auto and flash!

26 Things - Terrifying

I love being an adult - Just not today... Nikon S550, dirge playing in background, as I approached the endoscopy lab with dragging footsteps and a heavy heart. Well, not for a another ten years, and by then , maybe the prep will justbe a faded memory (HAH!)

A Favorite Photo of Chuck

Taken June 29, 2008, at the Akron Zoo. He was messing with his camera - I love how intent he looks.

26 Things - Valentine

A rose from my honey. He gave me the sweetest note, too. D60, ss 1/3, f4.2, ISO 400.

February 14, 2009 - Racoon Tracks

Yesterday was a good day for a ride - quiet, light snow, comfortably cold. Most of the snow from the last few weeks had melted, and small animal tracks were visible in the mud. S3IS. Lost the ring from the lens end, and the cap doesn't fit. Hope I can find another.

26 Things - Squishy is "Puffy"

Mike and Jody's cat, Squishy. He was once chubbier and was able to squish through small spaces, which is why, according to Joseph, he is nicknamed Squishy.

Nikon S550 P&S. There's a brown chair leg in the bg plus Chuck's beat up sneak, so I went sepia. Adjusted levels and chose a dark brown in the color picker, chose adjust curves and colorize. Used the same color in a solid color adjustment layer, selected most of the layer with a 50 pixel feather and deleted the selection to get the vignette.

Love

My Honey at Panera tonight. Not only is he cute, he's tech support, too. Nikon S550. Boosted the contrast and saturation a bit, since I had to use the flash. Couldn't transfer photos from my card to my laptop, so he dumped them to his, moved them to one of his jump drives so I could use them. Since we had 4 jump drives between us, and chose Panera for dinner because they have wifi, I believe we qualify for geekdom.

Tough day at work today, 25 or so people laid off. We still don't know who, or what facilities. I hope the company offered a decent safety net. The first company I worked for had regular layoffs - they'd cycle through the divisions, one a year. Of course, the average tenure there was about 2 years - it wasn't a warm, human place. More like a barracuda tank, actually. This is the 2nd layoff my current employer's been through in the 17 years I've been here. While I hope it's the last, the economy is so bad, we may face this again next quarter.

February 11, Windstorm

Tall grass around my lamppost, being whipped by last night's wind. Nikon s550 P&S. This one was hand held, no flash. Much clearer with flash, but sooo static and cold.

26 Things - Indulgence

Mmmmm, kitchen chemistry. I never used to like brownies but I've deliciously come to my senses - anyone want to share?

ss 1/1.6; f4; ISO 200; no flash (love that nikon remote!).

February 9, 2009: Hope

Went outside last night to take some shots of my shed (it's cute, the photos weren't). Wandered around the yard for a bit, then saw this shoot. It's from one of my Grandma Wilk's peonies. It means there's hope that spring will come. I wonder if Grandma used to wander her garden and check under last year's withered foliage to see what was coming up.

Moon from My Drive

Right from my drive. Nikon D60, ss 1/500, f5.6, ISO 200.

26 Things - Weathered and Bottom, and a Reflection

Out riding with the S3IS. Set it for "snow", worked out ok, would've liked to see a little more texture in the snow - it was ~2 pm, so the light was too high for that. Pleasant ride, though some snowmobilers were out polluting the air with motor whine and gas. After riding for years through the same fields and woods, gasoline smell is really obtrusive.

I don't expect to smell anything except mown hay, leaves, and whatever's blooming. Of course, nothing could dampen my pleasure in the sounds and sight of melt. Water was running everywhere. I liked the shot above, not just for the reflections of the forest, but for the deer tracks on the bottom of the streamlet.

February 6, 2009: Geese

Came home at lunch to find a flock of Canadas in my side yard. They'd walk a couple of steps, then flop down in the snow, get up walk a couple more, flop again. Very cold - maybe they were trying to keep their feet warm. Found these track in my driveway, Geese aren't very fastidious, so I had to position this shot just so.

Amaryllis Farm #1

I cut the amaryllis down in mid-January, so they are going to be very late blooming. There are about 15 bulbs potted up in the light stand in the basement. They don't all bloom each year, but they are gorgeous when they do. They're going to get a little more fertilizer this year and maybe some time outdoors while they're actively growing - I'd like to see if I can get the bulbs a little plumper for next year's bloom season.

SS 1/8, f8, ISO 100

An Indulgence After Yoga

Egg drop, shrimp roll and a fortune cookie from King Dragon. Mmmmmm...
Shutter 1/4 s, f3.5, ISO 100, no flash. Bumped the ISO to 400, but didn't like the shot as well.

$10 Worth - And a Lot of Road Grime

One of the many surprising things about modern life is the price of gas. When oil prices rise gas goes up twice as much. When oil prices drop, gas goes up a random amount. Mystifying.

Looks like I might want to get the car washed sometime soon...

February 2, 2009 POTD

Not really happy with this. Took it after work, looking down the snow ravine that used to be my drive way. It will be lovely to have more than a couple of minutes of light after work...

26 Things - Hole

Yesterday was a gorgeous day for riding - warm (45!) and partly sunny. This is for the 2Peas 26 Things challenge. Taken with my Canon S3IS.

Project 365 1/15 - 1/21, 2009

Week 3. I didn't post the picture of the child originally, because, first, I have no idea who he is, and second, I had to Photoshop about a quart of pizza sauce off his face, minor cheating for photography, but not for scrapping. However, he's cute as a bug's ear, so here he is.

January 31, 2009 - CVPS Photo Walk at Virginia Kendall Park in the Cuyahoga Valley

I love this photo - the composition, with the darks zigging toward the bottom, the snow crystals on the rock and outlining the fern and twig, the little hint of melt. It was probably 10 degrees yesterday when I took this. Totally worth the frozen toes and the death defying climb out of the ledges floor. If you're a Cleveland/Akron area photographer and are interested in nature photography, the Cuyahoga Valley Photographic Society (CVPS.org) is worth checking out.

January 30 - Hobbies, Photography and Games

Assorted electronic stuff on my kitchen counter. This is one of those "serves me right for being in a rush" photos, blurry (depth of field gone awry) and weak compostion. Canon S3IS. Repent and do better!

January 29, 2009 - Hobbies

Usually, Chuck and I head to Panera on Thursday - he works on SolidWorks projects, and I digitally scrap or work on photos. Nikon S550 P&S