Photography Workshop

Brenda Tharp is having a photography workshop this weekend, sponsored by CVPS. We spent 3/4 of today in the classroom, then a couple hours shooting at Seiberling Naturealm. Fun - especially getting down in the mud to get the shot. That, and hand feeding the chickadees made me feel like a little kid.


Below is a flowering quince (today's objective was to get a nice blurred background to make the subject stand out):

And here's one of the little guys who were cheerfully eating seeds from my hand:

How cute is she?!!

Cabela's, Fun but Kinda Creepy

Chuck and I stopped at Cabela's in Triadelphia, WV, yesterday. The place is huge and has every single kind of sporting good anyone could want. It also has a bunch of stuffed dead critters, including things you wouldn't think any one would want to kill, like squirrels, polar bears and otters. And about 400 stuffed deer. Did you know bucks came in "typical" and "not typical". Yep. The "not typical" come with antlers like waterfalls, hands, steroidal cypress knees, and bristlecone pine trees. Who knew? It was a little creepy with all the dead stuff, but I found a breathable waterproof jacket for outdoor (photo) shooting and Chuck found some shorts with pockets for everything but a laptop.

April 25, 2011

Ohio River Panorama

We spent a pleasant day today. We did the factory tour at Fenton Glass in Williamstown, WV, then drove to Parkersburg. Lunched at a nice cafe, The Daily Grind, went to the Blennerhasset Museum, and stopped at Fort Boreman. Tucked in the Museum basement were display cases filled with prehistoric Indian stone tools and weapons, all hand labeled on yellowing paper in old style calligraphy. The labels must have been 70 or so years old. Some one put a lot of time into the history. The second floor had "A Century of Wedding Dresses" and river boat memoribilia - and some very cool old desks, several of which would look good in my house.

The pano was taken from Ft. Boreman on the West Virginia side of the Ohio River. Spectacular view of Belpre and Parkersburg, as well as miles of the Ohio.

Ice Follies

I had to post daffodils today. The weather has been so freaky - cold, windy, stormy, with the tiniest sliver of sun now and then - I just need to see some Spring cheerfulness. These daffs are 'Ice Follies' from my front yard. They bloom light yellow, then turn pure white.

Hard to believe the crocuses are done and gone already. Is it really Spring?

Brr!

Mad Mama

Robins are nesting under the top deck again. I was innocently checking my flowers, and Mama blasted out from under the deck, swearing a blue streak. So I apologized and left. I hope she'll cut me some slack when it's time to weed. Oh, and PS, Mother Nature, rotten weather during the week, not the weekend. There's lawn to be mowed and stuff to be planted!

Finish Every Day

The Emerson quote was posted on Gretchen Rubin's blog, The Happiness Project. I was feeling a little lost, and creatively stuck, and it caught my attention. "Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt, crept in. Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense." - Ralph Waldo Emerson Photographed the heron at Beaver Marsh in the Cuyahoga Valley. To get the pen and water color look, I used the poster edges filter in PhotoShop Elements 9, then brightened up the color a bit. The text brush was downloaded from the web and the border brush is from Sande Krieger of 2 Peas in a Bucket. She's a really talented digital designer, love her stuff!! A couple of faint drop shadows, and there you go! The font is Calibri, my new favorite sans serif. The sun's shining, and I'm having dinner with Chuck tonight - should be a nice day! Hope yours is, too.

Hot Air Balloon

Ravenna, Ohio attracts hot air ballon enthusiasts. And, lucky me, they occasionally float over my house. This one is from a brilliant day in September, 2010.

Humboldt Penguins at the Akron Zoo

While sorting through some photos for a work project, I came across this: Cute little guys, aren't they?

It's Not Over Yet...

Last Thursday's snow, thickly coating trees along the railroad tracks. Added a vignette and grain in Lightroom. So cold and so beautiful. March 31, 2011.