the great bug hunt

Took these photos this past weekend outside my house with the macro lens. Looking at the photos of my hand holding this fragile little blossom, it is easy to identify the actual size of the insect in the photos although that macro lens sure makes him appear a LOT bigger threat :)

Settings - Aperture Priority, 1/2500 sutter speed, F 5.6, 60mm

More childhood pics :)

Obviously not MY photo, since that's ME on the sled, but I wanted to share :)

This is my neice. LOVE that photo of her enjoying a blueberry ice at the beach.

My neice again - bored during a family dinner so... licking the chair. Rebecca is one of those kids that just can't take a bad photo.

did some color editing... what do you think?

Childhood views

After graduating elementary school on Monday (with all *A*s I might add!!!) Sarah wanted to have a little childhood fun. Works for me - expecially with the weather 95 and HUMID! I would have jumped in too except I didn't want to get the camera wet :)

DOF experiment

This is for this week's DOF challenge on Point/Shoot/BLOG!



Settings: f/8, focal length 300mm, shutter speed 1/500, ISO 400
Settings: F/4, focal length 60mm, shutter speed 1/60, ISO 400
Settings: f/4, 60mm, 1/60, ISO 400

Settings: f/4, focal length 60mm, 1/60, ISO 400

settings: f/5, 43mm, 1/60, ISO 400

I just love the lillies. This year they've outdone themselves with 5 buds opening on one stalk. WOW! Taken with Cannon EOS Digital Rebel. 1/500 F/7.1 60mm 400 ISO

Self Portrait - Something New In June

This month I'm hostessing a self-portrait challenge on scrapbook.com. The ladies have all come out and really committed to sharing themselves and their lives as we explore this self portrait adventure together. I look forward to sharing all my potraits from this challenge in this blog when the challenge is complete, but for now... this one goofy shot which kind of symbolizes how I'm feeling these days :) Life is chaotic, busy, goofy, crazy, silly and sometimes upside down - and I wouldn't have it any other way!

playing with PSE

Just had to share this - I was playing around with PSE today trying to come up with something interesting. I was working with a self-portrait for my self-portrait a day challenge and wanted to do something different. I came up with this and just LOVE it. Not sure it's exactly what I was going for but... it works. I may fiddle with it some more. I'd like to have a more medatative/atherial quality to it in the end - maybe a soft frame? Regardless, I really love how it turned out and look forward to my next chance to play - being I'm just really learning how to do all sorts of things in PSE.

Jon - learning to fly?

I think my son is trying to learn to fly, or become a bird... or give his mother a heart attack! But at least he is willing to allow me to take pictures while he's doing it :)

Nothing says summer...

Like watching

all the tiny

buds and blossoms

fight to burst into full bloom.... soon!

and of course this vine that found the bird feeder :)