A2. Christmastime

Christmas is a busy time of year for Tiny and Lola. Taking family photos for Christmas cards seem to begin the minute all the turkey sandwiches are finished.

52. Yellow

Well it doesn’t get more yellow than this!  I have learned all about the minions thanks to my grandson Greyson. If it has a minion on it he wants it.

I was on a Walmart run to buy mailing labels and took a side trip down the toy isle. Because that is what I do now because of this ridiculous blog… I think I may have let out an audible giggle when I saw this 8 pack of tiny little minions. Let me introduce you to Carl, Kevin, Phil, Jerry, Stuart, Tom, Dave and Tim.

So here you go, more tiny toys that the grandkids think will belong to them in August. HA!

44. Speed

Yes, I am out of control… who knew that at 50 years old I would revert back to a 5 year old and be having this much fun playing with little toys. What can I say, I needed to try something new with my 52 week photo challenge. Tiny has freed my imagination to run wild. I have no excuse to be behind on my weekly posts because most of the photos have been taken in my office, yard or the street in front of my house.  And when the year is over my grandkids will have some new toys to play with. Well maybe… 😉

What can I tell you… Tiny and Lola got stopped for speeding on the way to a photo shoot. She’s sorry.

 

46. Tell A Story

This past week Tiny took her little dog Lola on a trip to Yellowstone National Park to photograph wildlife. Right away they saw a bison grazing in the tall grasses near the edge of a river. Lola was content to just stay close and be a good little dog while Tiny snapped off several shots. Tiny didn’t know at the time but the photos she took of the bison would be some of the last she would get that day. After Lola spotted a moose off in the distance, Tiny would spend the rest of the day chasing Lola and saving her from being eaten. First by the moose and later by an angry mother grizzly bear when Lola got too close to her cub.

Disclaimer- Lola was never put into any danger during the making of this blog post. A stunt dog was used for all photos taken near any dangerous wildlife.

41. Shades Of Gray

Oh yes I did! This post idea is not mine alone… I won’t begin to take credit/blame for this idea. Recently I volunteered to drive myself and 3 other photo blog friends on a photo outing. You can see where the conversation went while discussing upcoming blog themes…

Disclaimer- Tiny was not hurt or abused in any way during the making of this post.

 

27. Memories

During this time of year I always think back to my memories of my kids starting a new school year. I began the tradition of them holding a sign with the date and what grade they would be starting when they were very young. The photo HAD to be taken on the very first day. Over the years their expressions changed a lot! During the early elementary years they held their signs with pride and gave me giant smiles. When they entered middle school their smiles were forced and their eyes were rolling. In high school sometimes they went along just to shut me up or I would have to chase them as they tried to leave the house without doing it all together. It was a game that I didn’t mind playing because I loved the photos so much.

When school ended and they left home I was sometimes surprised by them sending me photos of themselves holding a sign they made on their own to mark an important first; a first day of college or a first day on the job.

Now they are taking their own photos of their kids firsts’.  I hope while they are taking photos they will also be remembering when they were the one holding the sign. And at least once I hope they have to chase one of them down the driveway waving a sign in one hand and a camera in the other!

I decided that Tiny  taking a photo of  her little friend wearing a backpack would be a good way to bring this memory to life. But because it’s such a happy memory for me I decided to take the photo myself!

51. Upside Down

The air is full of laughter in my office this morning. As I sit and edit photos Tiny and one of her friends have been enjoying a game of Twister on one corner of my desk. They are certainly finding themselves upside down over and over again! I couldn’t help but pause from my work and snap a quick photo of them having fun.

35. On The River

Rain in Florida is not unusual. What does feel unusual for me is rain lasting for days upon days. The rains we have been getting in the last couple weeks feel more like the rainy seasons we used to experience when we lived in Panama. The morning news has been full of flood advisories and warnings not to drive through flooded streets.
I decided to take another tiny Playmobil man out to the street/river in front of my house for a little creative photo shoot. The gutter must seem like a river when you are 2 1/2 inches tall!
All my clothes are now in the dryer….

14. Four Letter Word

Last year when Patricia, Mary Nell and I were finalizing the themes for this year I thought this theme was going to be a breeze. And I had a lot of giggles wondering what everyone would come up with. It ended up being much more difficult than I thought… hence the reason why it is the last post of the year for me.

This morning I was reading a post to the LWRDPC facebook page by Morag Reid. The post was a list of 13 exercises to help photographers jumpstart their creativity. One of the exercises reminded me of a little ‘TINY’ photographer I bought while I was on vacation in Maine. I was in a toy store looking for some fun and creative things for my grandkids. Instead I found a whole line of little people by Playmobil for myself! I thought it would be fun to take my little photographer on vacation and pose her in all sorts of exotic places. That didn’t work out so well…. she ended up in the bottom of my purse instead.

So, today I got out my tiny little friend and challenged myself to take several photos of her while never leaving my desk chair. Silly things like this make me laugh… so I fully expect that Tiny will be showing up in more of my photos in the future!

 

Tiny on my hard drive

Tiny on my power cord

Tiny on my Wacom tablet

Tiny on my shelf

32. Painting With Light

Last night a location had to be confirmed for an upcoming LWRDPC field trip we are having next week. During a practice session two nights ago we found out the original venue has a closing time. Sometimes I forget that we live in an area that everything closes and the sidewalks roll up at 10:00pm.

Not to worry though! A new location has been found! And it’s all walking distance from our meet up location at the town hall. If you are a photo club member you can get all the details at our club website www.lwrdpc.com.  And if your a 52 week blogger as well it will be a perfect chance to fulfill your light painting theme!

A-1 Blue

I had the pleasure recently to do a senior photo shoot for a girl named Abi. She had never had her portrait taken before and was a little nervous at first. Abi is hands down one of the sweetest girls I have ever met. Hopefully by the time we were finished she knew just how photogenic she was as well.  I think her eyes are a beautiful shade of blue and makes a perfect photo for the ‘Blue’ theme.

A-2 Circles

For the theme Circles I decided to go with a photo I took of round Chinese lanterns along with a photo of the shadows they cast on the sidewalk below them.

 

41. Single Color On Black and White

This theme has been haunting me since the beginning! I have thought about so many different ways of doing this in my little studio room but none of them have felt right. Then today while going through photos that I took while adventuring around Idaho this one jumped out begging me to be used. I’m a weirdo about snapping photos of lone trees on mountain ridge lines. For some reason they make me think of old western movies when all the indians would appear on top of ridges while wagon trains passed through the valley below.  I told you I am weird…. or maybe I just have a very active imagination.

I think I’ll title this photo, “Indian On The Ridge,” just because I can…

Indian On The Ridge

47. Summer Fun

Yesterday I had a lot of fun photographing my niece and her family at the beach while they were in town visiting. I think this photo in particular captures the fun they were having as well!

42. Skyline Panorama

When this photo challenge year began I expected that this theme photo would be a skyline photo of downtown Sarasota. Fortunately for me I recently had an opportunity to visit Mormon Row in Grand Teton National Park. In the area several original cabins, barns and other structures still stand watch at the base of the Tetons.

Myself along with three other photography friends woke up before sunrise and made the pilgrimage to photograph a pair of barns built by T.A. Moulton in an area called Antelope Flats in the southern portion of the park.

It was definitely worth the early morning alarm, layers of clothes and wearing winter gloves!

15. Graveyard

Since the beginning of this years 52 Week Challenge, I knew which graveyard I wanted to photograph for this theme. It is located in Boquete, Panama. The graveyard contains several different types of graves, the traditional single plot, lawn crypts and private mausoleums. I find all the different types in the same area very interesting.

Luckily for me I was able to visit a few weeks ago. Along with fellow blogger, my friend Ida, we took a walk around town that included the graveyard. It was the week before Easter, schools and many business’ are closed beginning on Wednesday that week. There did seem to be many more decorations this time so I am going to assume that more people visit the graves of their family members during this holiday week.

I chose to edit these photos using Silver Effects Pro 2.

 

46. Still Life

I took this photo yesterday while visiting the South Florida Museum. Our group was allowed special behind the scenes access to the museums shell collection that totals over 20,000 pieces. One of the curators, Tiffany, placed the shells of our choice in a lighted box used by the museum to catalog their pieces. We were allowed to adjust the lighting as it suited us to create our own special photos.

In this photo I took 4 separate images each slightly different in focus. I then stacked them in photoshop to give me 1 sharp image. The tutorial I used can be seen by clicking here.  I also ran across this tutorial  that teaches how to use photo stacking for landscape photos. I’m looking forward to giving it a try as well!

29. On Two Wheels

I got such a chuckle out of these photos… I’m glad I had a fitting theme so I could share them in my photo challenge.

In the area of Panama that I used to live, they have completed a new road since I was last there. The original road was a two lane highway that could make the Pope swear. If you got behind a slow moving car or truck it could substantially slow your trip time.  Many times those vehicles were without tail lights which made driving at night, during the heavy rains or in the fog even more challenging. If that wasn’t bad enough there were regularly people walking along the poorly lit roads at night.

With the new safer road comes the problem of trying to slow down the drivers… Rather than pay for more ‘real’ police the government came up with this genius idea… Life size cut outs of motorcycle traffic police holding a radar gun that my friend Yamel thinks resembles a giant blow drier. I suppose the first time you see it you might tap your brakes and check your speed. After that I don’t think it would be very effective.

I took a photo on one of the first days I was there,with my iPhone, so I would be able to show people when I got back home. One the last day I had to grab a second photo. I guess someone was trying to send a message that the big mean plastic motorcycle traffic cop didn’t scare them anymore.

 

49. Two Of Us

I’m writing this post while visiting Panama. My husband and I lived here full time for awhile. We moved back to the United States almost 3 years ago. We try and come back to visit friends as often as possible.

A dear friend of ours had his wedding while we were here this time and I was able to take their wedding photos as a gift to them. Tonight we are meeting them for dinner and showing them the photos for the first time. I thought I’d share one here because it seems so appropriate for the theme.

24. Long Exposure

Recently I attended the f3c conference in Fort Myers, Florida. When not attending workshops or lectures I was spending time with friends exploring the area. One night we had dinner downtown and then explored the area afterwards with our cameras.

This shot was a little different than the others because a public bus drove through the shot while my shutter was open. I liked how the light trails filled the frame yet didn’t cover the sign on the restaurant.  Pure luck really!

28. Natural Beauty

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take my first guided bird boating tour. Our guide, Bob Salyers, was a recent speaker at our local photography club. Several of our members have taken tours with him in the past and he came highly recommended. I was not disappointed. Bob was great at giving me instructions in advance about what camera settings would be appropriate for the lighting. He explained back button focus to me in a way that was easy for me to understand. I will now be using that technic exclusively when I am taking action shots! He was always giving us a heads up on what the birds were doing or about to do in different areas of the rookery. A short attention span has kept me from being a regular bird photographer but Bob kept me on my toes!

I shot this white egret, with a Sigma 120mm-400mm lens that belongs to Bob. I spent most of my day shooting at a 400mm focal length just because I could! My camera setting were 1/4000 sec; f/5.6; ISO 200; Aperture priority; spot metering.  In post processing I edited in camera raw and then used a couple texture overlays just for fun.

33.Paths And Or Trails

Last weekend I participated in the F3C conference in Fort Myers. One evening a few of us got together for dinner followed by a walk around the downtown area to explore with our cameras. It really was a wonderland of photo ops! I recommend it to anyone thinking about doing any sort of night time street photography.  I thought this gated path through a back alley was a good choice for the theme ‘Paths and or Trails.”

34. Patterns

Yesterday I went on a road trip with a group of photographer friends, including some from the 52 week photo challenge. It was intended to be an outing to photograph shore birds. Lucky for me the morning started out shrouded in fog. I have a thing for piers in the fog, but because I am not an early morning riser I don’t have a chance to photograph many.

I thought the repeating patterns would make a nice shot for this theme. I hope you all do to?!

7. Car Lights

I’ve been wanting to try this shot for a long time… Luckily for me our photo challenge forced me to finally go give it a try. I think I may be addicted now to long exposure car light photos! Both photos were taken on a tripod. I included the settings I used under each photo.

Exposure: 30.0 sec; f/25; ISO 100; Aperture Priority

Exposure: 30.0 sec; f/25; ISO 100; Aperture Priority

A-3 Doors and/or Windows

I just love doors and windows… Here are a few that I have collected in the past few months.

Santorini, Greece

Istanbul, Turkey

Venice, Italy

 

Indiana, United States

 

Bradenton, Florida

8. Differences

Today I took a break from a project that I have been knee deep into lately. It’s required a lot of concentration and was giving me a headache. I needed a little right brain vacation from my left brain project. A photographer friend who’s work I really admire, Laura :), recently posted about  an editing program that really peeked my curiosity. I made the leap and purchased the program and then had some fun today. I went digging into my archives from the last few months and dug out a few photos that I liked but didn’t love…. I’m still in the experimental stages but I thought it might be good to make a post under the theme “Differences” and just show you a comparison….

The photo itself isn’t very interesting, but I am emotionally attached to it. I took it last fall when I was visiting my family in Indiana. On this particular day I was wandering around downtown Fort Wayne looking for fall colors. I liked the leading line of the sidewalk but never felt like it was composed correctly. Oh well, it came in handy today when I needed a photo to play around with! I think my head is starting to feel better already… 🙂

Before

After

19. Horses and Humans

I was driving near the polo fields today when I noticed a couple riders in one of the practice fields. I really was hoping that if I waited long enough they would make their way a little bit, or actually a lot closer. That didn’t happen, but I was still happy to take a few minutes and just watch them. The photo really doesn’t do justice to the skills of the riders or how beautiful the horse were.

I did a little research when I got home and here are a couple facts I learned. Free flowing manes and tails are a danger in polo because they can become entangled with players’ mallets or with the reins as the rider tries to control the horse. Manes, therefore are shaved and the ponies’ tails are wrapped or braided to prevent the hazard.  Also, lefties are banned from polo. To understand why, consider this: you’re driving down the road when all of a sudden, coming straight at you, is a crazed English person (Patricia) driving on the left side of the road. The panic you’d feel in the situation is just what a right-handed polo player feels when he and a lefty approach the ball from opposite directions.

The polo season is just getting started here in Lakewood Ranch. To see this years schedule click here. It’s been several years since I have been to a match. If anyone is interested, I think we should get together a group and go sometime. It would be fun to pack a picnic and take our cameras out for a little practice. There are a lot of photo themes just waiting there for us: below the knees, panning, at a distance and of course horses and humans!

 

 

39. Shot Through Glass

My grandson, Greyson, was with us on Christmas morning this year. It was great fun to be able to watch him open a few presents. Like a lot of 2 year olds he seemed more interested in normal everyday things than he did in his presents. This year his favorite thing to play with was the patio door. The perfect gift for him would have been a tiny, just his size patio door to take home to open and close all year long. Of course if I HAD found him a tiny door he would have probably been more interested in the box!

22. It’s A Mystery

While driving around Tarpon Springs, happily lost, my friends and I noticed this old Spanish style building.  We made a mental note of it’s approximate location so we could come back to it after we visited the sponge docks.

It was old and beat up and did not fit in with the historic neighborhood filled with beautiful victorian style homes. The doors were locked tight but one window was broken out. We could see that there was some type of remodel under way.  We had a lot of questions but no answers until I was able to do some research after returning home.

I’ve found that the abandoned three-story building was built in 1926 and originally was christened First Baptist Church. It is currently known as,  A Glorious Church.  It is being transformed into a residential home by it’s current owner Richard Boeckl. Only the buildings majestic frontage along Read Street will match the remnant of the facade.

Boeckl purchased the building in the early 1970’s and rented it to several congregations until a 1993 storm flooded its ground floor with three feet of water and ravaged sections of the roof. He has been doing his best to maintain the building over the years. At one time there was a plan to remake the space into an antique condominium. In an old newspaper article that I found Boeckl said he hopes to have a certificate of occupancy within a year. Based on what we saw through the broken window and the photos shown in the article I think that might be a stretch. When I have a chance to revisit Tarpon Springs I will certainly seek out the old church again to see what progress has been made. How it turns out will remain a mystery until my next visit.

 

 

 

 

48. Sun Flare

The other day I took an impromptu road trip with 3 of my fellow 52-week photo bloggers. We jumped in the car and drove to Tarpon Springs, Florida. We grabbed our cameras and set out on a hunt for photos to match some of our remaining themes. I anticipate that we will all be making a couple posts from the same areas but under different themes. I’m looking forward to seeing how different we all saw the same things.

We went a little silly when we noticed our reflections in the decorations of one of the Christmas trees along the sponge docks. At the time I was using a lens baby lens on my camera. I didn’t realize it until I uploaded the photos that the lens had warped the sun flare and made the photo a little more interesting. I also like that you can see the reflections of my partners in crime!