Chocolate Lover's Fantasy

I attended the Chocolate Lovers's Fantasy with a friend last weekend. It's a fundraiser for a children's home here, so it's a fun event for a great cause. I am a serious chocolate lover, so I was in heaven sampling all these delectable chocolate creations!

Taken with flash and high ISO. It was really dark, so not the greatest shots. Does anyone use noise filters in photoshop with good results? Thanks for any tips for improvement!

Nature Center

This is the Prairie Building at Pioneers Park. It has lots of horizontal and vertical lines, so I'm on theme! It features many "green" building techniques. Inside, they exhibit the nature photography of Michael Forsberg. Check it out, his images are gorgeous!

Nature on the Prairie

I made a visit to Pioneers Park and the Prairie Center yesterday afternoon. It features hands-on and live animal exhibits that relate to the prairie. Outdoor animal exhibits include bison, elk and deer. The bison are usually so far away from the fence, it is hard to get a picture of them, but one of these days I'm hoping to be there when they are close enough for a photo.

A Rare Day in January. . .

It was so nice outside today - it reached 60 degrees here and I had a chance to get out and enjoy the blue sky and sunshine. The weather forecast for tomorrow is cloudy with a high of 20 and snow flurries. Ahhh.... weather in Nebraska!!! I'm sure some of you can relate!

I usually prefer horizantal shots for landscapes, but in this example, I think I like the vertical one. I guess I really like seeing more of the blue sky.

Surprise!!!

AV mode, f5.6, SS 1/50, ISO 400

AV mode, f2.8, SS 1/12, ISO 100

AV mode, f2.8, SS 1/50, ISO 100

My hubby surprised me with these flowers on my desk this morning. Isn't he a sweetie! I am so lucky, he is very supportive of my photography hobby. These were taken with my Canon 60mm macro lens on a tripod using the self timer because of the slow shutter speeds. I still can't quite get the hang of the macro lens, but I'm going to keep trying!

Japanese Cuisine

Shogun is our favorite Japanese restaurant in town. They serve teppanyaki style where the chef prepares the meal on an iron griddle at your table. We don't get to go too often, just for special occasions. And no, I don't like sushi - do you?

Run, Sally, run!

A friend and I browsed an antique mall this past weekend and I brought my camera along. We always have fun searching for vintage items and this "Fun With Our Family" Dick and Jane book caught my eye. This is the kind of book I learned to read from back in the 60's. (I am really dating myself, here!) Notice mother's freshly ironed blouse and skirt she is wearing to vacuum. And the lovely apron she has on to protect her dress. I do actually collect old aprons. I love the vintage fabric and trim used on them. I'm sure most of you aren't familiar with these little books, but they bring back fond childhood memories of a much simpler time.

Betty Crocker

Just call me "Betty Crocker" or "Susie Homemaker". Since the theme this week is "words", I decided to take a picture of my old Betty Crocker cookbook. I got this as a wedding shower gift almost 27 years ago and you can tell by the worn edges and stained pages that it has been well used!

It was so cold outside this weekend, I decided to warm up the kitchen by baking some banana nut bread. This recipe reminds me of my grandma. She often baked fresh bread, cookies and the best pies ever! Yummo!

Blokus

Before. . .

After. . .

We love to play these kinds of strategy games at our house. DS #2 got this one for Christmas. Blokus can be played by a wide range of ages, it's easy to learn and goes fairly quickly. Each player chooses a color and must start by placing their first piece in a corner, then take turns adding pieces, only corners of your color can touch.

I am not very experienced with photoshop, but I'm taking a class at our local community college starting next week. What I've learned so far has been from all the helpful peas, reading tutorials and books. On my before and after examples, I adjusted exposure by .6, smart sharpend, and added border. Still not real happy with WB, I used custom white balance on these and need to practice that some more!

Marbles

Focus Near . . .



Focus Far . . .
These marbles belong to my dh, he collected them as a child. I love all the colors, but not really happy with the shadows and lighting here. I may get out my macro lens and try these shots again. Canon 40D Aperture priority, SS 1/30 and 1/40 (w/tripod), f5.0, ISO 100, FL 38mm. Adjusted levels in PSCS2, forgot to smart sharpen, so no sharpening here.

Trumpeting Angels

Went out to take some photographs on Sunday afternoon. It was very overcast and kind of damp and cold. I went to the public cemetary to take some photos. They actually welcome visitors and even sponsor a "fun run" in the spring. It is really a beautiful, historical, quiet place with curving brick roads and hills. My husband just looked at me like I was crazy when I told him where I'd been!

These two life-size bronze trumpeting angels are from the Guardian Angels section. The sun was trying to peek through the clouds as I was taking these shots, so you can see a little of the bronze highlights. I hope I have "guardian angels" like this watching over me when I'm laid to rest!

Focus on the Jingle Bells

Got most of the holiday decorations put away this weekend but I left a few things out for the month of January. Here are some more large jingle bells - I had a red and silver theme going on for Christmas this year! These are sitting just inside our entryway so there is natural light coming in the front door. Taken in shutter priority SS 1/50, f5.6, ISO 200, FL 53, no flash.

Thanks for all the nice comments on the vintage hat photos. They were taken on the dining room table with a white tablecloth used as a backdrop. We have a large window facing east, but it was overcast that day, wish it had been a little brighter. I'll have to get some more hats out of storage for another shoot. I enjoyed hearing what everyone collects.

Vintage Hats

I have a collection of vintage hats, so I decided to pull a few out and take some photos for this week. Whenever I browse through an antique store, I can't pass up a cute vintage hat! I'm not sure what the attraction is, but when I was a little girl, my aunt would let me, my sister and cousin go to her closet and play "dress up" with all her party dresses, jewelry, hats and gloves, so maybe that is why I love them!

Most of my collection is in storage and I rotate them every-so-often. I also love old/vintage hat boxes, although this one isn't old, I love the look of it. What do you collect?

The Cat in the Hat

The Cat In The Hat . . . a book I used to read to my boys when they were little. We loved the rhyming, silly words and imaginative characters & illustrations of all the Dr. Seuss books and these were some of the first books they learned to read on their own. Canon 40D, 17-85mm lens, AV mode, AWB, AV 5.6, SS 1/60 and on camera flash. Adjusted levels a bit and added a soft light layer in PShop. I need to stop using the on camera flash and get out my new electronic flash and learn how to use it. I think these are a little dark.

A few of you asked how I made the little gumdrop people in yesterdays post. I used a couple of sizes of gumdrops, asst colors of licorice twists for hair etc, and sprinkles for the features. A plastic knife works great to cut the gumdrops, then mold into shape and use the sticky inside as glue to connect all the parts. Use a toothpick to attach the eyes, nose and mouth and insert a wire hanger. I even made a garland by stringing lots of gumdrops onto nylon thread.

Gumdrops

We had this little white Christmas tree on the kitchen table during the holiday season. It was decorated with a "candy" theme. For the past few years, I have made these gumdrop people to add to it, saving them in ziploc bags from year-to-year cause they take quit some time to create. Notice that each one is wearing a hat, so I'm on theme for today!

These were taken with my Canon 40D and 17-85mm lens. It seems like the few shots I've taken with this new camera are in sharper focus than those taken with my DRebel Xti. Anyone else have experience comparing these two cameras?

Ringing in the New Year. . .

These red jingle bells are attached to an old fashioned sled outside our front door. They'll probabley stay there til springtime. The temps are dropping below zero here tonight!

This is one of the first pictures I've taken with my new Canon 40D (Christmas present from my DH). I increased the green saturation in photoshop 'cause the evergreens were a bit faded. How does it look? I'm looking forward to using my new camera, lens and flash. Any advice?

Happy New Year and I hope it's warmer where you are!