1.25.10

Good Mexican food + good margaritas + good friend = a good end to a craptastic day.


Focus was on drinking, not on camera settings. :)

1.24.10

More retail included finishing out the bookshelves in our front room.

1.23.10

Yesterday sucked. Katie makes everything better though. Flowers, a balloon, and chocolate makes me smile.

1.22.10

Retail therapy included a new mat for the laundry room floor.

1.21.10

Very few leaves left on the hibiscus. Will it survive? That is the horticultural question of the season.

1.20.10

Scrapbooking scores for under $60!

1.19.10

This is my friend Kara's dog, Nico. I love his beard and funky hairz.

Anyone have tips on shooting pets and dealing with their eyes?

AF: f/5, 1/60, ISO-400

1.18.10

Confession: This shot was taken yesterday. There were so many cool things to shoot that I had to include one more!

A closed water well:

I tried to play around with some very basic editing software I have, but I still couldn't get it like I wanted. If I ever learn how to work this awesome camera of mine, I'll learn Photoshop.

Settings:
f/25
ISO-400
FL = 28mm

1.17.10

The ranch has some great colors! Even though the grass isn't green in the winter, I found awesome colors scattered throughout the acreage. I took over 100 shots around the land yesterday and today, playing mainly with apeture.

Bright orange tractor tire:


Settings:
f/29
ISO-400
FL = 41mm
SOOC

1.16.10

I did it! I finally took a shot that was not taken on auto.

The ranch where we are staying for our scrapbook retreat is full of wonderful photo opps. I was excited to finally seeing the sun after a couple of cloudy, rainy days.

Settings:
f/22
ISO-400
FL = 18mm
WB = manual

1.15.10

I'm at a scrapbook retreat with friends this weekend, and I hope there is time to learn how to shoot more than just auto shots. Hope you don't mind not seeing photos of my pets. I know it'll be hard, but I think you can handle it.


Thank goodness the place where we are staying has a good fireplace screen because we are cold and plan to have a fire going ALL weekend long!

1.14.10

They say let sleeping dogs lie. Do they also say something about taking incessant photos of your dog? I thought so.

I'm fascinated by Steve's feet. His feet have always been big, and it was fun to watch our seven pound baby grow into them.

Dirty, filthy, gross, focused feet - SOOC.

1.13.10

I learned tonight that my camera takes both color . . .

and monochromatic photos!

(both SOOC)

1.12.10

Yes, I have a cat. Her name is Mindy. She's seventeen years old, and she only likes me. Sometimes she likes Todd. Just sometimes.

1.11.10

Today was a busy and early morning, and the frost atop our grill cover looked photo-worthy. (Full Auto, SOOC)

1.10.10

I made homemade lasagna tonight. Poor photo; really good food.

1.9.10

A dog and his dirty, nasty ball sleep together.

I'm working on my perspective, focal points, and composition. SOOC.

1.8.09

Might not be cold to some people, but in Texas this is crazy cold (and before windchill is factored into it).

1.7.10

Back to the grind. Too much grading for this teacher to get done.

1.6.10

Is that a bandage on your tail or are you happy to see me?

Exactly one week after surgery to remove a fatty tumor from his chest, Steve somehow cut open his tail. After rushing him to the vet because I thought his chest was bleeding (all over the house), we found (due to the slinging of blood around the vet's waiting room) a 1.5" laceration and it was stitched up during minor surgery. One week = total of $1000 in dog repair. And we can't even ride him like a car.

1.5.10

Another expensive day thanks to Steve. Can you find the TWO vet-related changes to our dog in this photo?

1.4.10

So thankful he bought "us" a new camera.

SOOC. I know there is a TON of distraction in the background. Welcome to just a glimpse of Todd's office.

1.3.10

Nothing like the unconditional love of a precious girlfriend with Muppet eyebrows and a wispy tailfeather.

Minimal editing for B&W and contrast.

1.2.10

Mindy guards the last gift left under the tree. It is not for her.

Every year, Steve expresses his sadness that the tree is coming down.

1.1.10

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'm learning that I need to learn a whole lot about my new camera! For those of you who are photography buffs and pros, I think this site will be a source of amusement for you as you watch me learn. :) Most everything I post for a while will be SOOC (straight out of the camera), probably taken on auto, and not fancy at all!

I still want to continue this blog because I really enjoyed looking back on the random photos I took in the first few months of 2009. What a neat journal I started! Now I want to complete one. On most days, I will post only one photo and won't have a bunch of text for you to read. Today I'm just posting some random stuff and talking about it some. Why? Because it's my blog.

My very first shots (shot on auto, SOOC):

#1 Pretty Pippin enjoys her new bed. She's such a lady.

#2 Sad Steve is sad for no reason. His life is too sweet to pull that!

#3 Dueling Dogs appear to be so tough. I guess they are tough for those who fear being licked to death.

#4 Sign Todd got me for my fancy, new laundry room. "Do It Yourself" is how laundry's done here!

We spent January 1, 2010 on the couches watching movies. I got to use my new popcorn set!

My stepmother gave me the set with a large popcorn bowl, four smaller serving bowls, and matching season shakers. I wanted to fill up the entire large bowl, and I ate most of it. I was almost sick, but I enjoyed using my new gift!

Although this is a tragic looking shot, I still had to post this one:

This picture frame ornament began hanging on our tree since my first Christmas living here (aka living in sin w/ Todd) in 2005. Isn't that a nice, vintage pic in the frame? You're probably wondering when it was taken, who it is, etc., right? Well, I don't have a clue who that is. It's the original photo from when the ornament was bought!!! We now hate to change it because it gives us a reason to smile every year. :)

Here's hoping that your year ahead is one in which you can make wonderful memories and capture them!

2009 in Photos

So, 2009 in photos was obviously a huge bust! I had great intentions and made it through mid-April.

I think I'm ready to try again for 2010. Meet my new assistant, the Canon EOS500 t1i! Isn't she gorgeous? We were brought together on Christmas morning, and I have a LOT of learning to do.



My goal is to get to know my new camera and fire up this blog back up for 2010. Keep posted to see if I can achieve my goal!

Poor Blog

I don't know if anyone even regularly checks this blog or not! My last post was almost two months ago. Believe it or not, I was taking photographs almost every day in that time. Life and work got to be CRAZY, and I didn't get around to posting the photos.

I'll put a poll up for the next week to see if you care whether or not I catch up or even continue this blog. (Google Readers - please open the blog and vote.)

118/365

Crazy rain yesterday, thick fog this morning. At least there's something entertaining me during my morning commute.

117/365

Mindy likes the new bed that I bought her last week.

Pardon her evil eyes!

116/365

I made lasagna for the first time in years today. And it was good! Go me! :)

115/365

You can burrow your nose in the covers, but I can still see you!

114/365

Two years ago we learned that we had lost our first baby. A song that meant a lot to me kept coming on the radio in the days and weeks following that terrible day. It's on the radio again today, and we're still trying to keep holding on.

113/365

I love this photo frame. It's in our back hall, so I see it as I leave and come home each day. Our friends made it for us and displayed it at our engagement party for everyone to sign. The notes written by family and friends are so special to us. There is even one written by my grandmother and signed "Mary the Great."

112/365

Todd entertained me by shaving the goatee he's been sporting to a motorcycle 'stache. I came home to find this:


I cannot believe he let me take a picture. Granted, it's awful of me but hilarious of him! (The things I do for this blog.) Todd made me PROMISE not to put it on my Facebook, and it is not. Please don't tell him you saw this photo. If he finds out, he'll beat me like I'm his motorcycle bitch. :) hahaha

111/365

I was so exhausted after a long day that I didn't realize until Todd came home that I put on two different slippers. I was too exhausted to care at that point!

I don't know why my legs look all freckled. They aren't.

110/365

I'm good about cooking on Mondays (the rest of the week is not so good), and I made Crash Hot Potatoes with our dinner. This pic reminds me that I need to start digging out my point & shoot since my phone takes sucky photos!

109/365

Walking the big dogs is a big job!

Pippin - sit and smile! Never mind. Just ignore the paparazzi!

Stevie sit! Good boy. You so tired from dat walk. Poor baby dog.

108/365

Chardonnay, hummus, and garlic chips = yum.

107/365

Oh thank Heaven for 7-11. The world would not be complete without Slurpees - especially peach/mango/Coke/cherry/pina colada Slurpees!

106/365

"I'm old and tired. Can ya just let me sleep?" Mindy complains.

105/365

Why I'm so tired after grocery shopping. I buy the whole store, cart it around, and load in the car. Then I go home and have to cook it. Hate it!

104/365

Wonder how hard it would be to make these? Probably easier since my pets are cuter than the ones in the frames! ha!