99 things

I got this list from another blog.  I thought it was an interesting list just as a life review.  You bold the things that you have actually done.  It's a pretty interesting list.  Feel free to copy and paste.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band 
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris  
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone 
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Street Photography

Here are a few street shots taken on vacation.

#1 Gladiators outside of the Colluseum. They will pose with you for photos...for money.

#2 Street performer in Paris.

#3 Cafe in Paris

#4 Street vendor in Paris on the Seine River.

#5 You never know who you'll met in London.

#6 Street scene in London. Note the Starbucks and McDonalds. They are everywhere.

Minimalism

Here's my attempt at a minimalist shot. This challenge really stumped me. I thought I had a handle on it but my attempts were feeble. This was the only decent shot I think I was able to come up with and it's not even one I took this week. I took it back in the spring in Arizona.

ISO 400, SS 1/1500, F 9.5, 200mm

Finding some sun

It's been a grey week here, but on the upside the sun is going to be out today. Nonetheless, I had to dip into the coffers for a sun photo so I could jump into this week's challenge, albeit a bit late. This pic was taken on Kauai from my room at the Princeville resort. Don't they tell you not to shoot into the sun? Obviously I don't follow that mantra because some of my favorite shots are shot directly into the sun...in Hawaii of course. The sun was peeking through the clouds just beautifully after a bit of rain. If the photo continued on to the right, you would see Bali Hai. This is one of my favorite sun photos because of the way the sun's rays come through the clouds and the silhouetting of the palm trees. So peaceful. I did a vintage action on this shot mainly because there is very little real color in the shot. I'm also posting the SOOC shot.

Settings: ISO 400, F 10, SS 1/2000, Focal length 33mm.

There is slime here somewhere

You can't get much slimier than a tide pool. Lots of creepy crawlies and slimy things in there. This particular photo was taken on Kauai and I just love the interest of this particular tide pool. The volcanic rock has formed all these little baby tide pools that are probably just teeming with life on a microscopic level. I also love the graphic quality of all the small circular mini tide pools.

Settings: ISO 200, F 4.5, SS 1/90 sec, focal length 60mm. Midnight black action in PSCS2.

Real fruity???

Are these real apples or not? As yummy as these look, I wouldn't recommend biting into one. These are fake apples purchased for no particular reason for me by my mother in law. My kitchen has a fruit theme and my dining room has 3 apple prints hanging in it. While out and about my mother in law thought these would be just right for me. Of course in true mother in law fashion, she had already decided where and how I should display these lovelies. I had other ideas and now they reside on my sideboard in my dining room in a Longaberger basket. So, while they look tempting, don't bite into them. This shot was taken with my new 50mm 1.4 lens. I think I'm going to like this little baby.

Settings: ISO 400, F 1.4, SS 1/80, focal length 50mm. Shot in RAW and processed in Adobe Lightroom.

Bananarama

Watermelon is my favorite fruit. Always has been, always will be. But, I don't happen to have any watermelon around the house here today so it's bananas for us. I'm very particular about my bananas. I don't like them too ripe and sweet. I prefer them while they are still a bit green. Strange I know, but that's how I like them. Once they ripen and get sweet they seem a bit mushier, I prefer not to eat them, but I will. Bananas, apples, oranges and grapes are the fruit staples we keep around the house so getting a picture of one of them is no problem. I love to eat other kinds of fruits, but these are the ones that are always here. I guess I'm just a little bit "fruity."

Settings: ISO 400, F 10, SS 1/8sec, focal length 200mm. Shot in RAW on tripod and developed in Adobe Lightroom.

Here comes Peter Cottontail...

Today's food is one of my favorites. I think it's one of my favorites because I can't have them all the time. They are synonymous with Easter...at least to me. I rejoice when I see these colorful little orbs make their appearance on the store shelves every spring. I'm sure I could get them the rest of the year somewhere...but I think it's better to keep traditional treats traditional. My favorites are the red, yellow and orange. Not so much the green. Definitely I could do without the black ones. Blecchhh. It's beyond me why they make entire packages of the black ones, but they do. They are the ones left over after I'm done and end up in the trash. To each his own I guess.

Settings: ISO 400, F 6.3, SS 1/20sec, Focal length 200mm. Shot on tripod in RAW and edited in Adobe Lightroom.

Time for Breakfast

It's Spring Break around here so that means no school schedule to worry about. My 16 year old daughter decided to make pancakes for breakfast this morning. She's quite adept at it and I don't mind in the least turning over my kitchen to her. This photo was shot this morning before digging in.

Settings: ISO 400, F 5.6, SS 1/8sec, focal length 78mm. Shot on tripod in RAW, PP'ed in Adobe Lightroom (love this program).

What have I been up to?

I've been absent for a while. Last week we took a trip to Tucson Arizona to watch my daughter play her senior year spring break softball pre-season games. It was a bittersweet time. We had fun, but we knew it would be our last spring break trip and her last spring break softball games. This season is going to be full of lasts for her as she graduates college and moves on with her life. I'm sure softball won't go completely away, it just won't be as big a part of her life as it has been for the past 17 years. I shot a ton of pictures of both softball and beautiful scenery. I shot all of my scenic shots in RAW so I have a bit of work to do before I can post any.

I'm back now and trying to get back on track with the POTD'ers. It's taken me until Wednesday this week to get into the groove due to something big that had been looming over me. It's this big, scary, nasty monster that makes it's appearance every year about this time. I hesitate to write it, but here it is...TAXES! Now I don't actually do our taxes, we have an accountant who does them for us due to us outgrowing my comfort level with dealing with all the forms and such, but I still have to get things prepared and in order for her. It is never as big a job as I always make it out to be, and dread, due to the fact that I'm pretty organized in this area. I have a file folder that any time we have a tax related item come about, I just drop it in this folder. No searching for receipts and cancelled checks. It works for me and really helps at this time of year. My trusty calculator humms along when I pull everything out and start to work on it. I would be lost without it, hence my tribute to my calculator today. I decided since taxes were an edgy subject, that I would make my photo a bit edgy using the LOMO technique on it. I have no idea where I got the instructions, but if you Google LOMO workflow, you will probably be able to find it.

Settings: ISO 100, F 20, SS 2.0 seconds, Focal length 110mm. Shot in RAW on tripod. LOMO process in PSE5.

Now we're cookin'

I know you may be wondering how a stove burner can make my life easier. Seems a bit odd (that's OK, I'm a bit odd too). In my 23 years of marriage I have lived in quite a few places and cooked on probably every type of stove that's out there...electric, ceramic cooktop, flat cooktop and gas. Gas is my all time favorite for cooking. I love the control it gives and how when it's off, it's off (try that with a ceramic disc cooktop). Now you may get the impression that I'm a gourmet cook, or even that I like to cook. Trust me, nothing could be further from the truth. If this week's theme was things we like to do, cooking wouldn't even enter into the realm of possibility. I just love my gas cooktop though, because it does make a chore that I don't truly enjoy just a tiny bit easier.

Settings: ISO 800, F 5.6, SS .30 seconds, focal length 80mm. Effects done in PSE5.

Anything that helps prevent confusion and/or fighting in a house with 4 kids (3 currently at home) is OK in my book. Our poor dog, she is loved and a best friend...up until mealtime. Then it's more like she is some unkown creature that has wandered into the kitchen. "It's your turn to feed the dog." "No, it's your turn." This became commonplace around here at 6:00. Finally, after 2 years I came up with a brainstorm. Assigned days for feeding the dog. The kids control the system trading days when they have conflicts. I'm out of the loop on this (thank goodness). So far so good. My youngest took the liberty of writing the assigned days on this magnetic calendar that resides on our refrigerator using first letters of names (or first and second letters for the boys since both of their names start with M) to keep track of who does what day. Wonder if I can get them to buy into a laundry person of the day?

Settings: ISO 800, F 5.6, SS 1/45, focal length 55mm. SOOC shot in RAW.

A ghostly occurrence

Do do do do, do do do do. (Enter Rod Serling) Imagine yourself, in a room alone. You are experiencing great joy in the fact that you finally figured out how to get the video head off your tripod so you could place your new ball head on the tripod. Imagine you are playing around with your new toy and decide to take a photograph in a relatively not well lit area of your home to test out your new tripod head. Moments later you have the settings on the camera ready to go and you push the shutter button. Then the unthinkable happens. You capture an etherial figure on your camera's sensor. OK, so not so etherial...it's a teenager who happens to walk into the front hall at an opportune time. It's along the same line as the kids don't need you until you are on the phone...or need to go to the bathroom. I could have been doing anything else at that moment and no one would even think of needing to find me. Such is the life of a mom. Anyway, I thought this photo had such a cool effect. My younger son tried to duplicate it but after several tries just couldn't get the timing exactly right. He wanted to be a ghost too I guess.

Settings: ISO 100, F 5.6, SS 1.5 seconds, Focal length 18mm.

Repurposing with a purpose

I was the fourth of 5 children, the only girl. My 3 older brothers were a bit older and pretty much did their own thing. My younger brother was basically my best friend growing up. We played together and were pretty much inseparable until hitting our teen years, then we drifted apart somewhat even though when asked which of my brothers I wanted in my wedding, it was no question. My younger brother died 10 years ago from a cancer that was supposed to have killed him 25 years ago so he did his best to fight for as long as he could. I do regret not having a better relationship with him in our later years. This photo is our toy box that we shared as kids. My mother kept it all these years in her home and it was passed on to me when she died. With my youngest child being almost 13, I really don't have a use for a true toy box. Those days are behind me until grandchildren come along. That doesn't mean that the old red toy box doesn't have a use in our house. It is still a reminder that I am a mother and children still live here. We use it for shoes. With 5 people currently in the house we have a lot of shoes that don't always make it to their appropriate rooms. When they are left behind, they get to go live in the toy box which sits in my family room. The photo inset gives you a peek inside. I couldn't think of a better use for a well worn, well loved old friend.

Settings: ISO 400, F 4.0, SS 1/15, focal length 33mm. Editing in PSE5.

Just call me a geek.

I'm a techie, I admit it. I love technology and computers. I hated the inconvience of carrying both a cell phone and either a palm pilot or planner so I convinced DH that I "needed" this phone. I love that it has my calendar in it, I can access my e-mail from it (very helpful when my DS was in the hospital for a week and I lived there during the days) and of course it's a cell phone. Not a very good one, but it works for the most part. What did we do before cell phones? I never leave home without it. I hate the feeling that my kids can't get in touch with me when they need to. I guess it's my security blanket. Of course I had to get the nifty leather case for my security blanket too. You might think that having a fancy schmancy phone like this that I am a highly important and organized person, but don't let it fool you. I am neither...but at least I look the part. ;-)

Settings: ISO 400, F 4.5, SS 1/250, Focal length 40mm. Desaturation and Cutout filter applied in PSE5. Click on photo to enlarge to get the full effect of the cutout filter.

I love quilts. Any shape, any size. The more colorful, the better. I love pieced quilts, appliqued quilts, Amish quilts...any quilt. I have a very small quilt collection but am on the lookout to expand it. I've even made a quilt. Yes, I...Jenny...have actually made a quilt. It was a small one but I made it myself. I do have lots of quilt books and would love to be able to sit down and make all the quilts I have earmarked, but I know that isn't possible. In my small collection two of my most prized quilts are ones that my mother gave me that were made by my grandmother. These are not pristine, prize winning quilts. Rather they are quilts made by a farmer's wife and well used on the farm by the family. There are worn spots in them but I don't mind. It adds to the character of these pieces of family history. This shot is a close up of one of those quilts. I just love the fabric with the little palm trees. These quilts were probably made during the 30's or 40's and it's facinating to see fabric like this being used in such a hard time. I'm glad that I have two of these quilts so I can pass one along to each of my daughters. I hope they cherish them as much as I do.

Settings: ISO 400, F 4.0, SS 1/8 (amazing that I handheld this and still got clarity in the shot), focal length 28mm. Unsharp mask and saturation boost in PSE5.

Don't Stand So Close to Me.

This week's theme is objects that tell something about you. Well, my first photo this week will tell you something that I'm not so sure I want to admit to. Yes, I have had to purchase lovingly referred to as "old lady glasses." I thought a few years back when I had my Lasix surgery that I was free from glasses and contacts. The world was my oyster and all I had to do was see it. Well, that joy was short lived. Being firmly implanted in my forties has made a difference. I just plain can't see things that are too close to me. So I have my stash of glasses pretty much all over the house. I buy these "readers" by the 3 pack at Costco just so I can have some in just about every room of the house. I have even (gasp) taken to wearing them on a suede string around my neck so I don't lose them. You see, even though I have at least 9 pair running around here, I can never find a pair when I need them. It really is a pain having to find a pair of glasses in order to read a recipe or label. But they are necessary, especially when working on the computer. I will survive...and I promise I won't get a chain to hang my glasses on yet, for at least another couple of years.

Settings: ISO 400, F 4.5, SS 1/250, focal length 55mm. B&W conversion in PSE5.

Really officer, it's for a message board assignment.

That's how I had it all prepared in my head. Would have worked, right? I decided while out and about I'd take a shot of my view out my front windshield. Don't worry I wasn't going fast. But it is a good thing I got the shot as I was drifting toward the side of the road ever so slightly. Who'd have thunk that taking pictures while you were driving could be dangerous? I'm just glad none of my neighbors were out as this was taken in my neighborhood. Next time, head to a totally different town where nobody knows you...and take along someone to hold the wheel. As you'll notice I cleaned my windshield for the shot as evidenced by the fresh solution on the left hand side. Also, if you click on the image and enlarge it and look really close you will see I need to stop for gas. Oh, so that's what that little gas pump light is for. While I'm at it I need to dust my dashboard. Settings: ISO 200, F 5.6, SS 1/350, Focal length 18mm shot in RAW.

I'm also throwing in a shot I took of just a basic road cone. I did a color pop on this and wanted to see what you guys think. Settings: ISO 200, F 5.6, SS 1/750, focal length 103mm, shot in RAW and color pop in PSE5.

Around town

OK, I'm giving you guys a break and giving you some real shooting. I went around town shooting this and that. I took this picture just kind of for fun because I liked how graphic the "open" sign looked. I decided to do a selective coloring conversion on this shot and I really like the effect of the brick in the B&W along with the bright color of the sign. PP'ed in PSE5 with B&W and selective coloring. Upped the saturation of the color a bit too.

Settings: ISO 200, F 6.3, SS 1/125, focal length 200mm. Shot in RAW.

Ummmmmm...OK.

OK, I promise this is the last of my potty humor photos here (that's not saying I don't have more in my stash though). This one was just too good to pass up. I had to do a bit of playing around with the picture (OK, a lot of playing around) because the shooting conditions as they were basically were terrible. Picture a small federally run visitor center bathroom on top of a volcano (Haleakaka). There is this crazy lady in the dimly lit, small stall trying to take a picture of the sign above the toilet without making fellow tourists think there was funny business going on (OK the giggling may have been a tip off to the funny business). I likened this accomplishment to a Tom Cruise like moment in Mission Impossible. OK, maybe just more like a crazy mom with a camera everyday moment, but you get the picture...and so did I. Anyway, I don't think this sign needs any explanation. I am glad they put it there though, because I was sorely tempted to just dip me out a sip of cool water. I mean, doesn't everyone think of the toilet as just another water dish? ;-)

Settings: ISO 400, F 5.6, SS 1/30 (hence a lot of camera shake that forced me to beautify this in PSE5), focal length 78mm. PPed in PSE5 using plastic wrap filter among other things.