RAVEN

If you've been here before, you know my love of cemeteries and I've been a little obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe lately.  He was always one of my favorite poets, I've been writing a little more and it inspires me so when I came upon this at Oakwood Cemetery in Austin I couldn't help but snap this.  The Raven has always been one of my favorites.

Petting a Blue Jay

It's not every day you can pet a Blue Jay, but Christmas is special isn't it?  I found this bird stuck in my sister's sunroom on Christmas day and couldn't find the open door to get out.  After about an hour of him slamming into the glass, I herded him from the outside to a corner where my brother-in-law scooped him up and set him outside.  Too shellshocked to move he just sat there, and H2, being H2 and ultra-adventurous, stuck his hand out and stroked the bird.  He sat there for a while, I eventually went to take him some bread, but as I stepped back out, he flew off to be with his buddies.

So I have this lens...

So I have this wonderful 1000mm lens that was my dad's back in the 70's that he used to use to shoot windsurfers from the sea wall.  I put it on the camera last night to take pictures of the eclipse, and it was not working right.  It seems the connector ring is loose and the camera was wobbly on the lens and I couldn't get a great in-focus shot of the full eclipse.

Then in the middle of my frustrations last night ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE in my neighborhood at 2:30 AM mind you and while I thought it was a high speed chase, I went out front to look - every rescue vehicle was running down the main street.  A house burned down.  This close to Christmas.  I feel horrible for the family.

Self Portraits

Well, I'm breaking out of my box today.  One, you know I don't shoot people, and two, I'm never happy with a photo of myself.  That being said, I felt the need to experiment today, step out of my norm and try something different.  I don't hate these, and I'm VERY thankful for soft focus.

Out for a walk

It was 78 degrees here today....on December 15.  I went for a walk.

Fun with Adobe Illustrator

So in case you were wondering what I've been up to, I've been knee deep in Adobe Illustrator.  I've done tons of interesting stuff.  I've created my own branding iron, I've created a font.  I've done a restaurant logo that was originally drawn on a paper napkin.  I've done some digital vector art from photography.  In fact this is my final project.  Above is the photo.  The side of a very contemporary Audubon Center.  I took the side of the building, posterized it in Photoshop, transfered it to Illustrator and made it something completely different.  I had a ton of fun with this particular shot, and feedback is always welcome.

Bullfrog

Dirty Bee

November 1st

Today was the most beautiful day & the professor of my Digital Imaging class canceled class for the day so I spent it at the Arboretum.

Halloween Ghost

It's official.  I have caught a ghost on film, and on Halloween even.

Out-Takes, February

Out-Takes, April

This was from the Dallas Arboretum in April.  I love the Dallas Arboretum so much.  It gives me much needed color and beauty year round, the fact that its 5 minutes from the house, well, that's just an added benefit.  I take so many of my photos there.  

Day 365: Farewell...

I won, I finished, I completed a journey.  I feel like this is the "flower on the casket" of this 365 day challenge.  A farewell to a wonderful experience.

I think I'm going to take a break from the everyday photo and but not from photography.  I'm going to start another challenge, probably the first of the year, but customized.  Until then I'll keep posting here, on my flickr and I'll see you on Twitter.  I'm going to show some of the things that didn't make the cut.  Some experiments and who knows what else.

The one thing that I get to take with me above all else from this 365 day challenge.  The friends I've made along the way.  Thank you for all the encouragement over the last year.  You guys are amazing!

Day 364: Let your light shine down.

With the exception of changing this to greyscale, I didn't alter this photo.  I am intrigued by this cemetery & wanted to capture this fallen headstone.  The cemetery is locked and behind a big iron fence so I just took a few snaps with the 50 mm lens and when I downloaded the photos was surprised to find this.  It truly looks like a light shining down from heaven.  How can I not post this divine shot?

Day 363: Fire Hydrant

Day 362: Cracked

Day 361: Foggy Morning

Day 360: Changing

Day 359: Reflections

Day 358: Rowing at Sunrise

Day 357: Cannon

Its not metal its wood - creatively post processed.  One day, I'm going to get the perfect picture of this old clock, but until then, this is a little corner of the beautifully carved mantle clock.

Day 356: A different view

I usually hug the tree and shoot up, this time I put my back to it.  Its lovely to try a different perspective.

Day 355: Fall Staircase

Day 354: Slow

Day 353: Creative Processing

If you have been following my photography, you will know I'm a HUGE fan of straight out of the camera.  The problem right now is I'm in a the 2nd level of Digital Imaging and totally into the "creative process".  See the above photo, totally creative processing.  The original is below:

Using the same processing above without adding the sunset look I created this.  I love the over-processed look of the bottom one even though it doesn't look real.  Sometimes, you just have to step outside the box.

Day 352: Fall Color

You have to look hard to find good fall color in Texas, especially this early - but I found some.

Day 351: Vertical View

Day 350: Lock

Day 349: Starburst

I couldn't think of a better title.  I'm brain dead today.  I went to the lake to try & feel better, ate my lunch on the pier.  Then looked back at the shore to see the beautiful ragweed hugging the shore.  I took this picture and ran indoors.  I still can't breathe.

Day 348: Sitting Still

I believe this is a giant swallowtail, but it doesn't really look that giant to me.  I will say that this was the only swallowtail of any kind that sat still long enough for me to snap a pic.

Day 347: Wheeeeeee!

Day 346: Hrmph!

I'm totally and utterly in love with the photo.  To me this is the perfect expression on a teacher's face, when THAT KID, you know which kid, does THAT THING - again.

Day 345: Number 7

Day 344: The Texas Star

Today we spent the day at the Texas State Fair.  Lots of fun, and calories, were had by all.

Day 343: Just Resting

Day 342: Viking

Today we were shooting some still lifes in Digital Imaging.  Well, things got infinitely more interesting when we found out the pumpkin was actually a Viking

Day 341: Bobbing for Pumkins

I'd like to see the jaw that can pick those up.

Day 340: Orange for fall

You thought you were going to get a pumpkin didn't you?  I spent an hour or so at the Dallas Arboretum and was delighted to have this little guy cooperate with me for a photo.  Every walk way was lined with pumpkins, but this was the prettiest orange I saw.  Also, no post processing except for a slight crop.

Day 339: Still beautiful

It may be fall, but there are still some beautiful flowers to enjoy.

Day 338: Sleepy Hollow

I often walk this road to get to my lake path.  I always make sure I don't hit this after sunset, because I always imagine the Headless Horseman coming down the road.

Day 337: School

I feel like I spend all  my time here - maybe I should have called it my 2nd home.

Day 336: Another 2-FER

BONUS!!!  

I did two photos tonight - strictly because I couldn't decide.  I like the composition of the top photo, but not the lighting of the grass in the foreground.  I loved the idea of the bottom photo, but even though it was an amazing color.  It didn't "do it" for me.  I changed my mind when I switched to B&W.  Share your thoughts.  I always love to hear them.

Day 335: Fire in the Sky

I'm saying this is the last sunset of Summer as technically it's not fall till 11 something this evening.  Argue with me if you will.  I didn't find peace here tonight, too much going on in my life.

Day 334: Web

This is totally experimentation.  This am shot showed great web, but I really couldn't make it pop, so instead of giving it a dark color overlay to even out the back, I put a white one on to make the web pop and then posterized it.  Experimentation sometimes gives you interesting results.