Sleepy Hollow

In years past I have gone to alot of trouble to dress the house in halloween splendor, tombstones, cats, cobwebs, lights,spooky music, and carved pumpkins. Tonight just one carved pumpkin sat waiting for the little tricker treaters. We had two little cowpokes. That is two more than last year. I guess that means far too much left over candy for Floyd and I.

Friendship reigns orange

Yesterday a good friend brought me a lovely autumn bouquet. Everytime I look at them I am thankful for good friends. I hope she knows how much joy they will bring over the next few days. And you poor peeps are in for a deluge of floral photos. Enjoy.

Frozen for all time

We had some hard frost last night. I didnt get out soon enough to get a image of the frosty white world but I was just in time to see the frost crystals softening as the sun warmed the world ever so slightly.

October Glow

This morning view is at the end of my driveway looking to the east. What a lovely morning it was and for some reason I had an abundance of energy. I wonder what made that change as I have been feeling sluggish lately.

Pumpkin carving

It has been taking me awhile to get into a new routine and so I have not been taking much time to take photos. My chance came last night when I helped Emily carve her pumpkin. She did a great job. And she looooves the feel of punkin guts.

Where the Bratrees grow

Yesterday I went to Beaverlodge to teach a class. On the main street I noticed that the bra trees are ready to harvest.... looks like the harvest is grade "B" this year.

LaGlace lake

This morning I went for a drive before the sun came up. This is the closest I have ever been to the lake at LaGlace.

Seal - Secret (Video)

Secrets

Dandy

I was amazed to see that the seeds of the dandelion are barbed. Combine that with the little parachute tops and they are perfectly designed to endure.

All that glitters

This month I am attending a few classes in Glass fusing. Although I have done this before it has been a long time. This is a pendant that I made from some lovely irridessant glass that I fused together.

Old posts

I have felt a little busy and missed yesterday's post... have not been out shooting. So I am relying on archives for todays photo. Well not too far back, this was taken last week. Things have been different here this last week.. and instead of lamenting change, I feel as though I am standing on edge of a dark pool . And all I need to do is dip in to learn something new about myself.

A happy bookworm

I wonder if Dr Suess knew that he was going to make all those wonderful moments for children and parents, or in this case grandparents?

Sailers take warning!

This was the sky in my yard on Sunday morning. The old adage about red sky at night etc. proved itself true. Very high winds that day blew a tree just like this down in my yard. It fell right between two play structures in my yard. Funny the structures were only about 3 ft apart and it cleared them both. It did however land on the old metal swing that was so old that it was a danger for the kids to use. It also handed on our power line, stretching it to within feet from the ground. Luckily no one was hurt, we didn't lose power do to that. But the power flickered on and off all day due to other problems down the line created by the wind. I had to reset the oven many times over the course of the day. I was starting to wonder if we would get turkey at all. But in the end turkey was enjoyed by all.

Measure twice .. cut once

We are almost finished building the deck.. woohoo! Just a bit of railing on two sides and by the stairs left. I have been enjoying it every evening this week. It is going to extend my outside time by quite a bit this fall. And there is nothing a menopausal crazy lady likes more than to just pop outdoors when the tropical heatwave rolls in. Should be fun today with the kids here for Thanksgiving.In our house we all congregate in the kitchen and it will be great to have an extra room attached. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Off to make some stuffing now.

Early to rise .early to nap.

This morning I made my early morning phototrip. I drove around for an hour and a half looking for the bestest, most wonderful shot. I never found my eureka! but I did find several very pretty scenes. I headed home just in time to make breakfast for my "F ' er " and the neighbour who came for coffee. And just in time too, as they were plotting ways to eat the pumpkin pie without taking any flack for it. So we will have pumpkin pie tomorrow and the cat will not be unjustly punished.

Evening glow

The evening light casts a golden glow over everything it touches. This is my favorite time of day. The dogs and I went for a walk last night. Everywhere I looked the light was creating magic. Giving the tiniest leaf and the smallest tufts of grass a wonderful presence. "Look at me in my evening splendor" The kind of splendor that would be shortlived as the darkness was creeping in. Take an evening walk and enjoy the glow.

Restless Heart - When She Cries (REAL Music Video)

This song is the first song that my hubby and I ever slow danced to. When I hear it I remember how I felt that even though we were both coming to the relationship with baggage, that it didnt matter, And that he would always be there for me.

Good intentions

Last night I was thinking I would get up while it was still dark and drive around until I found something wonderful to photograph. Well I slept in and just couldnt seem to get myself going this morning. So I had to settle for taking photos off my back step. Maybe I will pack my gear tonight and get out there tomorrow. ; )

I have been asked about letting you guys in on some photo tips. So I guess I will start with this photo.

1.First of all I took a shot in "P" mode. (At this point I am using the camera as a meter) the camera gave me a reading of 10sec at f4 which is wide open for the lens I was using. ( Also let me say that as I was taking this photo from so far away, depth of field was not an issue)This also gave me a lighter exposure than I wanted, washing out the colours a bit. Also I was not using a tripod so there was no way to hand hold my camera and get a clear image.

2.I knew I needed to get my shutter speed up to a fast enough speed to get a sharp image. So I set my ISO to 800. Now I was getting a reading 1 sec at f4 . that was getting closer to handholding speed.

3. Now this reading was giving me the cameras idea of correct exposure . My creative vision was to see all the colours so I underexposed a bit. This allowed me to shoot it at .25sec at f4. Leaning against a pole I was able to steady myself enough to get a fairly sharp image.

So the main thing that I changed to capture the image I wanted was the ISO . If I hadn't I would have ended up with alot of blurry images to delete from my computer. Using a tripod would have been a better solution . As I could take the faster ISO out of the equation giving me less noise. .. Noise is often a problem in a photos of the sky. Higher ISO's make it worse.

I hope this has been helpful. Happy clicking.

Time heals

I havn't posted for a few days because I have been extremely busy, building a deck , meeting for playhouses, and trying to get the yard and garden ready for winter. Even as I say this I know that most of that , while true , isnt the whole truth. Another anniversary of my brother's suicide has come and gone. The last few days I have been feeling a little raw and out of sorts. And yes time does heal , but that kind of heartache leaves a scar. This weekend we will be having our Thanksgiving dinner and I am looking forward to an infusion of love and laughing to get me back on track.

Miss Aspen did a slight curtsey

This photo is one made with a pinhole lens that I constructed two weeks ago. I love the dreamy quality of pinhole photography and have always wanted to try it. I have been experimenting with it and know that it will be in my bag of tricks for a long time to come. I added the edge with my editing program, as the edge was crisp and clean, and I wanted it to look more like a photo done with a traditional pinhole camera.