Wades

Andy and Bekki asked me to take some pictures of their family of three (before baby girl makes 4 in March) to put in Christmas cards.  Bekki said they didn't have a picture of the three of them since Dec. 2009.  We went in the fields in front of and beside their house.  After almost getting peed on by a dog (not theirs) right at the beginning, things got a little better.  The wind was 15-20 mph with gusts beyond that.  Made for an interesting time.

 Graycie wearing the scarf now. Couldn't get the crazy dog to cooperate.  If you know anything about Weimeraners, they're loyal to approximately one person (Andy), and don't care anything about anyone else.

 This picture and the next were taken in shadows from a row of pine trees along the road.

I don't love the direct sun lighting, but oh well.  It's not as bad as full sun can be...

new diffuser

Jaclyn helped talk me into getting a flash diffuser when she was here. For a little more than the price of one, I got two! A cloud diffuser (translucent) and clear (transparent). They both have an inverted dome for the top.

preliminary samples for your enjoyment:

flash pointed at ceiling - no diffuser

flash aimed at ceiling - diffuser - no dome

flash aimed at ceiling - diffuser - with dome

vote for me!

Rachel Parker, a watercolor artist from South Carolina picked my picture as one to vote on. If it gets the most votes, she'll paint it!

http://www.rachelsstudio.blogspot.com/

next door friends

Olivia

Gabby

& a typical Olivia reaction :)

testing 1, 2

I've been playing with Adobe Lightroom's free 30-day trial. This is a pic of Tian at tonight's Mulligan Stew (church event). The program lets you apply edits to small portions of the picture using masks, as well as adjusting the other aspects of the whole picture. What do you think of the edits?

new e-520

Since I have put a couple of posts up with pictures taken by my new camera, I thought I'd put a couple up of the beast itself.

new body, same lens

live-view LCD

V-day pics

The sweet deal I got at Circuit City's closeout sale - an Olympus flash for my camera

Ryan had flowers and a nice balloon waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday.

One of Ryan's students gave him bubbles yesterday at school.

Roses up close, changed to b&w, then colorized

And I still had my camera set to b&w when I snapped a picture of this guy at the feeder this morning.

the nature of my job

These four pictures I've taken over the last two years (three of them this summer) now dominate my office wall. The hummingbird you probably recognize from Monday, the echinacea is from Jaclyn's and my visit to the Belle Meade plantation two summers ago, the bumblebee is from Baughmans' back yard in July, and the swallows are from Radnor Lake in May. The bottom right picture doesn't have a frame yet because when I got them here yesterday the glass was broken. So when I take it back and get the replacement, my latest art project will be done!