flowers.....

Flowers...

with their lovely faces...

who can resist?

Valentines Day is my favorite 

special day...

it is the day my sweetie and I had our very first date.

So 

I am spoiled on Vday with lots of roses..

4 dozen this year....

(yeah, I know....smiles.)

I placed them all around the house.

When I was looking for these images,

I stumbled across 

these lovelies from earlier in the year.

Sunflowers rival Roses for my attention...

always.

Hope you are given flowers by someone you love,

and if not, 

go out then, and buy them for yourselves!

I do....

smiles.

Whew....that just about wore me out!

Now it's confirmed,

I am an old dog....

and you would be justified in assuming that means

I cannot be taught new tricks....

I tried though

really I did.

But I simply struggled...

and that is not what blogging is all about for me.

OK,

here it is...

I tried the newer interface of Blogger.

There

I said it...

I found it to be clunky.

Now, in reality,

I am the one who is clunky,

stubborn,

set in my ways,

awkward,

embarrassed by my inability to conform....

So, I am back to the old interface

(don't ask me how long it took me to find my way,

let's just say I should have dropped bread crumbs on the way in....)

I have had better luck with my new iPhone....

Whew!

Glad that I could say that at least....

here is a bit of the other things I have been doing....

Enjoying my anniversary flowers...

BIG blooms...

drinking copious amounts of coffee....

photographing things

I am amazed at the clarity of images from a phone!

I have three different apps for imaging

the camera that came with the phone...

Camera+ (which my son found for me)

and Instagram, which I read about online,

and actually found on my own!

Camera+ actually produces the best image, but I have yet to 

learn all the features.

Instagram is easy, and friendly too. 

I like it.

I use it the most.

this is my office.

a mess....but in a good way.

The trunk is drying, I put new wallpaper in it just hours ago,

and am waiting for it to cure.

I plan to store some of that pile of fabric and 

felted wool in it by the end of the day.

(the border on that image is one of the many reasons I like Instagram.

How about you?

Do you find newer technology (interfaces, apps.....etc...)

a challenge?

Please share your experiences with me.

If you have found that the newer interface is worth the effort,

please tell me that too.

I am willing to try it again if the incentive seems worth the journey.

smiles

TGIF!

She sells sea shells....

just about this time of year....

I get to longing for the beach.

I live within easy driving distance of the shore,

and when the tulips start poking their small 

green noses out of the soil

I immediately think

"Beach Trip"!

So....

in order to act like an adult

(snickering here)

I played with shells.

I have shells

everywhere...

in bowls

in jugs

in desks

on shelves

well, you get the picture....

Yes,

now I feel much better...

smiles

Where did the time go....?

As I sat out on my back deck today,

in the sunshine,

wearing a sleeveless shirt,

face turning pink,

legs hopelessly pale...

I thought

"Where the heck did the summer go?"

I mean,

really!

Seems like just yesterday I was putting a load 

of sweaters away in the cedar chest....

And,

Holy Cow,

Halloween is over,

and Day light savings time

(does it really save anything?)

will be gone this weekend, right?

Well,

get ready...

here comes

the rain...

and the fog

and the snow...

But 

for 

today....

I have a 

pink face,

and a warm body...

smiles

Fall weddings are lovely....

I have proof....
regardless of our age...
we still fall in love...
and when that happens,
sometime magical is
likely to occur...
I had the pleasure of photographing
the wedding of Jean and Charlie,
who beamed like teenagers...
and were giddy until the very last guest left..
Happy days!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Nope I don't receive anything special from Shutterfly....

I simply have found their site to be easy to use...

and I can purchase fun, interesting products that I design.

Try it sometime for gifts..

smiles

I think I have noticed a trend...

It seems that 

"realism" is out the door with yesterdays newspaper...

(sorry to all suffering periodicals!)

What I mean by realism is; 

photojournalism,

documentation,

recording factual information.....

I know, I know.....

I am so "yesterday"...

passe'....

old-fashioned...

out of touch....

OLD!

I can't help that,

but what I have spent most of my career in photography

attempting to do, is no longer popular, apparently.....

Have you noticed all the photo-trickery?

Over exposed,

out of focus,

or

serious color saturation?

All of it, done on the computer in 

Photoshop, Aperture, or the like....

Interesting, but is it anything like reality?

I use iPhoto and Aperture,

I have used Photoshop Elements on previous computers.

I like all and both..

It makes producing a quality image for my customers so much more 

well, efficient.

Also, I love to be able to switch easily from color to B/W.

I am seriously grateful to have the power to eliminate the stray dog, person, car, or

"you name it" from the background of "on-location" shoots.

Sometimes though,

I like the messiness of film shooting...

it was more intensive, but at the same time,

when I recorded what I saw as the perfect image.....

I knew, I had earned it.

What do you think?

smiles

What at trip!

I finally feel as though I am truly 

back home in my own world....

Laundry finished...

fires put out....

all the moles "whacked"....

and 

I 

can 

breathe...

My sweetie and I went to London,

with side trips to 

Windsor,

Bath,

Stonehenge,

and 

Paris...

unbelievable.

This is how the trip started...

many hours of this;

and him...

and this....

and them....

Then we arrived....

at 7am local, not time to go to bed,

like our bodies wanted to...

so, we napped for a couple of hours and 

then, forced ourselves to wake just long enough to

catch a bus.....tour bus that is, 

pretty cool,

movin' stars...

(with apologies to Beverly Hillbillys' fans)

when we finally jumped

(limped, actually)

off the bus, we were on Oxford Street.

Shopping mecca for many....

and weird things in the windows,

like this shoe fashioned from pot-lids...

And this enormous sculpture of a horse's 

head...

Then, there is the story of how the 

"world traveler", namely me, was 

so absent minded that she forgot that 

unwritten rule;

"Never wear new shoes the first day of a trip!"

Rubbed the skin right off my heels,

and could hardly walk,

until I bought some 

fancy British flip flops.

I am sure they probably have a much more 

sophisticated name for them,

but whatever...

they worked, and saved my vacation!

Can you believe he took a photo of my feet?

Love these buses, they hand out free plastic

ponchos if it sprinkles..

Late in the day,

(5pm was all we could handle)

we walked to a local pub.

"The Grazing Goat"

for dinner.

Ground floor (what we would call 1st floor)

there was a lively bar crowd,

but we were not lively at that point and 

hiked up the stairs to the 

dining room....

which was light and airy,

and decorated like 

Restoration Hardware

had come in and created a showroom...

The food was good, creative

and filling...

that's really all we wanted.

And so ends the first day of our travels....

smiles.

Feeling Cranky....

Slow down, you movin' too fast
You gotta make your body last
Just fallin' down the steps at home
Lookin' for help and
Feelin' cranky____________

Hello blogpost
Whatcha knowin?
I've come to watch your numbers growin'
Ain'tcha got no time for me?
Doo Bee Doo Doo,
Feelin' cranky____________

Got no clients to shoot
No images to preen
I'm baffled and broke and ready to scream
Let my files drop all its jpgs. on me...
iMac, I fear you,
I am cranky____________________

Hello beach house

who ya keepin?

I'd love to see you 'fore summer's over

Ain'tcha got no space for free?

doo bee doo doo

Feelin' cranky___________________

Da Da Da Da Da.....all is cranky....

Just one of those days, ever have one?

(many apologies to Mr.Simon)

smiles.

Isn't spring wonderful?

Yeah, I know....

the pollen makes us miserable...

the storms are unpredictable....

but 

the 

flowers

are 

so....

worth it!

smiles....

The other side of things....

While watching the world with the eye of a photographer,

you might just find that you look at things 

in a rather different way 

than your average observer.....

I find that I look 

at the back of things....

sneaking around the corner to

glimpse the un-observed....

Isn't it lovely the way the fading pedals

are turning deeper pink....

and the golden center at the inside

glows through to the back?

Much more interesting to see things from a

different point of view,

wouldn't you say?

smiles....