11/07/09 - Soaking Up the Light This bench and table are in my yard facing one of my ornamental ponds. In theory, I would go out here often to sit and enjoy the view, right? Well, I don't sit much... But, hey, it's really pretty in my yard especially with the early morning light shining on it. I converted to B&W and added the soft blur. Thank you again for all the feedback on the mill shots. I was back at the mill yesterday for the 3rd day in a row practicing and trying to get a good photo. The wind was too high. But, today will be sunny, 60+, and the wind will be less than 5mph, so I'm going to try one more time. I've got it down now getting the sky to be a much better shade of blue to start out with, and if I bracket, I can come back home and even enhance the shots further. I've learned a lot this week from trial and error and your help and encouragement. For the first time in a long time, I don't have some grand event to attend this weekend. A brief rest before the holiday season kicks into gear I'm sure. It's not too late for US and Canadian residents to sign up for Project Feederwatch. Details here: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/ If some of you guys would like to friend me on Facebook, I'd love to hear from you on that forum as well. Best regards and HAGD, Maryann

Thanks for stopping by to view my daily photo! I will post a new photo each day to this gallery. Typically, I will post early morning, and the photo will have been taken the day before. Sometimes the photo may be from sometime earlier in the week, but all the pictures posted will be relatively new. I hope you see something that makes you smile. Feel free to leave professionally appropriate comments or to hover over any of the images and give them a thumbs up or down.

Gallery pages: < 1 2 3 4 5 6 > >>

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fotomom > 11/13/09 - Lightsaber Duels
OK, so I've given it away already...darn! Joey got the Wii game Star Wars the Clone Wars Light Saber Duels for his birthday complete with light saber type attachments for the Wii remotes. We finally got around to opening the game last night. Fun! Now, I'd read in the review that it just wasn't sensitive enough for adults to enjoy but kids would think it was cool. Give a kid a lighted stick, right?!? I can see what they were saying, but boy did I have fun being Ventress and defeating Luke...probably too much fun to Joey's dismay. Maybe if they remake this or something like it to use the Wii Motion Plus sensor we'll give that one a try too. For now, we'll have great fun with this! Star Wars and Sci Fi fan I am!

The original and a neat crackled texture version can be seen here:

http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/November-2009/10198920_oRbHf#711695905_dzLDj
And, yes, I was experimenting a bit last night with B&W and various filters. Just ignore those, please!

I just liked the silhouette of Joey's face in this one. Johnny is off frame with the blue one. I took about 50 shots...just fun stuff in the dark. Be better if I had a dark room with no clutter...too much unwanted stuff showing up in most of the shots.

Thank you for the comments on my leaf shot:-) I had to collect those acorns not once but twice because I had to walk away with Johnny for a few minutes before I could take my shots and they got scattered about while I was gone. I'm sure the squirrels were envious.

At this point...Ida, Ida go away and don't come back again another day.

HAGD,
Maryann

fotomom > 11/12/09 - The Leaf
This is what a mom, well this mom, does while her children run around the playground equipment at Lake Wheeler Park.

I took the same shot last year:
http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/Fall-Leaves/6501064_YDqtV#412930614_saNcC

And, here's another shot from this year with the leaf flipped the other, right, way.
http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/November-2009/10198920_oRbHf#709565965_k2nGi

I'll probably try again next year too. It's close to how I envision, but not quite.

I noticed yesterday when looking at my list of most popular photos that some of you wonderful people have gone into my older galleries and left me comments:-) I was just delighted. Thank you... 2007 was the year of the sunset here. Haven't seen anything like that since. Last year was a good leaf year. I'm wondering if maybe this year could be a good snow year? Hope so!

Still quite blustery here from Ida.

HAGD,
Maryann

fotomom > 11/11/09 - Red, White, and Blue
With sincere appreciation to all the Veterans out there... Some glass art done in patriotic colors. I took this a while back, but it never made the dailies. Last night, I spent some time removing random spots and cleaning it up.

Glass art is some sort of beads or crystals on top of some sort of glass plate or bowl with light shining down on the plate and the picture taken looking back up through the plate. I have a gallery of similar pics here:

http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Art/Glass-Appeal-The-Best/9510694_B6ZuA#703145534_EAeQb

My show at the local coffee shop is fast approaching (put up 11/24). I printed 26 8X10 photos out of my Glass Appeal The Best gallery. Then I just turned around and ordered 8 11X14 prints of the best of that batch...the 8X10s that printed the best. This photo and one other really needed some clean up work before reprinitng which I did. I was surprised at just how nicely this one printed.

Thanks for your comments yesterday on my group effort POTD with my boys:-) I do sit down and show them my POTD and several others each day and talk to them about what's going on.

Lots of rain here and that eerie circular wind, but nothing serious going on from Ida. I am a Hugo and a Fran survivor, so I keep my eye on these things, though.

HAGD,
Maryann

fotomom > 11/10/09 - The Solitary Leaf
I didn't take this picture...one of my boys did. Honestly, I'm not sure if we know which one, but I suspect Johnny. Was it on purpose because he saw the light and wanted to capture it. Or was it an accident that in all his cuteness he was having trouble lining up the camera on the tripod. I may never know. But, I loved the shadow of the deck rail (this is the observation deck at Yates Mill where I took both of my water reflecton shots from). A place now certainly sentimental in my heart. I kept coming back to this photo over and over again. So, I chose to work on it and share it with you today.

I cropped it very wide because the shadow was so high in the frame. I turned it B&W. I used SC to color the leaf (first attempt and grabbing that leaf was not easy!), and then I removed some screws using the spot healing tool. They were a big disctraction in the solitary message.

The original is here as well as some of the boys' other best photographs from the last couple of weeks:

http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Children/Joey/10268731_WKXQo#708744171_WdSDs

Thanks as always for yesterday's feedback on the mallard picture:-)

HAGD,
Maryann

fotomom > 11/09/09 - Washing
If you don't know, this is a female mallard duck. The boys and I had a good time over at Lake Wheeler yesterday at the Simpkins Pond area feeding several types of ducks. It was warm, just a slight breeze, beautiful fall color around, and just a wonderful time. After we fed the ducks, they got quite frisky bathing and splashing about. I caught this mallerd in some nice light and loved how her head is focused in the frame. I waited patiently for her to turn and glide away, but instead she quickly raised her wings up to flap them, and that wasn't as detailed a shot.

So, we're over at Yates Mill and I'm set up to take some more bracketed shots. Johnny has his and Joey's camera on another tripod, and he's taking shots too (I need to offload them). A family with a little girl walked up, and Johnny came over to me and said, "Mom, she's beautiful. I want to take her picture." Remember, he's 5. I said, "Why don't you go tell her you think she's pretty and ask her to turn around so you can take her picture." So... "Hey, pretty girl. Can I take your picture?" She turns around, blushes, her mom with her big wide angle lense smiles, and Johnny takes the shot. My shot of him taking his shot (I was not set up for this!).
http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-110409/10211182_2RaVN#707598103_o8ow6

Over at the new White Deer Park in Garner, Joey gave me quite the scare. He fell off what he called The Spinaroo. Some sort of merry-go-round minus the handles and center. Kids just sit on the donut shape. Anyway, he begged me to help push and when I did, he ended up falling off and pounding into the ground quite hard. I really thought he'd broke his leg for 20-30 seconds. It was bent back and trapped under the ride. A father in the area came over and pulled him out as I held his head...he was sobbing. Thankfully, everything worked. But, he does have quite the shiner on both (how did he do that?) eyes. Good thing we got the family portrait out of the way the day before!

HAGD,
Maryann

fotomom > 11/08/09 - Me and the Boys... (Left to right me, Joey, and Johnny)
The boys and I spent most of the day outside yesterday. We started the day off at the Carroll Howard Johnson Environmental Education Park in Fuquay. Not a new park, but a new to us park. This park has about 2 miles of wide trails and a creek that winds through it. The boys loved playing in the creek at various spots, and we saw deer tracks and other neat wildlife/nature things while we were there. I took my lightweight tripod with me and took pictures of all sorts of things including shadows on tree trunks, waterscapes, moss, leaves, tree stumps, etc. But, I also set up the timer to take a few pics of me and the boys, and when I sat down to figure out which picture to post...well this was the winner.

Johnny had such a good time at the park, that I had to put him in a new pair of pants afterward:-) Wet and sandy!

Too windy to go to Yates Mill yesterday to try one more water reflection shot, but maybe today.

Thank you so much for your feedback on the bench. I loved reading in the comments how each of you reacted to it.

Hope you're having a great weekend!
Maryann

fotomom > 11/6/09 - Yates Mill Revisited
A heartfelt thanks goes out from me to everyone that took a minute to look at my POTD yesterday and leave a comment whether you just enjoyed the reflection or threw in some helpful hints.

In the spirit of trying to improve, I went back to Yates Mill yesterday and took some more pictures. This was before most of the comments! I turned on bracketing (takes 3 shots on my camera) hoping to catch a good image. I figured I might launch the trial version of PhotoMatrix that I loaded up a while ago and know virtually nothing about. Today's POTD is the result of running the 3 bracketed pictures through PhotoMatrix and basically accepting what it wanted to do. I guess this is not the HDR output but just a tonal color mapping. I have a lot more to read up on!

The 'middle' original for today's POTD:
http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-110409/10211182_2RaVN#704217195_Favig

That said, today's POTD was taken at 9:30AM vs. 5:30PM for yesterday's POTD. The crop is different. It's somewhat an apples and oranges comparison.

No doubt the color in today's POTD is better sooc and processed. But there is shade on the mill that I don't like that takes away from this one. I think that keeps this shot from being a real winner too. If only I could have waited out the sun, but I couldn't:-(

I like the water reflection and detail of the mill better in yesterday's POTD, but that's just a personal preference.

I typically shoot in AV mode. I do go to M or TV or something else when it seems to work. I have histogram, but I've not read up on how to use it. Always more to learn.

Maybe if I'm lucky, persistent, and the moon and stars line up just right, I'll get THE shot. There's a photo contest in February for the mill that I'll enter with whatever is the best shot I can manage.

If any of you all are ever in Raleigh, I'd love to meet up with you at the mill and take a few shots. Photo ops abound there.

More pictures of my two most recent trips to the mill are here:
http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-110409/10211182_2RaVN#704204378_dE4yv
There are a few gems in there among the rest.

HAGD,
Maryann

fotomom > 11/05/09 - Historic Yates Mill Pond at Sunset
I posted a picture of the actual water wheel in my gallery earlier this year. In this picture, you can't see the wheel, but you get this lovely reflection instead. After Joey's flu shot, I decided to make the best of a wonderful afternoon and go for a quick hike around the mill pond. Unfortunately, we were really there a good 30-60 minutes too late to be taking good pictures. I had to bump up the saturation on this one to improve the color.

This is the same shot taken on 10/26 last year when the sun was better and the tree closest to the mill still had yellow leaves on it. http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-Photo-Contest-2009/7088136_34LZC#454338880_TdGL2
In both cases, the sky looks better in the reflection than in the final shot. I'm not sure how to get around that...especially in last night's picture when the sky really didn't have much blue in it.

We still have not had a frost or freeze at my house, but it look like it's coming Friday night into Saturday. I am storing ceramic bird baths and pots and taking in fragile plants that I can save.

I sure wish today was Friday...
HAGD,
Maryann

11/07/09 - Soaking Up the Light
This bench and table are in my yard facing one of my ornamental ponds. In theory, I would go out here often to sit and enjoy the view, right? Well, I don't sit much... But, hey, it's really pretty in my yard especially with the early morning light shining on it. I converted to B&W and added the soft blur.

Thank you again for all the feedback on the mill shots. I was back at the mill yesterday for the 3rd day in a row practicing and trying to get a good photo. The wind was too high. But, today will be sunny, 60 , and the wind will be less than 5mph, so I'm going to try one more time. I've got it down now getting the sky to be a much better shade of blue to start out with, and if I bracket, I can come back home and even enhance the shots further. I've learned a lot this week from trial and error and your help and encouragement.

For the first time in a long time, I don't have some grand event to attend this weekend. A brief rest before the holiday season kicks into gear I'm sure.

It's not too late for US and Canadian residents to sign up for Project Feederwatch. Details here:http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/

If some of you guys would like to friend me on Facebook, I'd love to hear from you on that forum as well.

Best regards and HAGD,
Maryann