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  2. Daily Photos

My Best Daily Shots

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. Here's a link to the SmugMug Daily Community.
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11/09/09 - Washing<br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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!).<br /> <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-110409/10211182_2RaVN#707598103_o8ow6">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-110409/10211182_2RaVN#707598103_o8ow6</a><br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann
1991 / 2142

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

  • 11/19/20 - Leaves on Slate<br /> OK, so I'm heading out of my office bldg. around 4:30 yeseterday and it is of course raining because when I work in the office and have an hour commute and a long walk in from the parking lot it HAS to rain, right?!? I fumbled to get up my umbrella and pull my laptop pull case behind me. I was thinking about how I had no POTD, and I was late for an appt. with no hope of getting there in time. Sigh. But, in front of me was this really cool scene of wet leaves and slate. I was truly wondering if I could manage to pick up my laptop pull case and get down the stairs without falling. Suddenly it occurred to me that I should should take a picture. What?!? So, holding the umbrella over me, other people passing me by on the steps thinking I've lost it, etc. I take this. Now, honest, I can't hold still very well at all and the camera was telling me that if I didn't hold still it would be blurred. So I tried so hard not to breath or sway or move in anyway. You would think I'd have mastered that by now but no. Thankfully, when I looked last night, of the 8 or so shots I took this one was in focus enough to share. I cropped and tweaked slightly (sharpen and make it a tad more blue), and here you go. Boy was that a mouthful on no coffee yet......<br /> <br /> I am just floored that the lock shot was so popular yesterday. Thank you all for making my day yet again. How exciting. It just makes me strive to want to bring you even better pictures! <br /> <br /> As always, have a great day,<br /> Maryann<br /> Time for coffee!
  • 11/18/09 - What's Locked Up Inside?<br /> I tweaked this picture last night...took it Monday when I was back at the abandoned house. <br /> <br /> It makes me think about all the things we run arond with all the time locked up inside of us. Or, maybe it's all the things we're searching for that are always locked away out of reach. Mostly, it's just some really cool textures asking to be my POTD. Maybe it means something even different to you. <br /> <br /> I smiled a lot yesterday with your response to the red sweet gum leaf:-) Thank you......... What a wonderful thing to take a walk with your kids and have a great time and on top of that walk away with a cool picture. <br /> <br /> I should note that we did release the rescue bird, Chirpy. He hopped away/flew off. Joey and I cried missing him and worrying he'd truly be OK but knowing that sometimes you just have to let the things you love go on to do what they were meant to do. Darn if that isn't one of life's truly hard lessons.<br /> <br /> Have a great day!<br /> Maryann
  • 11/17/09 - Leaf in the Sun<br /> I took this Sunday when the boys and I were walking around Simpkins Pond at Lake Wheeler. The sun shining through the leaf really caught my eye. It was a great day with the boys out in the beautiful NC weather. After Ida, it was such a delight to get out in the fall sun for a few minutes. <br /> <br /> Thanks for taking the trip with me down B&W lane again yesterday. I was back at the abandoned house yesterday around lunchtime taking a few more pictures, thinking about other ways and other uses for pictures of the house. It's sure to be a regular stop now at various seasons of the year and times of day. <br /> <br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann
  • 11/16/09 - Step into the...<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzlG28B-R8Y">Twilight Zone</a> One of the things I did on Saturday was stop at an abandoned house not far from my house and take some pictures. The doors and windows on the front of the house were in a fascinating state of disrepair. Sad but there. Of course there are No Trepassing signs and the floor is basically gone, but I was able to take some external shots. This is one of the ones I worked on that I liked and wanted to share while I'm in this B&W kindof moody frame of mind. December is likely to be the celebration of lights for me anyway. Bright color coming again soon:-) Thank you to all that commended on my train/sunset shot from yesterday. It's always feels risky to try new things. Thanks for jumping through with me:-) Is it Monday again already?!? HAGD, Maryann
  • 11/15/09 - Escape Into an Alternate Reality (or something like that)<br /> I've been wanting to take pictures of the box cars in Fuquay for a while now. Yesterday I finally stopped to do so. Always something neat about trains to me. I've been staring at this car with the open doors for quite some time. It hasn't moved for months. Anyway, I grabbed some pictures of it and it's buddies and played around with them last night. With no special effects, I guess they are just orange box cars:-( So I converted to B&W and played with settings. Still boring. Then I decided to try and do a 'Wizard of OZ' kindof thing where it's B&W on one side but color through the door. I tried 5 pictures for the color one at least and different processing of them too. I'm not really happy with the outcome, but it's what I worked on last night, so I'll upload it today anyway. The sci fi girl in me keeps thinking wormhole or Stargate and that I need movement between the sides. But then the City on the Edge of Forever didn't have too much motion I don't think in that door. That said, maybe I needed to wave the inserted picture. Well, I twirled it anyway. Something to think about some more!<br /> <br /> Some other trials and the original are in my November gallery here:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/November-2009/10198920_oRbHf#713619436_AGvdo">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/November-2009/10198920_oRbHf#713619436_AGvdo</a><br /> <br /> Poor Johnny caught the stomach bug that Joey had and he and I missed the birthday party yesterday...just heartbreaking. Hopefully he is some better today.<br /> <br /> Have a great Sunday!<br /> Maryann
  • 11/14/09 - Johnny in all his cuteness...<br /> Johnny was really into playing and being creative after preschool yesterday. He started out making trains out of magnets. If you look closely, you can see the funnel and the light and the freight car being pulled. He surely could tell you what all the parts were! This expanded into building quite a large Thomas the Tank Engine wooden track layout in the upstairs playroom. Fun stuff!<br /> <br /> We're off to a birthday party for our friend Eli at the same bowling alley that Joey had his party at. Should be a great time!<br /> <br /> Thank you for visiting my POTD:-)<br /> <br /> Have a great Saturday!<br /> Maryann
  • 11/13/09 - Lightsaber Duels<br /> 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!<br /> <br /> The original and a neat crackled texture version can be seen here:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/November-2009/10198920_oRbHf#711695905_dzLDj">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/November-2009/10198920_oRbHf#711695905_dzLDj</a><br /> And, yes, I was experimenting a bit last night with B&W and various filters. Just ignore those, please!<br /> <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> At this point...Ida, Ida go away and don't come back again another day.<br /> <br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann
  • 11/12/09 - The Leaf<br /> This is what a mom, well this mom, does while her children run around the playground equipment at Lake Wheeler Park. <br /> <br /> I took the same shot last year:<br /> <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/Fall-Leaves/6501064_YDqtV#412930614_saNcC">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/Fall-Leaves/6501064_YDqtV#412930614_saNcC</a><br /> <br /> And, here's another shot from this year with the leaf flipped the other, right, way.<br /> <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/November-2009/10198920_oRbHf#709565965_k2nGi">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Nature/November-2009/10198920_oRbHf#709565965_k2nGi</a><br /> <br /> I'll probably try again next year too. It's close to how I envision, but not quite. <br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> Still quite blustery here from Ida.<br /> <br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann
  • 11/11/09 - Red, White, and Blue<br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Art/Glass-Appeal-The-Best/9510694_B6ZuA#703145534_EAeQb">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Art/Glass-Appeal-The-Best/9510694_B6ZuA#703145534_EAeQb</a><br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann
  • 11/10/09 - The Solitary Leaf<br /> I didn't take this picture...Johnny did. 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.<br /> <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> The original is here as well as some of the boys' other best photographs from the last couple of weeks:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Children/Joey/10268731_WKXQo#708744171_WdSDs">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Children/Joey/10268731_WKXQo#708744171_WdSDs</a><br /> <br /> Thanks as always for yesterday's feedback on the mallard picture:-) <br /> <br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann
  • 11/09/09 - Washing<br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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!).<br /> <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-110409/10211182_2RaVN#707598103_o8ow6">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-110409/10211182_2RaVN#707598103_o8ow6</a><br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann
  • 11/08/09 - Me and the Boys... (Left to right me, Joey, and Johnny)<br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> Too windy to go to Yates Mill yesterday to try one more water reflection shot, but maybe today.<br /> <br /> Thank you so much for your feedback on the bench. I loved reading in the comments how each of you reacted to it. <br /> <br /> Hope you're having a great weekend!<br /> Maryann
  • 11/07/09 - Soaking Up the Light<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> It's not too late for US and Canadian residents to sign up for Project Feederwatch. Details here:<br /> <a href="http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/">http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/</a><br /> <br /> If some of you guys would like to friend me on Facebook, I'd love to hear from you on that forum as well.<br /> <br /> Best regards and HAGD,<br /> Maryann
  • 11/6/09 - Yates Mill Revisited<br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> The 'middle' original for today's POTD:<br /> <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-110409/10211182_2RaVN#704217195_Favig">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-110409/10211182_2RaVN#704217195_Favig</a><br /> <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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:-( <br /> <br /> I like the water reflection and detail of the mill better in yesterday's POTD, but that's just a personal preference. <br /> <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> More pictures of my two most recent trips to the mill are here:<br /> <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-110409/10211182_2RaVN#704204378_dE4yv">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-110409/10211182_2RaVN#704204378_dE4yv</a><br /> There are a few gems in there among the rest.<br /> <br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann
  • 11/05/09 - Historic Yates Mill Pond at Sunset<br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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. <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-Photo-Contest-2009/7088136_34LZC#454338880_TdGL2">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Yates-Mill-Pond/Yates-Mill-Photo-Contest-2009/7088136_34LZC#454338880_TdGL2</a><br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> I sure wish today was Friday...<br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann
  • 11/04/09 - Leaves Dancing in the Sun<br /> Yesterday was one of those days where no amount of caffeine was going to truly get me over the 'I'm tired' feeling. I took a walk around the buildings at work midafternoon hoping some exercise would help. I got a few neat pictures, but when I got back to my desk I was still sleepy. Anyway, it was nice to feel the sun on my face and breath in the smell of fresh air that only falling leaves can produce. Plus, I got this nifty POTD on my walk too.<br /> <br /> Thanks for all the feedback on the star shot:-) I suspect you'll be seeing lots of things like that over the holiday season. I love mood lighting while I'm at the computer/watcihng TV at night. To John, I will definitely buy some black foam board and give it a try. <br /> <br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann
  • 11/03/09 - Colorful Stars<br /> This is a string of lights I bought at Target in the after Christmas sale last year. They are acrylic with LED lights. They were on my mantle for several months earlier this year. I had wanted to play with them and the camera when they were up but never got to it. With the cloudy weather again yesterday, I found it nearly bedtime wtih no good picture of the day. So... If I could darken the tip of the closest green star a bit, I'd be happier with this. Some filters applied, but don't ask me exactly what I did because I don't remember...was experimenting. Another that I experimented with is here:<br /> <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Art/Colorful-Stars/10190074_XCny2#701952933_2FfmC">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Art/Colorful-Stars/10190074_XCny2#701952933_2FfmC</a><br /> At first I thought absolutely don't show the light within the star...just shoot the edges, but then I did shoot some like this one with the light, and I ended up mostly liking those better.<br /> <br /> We had an opossum visit us for dinner last night. He was drinking on the porch rail bird bath I have right outside my kitchen sink window during dinner last night. Lucky for him, I'd just made chicken soup, so I quickly went and threw all the scraps out for him. The boys and I delighted at watching him twitch his nose searching for just exactly where the chicken was. I took a short video (dark) and a blurred picture (he would not be still) that are also in my star gallery for now.<br /> <br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann<br /> Note to self: You do not type well in the morning when you haven't had coffee yet!
  • 11/02/09 - Sparkling Fall Color<br /> I took this picture last Wednesday when the sun was out, and we've only had a few minutes of sun since then. Today...cloudy and cooler with a chance of rain. Dontcha think for a Monday we need something colorful like this?!?<br /> <br /> One of the hardest things I do each day is pick with picture to post for my POTD. Here's is today's alternate:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Children/Joey-Johnny-Friends/8602366_itiXh#700721274_SLx3u">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Children/Joey-Johnny-Friends/8602366_itiXh#700721274_SLx3u</a><br /> That's Johnny trying to drink from two straws and two different Icee cups at the same time:-) The ones of Joey cooking and wearing sunglasses to protect his eyes from the onion smell are pretty darn cute too. I'll be looking at these pictures a lot during the day because I'll be missing my kids something terrible after 4 wonderful days with them. Back to work for me, back to school for them, and to top it off I have to work tonight during what is usually our normal evening time together:-(<br /> <br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann
  • 11/1/09 - Trick-Or-Treat!<br /> Here are the kids that made my Halloween so special this year. From left to right is Sophie, Sienna, Joey, Grayson, Johnny, Madi, Eli, and Celeste. Sienna's baby sister Mira is not pictured, but otherwise, this is 5 households of kids. A great bunch, and they had a great time as did us parents walking with them. 75 degrees at dark. We were SO hot! <br /> <br /> If you'd like to see a picture of the haunted garage, go here:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Children/Halloween-Fun-2009/9845761_KK5Lt#699269432_Fnfhj">http://fotomom.smugmug.com/Children/Halloween-Fun-2009/9845761_KK5Lt#699269432_Fnfhj</a><br /> It was a big hit with all the kids...spooky but not too spooky;-)<br /> <br /> Rain here...AGAIN. So much for a hike in the woods today:-( Too wet to put up the outdoor decorations too. Beats a work day though!!!<br /> <br /> HAGD,<br /> Maryann
  • 10/31/09 - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpvdAJYvofI" target="_blank">This Is Halloween!</a> Johnny had the day off from preschool yesterday. In the morning, we carved pumpkins. He got all the guts out of this one, picked a spooky face, and kept me company while I carved:-) Later in the day, we went to a kids party at my place of work. The kids trick or treat going conference room to conference room. Various groups at work have fun decorating the rooms. The scariest was a mad scientists lab complete with microscopes and all sorts of experiments. But, I liked the graveyard room better:-) Haunted Garage party starts here at 11! I need to get busy!!! To bed late, up late, posting late. I hope I can recover... My jack-o-lantern picture needed a bit of help, so I added a poster filter. This is Johnny's pumpkin. Have a great Halloween whatever you find yourself doing! Maryann

  • Happy Tree

    on February 2, 2010

    This is beautiful.

  • Hershy

    on November 26, 2009

    GREAT catch!

  • dakotacowboy

    on November 14, 2009

    beautiful detail

  • 349390pitchingwedge33

    on November 12, 2009

    precious....

  • 219352dedmanshootn

    on November 10, 2009

    perfect! glad he's ok from the fall. i had a pair of black eyes befoire i was even three. kind of a guy right of passsage ;-) love the story opf the pretty girl pic. i started with my own camera at five, tho in those days it was b&w 120mm film so i couldn't take near the pics i wanted cuz i had to raise my own money for gfilm and processing

  • Andrea Kaus (ChaosGraphics)

    on November 10, 2009

    Great detail, and I love the body movement of the duck mimicking the circle of ripples in the water (or vice versa)

  • Boobaby

    on November 10, 2009

    Beautiful capture...Glad Joey was ok.

  • Mom4squirrels

    on November 10, 2009

    Beautiful!! The sharpness is amazing! What a pretty mallard!

  • pointandshoot

    on November 10, 2009

    Gorgeous shot!

  • Chuck Beehner

    on November 10, 2009

    Maryann, what a fantastic shot! the details are great..looks like a painting!!! nice!
    (paula)

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