2011-05-31

ISO 400, f/4.8, 1/640s, 55-200mm lens

If today was any indication of what our summer is going to be like, this little guy will be spending his days splashing in the pool.  In fact, I might just join him!  :)  It was HOT!

2011-05-30

ISO 400, f/10.0, 1/200s, 18-105mm lens

Our family attended the annual Memorial Day Parade this morning.  Remembering and honoring those who served, those still serving, and those who will serve in order to protect our country and our freedom.

2011-05-29

ISO 100, f/3.8, 5.0s, 18-105mm lens

The kids were having some fun tonight with glow sticks.

Week 21 Summary

What a crazy, busy week!  We're adjusting to Alex not having preschool and preparing for Keira and Nick finishing up school next week.  (Yikes!)  We had lots of sunshine AND plenty of rain.  And we are looking forward to a great weekend ... one that my husband actually has off!  Yay!  So here's the recap of our weekly photos ...

22 - Finally caught a bumble bee in flight!

23 - Playing with sunbursts.

24 - Fun with bubbles.

25 - Pretty purple flower (or is it a weed?).

26 - My lilies after the rain.  Can't wait until they bloom!

27 - We finally hung our hummingbird feeder and this is our first visitor.

28 - Nick showing me the toad he found this morning.

On another subject ... I've been contemplating either eliminating this blog and just posting my project 365 photos over at my main blog, My Perspective, OR changing the name of this blog to "My Perspective - 365 Photos" (or something like that).  It seems I'm pretty good at keeping up with the project 365 photos, but my main blog gets neglected.  Any thoughts?

So that's it for me!  Hope you all had a wonderful week also!  Have a fabulous weekend!

     

2011-05-28

ISO 400, f/8.0, 1/60s, 18-105mm lens

My boys are always finding some critter to show me.  This morning when I returned from my run, Nick was so excited to show me a toad.  Apparently the dog tried to eat him, but realized that toads don't taste very good and spit him out.  Which is a good thing because I read that toads can make dogs really sick.  Oh, and Nick's hand is so dirty because he's been digging for worms all morning since we're going fishing later.  Besides, aren't all little boy's hand dirty?  :)

2011-05-27

ISO 800, f/8.0, 1/200s, 55-200mm lens
Doug hung our new hummingbird feeder yesterday and we already had a visitor this morning!  So instead of going to the gym to exercise, I have been staking out my scrapbook room window watching this fascinating bird.  :)


Misty from Through a Photographer's Eyes is starting a new link up called Favorite Photo of the Week.  Go check it out!

I WON!!!!  CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!  INCREDIBLE!

2011-05-26

ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/50s, 18-105mm lens

It rained this afternoon just enough to make me have to quit mowing grass (my exercise ... which I will finish tomorrow) ... but it left some pretty photo opportunities.  And the sun came out almost immediately and dried everything up.  This is one of my lilies that-when it blooms-will be bursting with flowers.

2011-05-25

ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/160s, 55-200mm lens, Kim Klassen's Love and Serendipity textures added

We came across this flower (weed?) on our walk through our neighbor's woods today.  And while I was photographing it, those little bugs (see them?) decided to be part of the photo too.  :)

2011-05-24

ISO 400, f/8.0, 1/160s, 55-200mm lens

Having a little fun with bubbles this evening.

2011-05-23

ISO 400, f/29, 1/50s, 18-105mm lens

Just playing around this evening ... trying to get a sunburst.  This didn't turn out too bad.  Suggestions and/or constructive criticism welcome.  :)

2011-05-22

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1600s, 18-105mm lens

Finally caught a bumble bee in flight!  But you can only see one wing clearly.  I guess it is because of the angle and my aperture.  Anyway, he was going absolutely crazy on these azaleas.  Look at all that pollen he collected!

Week 20 Summary

Week 20 already?!  We had a crazy busy week.  Here's just a glimpse ...

15 - Still sick with strep throat, so I snapped a photo of a cardinal from my dining room window.

16 - Picked these flowers ... found out they are called Mayapples and that they are poisonous, which probably explains why my fingers were itchy for a while afterward.  :)

17 - Alex picked me a flower then decided it would be more fun to just pull the petals off.

18 - Pretty white flowers growing on our hillside.

19 - Alex graduated from Preschool this evening.  He's so excited to be starting Kindergarten in the fall!

20 - Keira had her 6th grade dance.  She looked so pretty in her purple dress.

21 - My first 5K race of the year!

Linking up with:

     

2011-05-21

This morning I ran my first 5K race of the year.  The weather was completely different from last year's race ... it was gorgeous!  Although sometimes a bit hot in the sun.  (Last year was raining and chilly).  My watch says I finished in 34:04, but I forgot to stop my timer right away, so I think I finished in about 33:30.  (I'll find out my official time when it gets posted on the website tomorrow or Monday).  Not my best time, but better than I ran this particular race last year. Now I'm heading out to mow some grass while the weather is cooperating.  :)


UPDATE:  The race results are up.  My official time is 33:30.30.  I finished 12th out of 22 in my age group.  281st overall.  There were 415 people racing.  That's a great turnout!  Looking forward to my next race!

Linking up with You Capture's "busy" challenge.  Does running a 5K qualify as busy?  :)

2011-05-20

ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/125s, 18-105mm lens

Keira had her 6th grade dance this evening.  She looked so pretty (and grown up!) in her pretty purple dress.  She said she had a really good time and received the "book worm" award.  :)
Oh, and since I'm supposed to take her picture on the 21st (her birthday anniversary), I'm counting this one since it is close enough.  :)

2011-05-19

ISO 800, f/5.0, 1/80s, 18-105mm lens

Alex, my baby, graduated from Preschool this evening.  He's so excited to be moving on to Kindergarten in the fall.  It is definitely a bittersweet time for me.  He's growing up too fast!

2011-05-18

ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/1250s, 55-200mm lens, textures from Paint the Moon and Shadowhouse Creations added

Now that flowers are starting to bloom, I'm afraid you're going to have to endure lots of photos of them.  Especially when it is so rainy and there isn't much else to photograph.  :)  This is a pretty white mystery flower growing on our hillside.  My husband and I have been trying our best to pull weeds, but we're not always sure what is a weed and what is a flower that just hasn't bloomed yet.  :)

2011-05-17

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/200s, 18-105mm lens

Alex picked a (violet) flower for me this evening since he knows flowers make me happy, then quickly decided he'd rather rip the petals off of it than give it to me.  Silly boy!

On a side note, isn't it so wrong that little boys have such long eyelashes?!  I find that completely unfair!  :)

2011-05-16

ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/200s, 18-55mm lens

We picked a bunch of these flowers this evening from what we call the umbrella plants that grow in the woods.  We didn't even know they grew flowers!  (The flowers are hidden underneath their big leaves.)  I'm still trying to identify what the plant actually is.  It is remarkably hard to identify a plant when you haven't a clue what it might be.  :)  Anyway, the flowers have short little stems so I placed them in a bowl of water so they kind of look like water lilies.


EDIT:  A friend just informed me that these are Mayapple flowers.  The plant, leaves, and root are poisonous, which probably explains why my fingers were itchy all evening (not so much now).  Next time I pick the flowers, I will wear gloves.  :)

2011-05-15

ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/400s, 55-200mm lens

Not a great photo today, but it's as good as it is going to get.  Such a rainy, miserable day.  Despite the rain we had plenty of visitors to the bird feeder ... cardinals, blue jays, goldfinches, chickadees, wrens, a woodpecker, morning doves, a white breasted nuthatch, and a couple of cute little chipmunks.  I need to buy more bird food though!  :)

Also, I am starting to feel better.  Thank you to everyone for your get well wishes!

Week 19 Summary

What a week!  Some fun stuff, some not so fun stuff ... but a good week overall.  Let's take a look ...

8 - My first butterfly capture of the year.  Unfortunately the butterfly was being elusive and staying near the top of the lilacs.  Not to worry, there will be plenty more butterfly photos to come as we will be raising Monarchs again this year.

9 - A USAF C-130 plane was flying over the playground when Alex and I stopped by so he could burn off some energy after preschool.  Several cool things about this photo ... 
{one} my friend Jeannie's son was in this plane for ROTC, 
{two} she bought the photo from me (my first photography sale!), 
and {three} this photo was picked as a Top 5 by Inspire Happiness Daily!

That makes 3 weeks in a row one of my photos got picked!  That just blows me away!
10 - My friend, Laura, invited us to join them for a day at the Pittsburgh Zoo. 
11 - Alex and I went for a walk on a local community trail.  When I told him to go get his shoes on, he came back with his cowboy boots on.  I thought the boots looked really cute with his shorts.  :)  And so did all the ladies we passed on the trail.
12 - We finally hit 80 degrees so we broke out the sprinkler.  Honey, our golden retriever, loves it just as much as the kids do.  Maybe more!
13 - A jellyfish from Tuesday's zoo trip.  (Sick day for me - strep throat.  Keira came down with strep throat and missed school Wednesday-Friday - started meds Thursday.  I started to get sick Thursday afternoon/evening.  I started meds yesterday.  Still not feeling great but better than yesterday.)
14 - Nick should have had his photo taken/posted yesterday (the 13th is the anniversary of his birthday), but being sick, well, I forgot.  Or didn't care.  Or both.  :)  So I posted a photo I took of him on Tuesday - a day late.  Obviously I'm extending myself some grace this week.


My niece's birthday party is going on this afternoon.  Alex was mad at me this morning for being sick and telling him that we weren't going to be able to go.  So he decided he was riding his bike there.  In the rain.  He got halfway down the driveway before I made him come back. It was actually pretty funny.  I wish I had taken his picture.  So I called my mom and asked her if she wouldn't mind swinging by and taking the kids with her.  She did and now it is so quiet in the house, I can hear all the clocks ticking.  I'm going to take advantage and spend some time working on a photo book.
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

2011-05-14

ISO 800, f/9.0, 1/80s, 18-105mm lens

OOPS!  I forgot about taking/posting a picture of Nicholas yesterday (the 13th of the month).  Guess my strep throat affected my memory also.  :)  So here he is today.  Except this photo was actually taken on Tuesday.  He needed a pic of the two of us together for a school project and while I had the camera out, he asked me to photograph him on this cruddy old skateboard he found along the road last summer.  He cracks me up with his peace signs and his poses.

2011-05-13

ISO 3200, f/4.0, 1/10s, 55-200mm lens

I am sick with strep throat today, so the camera stayed put.  This photo is from our zoo trip on Tuesday.  I know it is a little blurry, but I still thought it was cool looking.  Hopefully next time we go to the zoo, it won't be so busy and I'll get to take more time photographing in the aquarium.


Hoping to be around to visit everyone tomorrow!  Between enjoying the beautiful weather and now being sick (not to mention Blogger being down most of yesterday), I haven't been visiting.  But there is a lot of rain in the forecast :( ... so I'll be over to visit soon!

2011-05-12

ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/400s, 18-105mm lens

Had a day warm enough to break out the sprinkler.  I think Honey loves it more than the kids!  She stands in front of one of the streams and catches the water in her mouth.  Too funny!

2011-05-11

ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/320s, 18-105mm lens

This gorgeous afternoon I gave Alex a choice of riding his bike in our church's parking lot or going for a walk on a local trail.  He chose the trail.  So I told him to go get his shoes on and this is what we ended up with.  Shorts with cowboy boots.  He looked so cute as he stopped to look at the map of the trail, I just had to take his picture.  :)

2011-05-10

ISO 400, f/9, 1/320s, 55-200mm lens (SOOC except for sharpening and cropping slightly)

My friend, Laura, invited Alex and me to join her family at the Pittsburgh Zoo today.  It was a beautiful day and we had a very nice time.  The elephants are my favorite part of the zoo.

(BTW, Laura has some incredible photos on her blog of another local zoo.  Go check them out!)

2011-05-09

ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/640s, 18-105mm lens, a couple Shadowhouse Creations textures added

As Alex and I got out of the car to go to the playground today, this US Air Force plane flew overhead.  My husband said he thought it was a C-30, but I can't find that one anywhere online to compare.  Anyone know what plane this is?


EDIT:  A friend of mine told me this is a C-130.  Her son was in the plane for ROTC.  And she wants to buy this photo from me ... my first official photography sale.  How cool is that?!


EDIT #2:  This photo got chosen as a Top 5 by Inspire Happiness Daily!

2011-05-08

ISO 400, f/10, 1/400s, 18-105mm lens (when I wished I had the 200mm zoom)

The first butterfly capture of the year.  She was pretty content to stay way up on the top of the lilac bush in order to prevent me from getting a better photo.  :)

Week 18 Summary

Wow!  Week 18 already!  Doing these weekly summaries reminds me of how fast time is slipping by.  Here's to making the most of every day!

1 - Erie Zoo has the coolest bird area that you step into.  While in there the birds will land on your shoulder or crawl up your arm.  I loved it!  I could have spent all day in there! 
This photo was picked as a Top 5 this week!  That makes 2 weeks in a row!  I'm truly honored and humbled!

2 - Our sweet Golden Retriever, Honey.  We call her Honeybuns.  :)

3 - Captured some rain drops since it has been soooooooo rainy this spring.
4 - Pennsylvania's state bird, a ruffed grouse.  Click here if you'd like to read the funny story about how I captured this photo.
5 - The 5th of the month brings you Alex, my baby.  Dirty face and all.  :)  (For those of you who don't know, I challenged myself to take a photo of each of my kids on the anniversary of their birthday each month.  They love it and remind me when it is their day!)
6 - The lilacs are beginning to bloom!
7 - Happy {inter}National Scrapbooking Day!  Hoping to actually get some scrapbooking done today.  Although it's not looking good so far.  :)


Looking at my collage, it seems I have lots of green going on this week.  That makes me happy!  I love spring!