2011-06-30

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/80s, 18-105mm lens

The common milkweed upon which we find our Monarch caterpillars is blooming right now.  The field behind our church is loaded with milkweed blooms and it smells divine.  I wanted to capture a photo of the blooms before they die.  Plus I got a little sun flare in just for fun.  :)

Also just a reminder that this is the last Photo of the Day post on this blog.  Starting tomorrow my POTD's will be posted on my main blog, My Perspective.  I hope you'll join me over there.

2011-06-28

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/100s, 18-105mm lens

Doug weeded the hillside where we had planted a bunch of various flower seeds and we discovered some flowers growing that we hadn't seen before :) ... like these Black-eyed Susans.

For those of you who have been faithful to visit and comment on my blog and haven't had a visit back from me lately, I apologize.  I'm still a bit behind after returning from our trip.  I promise I will visit soon!
Also, just a reminder that June 30 will be the last post on this blog.  I will start posting my picture of the day over at my main blog, My Perspective beginning July 1.  I'd love it if you'd join me over there if you haven't already!

2011-06-16

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/60s, 18-55mm lens w/4x macro filter

After having such a rainy April and May, and having such a hot, dry June, we finally got some much-needed rain today, so I ventured out this evening to capture some rain drops. I played with my macro filters again on my lilies ... still getting the hang of them.  I decided to turn down the saturation on this photo to make it softer.  The lilies are very bright yellow.

The forecast for the next 7 days? ... Isolated/scattered thunderstorms EVERY day.  Be careful what you wish for, I guess.  :)

2011-06-15

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/50s, 55-200mm lens, Shadowhouse Creations textures added

Just a pretty purple flower I found growing on my hillside this evening.

2011-06-12

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/250s, 18-55mm lens

After church the kids and I took a walk behind the church where there is a whole field of milkweed to look for Monarch caterpillars.  We didn't find any more caterpillars today, but we did come across this sweet, little butterfly on the milkweed flowers.

2011-06-09

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/100s, 18-105mm lens

Just one of the flowers growing on our hillside.  I have no idea what it is.  We just threw a bunch of random seeds down to see what would grow.  :)

     

2011-06-01

ISO 400, f/4.5, 1/125s, 55-200mm lens

Some of the daisies in my flower garden are blooming.

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.  :)

2011-05-23

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!

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.  :)

2011-05-16

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.  :)

2011-05-08

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.  :)

2011-05-06

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/125s, D3100 w/18-55mm lens

Our neighbors have these huge, gorgeous lilac bushes bordering their back yard.  Most of them are purple, but there are a few white ones also.  In a few weeks, they will smell wonderful, but they are still blooming, so they're not quite there yet.

2011-05-03

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/125s, D3100 w/18-105mm lens

While looking outside today at the rain (again!) ...

wishing I could go outside and play {sigh} ...

I noticed these raindrops on the leaves of some not-yet-bloomed flowers in my flower bed ...

and while they are pretty, I'd really like to see the sunshine again ...

Please?

Pretty please?

:)

2011-04-28

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/200, D3100 w/55-200mm lens

I feel like this is the week of cheating ... I took this photo yesterday.  It is a bush in my neighbor's yard that has these gorgeous pink flowers on it.  I have no idea what it is, but I thought it was pretty.  :)

I had intentions of taking photos today, but it just didn't happen.  I spent the day basically the same way I spend every day ... gym, housework, dishes, cooking, laundry ... but today I got to (finally!) mow some grass!  

You probably think I'm strange for being excited about that, but it has been so wet this month.  And our grass was getting really high.  Doug had started mowing yesterday but it started storming.  He thought he might finish it today, but he's exhausted from midnight shift and lack of sleep.  So I finished the front yard and did part of the back.  The part he did yesterday probably could have been mowed again already.  It looks like it grew 2 inches already!  Between aerobics this morning and push mowing for an hour, I burned about 1,100 calories today.  Woo hoo!

Anyway, then we got company for a little while.  Doug's sister is up from Florida this week so she stopped in for a while.  And now while I should be packing for our weekend away, I'm posting this photo.  :)  We're heading to Erie this weekend for some kid-free time, so while I will be taking a bunch of photos, I'm sure ... I'm not sure I'll be posting.  I will try, but no guarantees.  :)


I forgot to mention that I used Kim Klassen's Warm Sun and SKC Photography's Grungy Mess textures.







Tracey over at Inspire Me Photography chose this photo as one of her Top 5 picks for the week!  Thanks, Tracey!

2011-04-26

ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/200s, D3100 w/55-200mm lens

Honestly I did not take one photograph today.  Gym, grocery shopping, housework, and thunderstorms left me with little time and/or desire to take pictures.  So this is from yesterday.  We found this tiny purple flower in the yard.  Sad that it will soon be chopped down by the mower.  I added Kim Klassen's Serendipity texture to it (at 50% opacity) for Texture Tuesdays.

2011-04-24

ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/100s, D3100 w/18-105mm lens

Easter Sunday I did not even pick up my camera (mainly because I was too stinkin' tired from our trip), so I'm posting another photo from the Creation Museum Botanical Gardens from Friday.  It had just started to rain when, on my way back to the museum, I came across this bumble bee busily doing his job.  He loved these purple flowers!

2011-04-18

ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/100s, D3100 w/18-55mm lens - texture PTM's Timeworn Soft at about 60%

We bought a pot of Gerber Daisies today while out grocery shopping.  Looking forward to actually planting all these flowers I've been buying.  If only the weather would cooperate.  :)


UPDATE:  I won the photo challenge!  Yay me!  :)