aging gracefully

My first photography post of 2011.  I've been "taking a lot of pictures" lately (construction on our house in the mountains, a family member's collections I'm trying to sell, stuff like that) so my camera has been in my hand fairly often, but certainly I haven't produced anything that I felt like adding to my blog.  But today I thought I'd post one just to enjoy the process again.  As any of you know who have followed my 365 blog, I enjoy photographing flowers.  I particularly love tulips and even more specifically, I love the stages they go through from their tight little buds to the curling petals drifting falling to the floor.  I bought some pale pink tulips last week and watched them go through their metamorphosis.  Yesterday when we got home from being away for the long weekend, they were in their final stage.  I knew I couldn't move the vase of flowers since it was very fragile and the petals would fall away quickly, so I just left them where they were (fortunately near a window so I could take advantage of the natural light) and I put a white board behind them to simplify the background.  I like this image because it's so light and airy.  I usually gravitate to dark and heavily contrasted photographs, but I thought the delicate treatment, with the brightness enhanced and the colors slightly desaturated, fit the subject.

I still promise that one day soon I'm going to write about what I learned from last years 365 journey, but I just haven't taken the time to put it all together.  Meanwhile, think good thoughts of spring with this little photo.

One last shot and I'm outta' here!

It's with sadness and joy that I post my last entry in my 365 photo blog.  It's been a wonderful experience. Have I become a better photographer than I was on 1/1/2010?  Not so sure.  But I've learned a great deal about photography and about myself.  For one thing, I've learned that I've never engaged in any art that I've found more inspiring and captivating, and I know that creating images will always be a significant part of my life.

After a few days of thought, I'll post my learnings from the year and what's next for me.  I do know that I'll keep posting when I have something worthwhile to show, just not everyday.  There may not be as many photos of my kitties or George drinking, but I know I want to keep this process in my life to some degree.

In the meantime, thanks to all of you who have followed me and given me feedback.  You've been gentle, kind and encouraging and kept me at this everyday even when I just didn't think I had it in me to post one more time.  So Happy New Year and stay tuned for future developments!

Mac within a mac

I have a new baby and as with all new babies, it's requiring a lot of time, energy and love.  Santa brought me a badly needed new Mac for Christmas and I've spent the last several days transferring photos, files, applications, etc.  I finally got Lightroom installed today (as you can see in the photo), so I decided to break it in with my next to last (yea!) daily blog post.  My new baby is so much faster than my old one, but it has served me well so I almost feel guilty posting my last two days on the newbie rather than staying loyal to my old friend.  But did I say how much faster it is?  Oh well....so much for loyalty.

Oh yeah....only ONE MORE DAY!!!!

Water drip

I kept thinking I'd have a burst of creativity as my blog comes to a close, but it's been just the opposite.  I think I have short-timers disease.  In my mind, I'm already checked out (and a little burned out).  There have been times this year when I've seen great images everywhere and then slumps like this one where I can see a photo op anywhere.  So since I haven't played around with dripping water lately, I thought the subject could use a re-run here late in the year.

Caroline

With just four post remaining, this was one of those omg I don't have a picture days.  At dinner tonight I snapped a quick one of my friend Caroline with my Hipstamatic app on my iPhone.  For any Hipstamatic fans, this was done with a Bettie XL Lens, Salvador (DreamCanvas) film, and I didn't use the flash.  Probably not my favorite combination, but it's fun.  Not much of an effort for today, but at least I didn't skip at this late date!  I hope to find a little creativity over the next few days.

Still snowed in

Not in the mood for much photography today.  All I want to do is sit by the fire and get my new laptop (thanks, Santa!) set up.  Here are a couple of quick shots, however, both intended to show the power of the wind that is howling outside our house.  One is a scene of the snow drifts on our screened in porch and the other is an image of the abstract patterns the blowing snow has made on our driveway.  It didn't turn out exactly as I had imagined it, but since I froze getting the shot I decided to post it anyway.

Fun, weird night

This afternoon about 3:00 we met some great friends for drinks and an early supper so that we could all get back home safely before too late.  It's been a snowy, windy day as you can tell by the "pond" we passed on the way to the  Bistro.  It was nice to be in a warm cozy bar with the howling weather outside.  We were having a great time and the about 4:30 the power went out.  It wasn't long before it got dark and the few of us remaining were sitting in the dark by candlelight.  We started singing songs with the one other group in the bar.  It turns out one of the guys at the other table was a Broadway musical actor (at least that's what they said) and had an amazing voice.  Of course, we thought we did too....(did we say alcohol was involved?).  Since there was a wood oven the restaurant fixed us good pizzas.  Finally we left in the pitch dark.  We've been in some cold situations before, but with the 15 degree weather and near white out conditions driving home, it seemed like one of the coldest nights we've ever seen.  Oh yeah, obviously the power came back on.