In The Eye of The Beholder

Some people love HDR photography.  HDR simply stands for High Dynamic Range and is the process of combining several different photographs at different exposures to create an image that better represents what the human eye actually sees.

All of the photos in this post were created using HDR techniques.  Now, I am very new to this type of processing, and the true masters of this type of photography would likely cringe if they ever stumbled upon these, but I think they are pretty cool none the less.

Like using textures, or any other post processing technique, the sky's the limit with HDR and you can create images like the one above that almost have a dreamlike quality to them...

To the more "realistic" side of the HDR spectrum.

Some photographers hate HDR images, and feel like they aren't attractive or even realistic, but there is some evidence that Ansel Adams used this very technique (of combining several images) to create some of his masterpieces, so I'm just fine with HDR.  Granted Ansel Adams had to do it all by hand, and today's technology makes it much easier, and I'm thankful for that.

I don't create HDR images very often, but the Cathedral Notre Dame in Strasbourg, France was the perfect place to try my hand at creating a few HDR images.  I hope to continue to create HDR images and improve my skills, because they really do make for some amazing photos. 

So what is your take on HDR...love it, hate it, somewhere in between?!  

For more on HDR photography you can visit Stuck in Customs, a wonderful site full of info on using HDR, and his images always impress!

Humming Along

Has it really been almost a week since I last posted?!

I guess I've not had much to share this past week, and I've been extremely busy with work stuff.

I've been humming along with picture taking, writing, and cleaning...all the usual stuff.

It's all been a bit of a blur, much like these hummingbird pictures...why won't they stay still just long enough for me to capture their beauty?!  Work, work, work...they have to do that to live, kind of like the rest of us I guess!

I captured these lovelies at dusk tonight as they flipped in and out of my neighbor's yard...you know, the sweet neighbor who doesn't think I'm crazy when I show up looking not so lovely but with my camera in hand!  You gotta love a neighbor like that!

She loves these delicate little birds...the only birds who can fly backwards.

As they buzzed past my head as I tried to snap their picture I realized that it had been awhile since I had really slowed down to enjoy life and snap some fun pictures.  We all need to do that from time to time, stop and smell the roses and also capture them!

I hope everyone's week is off to a good start...and here's a bit of nostalgia for those of you who grew up in the 70s!  Until next time friends! :-)

Leap of Faith

It's funny how just a few decades ago many agreements were made with a simple handshake.  That handshake was a show of faith from both parties that what they said they would do, they would in fact do.  There wasn't a need for contracts full of unrecognizable text or lawyers to try and sort everything out just so that something could get done.  And even when a written contract was required, it wasn't the size of a book or too complicated for the average intelligent human being to understand it.

But those days are long gone my friends and no one understands that more than me right now.  I've spent the last few days in contract negotiations. The kind where everyone is trying to cover themselves from whatever imaginable thing that might possibly occur if something written as a form of entertainment ends up being twisted, turned, and messed up by someone silly enough to sue.   And of course should someone decide to create a frivolous law suit there will be an attorney more than happy to take their money.

Sometimes these thing become like a war zone with parties on both sides digging in their heels unwilling to yield because it could possibly put them at risk.  So everything comes to a screeching halt, lives stand still, and work simply doesn't get done...and man do I hate that!

Frankly I think everyone hates that.  Who really wants to come to a grinding halt on something they are passionate about?  I'm betting no one really does, not even the lawyers that seem to enjoy the minutia of the written word and how it may or may not be manipulated later on.

Anyway, enough about me and my work-a-day woes.  I've decided to take the "what's meant to be will be" approach.  So instead of getting mired down in it all I made lasagna and took it over to my friend Ms.M's house for lunch today.  I made two batches, one to take to her house, and one to keep here for our dinner tonight.

I've been meaning to update you all on Ms. M, but I keep forgetting, and that's actually a good thing.  You see she has returned home and is doing incredibly well, so I almost forget that something so life threatening happened to her not long ago and that I, along with everyone else, really didn't expect her to be here with us today, much less munching on french bread, salad, lasagna, and heart shaped shortbread cookies this afternoon with me!  So for that, I'm very thankful.  And because her son and daughter in law took a leap of faith and helped her move from the nursing home back to her own home, she is happy and thriving!

 

You may have noticed that I've mentioned on more than one occasion lately my belief that you have to sometimes follow your dreams no matter how silly or unrealistic they might seem to others.  Now I'm not talking about spending your children's college fund in order to take singing lessons if you can't carry a tune in a bucket.  I simply mean that if there is something you truly believe you can accomplish but you hesitate out of fear of rejection, or even fear of success, then I hope in some way I can be that mommy bird and shove you out of the comfy confines of the nest.

I'm great at giving advice, although sometimes I'm not so great at taking my own advice, but I'm trying to change all that.  This past year has proven to me that you're never too old to follow your dreams, and that if you wait for the "right" time, you'll be waiting a lifetime, and why would you want to do that?

So today, I took my own little leap of faith.  I was going to keep this to myself, because I don't know quite yet how successful I may be with my little venture, but thanks to an email and some wise words from fellow blogger and creative genius Kelley from The Polished Pebble, I decided to share my crazy dream with all of you.  I've also had wonderful support from Michelle at Emerald Cove, Suzanne of Privet and Holly,  Rebecca of Acanthus and Acorn, Kim of Savvy Southern Style, Kate of Chronicles Of A Country Girl, and Connie of Hartwood Roses.  These women, and especially dear Connie, have given me wonderful support as I chase this dream of mine, so thank you ladies for listening to me wonder, worry, and even whine about what to do lately!

For the last few weeks, I've been working on some fine art photography, the kind of thing you would see hanging in a gallery somewhere.  And I created the pictures you see above and then got up the nerve to send them to a gallery owner, and guess what?!...she liked them!  So after much debate about cost, 'cause it ain't cheap to produce gallery quality prints my friend and these will be on metal, I ordered the 3 photos above this afternoon! 

It was a big investment, but one I really hope will pay off in the long run if they sell.  I may have just created 3 huge pieces of art which will end up gracing the walls of my own home and never end up in a gallery, or I may sell all 3 and go on to create more...who really knows.  But I do know one thing, and I know it beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if I didn't take that leap of faith and see where this crazy road of life will take me, then I'm not really living am I?!  

I never imagined in a million zillion years that someone who has been in the art business for over 30 years would even look at my work, much less consider it (and she hasn't said yes mind you), but I'm glad I was willing to put myself out there and try.  I hope each of you will do the same, no matter how big or small your dream.  I hope you won't settle for "alright," "good enough," or "I could never," and that you'll take your own leap of faith.  You may fall flat on your face, and I might too, but you could be soaring with eagles too...never forget that my friends!!!

Thank You For Being a Friend

Words cannot begin to express how grateful, humbled, and thankful I am to have such wonderful friends, both in the blogging world and in my every day life!

To know that you all would be there to leave me words of encouragement (some of you who've never left a comment on a blog ever before...thank you Helen!) during this tough time is really not surprising to me.  

Though we may live far away from one another, speak different languages, or the fact that most of us have never met really becomes irrelevant, it's the compassion and kindness that we all share that allows us to reach out to perfect strangers across the miles.  And for that I am truly inspired and grateful more than you will ever know!

As each new day dawns and the dew kisses the green grass (ok weeds) Ms. M seems to get a little stronger, and seeing her make strides each day brings me great joy!

When I woke up this morning the sky looked like a Monet painting and that made me smile!

Mr. Tide is halfway around the world at the moment for his work so yesterday my son Bugs went with me to the funeral of my friend's father.  Funerals are always solemn occasions, but there was great strength and happy memories amidst the sadness.  And there was the knowledge of a life well lived and one devoted to the service of others.

I saw many old friends, some I hadn't seen for years, and we were all reminded that we shouldn't wait for a funeral or a wedding to reconnect.  Our pasts are all intertwined and we share a history that makes us lifelong friends, no matter the time or distance, and that in and of itself is comforting.

Last night I watched a movie with my daughter and reflected on this past week and all of the highs and lows it has brought with it.  When the tally was made there were more highs than lows, joy found in spite of sadness, and more friends than I had ever really realized.  Can any one of us really ask for more than that?!

So to all of you who have taken the time to let me know that you care...thank you for being a friend!

Scouting Shots and Petal Pushers

I hope you all enjoyed Kim from Savvy Southern Style's guest post yesterday!  Thank you again Kim for having such a great sense of style and for being such a wonderful friend and blog buddy!

And thank you all for your nice emails and comments about my health!  I'm sorry to hear that so many of you have suffered the pain caused by kidney stones, but the advice you've given me, and knowing others out there can relate is very comforting!

On Friday, I took it easy all morning long and by the afternoon I was feeling well enough to go to a photo shoot I had scheduled for late in the afternoon.  This was a magazine scouting shoot of an amazing home that I had written about a few years ago for a regional magazine.  I wish I could show you this house, but let me just say that not only is the house spectacular, but the owners are some of the nicest people on the planet!  

I had a great time taking photos and chatting with one of the owners, Anna, about everything from organic gardening to design and decor...and you know how I love talking about those topics!   Anna has a great sense of style, and she's very knowledgeable about so many things.  And she even gave me some fresh organic lettuce from her beautiful garden to bring home...thank you Anna for the wonderful conversation and for the yummy leaf lettuce!

After I was done shooting the interior, I headed outside to take some shots of the exterior and the beautiful landscaping!  Along the front portion of their home is a flower bed filled with hydrangeas.  I love hydrangeas and how they change color depending on the pH level of the soil they are planted in...they can range from pale pink, to lavender, to electric blue, all within the same plant sometimes.

It's funny, before I left for the shoot I had commented on my friend Connie's blog, Hartwood Roses, about her beautiful pale pink hydrangeas and then here I was face to face with these beauties so I had to snap a few pictures to share with all of you!

I'm always smitten by flowers and how delicate and beautiful they are.   I also love how much they can change the appearance of an exterior and make it so much more inviting!  Mr. Tide and I have been doing some landscaping ourselves lately and even the addition of just a few flowering plants can dramatically improve the look of almost any home.

And you have to love a plant like the hydrangea that gives you such a show and asks so little in return.  They really are fairly carefree!  And I have to admit that any flower that can adapt to it's environment, can change color and still be beautiful is a plant I can admire.

After my photo shoot, Mr. Tide and I went to a small resort town nearby to grab something to eat.  Due to some adrenal and thyroid issues I've had over the last few years I'm very good about eating healthy and almost exclusively organic.  But tonight we were both really tired and actually went through a drive-thru!  Once again we were reminded why we NEVER eat fast food...yuck!

I took my camera along with me like I do when I go anywhere, but tonight I just wanted to walk along the waterfront and enjoy the scenery instead of documenting it!  We did meet another avid amateur photographer, and I even gave him a few blog addresses to check out, so we may have another blog convert!

Thank you again for all of your wonderful support and kind words these past few days and everyday!  I may not get to reply to each and every comment, but please know that I do read and enjoy them all and they mean the world to me!  And as a way to say thank you to all of you for always being there, check back soon when I'll have another little something to give away to 2 lucky winners!  

Enjoy your weekend!

Pretty As A Picture

Thank you everyone for your encouraging words and heartfelt congratulations to our son, Bugs, for his recent graduation!  Now begins the whirlwind of parties, he has 1 tonight and 4 tomorrow!  I'm glad I'm not 18 anymore, I don't think I could handle the social schedule!

My in-laws left this morning to start the long drive back to Indiana.  We had a wonderful visit with them and they brought several photo albums to share with us while they were here.  Seeing pictures of Mr. Tide's side of the family is always fun and interesting.  My mother-in-law has been researching their family's genealogy for years now, so she is quite knowledgeable and can tell you a little bit about each of the photographs and how they relate to our immediate family. 

While looking at old family photographs, you have to wonder what happened to some of the furnishings, jewelry, and artwork that are pictured in each one.  Some of the items get passed down from generation to generation, but clearly a lot of the items pictured have disappeared from the families who once cherished them.

Recently, while cleaning out my parent's attic, we came across two paintings that had once belonged to my maternal grandparents.

Both paintings hung in their bedroom for as long as I can remember.

And although they are unsigned, they appear to be by the same artist.

Each one has a distinctive frame but they both relate to one another, just as each print compliments the other.

The wood frames almost appear to be hand carved and have a simple folk art quality to them!

These pictures are full of all sorts of interesting birds!

The level of detail and sense of motion is quite beautiful.

And the wide variety of colors used by the artist allows them to go with almost every color scheme!

My favorite is this beautiful peacock with it's subtle shades of green!

And this little fellow, although a little worse for wear, is still vibrant and jumps right off of the canvas at you.

There are so many interesting things to look at in these pictures, like the little dragonfly above who is touching down on what I assume is a lotus blossom.

Or this delicate little butterfly in muted shades of tan, red, gray, and blue!

And not to be outdone by the wildlife, the flowers also make a statement!  These lilies are just some of the pretty flowers found in both pictures.

When we first found these pictures, we were all drawn to this...a chewed hole in the upper right hand corner of one of the paintings.  It is the hallmark of those dreaded little creatures known as silverfish!  

And because these pictures had some damage, and were clearly showing their age (whatever that may be) all of us put them in a stack of giveaway/donate items.  But something about them kept drawing me back, and I couldn't get them out of my mind.  So a week or so ago I went back over to the house and retrieved them from their castaway fate.

I will clean them up, maybe have non-glare glass cut to fit the frames, and hang them in my own bedroom.  I'm not sure we have any photos of these hanging in my grandparent's home, but perhaps in the future there will be some photos of them hanging in my home.  And when generations long after I'm gone look at those photos, I wonder if they too will wonder what ever happened to these paintings, or if they will smile and think about them hanging on their own walls!

I hope you all have family treasures which surround you and bring you comfort and joy!  And I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Oh The Places You'll Go

Yesterday was a momentous occasion for our family...our son Bugs graduated from High School!  

I thought this picture (even though it's blurry) was appropriate for how I feel about my youngest heading off into the big wide world!  It seems impossible to me that the past 18 years could have literally whizzed by before our very eyes, and that he will be off to college next fall!

Last night the auditorium was awash in a sea of blue and white in honor of his school's colors.  The boys wore blue caps and gowns and the girls wore white.

As I listened to the students, faculty, and superintendent's speeches, the theme over and over again was to go forth and succeed in whatever you choose to do in life!  And I kept thinking about the Dr. Seuss book we had purchased to give to our son as a gift.  In a way that only Dr. Seuss can, it explains that life will be filled with ups and downs, but in the end you will succeed!

And as I watched him shake hands with the superintendent of schools, walk off the stage with his diploma in hand, and sit back down I was proud of the man he has become!  I was proud of the goals he has achieved, the high expectations he has for himself, the lofty goals he continues to set for himself, and the bright future he has ahead of him!  

And I had a sudden urge to impart all sorts of wisdom and advice for how to live a full life.  How to take chances and try new things.  How to reach for the stars but not be crushed if you don't make it to every one!  How to always remember who you are and to be true to yourself!  And in a moment I realized that he already knew those things, both of my children do, and they both make me more proud than I ever could have hoped for or dreamed of!

And just when you think they are all grown up, they do this!  And remind you that they still are your silly kids at heart!  I hope he will never lose the joy that can be found each and every day!

Oh The Places "He" Will Go!!!

Mother Nature Knows Best and A Winner

Mr. Tide wanted me to thank everyone for your sweet birthday wishes, he had a very happy birthday!  And I hope everyone who celebrated Memorial Day yesterday had a wonderful time with friends and family.  We had a small cookout at our house to celebrate not only the holiday, but also our son's impending graduation!  There was lots of good food like hamburgers, hot dogs, waldorf salad, coleslaw, potato salad, fresh veggies, strawberries, and baked beans.  Of course there were lots of yummy desserts too, like brownies and a delicious blueberry pie made my my neighbor "J"!  It is always so much fun to have friends and family gathered around and to get caught up on what everyone has been doing, and a cookout is such a fun and casual way to host a party!

Today was spent hanging out and trying to recover from eating too much yesterday, but we did manage to spend some time outside enjoying a cool breeze in the shade and visiting with my in-laws. 

While wandering around outside I decided to snap a few photos of our lawn knickknacks and some of our flowers, while Mr. Tide decided he would take a few pictures of things that interested him, like this beautiful wood fungus.  I love the pale blue greens and grays and how mother nature can make even a fungus look exquisite!

Or the striking electric blue, golden yellow, and black combo of this lovely butterfly!

And often times it's not just the colors that really draw the eye in to something found in nature, it's often the textures as well.  Mr. Tide captured this unique tree knot that I think looks a lot like a conch shell, Mr. Tide thinks it looks like a bear's face if you tip your head to the left and squint a little!

Of course we all know that we can't improve on nature, but I still like to add my little yard art to the pots on the porch to add some interest.  This glass and metal sun face came from Walmart or Target years ago, and I still love putting it out each summer!

I also have this sweet little metal grasshopper, complete with spiderwebs from being tucked in the back of the garage all winter!

And this painted stone is one of my favorite yard ornaments.  It was a gift from my in-laws, and I think it's so clever, colorful, and cheerful!

And getting back to colors and how mother nature just seems to be a color specialist without even trying, take a look at this amazing combo...I love the dusty gray moth against that soft pale pink of the clover, perfection!

I think this Lantana is like a tropical sunset rolled into a beautiful flower!

Doesn't this just make you want to run out and buy a few tangerine, yellow, and magenta pillows to throw out onto your screened in porch or deck?!  This color combo makes me want to kick back and sip a fruity drink with an umbrella in it while watching the sun slowly sink into the ocean!

And this Lantana is equally as colorful with shades of pink, cream, yellow and orange.  I want a sundress, earrings, or shoes with this color combo to wear all summer long!

And the deep purple of this clematis would be the perfect color to paint a couple of adirondack chairs to put down by the water in my backyard!

Even when mother nature is in a bad mood she manages to be dressed to the nines.  White and blue is always a great and very nautical combo!

These clouds were so pretty and dramatic, but they were fair warning to stay of the water and out of mother nature's way this afternoon!

And even amidst her dismay she still put together this dramatic combo of bright green and dark bluish gray!  She really is the best at what she does, and I wouldn't want to go up against her on Design Star!

And because you have all been so patient for letting me ramble on about the colors found in nature, I won't make you wait a minute longer to find out the winner of the giveaway from Frosted Trash!

It's lucky #30, the lovely and very sweet Linda from the great blog Itsy Bits and Pieces!  Congrats Linda, just send me an email with your mailing address and I'll get the necklace in the mail to you right away!