Graceful Landings and A Winner

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments and concern for our daughter and her friend, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it, and so do they!  Our daughter and "S" continue to be sore, but both are doing well.

Today was absolutely gorgeous here, we threw open the windows and doors to let the warm breezes and the sounds of peeping frogs and waves fill the air.  I always know it's getting to be springtime when the peepers start making a racket!  I just hope they haven't come alive too soon before the winter is truly over.

The other evening Mr. Tide took the camera out for a spin and captured some swans along with their cygnets coming in for a landing on our creek.  He took all of the photos in this post, hence the MT Images watermark for "Mr. Tide"...I'm sure he would have picked a cooler name, but hey it's my blog.

They really are such beautiful birds and we are so lucky to have them grace us with their presence each winter, if only for a few months.

I hope they will always find a soft place to land here as we would miss them terribly if they didn't show up year after year.

This weekend we will be getting our yard in order...weeding, pruning, and starting our veggie garden project.  We've decided to create some raised beds this year so that we can grow more of our own organic vegetables, something we've been wanting to do since we moved in.

Our neighbor had her whole yard tidied up yesterday so we need to get going so that we can keep up the the Joneses if you know what I mean!  We have a long way to go before our yard even begins to one up hers though, hers is always lovely and immaculate.

But enough about our neighborly yard envy, I need to announce the winner of my latest Giveaway.  Mr. Tide was my random number generator, and the number he muttered while playing Battlefield 3 was #10, which belongs to Deserae who said..."Gosh, They are all just gorgeous.... I really love all three.... but if I have to pick a favorite I will pick set number 2!
~Des

Please send me an email with your mailing address and I will get the images in the mail to you right away!

Thank you all again for your kind words about my daughter and for your great opinions on my photos!  I hope you all have a wonderful and productive weekend!

Spread Your Wings

When was the last time you really stepped outside of your comfort zone?

When you dared to spread your wings while others played it safe, keeping their wings safely tucked beside their bodies?

Do you hesitate because you're afraid you might not soar, or because of what others might think?

Because most of the time others don't even notice.  And maybe, just maybe those around you won't judge you, or think you are crazy, they might even just keep swimming right beside you and offer you support and encouragement.

And even if you don't soar to great heights, you will have at least tried, and reaching the sky isn't always the measure of success.

Sometimes the success is in the trying.  And I just happen to think that people who spread their wings...even just a little, are much more beautiful than those who choose to play it safe and never try at all...wouldn't you agree?

The Water is Wide

This lovely Mute Swan graced us with his or her presence on a walk this evening.

Blog Hatin'

The photos in this post are not good, and frankly they were never meant to be shared since most of them aren't in focus, but they just seemed appropriate for the topic of this post.

I also want to forewarn you that this post may be offensive to some of you, so read further at your own discretion.

In real life, just as online I've been very fortunate.  I try and treat people the way I hope to be treated and most of the time it works out well.  I've been very lucky to have met so many wonderful people through blogging and to see some amazingly talented men and women through this wonderful thing called the internet.  I had heard horror stories about blog jealousy, nasty emails, and bitter anonymous comments, but I have managed to avoid most of this and frankly I think it's been pure luck.

Over the past few months I've had a few email exchanges or read other blogger's posts about how they haven't been so lucky.  I've heard stories about how people will literally harass other bloggers if they don't follow someone back, or if their blog is becoming too popular, etc.  I've seen mean accusations flying around about people stealing photos and using people's pictures without their permission.  And it's like a match being thrown on a parched field of grain...it spreads like wildfire and leaves devastation in its wake!

I even thought twice before deciding to do this post, wondering if I wouldn't be fanning the flames and likely to cause a bit of drama here on my own blog by even bringing this up.  After all, I have been pretty lucky in avoiding everything but the occasional mean spirited comment.  But then I thought, if I see other bloggers, friends, strangers, whomever suffering the ill effects of this sort of behavior and I turn a blind eye to it, then how am I really any different from those who choose to use the internet as a means of bullying?!  So I decided I would speak out about what I sometimes see in the blog world.


 

I mentioned in a post a while ago how most of my friends growing up, and even to this day are men, and there's a reason for that.  Women can be mean...I mean really mean to one another, and I've never understood why?!  Just like in high school when a girl would show up in the latest designer clothes, or carrying an expensive purse, or even with the latest fashionable haircut you could almost smell the blood in the water and see the sharks circling.  And it wasn't just the fashionable, popular girls who suffered the fate of being eaten alive, it was also the girls who a select few decided just didn't fit in, so they too were punished for whatever shortcomings they were determined to have!

I managed to stay away from all of this by being an athlete and being a generally funny, happy go lucky sort of person, but it enraged me when I saw it happening to others and I would often wait until an opportune moment to lob a bit of a dig at someone who I knew was always willing to dish it out, but clearly couldn't take it.  I developed a bit of a sarcastic reputation with some, while others saw me as someone who wouldn't just walk by and ignore their plight.  Now I'm no Mother Teresa, but I don't like seeing people get picked on...in real life or online!

Like the swans in my pictures, I often see people starting trouble due to a complete lack of self confidence on their own part.  Sometimes when the swans fight it appears to be for no real reason at all, and their beauty belies their ability to truly hurt one another.  Thankfully this phenomenon of blog jealousy and in-fighting is relegated to a tiny portion of the otherwise wonderful blogging community, but they are there, and like a thorn on a beautiful rose, they sometimes overshadow the beauty of the entire flower!

Do people really have so much time on their hands that they can spend their days trolling the blog world to seek out others to pick on?!  I dream of a world with that much time, but I can assure you that if I find it I won't be wasting that precious time on trying to bring someone else down.

Women and men blog for all sorts of reasons.  It can be for the shear fun of it, the opportunity to have a voice which they feel they lack in real life, to find friends, to share a love or passion for something, and the list goes on and on.  Whether you agree with or like someone else's blog is really up to you.  So if you don't like someone's blog or what they post about then move on down the street to the next blog.

Those people who feel the need to control and dictate what others portray on their blogs should really get over themselves!  I mean really, who died and made you king anyway?!  Hey that's kind of catchy, maybe I'll write a song! ;-)

Sadly, online is really no different than real life.  There are people online who will pretend to be something they aren't, they'll profess religion or knowledge, or whatever in order to justify their behaviors and they'll be mean when it would be so easy to be nice.  As I said this is such a small segment of the community, but unfortunately a very vocal one at times!

We all work hard to make our blogs something special.  And we all hope that what we post touches others in some way, but it's not a competition folks.  It's a big wide internet out there, so if someone has more followers than you, or they have a meteoric rise, then it doesn't in any way diminish you in any way.  There's no need to be bitter, and ultimately mean if someone is creating something you are jealous of, it doesn't take anything away from you.  If you think you have the market cornered on decor, design, or anything else for that matter then you must be living inside a very thick bubble and whether another blogger breaks your bubble or not, it will get broken some day.

We women need to lift one another up, not tear each other down, and most of you get that, but to those who don't I simply feel sorry for you.  I have a thick skin and know that when people speak harshly or try and undermine me for no good reason that they are really just afraid of looking in the mirror, so they turn that anger outward towards others.

To my friends who have been the victims of this type of petty jealousy and general bullying, I say stand strong!  

Just remember this quote from Dr. Seuss...

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." 

So the next time you see someone have success with their blog, get sponsors, buy a new camera, or do a great job with a project, stand up and cheer for them.  You might be next, and you'll want those same cheers and supportive comments coming your way.  Those of you who already do this, keep doin' what you're doin' and to those who don't...I say try it, you might like it!  What goes around comes around my friends!

Patience is A Virtue

Sometimes when you are willing to keep trying, and be very, very patient, the stars align and you are rewarded.

I've whined and bemoaned about my inability to capture the swans in all of their glory for a long time now...years in fact!  Way before I had a blog I would patiently trek outside each winter and "hope" to be able to get even one good shot of these beautiful creatures in their natural environment.

And year after year they would tease me.  Watching me quietly sneaking around the yard with my camera at the ready.  And it wasn't just me, they would taunt Mr. Tide as well, and he would come inside ever hopeful that he had finally captured "the shot," only to find blown out fuzzy pictures of swan butts as they swam off to the farthest reaches of our creek.

Finally, my patience paid off and this week I got the pictures I had been longing for for over 4 years!  The swans must have heard my sighs of frustration and thought I had proven myself worthy by not giving up and giving in.  This past week they graced me with more than swan butts, and they even looked me in the eye as if to say "patience is a virtue, and you are now virtuous enough to capture our beauty."  And so I did, and I hope that these will eventually find their way onto canvas or metal, but for now I'm just happy to stare at them!

Thank you swans for trusting me enough to show you in all your graceful glory to the world!

Bird Brain

Thank you so much everyone for the wonderful comments you left on my last post.  It's always a little scary to say "hey world look at my dream," but you all made me feel like I can do anything!  And it's because of you all and the support of my family and some dear friends that I even entertained the notion of doing fine art photography in the first place, so thank you from the bottom of my heart!

The last couple of days I've been feeling kind of blechy.  I take several medications for my thyroid and adrenals and every so often the balance of everything gets knocked off center ever so slightly, but enough to make me feel pretty awful.  I then go have blood work done and my doctor adjusts the medications and then I'm back to feeling fit as a fiddle again.

This afternoon, after spending most of the day in sweats and not even getting a shower I decided I better drag myself outside and at least get some fresh air.  The swans were in the creek and they were actually pretty close to our property so I bundled up and headed out with camera in hand.

I quietly went around the side of our property into the woods so as not to startle the swans and make them move to the other side of the creek.  I was stealthy and I took great care in not crunching too many leaves or snapping too many sticks as I struggled through the brambles to get to the shoreline where I had a clear shot of them

It's like these birds have ESP or something and can sense me coming before I even leave the house.  As you can see by the pictures, by the time I got to a good vantage point, neatly hidden by the trees and briers they had moved off anyway!  That one swan put on quite a little show for me as I stood there patiently for the next almost 40 minutes, trying not to breath too loudly!  A little song bird was fooled and even landed about 2 feet from me, but not the swans, that one raised his wings as if he were saying nanny nanny boo boo, you'll never get a close up picture of us!

I waited a few hours and once again they moved closer to our shoreline, so I bundled myself back up, unshowered and in my lovely sweats and headed back out...I would not let them win I thought!  I'm sure my neighbor gets a big kick out of this little game I play with the wildlife around here.  I bet she thinks I'm some sort of crazy person, but she's just too polite to say so.  She probably calls her friends and family and says things like  "She's out in that darned red hat and pink scarf again...and I don't think she's had a shower either, she looks a mess!"

I wouldn't blame her, I do kind of look like a cross between a crazy person and some sort of artsy eccentric on days like today when I'm feeling under the weather.

Once again the swans thumbed their beaks at me, but thankfully a few other birds were more cooperative, like the gorgeous male cardinal in the two photos above!  He and a female cardinal happily flitted from tree to tree and were glad to get somewhat close.

Mr. Tide released the hounds a little while later and came out to see if I was a popsicle yet.  I was half frozen due to the fact that I left both socks and my gloves in the house.  When you go out to take pictures you sometimes tell yourself that you'll just be out for a few minutes, but you rarely are.  At least I rarely am!  I sometimes talk to the swans in my head and tell them that if they would just come a little closer I would share all of their majesty and beauty with all of you, but apparently they don't care too much for publicity!

Just when I was ready to throw in the towel for getting any really good bird photos, the bluebirds showed up and they were more than happy to cheer me up and give me a few good photo ops.  I love that about the bluebirds, they are always so happy and sweet looking.  They were also my mother's favorite bird so they remind me of her, which makes me glad whenever they grace us with their presence.

By this point I truly was a bit of an ice cube so Mr. Tide took over the picture taking duties and I headed back inside to fix a cup of tea.

The bluebirds were out in force and had moved over to my neighbor's yard to feast on whatever they found so appetizing in her grass.

You can see 4 of them all lined up waiting to fly down to the ground and grab a bit of dinner before heading back to their comfy nests for the night.  They are so brightly colored and when they fly you see bright flashes of blue out our windows.

This was Mr. Tide's favorite photo that he took.  It's out of focus but it shows you how cool these little birds look as they dart around our property and that of our neighbor.

And speaking of bird brains, I was in bed and watching a program last night about the intelligence levels of different animals.  It was really fascinating and further confirmed much of what I've always believed, that we are not the only intelligent animals on this planet.  The show featured how an octopus can completely change it's color, shape, and texture within seconds to mimic almost any surrounding.  They showed an octopus on a piece of coral, and you absolutely could not tell the difference between it and the coral until it moved on to mimic yet another thing on the floor of the ocean!  I knew they could change color, but I had no idea that they could change their actual shape and texture as well, it was amazing!

Before I turned it off and headed to bed they did a piece on Alex the talking African Grey Parrot.  Alex was the constant companion of a scientist who picked him randomly from a pet store to use to try and show the world that being called a bird brain was actually a compliment.  For over 30 years, Alex and Irene, the scientist worked together, sometimes up to 10 hours a day.  The bond between them was incredible and although I'm not a big fan of seeing animals used for research, clearly this scientist saw Alex as a pet and a companion who she loved, not just a research subject.  When Alex died suddenly the whole world reacted, he received an obituary which aired on ABC News.  So the next time someone calls you a bird brain, just smile and say thank you!

 

Swan Song

Thank you everyone for indulging me in my latest texture madness craze and for leaving such wonderful comments!

This morning when I got up I received the nicest email from Sharyne for the wonderful blog The Views from My Valley.  Sharyne lives in North Queensland Australia and she had written me to tell me she had tried applying some textures to a beautiful rose photo she had taken.  You can see both gorgeous photos below, and I can't tell you how happy I am that blogging about the joys I get from photography actually made someone want to try using textures for themself.  That's how I got hooked after all, visiting blogs with beautiful photographs and wanting to know more!

 (Photo by Sharyne)

(Photo by Sharyne)

Thanks for sending these wonderful pictures Sharyne, they really are lovely.  If anyone else has been inspired to try images...you know who you are (Yvonne!), then please send me a copy, I would love to see them!

It's been a cold, gray day here in Maryland, but thankfully we dodged the bullet and ended up with only rain.  I got an email from my brother who lives much further north in the state and he is iced in, so I'm happy with cold, gray and rainy for now.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile now, you know that each year in December a group of Tundra Swans winter over here, and it's something I look forward to every winter.  This year however, we've seen very little of the swans.  They've been spending most of their time across the street on the river side where the water isn't frozen.  I've sorely missed seeing these graceful birds and hearing their unusual calls each day, so when they appeared on our creek today I knew we needed to try and take some pictures.

I used the term "we" because when they showed up early this morning I was still in my PJs and wasn't really too anxious to go outside and take pictures.  It meant lugging a tripod, putting the big telephoto lens on, and then the teleconverter I got for my birthday which helps increase the magnification of the lens.  Now I know that doesn't sound like a lot of work, but when you have to then bundle up and drag the stuff through the woods, so that you don't spook these timid creatures, it sometimes takes the charm out of trying to capture them.

Add to that the fact that we have about 6 bazillion swan photos, none of which ever seem to turn out, and I was really not motivated to go.

Thankfully I married well, and Mr. Tide wasn't so pessimistic, or maybe lazy, so he gathered up the equipment, threw on his coat and scarf and headed out to try once again to get a photo of these beautiful birds.

The teleconverters are really meant to be used with much better lenses, better lighting, and higher quality camera bodies.  I use a Canon Rebel XTI (a consumer grade camera) which is now almost 4 years old, and none of my lenses are professional grade, so I'm sure we would have better luck with these difficult (at least for Mr. Tide and me) to shoot subjects if we had better equipment.  Yes, that's me whining about not having professional grade equipment...sorry, but I drool when I see professional photographers and their awesome equipment!  That's my way of prefacing these photos by saying that they are a bit grainy but I want to also add that these are some of the best photos we've ever been able to take of the swans...so of course Mr. Tide will have bragging rights for a bit.

As you can tell by the photos above, the swans aren't opposed to walking on the ice to get to the open water along the edges of the creek.  What I do find funny though is how they will sometimes choose the ice over the free flowing water.  In the photo above, they are all actually sleeping standing up!

The title of this post is Swan Song, and I'm sure some of you have wondered where that phrase comes from.  It's most often heard when describing  someone's final appearance, career farewell, or even their demise.  I decided to do a little digging via Google and here's what I found about the origin of this interesting phrase.  The info below comes from Wikipedia...where else!  To read the entire excerpt and to see examples where this saying has been used throughout literature, in song, and plays you can click here!

The phrase "swan song" is a reference to an ancient belief that the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is completely mute during its lifetime until the moment just before it dies, when it sings one beautiful song.^[1]

Mute Swans are not actually mute during life – they hiss – and they do not sing as they die. 


So do you ever recall someone making their Swan Song?!

Here is a lovely song entitled Swan Song.  The lead singer has a beautiful voice!