Sweet Baby P

I had the privilege of taking some shots for a friend with a beautiful newborn (Mr. P).  He was so sweet and snuggly.  It's hard to remember mine being this tiny! 

New Toy

After reading this recently:
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/canon-s95/

I ended up doing a bunch of research and watching this camera like a hawk (for more reviews and the best deal I could find). The more I read, the more it made me want this little diddy for a nice, compact point and shoot to stick in my purse for places that the big daddy is too cumbersome. I haven't had too much exciting stuff to practice with but have just taken some "around the house" shots to play with the different settings.
It has some great  modes (see more about the features here)

(Vintage mode)

(fish-eye mode)

(Super vivid mode)

there is even a (foliage mode)

It also has HD video and the low light capabilities are supposed to be super - can't wait to test that out at the Zoo Wildlights and with the Christmas tree!

Miscellaneous Pictures

It's been quite some time since I've uploaded pictures here!  It's not for lack of taking them, but just a lack of time!  One quick trick that I just discovered is that I can upload photos directly from my Picasa software to the blog.  This is a great help because I so many pictures and it is a pain to toggle back and forth.  The down side is that only 4 pictures can be uploaded, but still...it's better than nothing!

One of my favorite pictures from the 1st day of school was the girls

(Ella and her 2 friends, M and K)

I think it's all the bright colors and how they are walking in sync 

that I like best.

I've taken HUNDREDS of soccer pictures this fall - between Ella and Si's teams.

I did a Shutterfly page for Ella's team and updated with pictures each week,

which the parents all loved. I use the 70-300mm lens and it's great for the full field action shots.

The problem is when they get too close! It really makes me want the 18-270 lens but...who has an extra $400-600?

So, I've been dying for a fish-eye lens - but they run from about $400-$700 or more and there is

NO WAY I can justify spending that kind of money on a lens (especially one with such limited use).
SO, one day while shopping one  of my favorite photo sites (Photojojo) I saw they had super cheap fish eye lenses for your cell phone!  Certainly not high quality photography from my cheap ol' cell phone camera, but fun none the less (expect for all the junk that becomes visible with this kind of lens!)

Emerald Isle

Our summer beach trip - loved it!  But wish I had taken more time to explore...

 View from our deck

Enjoying the view from our walkway to the beach

The fish at the NC Aquarium

We has some awesome storms and incredible lightening one afternoon and evening.

A sunrise (we were on the southern tip of Emerald Isle)

The final evening there, I finally made it to the Point to watch the sunset.  

 It was a gorgeous place to watch the sunset!

There were tons of dragonflies flitting around the grasses.

Hocking Hills flowers

A quick walk on a small trail behind the cabin we stayed in this weekend resulted in a few of my favorite (non-human) photos.

Photo editing

I've been looking for some different photo editing software besides Picasa (which I love) and without spending much $$ (or better yet, no $$) on something.  I did some research and found this Picnik (which I realized after was purchased by Google and has been incorporated into the Picasa web albums.  This is a few pictures that I played around with...
A few before/after edits...

I can't recall what effects I used on each, but I thought they were pretty nifty for free software.

June Favs

I didn't take too many pictures in June...at least that I like very much. Here are a few...

Silas at the aquarium at the zoo.

And a 2nd shot

Silas at t-ball - wish the feet/chairs weren't in the picture

a pretty flower at Beth and Greg's

Mason swimming - I get so few pictures of him when he's not trying to duck and hide his face.

Some May Favorites

I am very far behind in posting some of my favorites photos on here!
A few from May...
Mason running track. to do again, I'd make sure to get both is feet- the chopped off foot bugs me.

Above...not so much a great photo as it is a testimate to our neighbor, Patrick's, paranoia to hail!  He actually fit all 3 cars into the garage!

Definitely been on a flower kick with the arrival of Spring and nicer weather.  We had beautiful roses for awhile!

And nests with eggs...

Lilies on my sister's pond...

And whatever these beautiful flowers are at my friend, Susan's, garden that I get to enjoy at book group.

La La the Moon

Our last full moon I took the time to set up my tripod (gasp!). I'm an impatient photographer...one area that I need to work on is patience in the right set up.

NY to NC

This Spring Break has taken us from the Finger Lakes of NY to Nags Head NC.  A wonderful time for me to concentrate a bit more on my photo taking!  Here are a few that are my favorites so far...

Taughannock Falls - Finger Lakes - NY

Treman Park - Finger Lakes NY

The texture of the rocks was interesting. They were so smooth with divets

where the water filled in making this interesting pattern.

Working on shutter speed..

My babes

Sunset over the sound from a window in a gazebo.

This was sunset from an area I saw from the road on Cape Hatteras. Kinda reminds me of The Lion King video cover :)

We've seen a ton of fishing boats out this trip. All lined up at the end of the day.

This is probably my favorite. I pulled over on a thin strip of road between the ocean 

and the sound (from Nags Head, heading down 12 to Cape Hatteras). The lighting was gorgeous.

 I loved how it hit this battered wood and made it look so rich and warm. 

It's been so relaxing to get out and drag the camera everywhere I go. I love it!