~~~~~~~~~~ The Scene:
Lying on my back to capture an upward, wide angle perspective of Becky. The Plot:
In true Cavalier fashion, Becky calculates the best strategy to move in, take position on my chest and skillfully execute a Cavalier Hug. Better known as "smother thy person with my snout".
Summary:
Mission accomplished. No persons were harmed in this exercise. Can't say the same for the smudged lens.
All week butterflies have been gracing my backyard. I'd no sooner grab my camera and they'd be gone. Today, this lazy fellow was most co-operative! I love how sharp his/her antennas are and how it appears to almost have tail feathers. I think this Monarch Butterfly qualifies as my entry into this weeks "Your Sunday Best Photo Challenge"
Follow this link to view other photographers best photo submissions for this week.
Usually things are pretty quiet in our backyard - well unless Kodee is sounding off at a squirrel or raccoon. This poor Mom made a huge mistake this spring and chose to have her babies in a neighbours garage. They tried to capture Mom and babies together but the Mom escaped. The babies were old enough to be set loose in the country. I can't say I miss the line of baby raccoons following Mom along my fence line as in previous years, but I do feel sorry for her. She was frantically searching for them for a long time.
Wildlife seems to be having a rough time around our house this year. On our front lawn we have a huge Manitoba Maple tree. When my daughter was young she found the beginnings of a tree - all 2 inches of it at my parent's farm. She planted it in a margarine container to bring home. My Dad warned me you couldn't kill them and one day it would be huge - not to plant it. Did I listen - no and now 20 year later it takes up 3/4 of my front lawn! The quote to have it removed was well over $800 - yes Father did know best. This robin took up residence in it this spring. Good spot I thought - it sure beat the nest it tried to build over my patio door last spring or so we thought. The nest had a few babies in it but the next morning we found the nest on the ground and one baby bird dead.
I having a lot of fun with my two new lenses; the 15-85mm and 85mm. The more I shoot close ups the more I want a true macro 100mm lens! If you enjoy macro photography, I know the flowers and vegetables by Barbara Levenwill inspire you. Also watch this video produced by B&H Photo Video. During the filmed seminar, Barbara not only shows her artwork but she also discusses what lenses she uses and what steps she takes in post production using photoshop.
Becky girl! Get with the game - you chew a stick - poof! It's gone. Now balls, they last forever! [I know! Another ball photo but you try getting Kodee to drop it during summer! Not happening.]
I promise!! I didn't put the puppy in my bag - although the thought did occur to me! My camera was in my bag - for a very important photo shoot.
Fact 17 About Me
I have never seen a newborn puppy. I am really thrilled that the first new born puppies I got to see were also very special to me. These puppies belong to Becky's litter mate. Meet Lil' Girl; the lone female with 4 brothers. She may be the tiniest but I am betting she is first to crawl out of the litter box!
[Photo A Day June Prompt For "30 Things About Me" Series] Way behind here on my photo a day - but I will catch up! Day 16 was on the weekend and we had a bit of excitement happening! A very special litter of Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppies that are quite dear to my heart, were born. You can count on me to be posting a few puppy photos in the future! Fact 16 About Me Sad as it is, "procrastination" is a word I am chummy with. However I am also good friends with "stubborn", so my 30 photos will be posted eventually!
It appears to be my month for horses - fine by me! This weekend I attended the annual fundraising event "Polo For Hearts" with a local group of 20 photographers. A great event for a great cause. Everyone was dressed up (well except rebel me), there was a hat contest complete with the background music from "Pretty Woman", loads of shopping (score a new purse!) and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.
Fact 15 About Me
I was a little pressed to keep focused on the game or the task of photographing at this event! Reason being - it was such a fun event to just sit back and watch the game, enjoy the skydivers, and well SHOP. Why yes I did score a new purse! Shopping and horses and cameras - my kind of day!
All Eight Hooves In Flight!
Always Keep Your Eye On the Sky
EEKS! Watch Out For the Other Horse!
Scored!
My husband rolled his eyes and stared at me when he saw this. Not a clue what he is thinking...
Even though summer means longer days, I still seem to run out of time for everything I want to accomplish. So easy to click 300 photos - not so easy to sort through them, choose those to edit and then spend the time fine tuning them.
Fact 14 About Me
I am on a quest to learn post processing better. It is a very time consuming journey but with each little tool or tip I learn, I like the final results I am seeing in my photographs - little brighter, little sharper.
Men are like fine wine. They all start out like grapes, and it's our job to stomp on them in the dark until they mature into something you'd like to have dinner with. ~ Kathleen Mifsud Art
The hardest part of taking this shot, was the two drooling dogs standing over me as I laid on the floor clicking away. I am lucky to have a large living room window plus a nice deep golden room paint that gives off a warm glow. Rather than photograph someone else's "Art" I decided to try my hand at creating my own.
Fact 13 About Me
I tend to be a little forgetful! Today was no exception. No matter how many times I tell myself to check my camera settings before I begin to shoot, I always seem to forget. Today's flub was, the ISO was set to 800. Trash the photos and start again. In the end since I decided to add a texture layer, I suppose the additional noise wouldn't have mattered that much.
