Saturday, April 30, 2011

Day 56 - Four

April 22, 2011

This is a close-up of the clock on my office wall.

Photo settings are: f/3.5, 1/25 sec., ISO 200, macro lens

Day 55 - Droplets

April 21, 2011

We got a little rain so I went out to see what I could photograph. I had my macro lens on the camera (it's my new favorite lens) and I caught these water droplets on a leaf.

Photo settings are: f/3.5, 1/50 sec., ISO 200, macro lens

Day 54 - More Carolina Silver Bells

April 20, 2011

Just want to share another photo of the Carolina Silver Bells. Just Gorgeous!!!

Photo settings are: f/3.5, 1/60 sec., ISO 200, macro lens

Day 53 - Carolina Silver Bells

April 19, 2011

It amazes me just how many different plants we have growing on our property. These pretty little flowers bloom on a small tree in the back yard. When we moved into this house, there was a fence that went across the back of the yard. There was an additional fence further back so we decided to take to middle fence out, to extend the yard. This little tree was growing through this fence and I wanted to make sure we saved it. I had no idea what it was but these blooms were just gorgeous. Last year there were no flowers. I was so disappointed. But this year the flowers returned and oh my goodness... they were gorgeous and they smelled just wonderful! I did some research and found out that this is a Carolina Silver Bell tree. The blooms are gone now but I did manage to get a few photos.

Photo settings are: f/3.5, 1/60 sec., ISO 200, macro lens

Day 52 - Tiny Pink Flowers

April 18, 2011

These little flowers have been popping up in our yard two years in a row, at the end of the driveway. They are tiny but so vibrant.

Photo settings are: f/8, 1/320 sec., ISO 200, macro lens

Day 51 - Rose

April 17, 2011

The first Rose on our Rose Bush. These flowers are so large and open up so nicely. I just had to get an extreme close-up with my macro lens.

Photo settings are: f/3.5, 1/400 sec., ISO 200, macro lens

Day 50 - Flowering Bush

April 16, 2011

This was one of those random shots that I take occasionally. I learned this technique from my daughter. She takes great random photographs. We have several flowering bushes and trees around our yard. I am trying to learn the names of all of them. However, I have not been able to find this particular bush. It had these pretty pinkish-red blooms on it for about a week. Now they are gone.

Photo settings are: f/3.5, 1/250 sec., ISO 200, macro lens

Day 49 - Caterpillar

April 15, 2011

Spring brings out all the little critters! I followed this little guy along our deck railing until he finally gave me a pose. It seemed to take forever. I think I took about 25 photos of him.

Photo settings are: f/3.5, 1/500 sec., ISO 200, macro lens

Day 48 - Condensation

April 14, 2011

On a bright sunny day I was out back hanging out on the deck and I noticed this plastic bottle in our recycle bin. I was drawn to the condensation on the inside of the bottle.  The sun was bright and the drops reflected the sun and the colors on the aluminum cans underneath.

Photo settings are: f/5.6, 1/200 sec., ISO 100, macro lens

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Day 47 - Drainage

Another cemetery photo. No graves in this one. This is a drainage pipe off to the side. I thought that the roots growing over it looked pretty neat.

Photo settings are: f/11, 1/60 sec., ISO 200


My Apologies

My apologies to y'all. I have not been posting daily as I should. These last couple of weeks have been full of negativity and low self confidence. I basically let both of them take control for a little while, for too long actually. I have been taking photos, LOTS of photos! I just have not been posting them. Over the next few days, I will get caught up. Bear with me and thank you for spending time to look at my photography. I still have lots to learn but I am having fun learning and practicing. :)

Thanks!!!
Chrystal

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Day 46 - Headstone and Tree

I knew I had to get a shot of this lone headstone. I turned this into a black and white photo and increased the contrast.

Photo settings are: f/11, 1/100 sec., ISO 200

Day 45 - W G Stanford

Another shot from the cemetery. I only have a few more, I promise! This stone belongs to W G Stanford. I hope to do a little research on him as well. I wanted to get a photo of a headstone in the background and these lined up perfectly.

Photo settings are: f/11, 1/100 sec., ISO 200

Day 44 - Gravestones in a row

Another shot from the cemetery.

Photo settings are: f/11, 1/125 sec., ISO 200

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Day 43 - Mattie Washington

Saturday, April 9, 2011

There is a cemetery near us that I see everyday. It is on USMC property and I've always been curious about it. Recently they posted a plaque in the site that states that the graves here belong to some 134 family and church cemeteries that were moved when the land was acquired for Camp Lejeune back in 1941. Because the grave sites were segregated by color at this time, they also kept them segregated when they moved them. The cemetery near us belongs to the African American graves that were moved during this process. Most of the markers state "unknown" with a number and sometimes the name of the grave yard. I am not sure why they are unknown. A few headstones are still intact. Ms. Mattie Washington's headstone is one that is complete and legible. After taking this photo, I was curious so I did a quick search for her in Ancestry.com. I found her Death Certificate. She lived in Swansboro, NC and died at the age of 26 after having suffered Tuberculosis for six years. I took several photos at this cemetery I'll be posting more of them over the next few days.

Photo settings are: f/11, 1/125 sec., ISO 200

Day 42 - Wisteria Closeup

Friday, April 8, 2011

This is just a close-up of the Wisteria from yesterday. I just love these things!

Photo settings are: f/11, 1/60 sec., ISO 200

Day 41 - Wisteria Tree

Thursday, April 7, 2011

There is an abundance of Wisteria around here in the Spring. You can see nice, cultivated trees to wild growing vines that just cover everything! This tree/vine is located at the end our street. I see it everyday and I finally took time to stop and take a photo.

Photo settings are: f/11, 1/60 sec., ISO 200

Day 40 - White Tree Flower

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

One of the things I love about North Carolina in the spring are all of the trees with such beautiful blooms. Around here there are a bunch of trees that look white because of all of the flowers blooming on them. As we were driving to Greensboro last weekend, there were so many purple trees along the highway. I wish we could have stopped to photograph those. It just amazes me to see such colorful trees.

This is a close-up of one of those white flowers.

Photo settings are: f/5.6, 1/80 sec., ISO 100, flash fired

Day 39 - Purple Flower

Ok, so this last week has just been so busy. I've been taking photos, I just have not been posting. So, once again I am playing catchup!

Tuesday April 5, 2011


We have a couple of little bushes growing in our yard that have such pretty purple flowers on them. The breeze was blowing a lot so I couldn't really get a good focus. I really love the color of the flower and of the leaves. I will be photographing these again. They are too pretty to ignore.

Photo settings are: f/3.5, 1/200 sec., ISO 100

Monday, April 4, 2011

Day 38 - Wisteria

The Wisteria are in full bloom here in NC. Just beautiful! Too bad the blooms only hang around for a few short weeks. And they smell wonderful!  While taking this photo today, the breeze surrounded me in the wonderful scent of wisteria.

Photo settings are: f/4, 1/80 sec., ISO 100, flash fired

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Day 37 - Concert

April 2, 2011

Last night we were in Greensboro, NC to see Rush in concert. We had such a great time! I didn't take my camera on this trip and could not have taken it into the concert area anyway so I had to rely on my phone camera. Sorry it is such a grainy photo.  We got to our seats at about 6:15 and the concert started at 7:30. Did I mention that we had a great time???  :)

No settings for this photo.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Day 36 - Maple Tree Seeds

This is what the Maple Tree Seeds looks like in the sun. This is the opposite of the silhouette photo from a few days ago. These are so pretty. They completely fill the Maple Trees and range from a light pink to a dark red. So pretty!

Photo settings are: f/3.5, 1/80 sec., ISO 100