Photo 139 - 365 Tree Branch Growth

My Husband was out cleaning the yard last weekend and came across this small branch. He brought it to me so I could take photos of it (does he know me or what??)  I had so much fun with this! I took 40 photos, all Macros. There are so many different textures here. I really like this one. The focus and lighting are good.  What do you think?  

Photo 138 - 365 Fall Maple Tree

Yes, Another Fall color photo. Need to enjoy it while it lasts, right? Actually, this tree's leaves are just about gone today so I am glad I took this photo when I did. I love that all of the colors are represented on this one tree at the same time. Just Gorgeous!

Photo 137 - 365 Fall Color

I am not a big fan of Winter. I don't like the cold. So this time of year I get a little sad. But, how can you be sad with color like this all over the place???? Really! It is just beautiful. The leaves are falling constantly today and it's just gorgeous.  I will enjoy it, yes I will! And when Winter comes, I'll get out there and take Winter photos, to cheer me up. :)

Photo 136 - 365 Pump Jack

Another photo from West Texas. Thought I'd share the skyline.  This brings back memories!

Photo 135 - 365 Stonehenge Part 3

Couldn't help myself! One more of Stonehenge (Replica in Odessa Texas)

Photo 134 - 365 Stonehenge Part 2

Another view of Stonehenge. (Replica in Odessa Texas)

Photo 133 - 365 Stonehenge

Ok, this isn't the original Stonehenge. It is, however, a replica that has been erected in Odessa Texas on the campus of UTPB. I was in the area over the weekend and was able to spend some time here taking photos. I spent 30 minutes but could have stayed longer. Even though a major road is close by, you feel isolated here. It was calm and peaceful. 

Photo 132 - 365 Fall Leaves

It is incredibly difficult to take outdoor photographs this time of year without getting a few shots of the leaves.  I took this photo after a short rain last weekend. Just drawn to the orange of the leaves on the wood. 

Photo 131 - 365 Daylily

It is a beautiful September day today! It is the first day of Fall. This pretty Daylily sprouted up yesterday.  It is enjoying the gorgeous Fall weather we are having too. 

Photo 130 - 365 Moores Creek Trees

I don't know if I've mentioned this but I grew up in West Texas, where the native tree is the Mesquite and it doesn't grow very tall. I have a thing for trees now. I love trees. My daughter paints trees and I just want to keep all of her artwork because I love trees in art. We visited Moores Creek Battlefield a couple of months ago and I took this photo looking from the boardwalk towards the bridge. Beautiful Country.

Photo 129 - 365 Rainbow

We are finally getting some good rain. We've had a couple of drought seasons and this summer we've had a lot of rain and storms. My daughter saw this one evening and we all ran outside to check it out! It was beautiful!  

Photo 128 - 365 Mega Moth

This was on our back patio door last Saturday. It is one of the biggest moths I've ever seen!  I took a few photos with normal setting but couldn't get the color right and got a lot of reflection from the glass of the door. I tried the dynamic setting (my fav) and got this photo. I know you can't really see how big this moth is but I'll tell you it had a wingspan of 6 inches! Just huge! It stayed there most of the day. In the afternoon it had its wing up instead of flat out. I think it was trying to get some of the breeze because it was a hot day.  It was really neat being able to see it from this side.

Photo 127 - 365 Fireworks

It is always fun to take long exposure photos and today is a great excuse to photograph fireworks. 

HAPPY JULY 4TH EVERYONE!!

Photo 126 - 365 Battleship

Drove to Wilmington NC to visit the USS North Carolina this weekend with my family. My brother and his family came for a visit. It was so great to see them! I took this photo from the upper decks on the Battleship. I got to use my wide angle lens for the visit. So fun!!!  Don't worry I have more photos to share!

Shackleford Ponies and Cape Lookout

Had the opportunity to go out to Shackleford Banks this weekend. We were able to get pretty close to a couple of ponies while we were on the island and we saw this group in the water on our way back. This is part of a group of 6 (if I remember correctly). We first saw the group on our way out to the island. They were on another small island eating the grass and just hanging out. Our ferry Captain was very accommodating and got us up close enough to photograph the ponies as they were headed back to the big island. You can see Cape Lookout in the background on the right. These are beautiful wild ponies that live on this island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. You can read more about them here. (http://www.shacklefordhorses.org/)

Sorry the photo is so small... If I make it larger, you won't be able to see the lighthouse. I'll post more photos of the horses soon.

Photo 124 - 365 Artful Rose

Playing with the ART settings on my camera again. This is the Dynamic setting. This rose was part of my Administrative Professionals Day flowers that were given to me by my co-workers. As the Roses started to wilt, I photographed a few.  Again, just playing with the settings. 

Photo 123 - 365 Sweet 16

Speaking of time flying by... This is my daughter. She just turned 16. She is an amazing daughter and just cool as can be. I took this photo with Instagram on my phone. You know, when she was younger I took so many photos of her. This was before the digital camera age. And now, when I look back through my digital photos, I find so few photos of her. I am planning to change that. I only have 2 years left before she can (and probably will) leave home so I need to capture as many of those moments as I can. I am very proud of her and maybe one day I can embarrass the heck out of her by showing her children all these photos of her growing up... Hee Hee Kidding (maybe)

Photo 122 - 365 Cat in the yard

Ok. I seriously do not know what happened to May. One day it is May the 4th and the next thing I know it is June! Really?!?!?  Someone told me once that when you turn 21 years old, the years just start going by faster and faster. I just can't keep up anymore! I really need to slow down. I took this photo in early May. You can see the Honeysuckle in bloom in the background. The one thing I do remember about May this year is how sweet the air smelled. You could smell the Honeysuckle everywhere! This is a photo of one of my cats. He is looking off into the distance, pondering his evening.  

May the 4th

Ok... I couldn't resist

May the Force be with you!!!

Photo 120 - 365 Trumpet Vine

I think I mentioned a while back that I was going to step out of my comfort zone this year. Well.... Still in my comfort zone with this one. Hey, what can I say? It is Spring in North Carolina and I love photographing flowers.

I have been in Eastern NC since 2009 and this is my fourth Spring season here. I am amazed every year at the differences from year to year. This is the first time this vine has flowered. And, there are more vines just beyond the fence line of my yard that are flowering for the first time as well. I was very surprised to see that they were yellow inside and red outside. I had to look them up to find out what kind of flower was growing here. The photograph is made using the cross-process art selection on my camera. 

Photo 119 - 365 Bee

Spring time brings out the bees.  I sat out on the deck watching these bees and thought I'd try to capture them. Boy do they fly fast!  I was finally able to get a shot of one that wasn't blurry. Mostly a "point and shoot and hope you got something" kind of technique!  

Photo 118 - 365 More Blue Flowers

A little while ago, my husband and I were walking the back part of our property which is a mostly wooded area with a drainage ditch running through it. He found this glass bottle that was completely brown on the outside - almost like a mix of dirt and rust. I didn't want to wash it and clean it up, I like the rustic look. The only thing printed on it is "No Return". I knew there was a photo waiting to happen with that bottle but I just couldn't find it. I've take a few photos of the bottle alone, but when I bought these blue Daisies, I knew they would look perfect in the rustic bottle. This is one of several shots I took. I like this one a lot. 

Photo 117 - 365 Floral Texture

I was out photographing some blue dyed daisies this weekend (Along with my blue toy car - it was a blue day) and I thought I'd take a random shot. I learned this technique from my daughter.  I wasn't sure the photo would turn out but I really like it! That's one of the things I love about random shots. In this photo, I am shooting towards the sun from behind the flowers.

Thank you for visiting my blog and checking out my photos!

Photo 116 - 365 Mustang Convertible

Another photo of my Mustang. This is one of my favorite settings on my camera. It is the Dynamic setting and it just makes photos pop!

Photo 115 - 365 Mustang

When I was 13 years old I was on a band trip (yes, I was a band geek! LOL) and we were leaving the parking lot when I saw a car that just took my breath away! It was silver and sporty and I just loved it. I said out loud, "Wow, love that car! Wonder what it is?" and a friend of mine answered "65 Mustang". I was hooked from that moment on!

This is a toy car that I've had forever. Had to dust it off when I took it off the shelf today. I love the color and style. This one is a convertible (you'll see that in the next photo). I've been really wanting to take some close up photography and since my photo group has been doing toy photography lately, I have been taking lots of shots of toys. I know this isn't out of my comfort zone. I love close up photography. But sometimes you just gotta do what you love.  

Photo 114 - 365 Toy Dog

Well, at this rate it is going to take me 2 more years to get through the 365 photos!!! I have been doing this project for just over a year and I have learned a lot. I have a lot more to learn though and I am looking forward to finding out how far I can take this photography thing.

My photography group met recently to take photos of toys. I didn't get to attend due to a schedule conflict but I did get a chance to play around with toy photography on my own. I took this photo of a little toy that belonged to my daughter when she was little. I think it is so cute and would look nice on a little girl's bedroom wall.

I never really thought of toy photography until I took the photos of the Star Wars toys for my nephew. It is a fun field!

Photo 113 - 365 Annie

This is Annie, my cat. The photo was not taken in black and white, but in color. I used the Dynamic setting on my camera. I followed her around for a while taking photos. She finally sat still for one shot. Pets make such great subjects. 

Photo 112 - 365 Gate in Green

Well, I have been working on this project for almost a year. I have been having so much fun and have been learning so much. It is my goal this year to get out of my comfort zone (flowers!) and challenge myself and my photography. And, to learn what my camera can do!
This photograph is of a wooden gate and I played around with the camera settings and gave it a green cast. I love how it turned out!

Photo 111 - 365 Sparkling

Today is New Year's Day, 2012! Happy New Year Y'all!  Last night we got out our sparklers and I took a few shots. I am still not great at night shots but I did get to play with the Bulb setting on my camera. This setup was my husband's idea. He set the sparkler in the glass and I held the shutter open for about 15 seconds. I think it turned out kinda neat.

Here's to a Happy New Year! Hope you all have a joyful, successful, prosperous, creative, adventurous and blessed year!