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DailyPhotos > Shelly  > Other > Shelly's Photo Blog 2008
This gallery is a melange of my photographic styles as well as a look into my daily life. I try to capture something new every day or else to find something that fits the day. It's a great excuse to carry my camera with me more often than not, and it allows me to stop and take those pictures that need to be taken.

To see what 2007 looked like, click on this link: http://spccreative.smugmug.com/gallery/2958746_n6VBs#238075802
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Shelly > July 19, 2008

Ceviche -- The perfect lunch for a hot summer day. 

The un-progressing kitchen remodel (See May 30 http://spccreative.smugmug.com/gallery/4550624_LCxaW#304104538_jZZPo  ) and some other issues have made me very grumpy.  Thankfully Mike takes very good "care" of me and knows how to get me out of the funk. 

We went downtown to see the new Discovery Green park and   to the Galleria to see an exhibit of sculptures built from Red Bull cans.    It was all free except for the gas to get there and the parking downtown. AAAARRRGH  I'm never going to get used to having to PAY someone just to leave my car for a little while.  

Naturally we had to stop for lunch, and here it is.

We recently picked up a tiny little Nikon Cool-Pix point and shoot for the occasions when the 40D's would be forbidden or too big to haul around, and that's what I'm using here. It's different, and I'm totally out of my element using it.  Isn't that funny?   It's supposed to be simple, but now I'd rather dicker with my settings.
Shelly > July 17, 2008

I had a photography instructor once tell me that dragonflies were an easy subject to capture.  She is a very accomplished nature photographer, but on that one topic she was dead wrong.  

Still, I finally got one, so maybe number two will be a bit easier.
Shelly > July 15, 2008

"Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you're not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were."  
 -- David Rockefeller
Shelly > July 14, 2008

ME!

Here's a HUGE salute to each of you who turns out wonderful  SP's over and over.  That's so much harder to do than it looks, and I'm asking -- BEGGING for your advice and suggestions!
(not that I plan to make the SP thing a regular event, but it is a skill I need to improve)

I had my lights and backdrop set up, and was waiting for people to come in for headshots, so I decided to play around a bit. First because autofocus would have picked up on the backdrop, I put a big cardboard sign on my stool and focused manually on that.  Then I used my timer and ran around to try and put my face in the right place.  It would have been comical to watch,  and when someone walked in I jumped up and said I was "playing with my lights."  That part was kind of embarrassing, but not too much.  I don't get embarrassed like I used to.  

This is a pretty serious crop because I was about out of the frame anyway.  There was nothing more to leave in at the top left, and I've become a fan of very tight headshots. 

I've never considered myself very photogenic and now have decided that I probably don't wear enough makeup, but I kind of liked this one because I look happy and not too goofy.  

Ran it through several different filters before I picked this one with a friendly glamor/faded effect.  It is what it is -- and that's my Picture of the Day and I'm a stickin' to it.
Shelly > July 13, 2008

Hope in the Shadows

Yesterday Kim asked about Grace, the beautiful Kildeer mother whose nest I had been watching.  I wish I had a real  answer to report, but here's what I do know.

Her nest had been smack dab in the middle of our church parking lot (Grace Fellowship www.whatisgrace.org) -- hence her name.    Some other members had spotted her first, stacked some rocks nearby and marked the area with traffic cones to keep her safe.  I think everyone who saw her enjoyed showing her to their kids and talking about the wonders God puts into our lives.    

Over the Fourth of July weekend, someone had moved one of her markers and used it to set off fireworks. I replaced it once,  but the next day the parking lot was littered with even more firework debris and her markers had all been moved to the end of the parking lot.  There was no trace of Gracie or her eggs.

I really felt low that morning because I THINK some neighborhood kids may have  destroyed her nest.  I HOPE, however, that Grace's eggs hatched before I expected them to and that somewhere in the little drainage ditch that runs by the parking lot she  and her friend, Charity, are living happily with  Love, Joy, Peace, Hope and older cousin Chiclet.

I have yet to post the last pictures of Chiclet, but will get them up and let you all know soon.
Shelly > July 12, 2008

Floating  on a hot summer day.  

Swimming pool blue makes a great flower background.  It's like having a sky with no sun spots.  (Just little stains instead)

Note to my mother -- could this possibly be from the elusive "lost" bulb that you gave me two or three years ago?  The individual blossoms are about 1 1/2 inches, but they're on stalks with at quite a few of the  smaller stems like this one.  Quite a striking display, and they're doing so well that they could even be thinned and shared after they finish blooming.
Shelly > July 11, 2008

Medical Advice

With Beans and Greens
Here is the Means
To Cauterize Your Inside Seams -- Burma Shave

I think my parents may have written that little ditty.  It was on a bottle of home-brewed pepper sauce that they made more than 20 years ago, and I believe it's still among my kitchen condiments somewhere.   Anyway, I think of it nearly every time I put this wonderful concoction on my veggies.

For a major part of this week, I camped out in the Physician's Lounge at a local hospital taking headshots for a pictorial directory.  I didn't move a thing to set up this shot, but liked the way the computer lights reflected off the bottle of pepper sauce on the table.   It might be better without the stand-up newsletter in the background, but media is everywhere.  

A little selective color, then some posterization for effect. 

By the way, what does it mean if the salt shaker in a doctor's dining area is empty?  Did they use it up when no patients were watching, or do they keep it empty for their own good health?
Shelly > July 6, 2008

Passion Flower

"Passion makes the world go round. Love just makes it a safer place." -- Ice T, The Ice Opinion
Shelly > July 5, 2008

I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW --

I promised no more Kildeer photos, but Charity and Charlie would like for you to meet Chiclet.

Charity has been the lesser-celebrated of two Kildeer mothers that I've been watching for the last two weeks.  We grieved together when she lost one of her two eggs,  but  she surprised me on Saturday morning with a very freshly-hatched baby.  

I arrived at the nest around 8:00 am, a little later than I usually go out, but if I'd gone any earlier, I probably would have missed the whole thing.  Chiclet was fresh, tiny and still soaking wet.  

Just the day before, an ornithologist told me that these guys leave the nest as soon as they dry out, and could be gone in about an hour or so.  

I stayed for three hours and not much happened, but I couldn't keep myself from coming back.  In this photo, taken about 1:00 pm, Chiclet is about 5 hours old.  He would walk around, take about five or six steps, fall down, and get up again, just like a people baby learning how to walk.  TOO TOO CUTE but always going AWAY from the camera. 

Both parents were very involved in his care, and even Grace and her mate popped in for a visit and to help babysit the first real nest outing.   

By 6:00 pm, when I came back for my third visit of the day, the parents were still around and acting very protective, but I couldn't find the baby.  There's a creek (fancy word for drainage ditch) and grassy area nearby, and they provided a much friendlier and safer environment for raising the baby than this caliche parking lot.  

More photos from the day will go into the Kildeer gallery soon, but I have some other projects I have to finish today.   It's true what they say about new babies.  Once they're born, you just can't get anything else done.  

Meanwhile, Grace waits.  Based upon the date her fourth egg was laid, if my sources are correct, we won't see her babies before July 15.
Shelly > July 4, 2008

Lighting Up the Night

If I had wanted really good fireworks pictures, I suppose I should have staked out one of the professional shows.  However, the "kids" on our block, teens and some who have celebrated a few more than umpteen Fourths, put on a pretty good exhibition of their own.  Ours is much more fun, up close, and personal.

This is actually a combination of two separate images, and the fountain on the right is really the one that the young man is lighting on the left.
Shelly > July 3, 2008

 No News Today

Between my birds and sunflowers, I MUST find something fresh and different to shoot over the holiday weekend or we'll all get bored with my dailies.  

Gracie seems to trust me a little more every day.  She's letting me get within 5 or 6 feet from her little nest, and she stands up to let me check on the eggs, as if she knows that's why I come by. 

It seems like I should bring her gifts; bird seeds, water, peanut butter sandwich, a diet coke and a copy of People Magazine -- but she still won't tell me what she'd enjoy.
Shelly > July 2, 2008

Some people like water lilies,  I happen to have more sunflowers than anything else these days.   

This bud is amazing.  It's got two heads, and several more down stem.   Not like any of the others that I've seen.  I can't wait to watch what unfolds here. 

"Greatness is more than potential. It is the execution of that potential. Beyond the raw talent. You need the appropriate training. You need the discipline. You need the inspiration. You need the drive. "
Eric A. Burns, Gossamer Commons, 08-12-05
Shelly > July 1, 2008

All Charged Up and Ready to Go

Yesterday I shot the first annual golf tournament for our high school's athletic booster club.  It was a HOT time, but the organizers did a great job, and everyone seemed to have a very good time.  We prayed off the rain  until everyone was done, and then the skies opened up for just a bit.
Shelly > June 30, 2008

Gracie's still sitting patiently as she awaits hatching day.  I don't expect to see babies for at least another week  but still check on her  and her four little eggs nearly every day. 

On a sad note, there is a second nest near this one.  Charity may be a younger mother.  She only had two eggs, and this morning she stepped off her nest and chirped to show me that she is down to just one.  

I started Grace and Charity's little gallery last week and still have more to add to it.  Perhaps I should pare it down a bit, but I feel like these are all my babies -- and you know how hard it is to cull out pictures of your own babies.  

Here's the link if you want your fill of Kildeer:  http://spccreative.smugmug.com/gallery/5265878_FfVw7#320518361_Ext7Q
Shelly > June 29, 2008

Sunny Days
July 11, 2008

Medical Advice

With Beans and Greens
Here is the Means
To Cauterize Your Inside Seams -- Burma Shave

I think my parents may have written that little ditty. It was on a bottle of home-brewed pepper sauce that they made more than 20 years ago, and I believe it's still among my kitchen condiments somewhere. Anyway, I think of it nearly every time I put this wonderful concoction on my veggies.

For a major part of this week, I camped out in the Physician's Lounge at a local hospital taking headshots for a pictorial directory. I didn't move a thing to set up this shot, but liked the way the computer lights reflected off the bottle of pepper sauce on the table. It might be better without the stand-up newsletter in the background, but media is everywhere.

A little selective color, then some posterization for effect.

By the way, what does it mean if the salt shaker in a doctor's dining area is empty? Did they use it up when no patients were watching, or do they keep it empty for their own good health?
Shelly > July 11, 2008

Medical Advice

With Beans and Greens
Here is the Means
To Cauterize Your Inside Seams -- Burma Shave

I think my parents may have written that little ditty.  It was on a bottle of home-brewed pepper sauce that they made more than 20 years ago, and I believe it's still among my kitchen condiments somewhere.   Anyway, I think of it nearly every time I put this wonderful concoction on my veggies.

For a major part of this week, I camped out in the Physician's Lounge at a local hospital taking headshots for a pictorial directory.  I didn't move a thing to set up this shot, but liked the way the computer lights reflected off the bottle of pepper sauce on the table.   It might be better without the stand-up newsletter in the background, but media is everywhere.  

A little selective color, then some posterization for effect. 

By the way, what does it mean if the salt shaker in a doctor's dining area is empty?  Did they use it up when no patients were watching, or do they keep it empty for their own good health?
July 11, 2008

Medical Advice

With Beans and Greens
Here is the Means
To Cauterize Your Inside Seams -- Burma Shave

I think my parents may have written that little ditty. It was on a bottle of home-brewed pepper sauce that they made more than 20 years ago, and I believe it's still among my kitchen condiments somewhere. Anyway, I think of it nearly every time I put this wonderful concoction on my veggies.

For a major part of this week, I camped out in the Physician's Lounge at a local hospital taking headshots for a pictorial directory. I didn't move a thing to set up this shot, but liked the way the computer lights reflected off the bottle of pepper sauce on the table. It might be better without the stand-up newsletter in the background, but media is everywhere.

A little selective color, then some posterization for effect.

By the way, what does it mean if the salt shaker in a doctor's dining area is empty? Did they use it up when no patients were watching, or do they keep it empty for their own good health?
Camera: Canon (Canon Eos 40d) |
more details: exif |
original size: 3582px x 2388px |
Current: 600px x 400px |
Other sizes: S · Medium · L |
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multiple photos buy multiple photos | view cart view cart
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