Morning Graffiti22 March 2013 -- 81/365Providence, Rhode IslandI pass this seasonal lemonade shop every morning on my way to work.  The graffiti on the plywood cropped up a couple of months ago, but I wanted to wait until there was sufficient early morning sunlight for me to take the photo.  Since my first meeting today was an hour later than usual, I had that opportunity today.  That was likely fortuitous since I'm sure they'll be opening the shop for the season fairly soon.  Assuming, of course, it ever finally warms up here.Post processing started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX.  I adjusted color sensitivity sliders followed by adaptive exposure, regions, boost black, boost white, protect highlights, and contrast.  A levels adjustment and a sepia photo filter were added in PSE.
3/21/13
Day 80/365

Daisy finally went to meet the angels this morning...it was not easy to say goodbye to my sweet little kitty. So I welcomed the sight of these beautiful tulips today on my trip to the store... They brightened my day a bit. Happy Spring
3/20/13
Day 79/365

The last 4 chocolate coins from the kids coin hunt this past weekend at my in-laws house :)
03-21-2013
"Sutton and a Clydesdale"

There is a parade that is an off shoot of the internationally known St. Mal's Paddy's Day Parade that has taken place for over 30 years in Jackson, Mississippi.  The St. Mal's took place last weekend and the 3rd annual "Zippity Doo Dah Parade" is on for this weekend.  It was started by the "Sweet Potato Queens" to raise money for our children's hospital.  Here is a link - http://zddparade.com/  The "Sweet Potato Queen" story is another one of great interest.  Please take a look at the site and see what fun they have.  They bring the Budweiser Clydesdales to the parade.  It's become a really big deal here.  Because we "Cline Tours" is one of sponsors of the parade, were were invited to a special event last night where they brought one of the Clydesdales in to our local arena for people to see. This event was not open to the public.  Sutton being the horse lover she is, was so excited.  Hughes was also with us but he was having too much fun with his friends that were  there.  I captured this shot of her petting the Clydesdale and his expression looks like he is saying to me, "Look Nana, she's petting me."  You can see how big this guy is.  John said his height to his head is at least 10 feet.  I admit....he was huge.  

I took 234 photos during the time we were there.  I had such a difficult time getting the white balance and shutter speed right.  After looking at all the photos, I really am second guessing my ability to take photos in poor lighting for an event like this. Believe me when I say poor lighting, it looked like plain bulbs hanging in a silver bowl.    I didn't use flash because I didn't know if it would be allowed.  I have some fantastic captures of this horse galloping around the arena but they are not clear.  I was really disappointed because I have taken so many good action shots.  I would not put it on auto.....I just refused!  At least I have the perfect photos although blurred to remember the event.  One thing I did notice about the photos was how he held his head high in some of his moves and then the ones where he lowered his head.  Very interesting and not the normal movements for a horse.  I had fun anyway.  

Y'all have really overwhelmed me with your very kind comments on my last few posts. Y'all definitely know how to make a girl feel good.  If any of you action shot experts would like to see some of the photos I have been talking about, please email me and I'll send them to you.  I would love to know what I was or wasn't doing correctly.
Donna
Gray Seal (Halichoerus grypus)... March 21, 2013.
Roadside Assistance21 March 2013 -- 80/365East Providence, Rhode IslandPotholes are the major export from the State of Rhode Island.  We grow potholes the way Maine and Idaho grow potatoes.  I managed to locate one of the aforementioned potholes on my way home from work, tonight.  My car sniffs them out with the same reliability as a pig sniffing out truffles.  As you can see in today's photo, this method of locating potholes, while being extremely effective, is not too good for the tires.  My right front did not survive the encounter.  Since I was on an on-ramp to I-195 at the time, I called AAA for roadside assistance instead of fixing it myself.  Wait.  Who am I kidding?  I pay them $80 per year.  I'd have called them if this were in my driveway!  The one advantage to being stuck on an on-ramp, though, is you do get priority service.  It took less than 20 minutes for them to arrive.  The tire, unfortunately, is not salvageable.  It looks like I'll be at Town Fair Tire sometime tomorrow.Post processing started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX.  I adjusted color sensitivity sliders, boost black, boost white, adaptive exposure, regions, and contrast.  A levels adjustment was added in PSE.  I then obscured my license plate, and added a sepia photo filter.
Diamond Dust... March 20, 2013.
When Rail Was King20 March 2013 -- 79/365East Providence, Rhode IslandI've featured this drawbridge in several other photos over the last couple of years, so I won't go into the history of it yet again.  Today I finally found a spot where I could photograph it from this side, however, so it was worth posting again.  Of course, getting to this location did involve ignoring a few signs, like "Danger, High Voltage" and "Electrocution Hazard" but hey, it was all in the name of art!  I wanted to try something a bit different in the processing, so I played around a bit with an aging technique I found in my Topaz plug-ins.  Since the bridge has been in that position for at least 50 years, the aging of the photo did seem appropriate.Post processing started with an aged effect filter in Topaz B&W FX.  I then adjusted color sensitivity sliders, none of which effected the sepia, surprisingly enough.  I also adjusted adaptive exposure, contrast, boost black, and boost white.  A levels adjustment was added in PSE.  I then added the off-white border taking a color sample from the brightest part of the image, and applied a crackle filter to produce the cracked texture.
03/20/2013
"And It Was"

I took several shots of this fruit and cheese presentation before everyone dug in.  And it was very yummy to look at and taste.  I played around with the point of focus on each one.  I liked this one best.

I appreciate your comments on the old and new photo.  It was a fun place to take photos.
Comments and Critiques are always welcome.
Donna
3/20/13
Day 79/365

The last 4 chocolate coins from the kids coin hunt this past weekend at my in-laws house :)
3/20/13
Day 79/365

The last 4 chocolate coins from the kids coin hunt this past weekend at my in-laws house :)
3/20/13
Day 79/365

The last 4 chocolate coins from the kids coin hunt this past weekend at my in-laws house :)
See photo in original gallery.