Wet Web

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I took over 50 shots of this spider web yesterday with both my Canon S3 IS and my Canon SX40 HS, and I failed with both of them to get the crystal clear shot that I wanted:-(  I kindof thought that was the case when I was looking at the LCD, and then on the computer last night I confirmed it.  I'm not sure what I could have done different.  I couldn't get any closer.  I was over a guard rail alongside a road and at the top of an embankment.  Plenty safe but I'm sure those driving past thought I had lost my mind.  I had stopped to get hawk pictures on the other side of the road and was leaving when I looked the other way and saw the gorgeous web.  I adjusted the color and contrast to pretty this up a bit which essentially just made it darker with richer color.

Here's another shot where the bokeh is gorgeous:

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I tried to shoot up to the sky and moved left an moved right hoping for a better focus lock:

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Oh well.  I should let it go. Maybe next time.

I think this bad image is pretty neat:

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I just love how light and the lens interact sometimes.  Taken under a red camellia flower:-)

New cleats, new glove, and new white baseball pants (and red belt you can't see). Johnny is almost ready for Little League:-)  We need to exchange Joey's pants so no pic of him yet.  And I guess I'd better find some tall socks!

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Donnie came for dinner, and I had fun cooking again!  I like to cook for folks with an appetite!  It's cube steak in gravy, salad with bacon, string beans, Bob Evans mashed potatoes, and sweet potato in a butter/sugar mixture.  Oh, and we had sugar cookies for dessert.

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Things don't taste quite right to me right now due to the chemo, but I can cook 'er up anyway!

Blazing Sun

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This is a reworked shot from Wednesday.  It was cloudy and rainy here yesterday, and I wasn't feeling well enough to scrounge up a new inside shot.  When Madi's mom, Christine, packed up the Christmas bulbs that were on her outside Japanese Red Maple tree, she left one to bring us joy throughout the year.  This is it.  Originally the shot was more golden:

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I did a fancy B&W conversion which I was about to post:

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But when I saw what the polarize filter did to the shot, I was trapped by the bolder look.

I also worked on a B&W conversion of this picture of  Johnny:

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A little boy bored with baseball and playing Angry Birds on his Aunt Teen's cell phone:-)

The sun is back out today, and I sure hope I can get some new shots that will inspire me.

Who Holds the Key to Your Heart?

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I  know you all know how I'd answer that question;-)  One last romantic capture from me...for now.  I love how the background turned out.  I can't say that like the lock and key, though.  But, it's the best thing I have from yesterday, so it's what you get today.  Three layers:   Heart and lock on top of Cherished texture from Kim Klassen and a Phlox flower texture picture I took last year.  The Cherished layer is a Color Burn with a pink tint.  The Phlox layer is Soft Light.  Both at 100%.  I wonder if I can shoot the original background minus the lock and key and just create a nice screen print.  I think I'll try!

Coach Don was out with the kids yesterday getting J&J ready for Little League in a few weeks.  Joey's first time with his new, real glove was a success.  We saw noticeable improvement.  Madi is well on her way to making the big plays.  She can throw that ball with some speed!  Johnny lost interest quicker than we wanted, but he's the youngest...he'll come around.

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And a few golden grasses in the late day light...

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That stump is gone!

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I took 3 doses of Tylenol over 18 hours, and the fever seems to be gone.  No clue what caused it.  It wore me out some, and I'm a bit tired, but with the pretty weather yesterday afternoon, it was great to feel good enough to go out with the kids and Donnie and feel the warmth of the sun on my face.  I even threw a few balls myself!

Valentine's Day Fun

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Yesterday it was all about Valentine's Day in the boys' classrooms, and I was able to go and spend a little bit of time with each of the kids.  Pictured is Johnny in his classroom.  Don't tell anyone, but he has a real crush on Abby middle left;-)  I think she might like him too. They are wearing special 100th day of school hats that they made earlier that morning.  Lower right, most of the kids in Johnny's class are wearing their Valentine's Day heart hats and making silly faces.  I had them take a normal smile picture, and they begged to take a funny face one:-)  Johnny gave out his robot picture cards with a big smile lower left and glued hearts from his classmates on his big heart upper left.  One of them said, "Johnny is as sweet as sugar."  :-)

The activities in Joey's class were equally fun.

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They coordinated an ice cream reward for extra good classroom behavior with their Valentine's Day celebration.  You can see Joey's big bowl middle right.  Joey gave out ring pops with his photo cards, and lower right everyone is having a good time showing off their rings:-)  The kids decorated boxes for their cards, and it was neat to see what each came up with.  Some were more decorated than others.

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I ended up coming down with a fever yesterday afternoon and was feeling pretty poorly when I left the school.  At least I got in the fun time with the kids before crashing for the evening.  I'm a little better this AM but waiting to see if I can fight off this infection on my own or need antibiotics.

Love is patient, Love is kind.

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This is an image I took of a glass vase in front of a candle last night.  I took around 50 shots of it.  I kept modifying the background like adding the red felt and also added a fancy diffuser to the front of the candle (paper towel).  I was mostly pleased with the final result.  I cleaned up a few spots with the cloning and spot healing tools and then added the text from 1 Corinthians 13:4.  I hope you like it.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's the image without the text:

I created this 4X6 printable card version too:

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I asked Donnie to work with me on some hand shots.  I will cherish these shots and work on another for another day to share as a daily.

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Superman and Superwoman Battling Cancer

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You guys have seen quite a few pictures of Donnie, and you know that he wears his hair pretty short.  When my hair was coming out after chemo, we started joking about taking a picture of us as twins.  I try to be a good sport.  Yesterday was the day.  I know some people would never allow themselves to be seen without their wig, but I'm not some people.  I am what I am.  I appreciate that the wig helps me look more like my usual self, though!  Maybe someone else going through a similar situation will see this picture and be a little stronger to deal with their cancer hair loss after seeing my picture.  There are awesome super men out there like my Donnie who love you no matter what and don't focus on what you look like on any given day but just remember the pretty girl they fell in love with no matter what.  I'm a lucky girl, and Donnie is a good sport.

Off to my third chemo today. Then hopefully only one more to go!

Yates Mill Winter Spillway

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Yesterday was the Mill as Muse photo reception at Yates Mill.  I'm proud to say that Madi won 1st place for her Pink Beauty coneflower shot in the Youth Park and Nature category.

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Daily Photo Community member, Jeff Graham, won a well deserved 1st place in the Adult Mill category for this snowy mill shot:

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In the picture below, Jeff is standing behind Madi (front 3rd from left):

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Donnie and I were also impressed with an infrared simulated historically pp'ed shot of a wagon which placed in the Adult Park and Nature category as well as a shot of the moon over the mill taken in June near 8PM which placed in the Adult Mill category.

Time to start taking photos for next year's contest:-) !

Well, actually, despite the increasing wind and falling temps, Donnie and Madi did walk the Mill Pond Trail with me yesterday, and I pp'ed all the pics with HDR because it was such a cloudy low light day.  Donnie says to tell you, "I was there, and it did not look that nice!"  The HDR is an improvement.

Besides my daily which shows the spill wall, I took a couple of other hdr shots.  This is a shot from the boardwalk:

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This is a shot of the mill across the pond:

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And another view across the pond:

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Not contest entries for next year but not too bad for February:-)

I enjoyed spending some time with Madi and Donnie at the mill yesterday and enjoying a nice dinner with Donnie last night.  That's a big pork chop in BBQ sauce:-)

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