Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Category Archives: Uncategorized


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Shedding light on Lightroom

Saturday I attended an all day class intended to up my skill level in the photo editing software Lightroom. The first half of the day was spent learning about cataloging your inventory of photos within Lightroom.

Mama! Don’t you see this stupid stick right next to me?

Much of that went right over my head. I have a system to keep track of my photos, and though it isn’t perfect and would probably make little sense to anyone but me, I am not sure I’m ready to change.

Well, if you don’t look too close, that’s a little better mama. And I like the light!

After all, change is hard.

Cheerful little guy.

The second half of the day was spent in the development module, and was the reason I was there. Though I tried very hard to focus and listen while at the same time playing along on my laptop, some of it still escaped me.

Sitting in a spot of make believe sunshine.

But I learned a lot of the basics, and as I practice I’m sure I’ll get better.

Sunset at the park.

The photos in this blog were taken in the past week with the new Nikon Z6 camera. I’m posting the original, out of the camera image and then the adjusted, messed around with image.

A bit over the top.

Sometimes the changes are subtle, sometimes I’ve over adjusted just to see how far I could take it.

This little guy wanted a treat.

I still have so much to learn…but at least I have hope that I can learn, little by little, photo by photo I’m going to figure it out.

Still hungry.

And maybe I’ll reorganize all those thousands of photos I already have in my catalog.

Just remember who’s most beautiful around here mama.


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Cee’s Black & White photo challenge: Music

A few years ago we had a mother/daughter duo playing clarinet in our community band. I took this image just before a concert, for another of Cee’s black and white challenges, that time for two of anthing.

I’ve always liked it, and so did they. I gave them a framed copy.

The daughter was in high school at the time, and now she’s graduated from college. Time flies, but connections made through music last forever.


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2019’s interesting, stupendous and fun stuff to do

I guess the time has come to stop thinking about what might be on this list and actually write some things down.

After all, 2019 will march along whether I get organized or not.

And without a list some of this stuff might not have a shot at happening. Not to say I’ll get to do it all, but certainly I’ll forget to even try if it’s not written down.

That’s what happens to me lately, I forget stuff not written down and I doubt that I am alone in that regard, especially among people my age.

So (drum roll please) here’s the list in no particular order:

2019 Interesting, Stupendous and Fun Things

*Visit the Point Betsie lighthouse in the winter to see the ice formations.

*Camping in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (not in winter).

*Try acrylic painting.

*Find someone willing to teach me what it’s like to make a sound on a cello.

*Gain confidence on the new Nikon camera, and figure out what the optimum lens is.

*Improve night photography skills.

*Spend a week in the Southwest.

*Visit husband’s family in Norway.

*Walk the CRIM 10 mile race in August.

*Spend a month or more in Alabama, invite friends to visit while I’m there.

*Look into the purchase of a 2nd kayak for the lake.

*Read 50 books, and try at least one from a genre I don’t usually read.

*Ride my bike on some of the rail-to-trails around here, maybe a one day bike trip complete with lunch along the way, maybe with a local bike group.

*Walk and photograph the Dequindre Cut here in Detroit.

*Meetup with sheltie mom(s) for adventure.

My plan is to check in on this list every month, and add items as they occur to me. No rule says January is the only month to dream, right?

What interesting, stupendous or fun things do you plan on doing in 2019?

Does any of this involve TREATS mama?


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Sunshine makes me smile

Sunshine makes everything prettier.


We’ve had days and days of dark sky, rain and cold wind. Though we haven’t had snow or even temps as cold as usual for early January, it’s been pretty miserable.

And then the sun came out.

Hurry mama! We have to enjoy the sun while it’s here!

The temperatures climbed into the fifties and it smelled like spring. For a brief moment I felt the unfurling of joy at the thought winter was over.

And then I remembered it was only January and I laughed at myself.

Moss glowing deep in the woods.

We had two lovely days of sunshine and warm temperatures. That and my Katie-girl made me smile.

What made you smile this past week?

Smiling in January.


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Resolution, bucket list, or….??

As usual this January there’s been a lot of talk about resolutions, bucket lists, and goals. Some people are setting expectations while others are happier letting 2019 evolve organically.

It was 51degrees in January, the sheep were loving the sun.

I’m still contemplating the whole issue.

I definitely don’t like resolutions, have never kept one in my life. But I do think that I would like to have a written idea of things I want to do this year.

Not a cloud in the sky.

Not a ‘to-do’ list per se. But something in writing to remind me of good (or who knows, maybe not so good) ideas. Things that occur to me as I’m reading, or driving, or dreaming, that I might forget over time.

Nothing that I have to do. Just things that I think I’d like to do. Or maybe something I might like to explore. Or even something I just want to research while I decide if it’s bucket list worthy.

Winter can wear a barn down.

Some people object to the term bucket list, inferring it’s a list of things to get done prior to death. I can see that. Maybe I’ll rename it. Maybe it can be “My list of interesting, fun and stupendous stuff to try in 2019.’

Yea. That sounds better.

No snow protects these fields. Yet.

So, what’s going to be on this list of stupendous stuff? I’m still working that out, but it’s beginning to occur to me that it can be ever changing. After all, stupendous doesn’t reveal itself only in January.

Sweet little barn sits alone.

Photos for this post were done today as I was practicing with my new long lens. I didn’t find a lot of barns on this exploration, but enough to get the feel of it.

I’m pretty sure some of my stupendous list will revolve around learning more about what this new camera can do.

And to find more barns.

Sunshine, new camera and barns.


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2019 Bucket list

Donna, over at My OBT (My One Best Thing), put together her 2019 bucket list.

What a great idea!

Blue sky and clouds, perfect for contemplation.

Of course this kind of thing takes some thought. She has 14 items, I don’t know if I have that many things I’d like to do or accomplish in 2019.

Which makes me wonder if I’m being lazy. Or maybe I’m just enjoying retirement’s freedom to do anything or nothing at all.

Evening light is good for contemplation too.

Anyway…

What should be on my bucket list for 2019? Things that are substantial enough to be noticed, but not unattainable.

Ideas are incoming!

I’m not at all sure I can get that list together before tomorrow, the first of January, the beginning of 2019. But I think early January is a good goal.

What’s on your 2019 bucket list?

2019, a long and winding road.


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Saying goodbye to the seasons of 2018

Seasons come and seasons go.

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

So long 2018, you showed me lots of pretty things but I’m looking forward to finding even more amazing and beautiful images in 2019.

And Happy New Year to all of you, dear readers, Katie and I appreciate your visits to our blog more than you know. We wish for all of you a wonderful 2019!


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Trent’s Weekly Smile or A Bird in the Hand

During the holidays I’ve lost track of Trent’s Weekly Smile challenge, but surely there are things to make me smile this week. After all Christmas was just this past Tuesday.

Come along with me, there’s got to be something to smile about down here!

Still, I was feeling kind of blue, typical for me around this time of year, with the anniversary of my dad’s death on the 23rd. And this year I had the loss of two people I’d call friends, one in his 80s who was a big supporter of our community band, another a friend from almost forty years ago, someone I haven’t seen in many years but still count as a friend. Both died this week of cancer before Christmas had a chance to arrive.

So early this morning I headed out to my favorite park with my new camera, intent on figuring some camera stuff out while searching for a smile. This park never lets me down.

Even though it’s winter there are still colors here.

My goal was to figure out the manual settings on the new camera, how to set the aperture, the iso, the shutter speed. I’d read the manual and I’d searched youtube. Still, though it made sense while I was sitting on the sofa, I hadn’t been successful on the fly once in the woods.

New ice.

Maybe without Katie to distract me I could figure it out today.

I hadn’t intended to grab images of the birds eating out of my hand this time. You’ve seen those before.

Sure, I’ll pose next to these berries for you lady. That will be one seed please.

But I did have a pocket full of seed, hoping to lure them to me so that I could get good photos of them in their ‘natural’ habitat.

Got anything for breakfast lady?

But darn they were cute on my hand too. They were so hungry! I think I was the first human out there and as soon as I started down a trail they’d be swarming overhead.

Wait your turn!

So I set the camera back to auto and tried to get those iconic ‘eating out of my hand’ shots.

Back off titmouse!

One thing I noticed is that it was harder to get a clear focus. I think I’ll need to work on that. And I haven’t figured out how to fire off a bunch of shots at once yet. So I missed a lot of stuff. But I still had a blast.

Does this seed make me look fat?

I didn’t spend too much time feeding the birds at the beginning of the trail, I dropped some seed and moved along, and around the next corner was the flock of turkeys.

Nom nom nom nom.

I tossed them a bit of seed and kept on walking. The birds were following me and making a fuss so I stopped and took a video with my phone just to show people how crazy it was. And while I was doing that a male cardinal showed up.

Surprise!

This has never ever happened. I’ve had a cardinal here and there that was interested in the fact I was feeding the birds, but they’ve always been too shy to hop up on the hand themselves. They generally waited till I tossed some seed on the ground and moved away.

Good seed lady!

This guy startled me, I’d been focusing on the little birds and suddenly my hand was full of a big red bird!

He sat there and ate until he finished all the seed. I talked to him, stopped the video and clicked through some stills, he tipped his head and looked me in the eye, then casually selected another seed.

Yep, I’m pretty from all angles.

He was obviously king of the birds, because all the little birds waited on the ground or flew around my head while he was eating. One chickadee was braver than the rest and did a fly-by and grabbed a seed without stopping. Everyone else waited respectfully.

Meandering makes me smile too.

Finally he finished the seed, nodded at me and flew off across the swamp. I couldn’t stop grinning.

And that’s my smile for the week. A cardinal sat on my hand for a long time. Maybe he was sent from Aunt Vi, or my friends who have recently moved on. Maybe he was just a hungry bird. I don’t know and it doesn’t matter.

These guys are still hanging around. They make me smile too.

I couldn’t ask for a better smile, it’s one I’ll remember forever.

And when I got home this little bit of nature was napping on our deck.

I hope the images here made you smile too.

Magical.