Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: Photography


by 16 Comments

Happy Birthday little girl!

Katie here.

Guess what, Guess What, GUESS WHAT!?!?!

I am eight years old today!  I think there should be a giant party and everybody should come over and tell me how beautiful I am and give me stuff, especially yummy treats, which I would not share with anyone because princesses do not share.

Oh.

Mama says I need to be polite.

OK.  So I’d share with all of you.  Princesses can be gracious if reminded.

I guess.

But Mama has to go to work today so there isn’t going to be a big party for me.  I’ll probably just get my regular dog food too.  Sigh.  It’s so stinkin hard to be a sheltie princess when the mama keeps going off for entire days at a time.  I mean if a girl’s a princess in an empty house and no one sees, is she still a princess?  Huh?  I ask you?  Not fair.  That’s all I’ve got to say about the matter.

The only good thing about today is that my bestest dog walker friend is going to come take me for a walk at lunch!  When my mama has to go away for the day she sometimes gets my friend to come over and play with me.  That’s just so much fun!  She comes with treats too…so I guess my birthday won’t be an entire washout.

And my mama will come home from work eventually and then we’ll play play play!  I hope.   She’s been pretty preoccupied lately.  The whole truck thing last week got her really sad and I had to work double time to cheer her up.  I did my best work at 5:30 in the morning when she seemed to need cheering up the most.  A dog always knows that timing is everything.  She’ll thank me latter when she’s in a better mood.  She seems a bit of a grouchy pants at the moment.

Anyway…because today is my 8th birthday and because she has to work today she took me to my favorite park yesterday afternoon.  It was a gloomy day but I didn’t care, I love going to my park and she lets me sniff as much as I want.  It’s the best present she could give me.  Here’s me next to some beautiful tall grass.  I think I make the grass look even prettier, don’t you?

 

At my park 12-14-14

And just in case you haven’t seen me as an cute little puppy, here’s me my first day at home.  I was 3 mos old and just as cute as could be.  Mama and Daddy fell in love with me the first time they saw me, even though I wasn’t at all sure about them.  I hid behind a big chair at my first mom’s house and watched them.   But then I let mama pick me up and it was OK after that.  I slept upside down all the way to my new house, and it’s been perfect ever since.    I can’t blame them for loving me right away.  Can you?

 

March 31, 2007

First day on my sofa, March 31, 2007

I know, I know…adorable…right?

 

So I think everyone should go get something yummy and treat themselves on me!  Sort of my gift to you from me on my 8th birthday!  Happy Birthday to me!

Enjoy everybody!

IMG_0484

 

 

 

 


by 15 Comments

WordPress photo challenge: Converge

Converge – where different things come together and this week’s photo challenge.  I was visiting my brother’s home during the Thanksgiving weekend and climbed up into his loft.

Imported Photos 00115

And there I saw the convergence of inside and outside, light and dark in the angled windows of his home on the lake.

You can see other version of converge at the original link.  Or see a few of my favorites here, here and here.

 

What do you see converging around you?  Share with us…you have an entire week to find something perfect.


by 10 Comments

WordPress photo challenge: Angular

 

 

IMG_0199

 

I haven’t visited the local hospital since the new wing was completed.  It’s very beautiful.  More beautiful is the fact that I wasn’t there to visit anyone, just to shoot a photo challenge.

You can see other interpretation of angular here, here, here and here.  Or go to the original link and see many more!  I like this one too, and her short explanation of cultural differences was was interesting as well.

Over the course of the week I expect more people will be posting their shots, so it’s worth going back to visit again later on.  And look around your own world.  I bet you can find something angular yourself.  Post it to your blog and connect to the original link and you’ll find people stopping by that you’ve never met before.  The hunt for an appropriate shot and then the visits of people from all over the world is what makes these photo challenges so much fun for me.

Come along and join the fun!


by 14 Comments

A simple thank you

Great Lakes National Cemetary

Great Lakes National Cemetery

Today was Veterans Day; the eleventh day of the eleventh month and designated by President Wilson in 1919 as a day to honor those who have given so much so that we here in the United States remain free.

It was a day for all of us to say thank you to those who have served our country in the military.

Flowers amid the stones.

Flowers amid the stones.

Over hills and across farmland, not far from where I live, is the Great Lakes National Cemetery.  It sits on over 500 acres, was opened in 2005 and is the final resting place for thousands, and someday hundreds of thousands, of veterans and their spouses.  The numbers, even now, are staggering and very visual as you look across row after row of white marble headstones.  You can become lost in the vastness of it.

Thousands of souls.

Thousands of souls.

Or you can stop and wander, read a few of the names and messages found there.

Wandering and reading.

Wandering and reading.

Each stone honors an individual, a veteran yes, but also a person.  A person that had a life outside the military, someone who laughed with family, hung out with friends, traveled, went fishing.

Sometimes the story on the headstone is simple.

Pearl Harbor survivor.

Pearl Harbor survivor.

And sometimes it gives you just a tiny glimpse of the person who once walked this earth.

Animal lover.

Animal lover.

So many of the stones reminds you how short life can be.  How short it was for so many.

Imported Photos 00052

While we were out there we had something of a flyover.  Five sand hill cranes flew in formation directly overhead, crying their own version of a patriotic melody.

In formation.

In formation.

It seemed fitting.

Today was Veterans Day.  But really, shouldn’t we honor those who serve our country every day?  Tomorrow, the day after Veterans Day, take a moment and thank a veteran.  Smile at them.  Shake their hand.  Buy them a cup of coffee.

This WW II veteran understood the truth.

This WW II veteran understood the truth.

Make someone’s day.  And yours.

Let's not forget.

Let’s not forget.

Just say thank you.

Imported Photos 00032

 


by 7 Comments

WordPress challenge: minimalist take II

I wandered about today, camera in hand, even though the sky was mostly uninteresting.  The leaves, once colored, are long gone, the crops nearly gone as well.  The landscape was brown.  And gray.  Drab.

But that works for what I was looking for; minimalism in the country.

I honestly think the concept of a minimalistic photograph fits more into an urban setting, at least in my mind, but I wanted to see if I could show you the vast expanses of farm country here in mid-Michigan.  And see if I could convince myself that minimalism can have a country side as well.

I found a few interesting things, but so many seemed busy, cluttered.  I like filling the frame when I’m on a photo hunt, so it was hard to look for negative spaces, to leave part of the frame empty.  I’ll show you some of the shots that didn’t make the minimalist cut, but when I came across this I had to capture it.

harvest time

It’s the end of the harvest here, and the white truck parked and being filled with shucked corn by the harvester in the middle of nowhere just struck me.  The muted colors, the empty field.  It all shouted to be noticed.

So I did.

You can see other photographers’ minimalistic offerings here and here.   Go.  Enjoy.  Spread your arms in all the space.   You can see all of photos by going to the original post.

And give it a try yourself.  No matter where you are you can find something minimal and interesting if you look.

Even way out in the country.

 


by 11 Comments

WordPress Photo Challenge – Minimalist

The concept of a minimalist photo is simple.  You might even say minimal.  It should contain a large amount of negative space and a somewhat monochromatic color scheme.  And if you can, it should tell a story.    This morning we woke to our first significant snow, so large parts of our world were monochromatic; I found this right outside my front door.

Imported Photos 01885

I’m not sure this is totally correct, I don’t see negative space for example.  I’m hoping to get out tomorrow to search for another example.  But you never know about tomorrow, so I’ll put this out there for now.  You can see other examples of minimalist photography here, here, here and here.  And especially this one.  Or go to the original link and read all about it, then look at the hundreds of submissions attached.

Meanwhile I’ll enjoy looking for another bit of minimalism.  You can too.  I’d enjoy seeing what you come up with!


by 7 Comments

How music heals

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI heard a piece on news radio during my commute to work Tuesday morning about how upbeat music helps sad people feel better and calm music helps settle people who are stressed; how music can be used in any number of problem situations to make things better.  True I thought.

True.

And I hoped at that evening’s concert we would be able to deliver a bit of fun, maybe even a bit of relaxation to our audience.   We’d be playing Halloween music, things like March of the Trolls by Grieg, Shadow Rituals by Markowski, and The Fortune Tellers Daughter by Gorham.  Mostly fun stuff, mostly things we could play if we paid attention, though Shadow Rituals was a toss up.  We’d made it through that piece, from start to finish, for the first time at  last week’s rehearsal.  There were no guarantees we could do it again.  On the other hand, as people who listened to it played by professionals have said, “Who would really know if you made a mistake?”

Good point.

We were all dressed in costumes for the concert, a bit of freedom from the normal black concert attire.  Lots of people went all out and were unrecognizable; a purple telatubby, a vampire, the tallest leprechaun trombone player I’ve ever seen.  (The photos here are from last year, I forgot to take a camera this year!)   I just added a big tie and a clown hat to my normal workaday outfit.  I figured some of my customers take us for underwriting clowns anyway so it was fitting.

I’d started the morning with a headache, a bit of a sore throat, and a sense of being light headed.  By afternoon my eyes were itching and I couldn’t stop sneezing.  “Great,” I thought.  Just what I need.  All I wanted to do after work was drive home and climb into bed.  Then I got to the concert venue.  Sniffles disappeared, eyes cleared up.  Headache?  Gone.

And that was even before we began to play.

I think the audience had fun.  We got a standing ovation from most of the audience when we finished.  Maybe they were just glad we were done.  Or maybe they’re our relatives.  Or both.  But I think they had fun.  But not as much fun as we had playing.  I’ve always said, and I’ll say it again, it’s much more fun to be the one playing then the one listening.  Even when listening is pretty darn good.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Our sound engineer forgot to turn on the recording equipment until after the third piece, so we played the first three over again at the end of the concert.  Most people stayed to hear them again, and turns out we played them better the second time.  We had a blast doing it. Tuesday night the news piece on the radio proved to be true.  Music is what’s good for you.

And for me.

Imported Photos 00020

 


by 35 Comments

Walktober

 

I was going to take you on a walk somewhere exotic.  Far from here.  Somewhere different.  I had maps out and was studying locations.  But then I discussed it with the dog.  Katie said she wanted to show you her little park.  And Katie, being a princess, is used to getting what she wants.  So come along while Katie and I show you the local park where you can often find us on a pretty weekend afternoon.

The park is not very big, but it has a lovely pond where you sometimes see people fishing.  Today we had it all to ourselves.  Katie likes to pose near the blue water.  If there are treats involved of course.  (You can click on the photos to see more detail.)

See? This is my pond!

See? This is my pond!

It was a pretty afternoon, getting late in the day, stretching our shadows as we made our way to the back of the park where they mow a path around the perimeter.

Enjoying a warm October afternoon.

Enjoying a warm October afternoon.

The sun also made the milkweed seeds glow as a stiff wind began to pull at the silky strands.

 

Soft.

Soft.

My favorite part of the park are these golden trees at the very back.  I always love the way they show against the sky, whether the sky is blue like today or stone grey as fall acquiesces to winter.

Gold in the sky.

Gold in the sky.

The mowed path is just about a mile and Katie and I work a little bit on her distracted recall.  It’s an important skill to have; she comes running even when distracted by good smells if I call her sharply.

I love to run & I get treats too! Win win!

I love to run & I get treats too! Win win!

She loves this game, because she knows the faster she gets to me the sooner she gets a bit of cheese.  This automatic reaction is necessary in an emergency and we work on it a little every time we’re in the park.

We keep wandering, and pass another pond, filled with wildlife.  I saw two kingfishers chase each other from the top of a tree near us off across the pond.  No photo of that, but it was fun to see and hear.  Across this pond, filled with ducks and other waterbirds you can see the township offices including the library.

See the library way over there?

See the library way over there?

I feel lucky we have such a wonderful natural place surrounding our library.  You can sit inside and read while enjoying the lovely views through big windows.  It’s one of my favorite places.

We’re lucky to have a place where we can walk among wetlands and towering trees in all seasons, in all sorts of weather.

Fall just makes a person smile.

Fall just makes a person smile.

Every time we’re there we find something beautiful.  Just look at the trees shine across the big field of tall grass.

Up in the front of the park are four softball diamonds.  Katie likes to walk around them too.

This big green area is fun to explore too!

This big green area is fun to explore too!

You never know when someone might have dropped something good there.  Always looking, that’s my girl.

Thanks for coming along on our Walktober!  And thanks to Robin too who coordinates the posts from all of our walks.  Katie and I wouldn’t have gotten out today without her motivation.   And we had such a good time!

We hope you did too!

Another perfect day at my park!

Another perfect day at my park!