Gifts

'Each moment is a gift, that is why it is called the present.'

I remember counting down the days until Christmas when I was little.  I could hardly wait.  When Christmas finally arrived it was the biggest present that held my interest.  Whatever is bigger is better, right?  

How things change as I get older.  Now I could really use a few more days before Christmas.  The time is flying by with so many things to do. 

Gratitude

'We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.'  -  Cynthia Ozick

'Don't take anything for granted - not one smile, or one person, or one rainbow, or one breath, or one night in your cozy bed.'  -  Terri Guillemets

I started juicing every morning (well, most mornings).  I took my first sip of juice yesterday and then out of habit reached to turn on the TV, but something stopped me. 

Instead of filling my head with the morning news,

Dorothy's Sunflowers

"There is no such thing as an ordinary life."  -  Mark Twain

"There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as though everything is a miracle."  -  Albert Einstein

The  sky was blue and the wind was blowing the day I picked to visit the sunflower field.  As I made my way through and around the sunflowers, I felt like the pictures I was taking were the same pictures I have taken before, same angle, same composition...nothing new...just ordinary.

Buttons

"Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory."  

-  Dr. Seuss

I found a great book entitled Collected: Living with the Things You Love.  (You can see it here on Amazon.)  It is a book full of collections. (The toaster collection is worth a peek all by itself.)  The photographs are gorgeous.  

Pancakes

I haven't made pancakes in years.  

I still haven't.  

Did you know you can buy frozen pancakes at the grocery store? :)

Fall is here.

I haven't raked any leaves yet, but I am sure I will soon.  

Thank you for stopping by.

Have a great day!

Michelle

Lessons

'Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.'  -  Henri Cartier Bresson

My photographs don't always turn out the way I pictured them in my head.  

Sometimes it works out better than expected and is a lovely surprise, but more likely than not, I pictured a much better outcome.  

I have come to realize I can't make good art without making crappy art first.  I learn from my crap.  I see what colors, backgrounds and angles work best for me, what depth of field is appropriate, how light plays a part in the whole picture... the list is infinite.  There are times I can reshoot and make it better, other times I have to scrap the whole thing.

My mistakes help me grow, as a photographer and a person.

If everything worked out perfectly I wouldn't learn a thing.  And isn't that why we are here? To learn and do what we love.  I love photography so I am sticking with it, even if my photographs are sometimes crappy.  

That was my big girl voice talking.  

There are times the little girl in me wants to have a temper tantrum because it is hard to remember there is a lesson in every mistake.  Sometimes I want to scream when I keep making crappy pictures.  But somewhere deep inside I have the urge to keep moving.  I think moving is the key, doing something, anything, not necessarily related to whatever I just messed up.  Eventually I get a bit of inspiration to try again, or something new, and hopefully remember all the lessons I learned along the way.  

Thanks so much for visiting.

Celebrate your creations today, even if they are crappy.  :)

Michelle

The Quickest Summer Ever

My husband, daughter and I took a trip to a tiny island called St. John in the US Virgin Islands.  We love this island.  John, my husband, and I first visited St. John before we were married, over 20 years ago.  The word has gotten out about how beautiful it is and more people visit than twenty years ago, but we can still find secret beaches we share with the seagulls for an afternoon.  

It is so beautiful I can stare out at the horizon for hours on end.  After relaxing, we have fun snorkeling, swinging on a tire swing, searching for sea glass, taking a boat trip, hiking...  

This summer we also visited family in Tennessee and Indiana, family from Missouri visited us.  Laughing and visiting with family fills my heart with happiness.  Having miles separate family is bitter sweet.  It is sad because we don't get together as much as we would like, but when we are together we truly appreciate and cherish the special time.

While visiting with family we celebrated a 50th and a 40th birthday.  Have you ever seen 50 candles on a cake?  I was surprised the smoke detector didn't go off.  Love you both. :)

Back in Ohio we did some flea market shopping, some purchases will be seen in my future photos.  I can't believe I had to be dragged to my first flea market, now I can't wait to go and find another photography 'prop'.  

Megan, my daughter, just started her first year of high school.  It is amazing how quickly time flies.  I think it hit John harder than me because of his comment on her first day, " Your baby just left for high school."  

Photography is one constant in my life, even when everything else seems crazy.  I have been taking lots of pictures.  Cleaned up my Instagram account and am finding a lot of inspiration there.  I also entered a Sunflower Art Show, a celebration of sunflowers with paintings and photography.  

I can't believe I have been away from this space for so long, it is nice to be back.

Thank you so much for coming to visit.

I hope you enjoyed your summer.

Michelle

Summer Break

I am taking some time away from the computer for some summer fun.
I will be back soon...

Have a great day!

Michelle

Summertime

 

The lavender is blooming and smells wonderful.

The catalpa tree is also blooming and sprinkling it's flowers at my feet, treating me like a queen.

The bullfrogs are croaking.  

The mama goose is protecting her babies.

The picture taking opportunities are abundant... smile.

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Friday Finds with my summertime finds.  All my images started with one of Kim's Lightroom Studio Presets.

Thank you so much for visiting!

Enjoy your weekend!

Michelle

Purple Thistles

kk_still and kk_0603

'Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.'  -  Marilyn Monroe

John, my husband, and I were taking yard debris to the neighborhood drop off, beside the busy entrance I saw purple thistles. 

It was time for a Sunday drive.

John asked if I wanted to pick some, he is a wonderful photographers assistant, of course I said yes.  He knew just the place and we both happen to keep a pocket knife on our key chain for this type of occasion.  Without gloves it was tricky, but we found there aren't as many thorns close to the flowering end.

kk_Melancholy

I put the thistles in a vase where they beautified my screened-in-porch for over a week.  John was nervous that the seeds would blow across the yard soon, so I made time to photograph them.  

The thistles were now wilted and so were their thorns, they were much easier to handle.  

kk_still and kk_0603

I love their droopiness.  

Today I am joining Texture Tuesday, Life Thru the Lens, WordlessWednesday and Texture Twist.

Thank you for stopping by!

Have a great week!

Michelle