A Nature Walk

'In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.'  -  John Muir

Life has been crazy.  I know you can relate. 

A camera walk through my yard helps me put things back in perspective.

Sometimes I just focus on what needs to be fixed: the weeds that need to be pulled, the trees that should have been trimmed last fall, the flower beds that need cleaned out, the grass that needs to be mowed...

But when I look through my camera lens I can see beauty among the things I think need changing.  

Today I am joining Texture Tuesday and Life Thru The Lens.

My top image was created after watching a video in Kim Klassen's Test Kitchen, there are a bunch of great tutorials there.  I didn't use any textures, really.  The other images I used Kim's texture 100.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Have a great week!

Michelle      

                

Music

'Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.'  -  Berthold Auerbach

I bought a few pieces of handwritten sheet music a while back.  The owner of the store told me the sheet music came from the estate of Fredric J. Baur.  Mr. Baur designed the can which holds Pringle potato chips.  He passed away in 2008 and, at his request, some of his ashes were buried in a Pringle can. 

As I was looking over my images on the computer, I realized the name at the bottom of the sheet music was not the Pringle can inventor's name.  So I googled it.  It turns out Don Spencer is an Australian musician who creates music for kids.  Two of his songs are Don't Ever Step on a Snake and Bob the Kelpie.  On his website (you can see it here)  he has signed his first name.  It looks a little like the signature on the sheet music.  (Although how many ways can you sign the name Don?)  I don't know if it is Don Spencer the Australian musician's sheet music or not, but it made for an interesting find.  

I am joining Kim Klassen's Friday Finds.  In creating my images I used Kim's preset still in Lightroom and her texture 2110 in PS Elements.  My finds this week are an Australian musician and flowers that have looked beautiful all week.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Have a great weekend!

Michelle

Props From Nature

'Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time.  Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.'  -  Betty Smith, Joy in the Morning

'One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.'  -  Henry Miller

'The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.'

-  William Butler Yeats

I remember when my daughter was little, she is now 14, and looked with wonder at everything.  Rocks, flowers, animals, everything was new, wonderful, and amazing.  Somewhere along the way, for all of us it seems, these everyday things lost their allure and aren't quite as amazing as they once were.  

Photography has taught me to look closer at the things around me while searching for 'good shots'.  It has helped bring back some of that child-like wonder of the world. I find details I would have otherwise missed, notice the way light shines, shadows lie and colors brighten up a scene.  Of course this doesn't happen everyday, but it does happen more than it did before photography. 

For the Be Still class this week, Kim Klassen sent us out to 'take a walk and find some props'.  It was raining, so I improvised.   I used items I had previously collected: beach rocks, a feather, moss (purchased from Michaels)  and beautiful flowers from Trader Joe's.  Nature can provide some beautiful props, I just have to slow down and open my eyes to see them. 

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday and the class Be Still.  My images were textured with Kim's texture 0603.

Thank you for stopping by!!

Have a great week!!

Michelle

Morning Jewels

'Every dew drop and rain drop has a whole heaven within it.' 
-  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Sunday morning I woke up to a sparkling carpet of dew covering the lawn.

The dew was clinging to the unmowed grass and weeds.  The sun was bright.  Everywhere I turned there were little jewels shining.  It was a photographers dream.  By the time I was finished taking pictures, my jeans were soaked from sitting on the wet grass... and I had a smile on my face.  It is spring.  

Have you been enjoying spring weather?  

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Friday Finds.  My top image was textured with Kim's texture avery and used Kim's Lightroom preset lightandairy on all my images.  

Thank you for stopping by!

Have a great weekend!

Michelle

Spring Flowers

'May your life be like a wildflower growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day.' 

-  Native American Proverb

'Like wildflowers; you must allow yourself to grow in all the places people thought you never would.'  -  E.V.

I hope you are enjoying warmer weather in your part of the world.  It is definitely spring here in Ohio.  We have had plenty of rain this past week and the grass is greener, the daffodils are blooming and the woods are beginning to fill in with leaves.  There are also dandelions popping up, even though my husband did everything in his power to stop that from happening.

Megan found some purple wildflowers in the yard while picking up sticks.  I thought they would look great with a chocolate macaroon.

The daffodils are being visited by their insect friends.  I think I was interrupting this little guy.  Doesn't he look like he is giving me a dirty look?  I guess he has a lot of work to do...

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday.  My top image was textured with Kim's texture waterfront1_bestill.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Have a great week!

Michelle

Road Trip

'Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures.'  -  Lovelle Drachman

'The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.'  -  St. Augustine

'The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.'  -  G. K. Chesterton

road trip

noun

1.  A social experiment placing people, for a designated period of time, into a metal capsule and hurling it 70 mph down the interstate.  The outcome can be good or bad, or both.

We took a road trip.

The week before Easter we drove to Washington D.C., our nation's capital.  It was my first time.  

We did all the usual museums, the National Museum of Natural History being my favorite.  They had a wonderful National Geographic photography exhibit, of course each image was spectacular.  (I did notice there were many more Canon cameras used than Nikons, since I am a Nikon girl this has me wondering...) 

Megan's favorite was the National Postal Museum.  (I bet you didn't even know there was one.)  She loved all the stamps and the history.  They had letters addressed by Ben Franklin and the brown wrapping paper with stamps that covered the Hope Diamond's box as it was mailed to the Smithsonian.  Yep... they used the US Postal service to mail the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian. 

  

John's favorite?  I am not sure.  It was his second visit to the city and he was preoccupied with the car and it's service engine light which lit up on the way to D. C.  

The famous cherry blossoms were not in bloom, although the gift shops had plenty of pink blossomed souvenirs to bring home.  I always look for pens, not expensive ones, just the cheap pens by the cash register.  Like looking at a photograph, my pen collection brings up good memories of trips while doing daily tasks like creating a grocery list, or simply writing a note.  I like to buy coasters for the same reason.  Right now my coffee is sitting on a Sloppy Joe's coaster from a very, very long road trip to Key West, Florida.  

On road trips, along with our clothing we pack our usual behavior.  We have fun, but there are also some complaints, I'm hungry, my feet hurt, I'm cold, I'm hot...  even Siri was a little uncooperative at times.  We argue occasionally.  Wish someone would just ________ instead of ________. (fill in the blanks)  But isn't that what road trips are all about?  Spending time together and remembering, even though we can irritate each other, family is the most important thing we have.  They are there through it all.  We are connected in a way we can't be connected to anyone else.   When you get down to it, family is family and exploring with them is the best way to do it.  Who else would take goofy selfies with you anyway?  

Today I am joining Kim Klassen's Friday Finds.  My vase photos are textured with Kim's texture avery.  I found my little vase at the Smithsonian Institution Building, The Castle.  The road trip photographs were taken with my iphone.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Have a great weekend!

Michelle