Going to the Birds

HI! I finally had a little "ME" time and decided a trip out in nature was what my soul needed. I went to my favorite place in the world and was able to soak up a little sunshine and get my nature fix, all in one. I have to say, I feel human once again. Sometimes all it takes is some time alone with just my camera to readjust my attitude. Here are some of my favorite shots of the day. Enjoy! I know I did.

I love getting these bird in flight shots. The Red-Bellied Woodpecker is one of my all-time favorite birds. I love his flashy black and white feathers with the accents of red-orange.

Chilly little White breasted Nuthatch

Nurture Photography Week 5 11-04-12

Welcome back! It is week 5 of the Nurture Photography Photo Challenge. This weeks prompts are Purple and Halloween. Purple? Really threw me for a loop. I am not much of a purple fan, so that color is in short supply around here. I had to really stretch it to find something. I remembered my little bird figurine collection, and how happy I was to have recently found one in purple! I was a bad bad Grandma on Halloween, and forgot my camera!! Neither of the girls have posted pictures that I could snag (since I did take some with their cameras) so I had to use what I had. Kileigh was over halloween morning and was wearing her happy Halloween shirt, so there you have it! Nothing exciting this week. Have a great week, see you next Friday!

PURPLE

I love these sweet little bird figurines, especially when I find unique colors like this one. Simple and sweet.

HALLOWEEN

She looks so sweet and very excited!! Kileigh Lynn.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 10-28-2012

Welcome back, or if you are new to my blog, Welcome! I can't believe how quickly time passes. Its already been a week since my last Scavenger Hunt post, and also 2 months today that I lost my best friend Maddux. It seems like just yesterday in so many ways, then again, it seems like forever since I have seen his face, and kissed that big fat squishy muzzle. I still miss him so...I love you buddy.

Anyway, I dont want to be depressing, nor do I want to get depressed, so on with my post. This week the weather was very uncooperative. My time out in nature, or with my camera at all, was short and sweet. I was able to have an hour here or an hour there, but due to no sun, and lots of rain, it was very limited. I had hopes for a bright sunny day with low wind, but that just didnt happen. So, I had to make due with what I was given.

For this week, the prompts were a bit of a challenge for me. Not because of subject matter, but because of me being limited on my out of the house time. Then you add in that I am basically a nature photographer, and couldnt find much in nature to use for my shots! No nature = challenging for me. They are as follows:

PATTERN(S)
MACHINE
SIGNS OR LOGOS
ROCKS OR STONES (darn, too bad I used my rock shot for stacked last week)
SPARKLE

And, here are my shots for these prompts:

PATTERN

I liked how the repeating pattern of the bridge was reflected in the water as well.

MACHINE

No idea what it is, but I loved the blades on it! Some kind of farming machine I assume.

SIGNS OR LOGOS

I had to go with this one, because its not often I see my name spelled correctly on anything, let alone a sign!

ROCKS OR STONES

Came across this quarry wall while out for a drive.

SPARKLE

Is it obvious why I chose this shot for sparkle? Kind of blinding me right now :)

Nurture Photography Week 4 10-26-12

Week 4 of the Nurture Photography Photo challenge already! Fall is really winding down here already. Many of the trees are completely bare. Some are still glorious too, you just have to travel a little farther to find them. The weather this week was not at all cooperative. It rained 4 days straight, and when it wasnt rainy, it was foggy and misty, so not the best for photography. Did I let it stop me? NO! I have no problem driving around and shooting from my car :) Anyway, the prompts for this week are Red and Foliage. I have my choice to do either one or both. I have been doing both, and am doing that again this week. Enjoy your weekend!

RED

I was walking along the river, when this beautiful Red-Bellied Woodpecker landed on a tree pretty close to me. I love the way the light is hitting him. It looked like he was resting there, sunning himself.

FOLIAGE

There was just something about the lighting in this shot that I liked. It has a mini sun flare, and I loved how the edges of the leaves are all lit up in glowing sunlight. Here I complained about all the rainy foggy days, yet picked out 2 shots so full of light!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 10-21-12

Hi! Welcome back to Scavenger Hunt Sunday. This week flew by, I honestly dont know where the time went. I was able to spend Saturday out in nature for a much needed soul cleansing. When I am down, feeling sad and confused, that is where I need to be. I can face the world after spending time in the 

woods. I dont know what it is, but I do my best thinking and planning while walking alone next to the 

river. I smell the smells, take all the sights and sounds in. Even the bugs dont bother me, I just snap a couple pictures of them! Anyway! The prompts for this weeks hunt are:

Orange or Pink (In honor of Breast Cancer awareness week)

Faceless Portrait (aim for a selfie)

View from the top

Cozy

Stacked

Here are my interpretations of the prompts:

ORANGE OR PINK

Imagine my surprise to see this beauty this late in the season.

FACELESS PORTRAIT

Ugh...I hate photos of myself! At least I didnt have to show my whole face!

VIEW FROM THE TOP

This is about as much from the top as it gets in Janesville.

COZY

Newest Grandson Brady, looking cozy in his chair.

STACKED

My favorite shot of the day, had some fun playing with rocks and the lighting was perfect.

Nurture Photography Week 3 10-10-2012

Hi, and thank you for stopping by my blog! The prompt for this weeks photo challenge is Orange/Warmth. The weather wasn't the most cooperative this week, couple that with my time constraints, and I wasnt able to fit in much time for Photography. I was able to sneak out to the Pumpkin Patch a couple weeks ago, and of course, there was a lot of orange there. I am also posting a simple shot of an orange leaf I took awhile back. Hope you have a wonderful week! Check back next week for my photos! Here are my photos for this week!

ORANGE

WARMTH

Nurture Photography Week 2 10-12-12

Here we are already in the 2nd week of the Nurture Photography Photo Challenge! For this week, the prompts are Yellow and Light. Technically, I could have used the same photo for both prompts, but what fun would that be? This is one of my favorite times of the year, both in temperature and in the beauty of the Fall season. I went out alone last week for a mind clearing photoshoot at my favorite place near home. The sun was beautiful on everything. Even the most mundane of leaves looked spectacular against the glitter that was bouncing off the water. The sun was so warm, I was even able to find a hard working bee gathering pollen for the hive. Here are 2 of my favorite shots of the day.

YELLOW

This worker bee is covered in yellow pollen. He was really taking his work seriously I guess.

It is getting harder and harder to find flowers in decent shape. This guy is taking full advantage of this flower full of pollen.

LIGHT

How can these dying yellow leaves not look fabulous with all of the light bouncing off the water behind them? I just love this shot, it is simple but stunning, in my opinion.

If you would like to see other participants in this photo challenge, click on the Nurture Photography button at the top of this post. You will see lots of beautiful shots there. Have a wonderful weekend, be sure to come back next week for week 3.