214/365

Locked Door

These are doors to an abandoned church in the outskirts of downtown Abilene, Texas.  There's no sign indicating what kind of a church it was, but the windows are boarded and there is this lock and chain on the entrance doors.  

006/365

Patterns

One of the photo prompts I found was "patterns".  I've walked past this building so many times in downtown Abilene, Texas, but never thought of making this image.  

The other day it occurred to me that this would make a great image for patterns.

So there ya go!!!

9/365

These are pieces of the chess set I borrowed from a friend the other day.  I'm still working on adding funky backgrounds to some images.  I had this driftwood background in my files, so I tried playing around with it for these chess pieces.  

Editing was definitely a nightmare and it can't be enlarged too much without seeing the mistakes, but as a small image I think it's kind of interesting.  

 

Every time I practice with a process, I'm hoping I get a little better...and faster.

Pineapple Anyone?

I decided to take a ride to the Dole Plantation this afternoon. I spent the morning and the early part of the afternoon catching up on emails, bills, cleaning and just puttering around the house. Nathan went to his Grandma's this morning, so I had the house to myself. Glory!!!

But by mid afternoon, I was getting cabin fever. So I decided to take my camera and get some images at the plantation.

When you first arrive, there are several kiosks outside, specializing in Pick-a-Pearl. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, they spin a drum with pieces of paper and then you pick one out. It usually has a price on it or "free". This is the cost of the pearl you get when you "pick your pearl" by choosing a clam.

Once you get a pearl, you're encouraged to pick some jewelry to have the pearl "set" in. The jewelry is truly beautiful, and it's very, very difficult to say no.

There is a large pond on the grounds, filled with koi. I was standing on a small foot bridge and the people next to me were feeding the fish. You can see what a frenzy they were in.

There are many, many things to look at and purchase inside the building, including that delicious Pineapple Ice Cream I treated myself to last week with my friend, Sue. But I didn't succumb today, I was just there to look and photograph. Tucked into a corner, where I wouldn't be seen taking this photo, is this display of beautiful Hawaiian quilt wall-hangings. I just love the patterns and the colors, and you can buy almost any type of item made out of these quilts--purses, pot-holders, bed quilts, throw pillows, etc.

After finishing there, I headed toward the North Shore and stopped at Haleiwa again. Didn't take too many shots, but this sign caught my eye.

As a last resort, I headed to Laniakia Beach to see if there were any turtles basking and to see if maybe, just maybe there might be some kind of sunset. The weather has been so cloudy and rainy lately, that a pretty sunset seems like a thing of the past. This picture gives you an idea of the "grey" conditions this afternoon. But it was still beautiful.

And last, but not least, a turtle for Jayme. The light was pretty flat, but I did manage to catch this guy when he was moving his head. So there you go!!

Posted at 7:55 pm on Friday, Feb 20, 2009