The First Post & Some Resolutions

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Prov 19:20-21  Listen to council and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days.  There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless, the Lord's counsel~~that will stand.

It's January 18, 2018 and this is the first post of the year.  Last year I only posted 6 times, huh?  I originally began this blog as an online diary.  Over time I've posted a lot some years and a little some years.  I was very enthusiastic about it at the beginning, but my enthusiasm waned as time went by.  

I still follow other bloggers.  Not as much as I used to.  I think I have to revamp "blogs I follow"~~delete some and add some new ones.  That takes time.  Time to search for new bloggers to whom I can relate and who have things to say that are meaningful to me in some way.  I generally like the blogs that have photos attached since I'm a photographer myself and get inspired by other's images.

I have to admit, though, that when I read other's posts I'm often ashamed at how shallow my posts are.  I've been so moved by others.  Not only the subject matter but by their writing.  I love words and good writing~~"why don't I post like that?" I often wonder.  Partly, maybe, because I think no one cares about what I say, partly, maybe, because I'm not in the habit of writing that way either privately or publicly.  Not sure.

So, although I'm not in the habit of making New Year's Resolutions (and I'm not doing it now), I'm going to try to follow through on a few new habits:

1) post more often in 2018 than I did in 2017 (at least once a week hopefully)

2) make my posts a little more meaningful and emotional than they've been in past years

3) include one Scripture verse in each post

There!!  short and sweet.  Only time will tell if I'm successful.

At the end of December I decided I wanted to challenge myself to posting one photo a day for the month of January.  A friend is doing it with me and we post to instagram. I got the topic list from pinterest.  The topics seem benign enough that I can/will follow through.  I'm a little over half-way through the month and have managed to keep up.  As a matter of fact, I'm keeping up so well I thought I might give it a go during February too.

A few of the topics so far have been:  you, breakfast, letterbox, daily routine, in your bag...  I'm glad so many of the topics can be photographed inside my home since right now we're dealing with one of the worst winters we've had in a long time.  But this too shall pass.

LETTERBOX

MAKES YOU SMILE

DAILY ROUTINE

Stockade

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A few weeks ago I went to the Schenectady Stockade area with a couple of photo friends.  It was one of our mystery rides with a scavenger hunt.    When you've been to a place many times it seems like there isn't anything left to photograph, but our alphabet scavenger hunt helped solve that dilemma.

We have a sheet with the alphabet and spaces next to each letter to write what our subject is.  It's just as much fun to see what the others get for each letter as it is to take the photos.

B~~blue steps (this was originally in color and the steps are blue)

W~~watering can

V~~vines around window

I~~ice cream sign

M~~mail

just a random shot~~I like the symmetry of it and the colors

another random shot of a barber pole

 

Saratoga Race Track Morning Warm-up

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After delaying our field trip to the Saratoga track morning warm-ups twice, my friend and I finally made it on a beautiful cool morning just in the nick of time.  The track closes for the season in a few days.

We treated ourselves to a track-side breakfast, then spent some time photographing the horses during their warm-ups.  It's not a colorful as it is during a race, but still fun to try and capture the horses as they run.

Mystery Ride to Corinth

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Two of my friends and I have begun a tradition.  It's a mystery ride for a photo shooting day.  We take turns choosing a surprise location.  Whoever is in charge chauffeurs the others to a surprise location.  Once there we spend some time photographing for an alphabet scavenger hunt.

This month we arrived in Corinth on a beautiful sunny day and after about an hour we met back at the park to  look at each other's images.  It's truly amazing how we each come up with such different ideas for each letter. 

After finishing the scavenger hunt we managed to get this group shot by the lake.

None of us were able to complete the entire alphabet, and we decided that for the next trip time we might need a little more time.  

Following are some of the images I made that day.

D Doggie Decal

L  Lock

N  Newspaper

R  Red Firehydrant

U  Umbrella

X  

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Panther Mountain/Echo Cliffs

It's the middle of June.  This is only my 3rd post of the year. 

It's not that I haven't had anything to write about, just that I've been kind of lazy about keeping up.  So here goes for this post.

Today, two of my hiking buddies, Jane & Trish and I, went to the Caroga Lake area and did a short but intense hike up Panther Mt to Echo Cliffs.  It's the first uphill trek we've done this year.

It was one of those picture-perfect days and the trail is beautiful.

On the way to the trailhead

we saw this field of beautiful lupines.  We did a quick U-turn to get some photos.

When we began the trail this young woman, Lindsey, passed us but we met her again as she was coming down (and we were still on the way up).  She had just returned from 3 months of study-abroad in Italy.  Lindsey lives nearby and does this trail 2-3/summer.  She was a pleasure to talk with.

While at the summit this young family arrived and we had a fun and interesting conversation with them.  The dad is military and they were home on leave after being in Japan for 4 years.  After leave they would be heading back to Japan for 3 more years.  

The youngest 2, 5-year old twins, were just adorable.

Some scenes from the summit. 

On the descent we met this cute couple.  She was doing the trail barefooted. 

It was a great day.

Koko Head Botanical Garden

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The other day my friend and I finally had the chance to get together to go out shooting.  In all the years she's lived on Oahu, she's never been able to get to this particular Botanical Garden, so that's what we did.  

When we first got there I was a little disappointed.  It was very dry, not much grass and I didn't think there was much to photograph.  Flowers are not my favorite subjects.  But as we walked around I began to see things and decided to get busy with the camera.  

There were a lot of plumeria trees and many of them were blooming.  A lot of the clusters were way up high, but some were at eye level and some low enough to look down on.  

There were several different colors which made for nice changes.  

I thought this gnarly branch was interesting.

This botanical garden has several sections.  The American, the Hawaiian, the African and one or two other areas.  For me, this cactus area was the most interesting.  Who would think that cactus would grow and survive in Hawaii, especially on the windward (rainy) side, but they do.

I don't know what the name of the tree is in the image below, but the cactus is called

Golden Barrel Cactus.  

Octopus Agave (below)  

Since I took this photo, I've discovered that Agave is NOT related to cacti or aloe, but it grows in conditions similar to those plants.  Agave bloom but it takes a long time to flower and then it dies.  

After we left the botanical garden, we stopped at this beach park just to see if there was anything interesting.  By then we were playing around with multiple exposures.  I didn't like most of the ones I created, but I think this one is pretty fun.

Walkabout in Glen

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Well it's almost the end of January 2017 and this is my first post of the new year.  I'm really slacking.  

Today turned out to be a very beautiful day.  It began cloudy & dreary and looking like it was going to rain, but early in the afternoon the sun managed to shine through and by mid-afternoon it was almost 50 degrees and sunny with blue skies and it was impossible to resist the siren call to go for a walk.

It's been a lot of years since I've walked around town just to take photos.  

It was a good walk.

Troy Victorian Stroll

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It was a beautiful day.  It started out a little chilly, but by noon it was very tolerable.  This is the only Victorian Stroll in the area that takes place during daylight as far as I know.  So I try to get there every year.  

I met a friend of mine there.  Normally I like to shoot by myself, especially when the venue involves large crowds of people.  But she and I are pretty equally matched in the way we like to shoot so it was a fun experience.  Neither of us had to "babysit" the other.

This first group represented a secret organization that worked for the underground railroad.  I had never seen them there before and it was fun seeing something different. 

Civil war fighters.

Santa and his elf.  So cute.