Random

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Just a couple of images that I like from today's shoot.  

Splashes

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Just a couple of images from a workshop I attended recently.  Gotta try some more of this on my own.

Another Test

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The phone rang.  I don't usually answer it until I hear who's calling.

But the phone was right next to me, so I looked at the caller ID.  It was the hospital.  Uh oh !

I had a mammogram yesterday.  "This can't be good news",  I thought.  I heard the voice saying, "we see something and we want you to come in for another test".

I've already started planning how to get rid of my possessions so the kids won't have to do it.

I'm over-reacting.  I know it.

We made the appointment.  Next week.  Too long, but the soonest they could get me in.

God is in control.  I can rest in His Hands.  Thank God I can do that !

I had already planned on trying a new recipe for dinner and making cookies.

So I got busy doing that.

A good distraction??  Kind of.  Not good enough though.

But when I got to the cookies, and thinking about how I was going to photograph them, and then actually photographing them...yes !

God and photography, the cheapest anti-depressants I know.

the best gingersnap cookies ever

The Antique Store

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Another beautiful day !!  A Polish Festival.  A Fairground in Mayfield.

We arrived too early for the crowds.  Still...we hung around, talking to some of the vendors and making some small purchases, both of us with our cameras in hand, waiting, waiting, waiting...all to no avail.

So we had something to eat and decided to head over to Northville where my friend introduced me to the cutest antique store..., oh yeah !

The place was jam-packed with photo opportunities, even if we had to ramp up to 1600 iso.

Second Pond Trail,  5.4 RT

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Another hike.  Another spectacular day.  However, I think I'm going to have to stop posting about our hikes.  Not that they aren't great, at least so far.  Not that they aren't worth writing about.  Not that they aren't a great opportunity to get outdoors and spend time with good friends. 

Just that they're beginning to look an awful lot alike.  Really....the woods are the woods are the woods, and even I'm beginning to think I don't really need to take photos every time we set foot on a trail.  So maybe I'll only post the images of whatever might be a little out of the ordinary.  

Now that we have a few "moderate" hikes under our belts, we're talking about tackling longer ones.  

Oi !!!  

But I digress.  Today's hike ended at a small lake, at a not-too-hiker-friendly area.  No comfortable place to sit, no way to get close to the water.  But we managed to eat our lunch and enjoy the breeze.  

the photographer

the doctor

the office receptionist

Just as we were getting ready to trek our way back to the car, one of the ladies  ventured off the trail for a few yards and found the real camping area where there was a wide open area and comfortable rocks.  Whatever~  we still had a great time. 

The Winning Quilt

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Last Sunday, at the Altamont Fairgrounds there was an old car show, at which this beautiful quilt was being raffled.  In the spirit of supporting the fundraising event, and on the off chance I would win, I purchased a ticket.

Well.....I won!

It was hand pieced (sewn on a machine), but the quilting was done with a long-arm sewing machine.  Enlarge the pics so you can see the beautiful details of the stitching.  I'll be displaying it as a wall-hanging once I get the casings sewn on the back and get a classy rod to hang it on.

Doodles the Clown

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One of my friends is a caricaturist.  She goes to various craft fairs and fundraisers and does her magical "thing".  She's very popular at these events.

This was taken at the Altamont Fairgrounds during the fundraiser for the victims of the hurricane and flood that occurred last Fall.  

Variations

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No new images taken today. Waterfall images from last Sat. with just a wee bit of post-production adjustment.  A little color correction, a little sharpening--that's it.

These three images are variations of the same falls, taken from the practically the same spot.

Storm Aid

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Last year at the end of August, a hurricane ripped through our area.  Very much out of character for the weather here in upstate NY.  It devastated several communities, leaving them in severe shock and overwhelming destruction.

Clean-up efforts began immediately and once that was taken care of, the rebuilding began.

Ten months later, some of the homes and businesses have been put back together, but some are still in various degrees of restoration.  Fundraisers continue.

Today the Altamont Fairgrounds hosted one of those fundraisers, Storm Aid. Various vendors, a bouncy house, bands,  face painters, a caricaturist, horse show & competition and an old car show were just some of the activities on site.  

Sadly, it was not well attended.  But there will be more, and I guess any amount of money donated to the rebuilding of the community is better than none.

It occurred to me as I was walking around taking photos that I could use my images to give a completely different story.  I could make it appear as though there were scads of people, that the action never stopped, and that the funds raised were significant.

Instead I just photographed what appealed to me and what I thought would give

a good representation of the afternoon's event.

The Waterfalls

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A couple of weeks ago, I signed up to attend a photo field trip today to a location that is a short hike to a really beautiful waterfall.  After my hike yesterday I was pretty weary and half determined not to get up at 5:15 am this morning to get to the carpool location on time.

But then I thought that if I didn't go, I'd just sit around the house, bored and unproductive, so why not get up and go?

Although it was very cloudy and drizzly this morning, it never actually rained, thank goodness. 

The cloudy conditions contributed to the intense colors of the foliage and rocks, and it was easy to 

avoid the sky at this particular location.  So all in all, it was a good day

and I'm glad I convinced myself to get out of bed and get there on time.   

I don't know the people in this first image, but I love the image anyway.  I love how they are relatively sharp, while the waterfall in the background and the tree branch in the foreground are soft.  

I recently purchased Photoshop Elements 10.  It has some fun special effects that are very easy to do.  Since the images in most of my recent posts have been straight, traditional images, I decided to try a couple of the special effects in Elements 10.  All but one of the images in this post have had an effect applied.  Such fun.

Chase Lake

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It rained all week.  The forecast for today was partly sunny in the morning with chance of rainstorms in the afternoon.  We knew we'd have time to hike and get back to the car before the rain began.

It turned out to be a great day.  Just cool enough to enjoy the long walk with

an accompanying breeze.  And no rain!  

Our destination was Chase Lake lean-to.  2.7 miles one-way.

Hikers seem to be a breed unto themselves.  There's an etiquette among those who hike.  One of the  sayings of the Adirondacks is "Leave only footsteps, take only pictures".  

Wherever there's a lean-to along a trail, you'll find items left for the use of any hikers who frequent the location.  Hanging on the outside of this lean-to was a hoe, a shovel, a fish net and a hand saw.  

Inside was a coffee pot, a can of baked beans, a zip loc bag of plastic spoons, a bag of tea light candles, a couple of canisters of propane fuel and a plastic bag of newspapers to start fires with.  

Oh.  And one item you're sure to find at any lean-to even if there's nothing else, is a composition book and pencil (safely and dryly stored in a zip loc bag)

Leave a message, share a though, report on trail conditions, write a poem, make a complaint, encourage those who follow, whatever.  It's great reading.

One of the comments in this book was written by a visitor from England.  He was so impressed with the lean-to and the items left there.  He said that if such a thing were done in England, the items would be gone within hours and the lean-to probably burned to the ground by the next day.

High-five to the Adirondack hikers!

Another fun thing.  One of my hiking buddies brought pedometers for each of us to use today.  It only counted "steps taken".  

10,000 steps = 5 miles.

We took 13,434 steps on the trail.  Makes me tired just thinking about it.

Very Strange

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Today I had an appointment at the Mall.  I got there very early, so I went to Starbucks to have an ice-coffee and do some work on the computer.  Well, their internet was so slow that after a few minutes I decided to pack up and do something a little more constructive. 

So I headed out to the parking lot to take pics of funky license plates.  I wandered around, looking at 50  100   200  at least 300 cars and for goodness sake, didn't see a single vanity plate.  

At least I got some exercise.

So I went back inside for my Mac lesson.  When I left to go to my car, I finally saw these two plates.  I'm wracking my brain and absolutely can not come up with an interpretation for this first plate. Anyone have a good guess?

This next one made me laugh.  It was on a black SUV kind of vehicle, and it was parked, in of all places, the handicapped spot, with a handicapped sticker hanging in the window.  

She's At It Again

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Okay, so yesterday I posted to fb something like:  this morning my cat spilled her entire water dish on the kitchen floor and a few hours later she threw up in the living room (incidents not related to each other).  Then later in the day the dog threw up on the couch. (true story, believe me)  I thought animals were supposed to lower a person's blood pressure!

Anyway, I was out of the house since early this morning.  I arrived home around 2 and as I was sitting on the couch working on the computer and half-heartedly watching tv, I thought I heard a suspicious noise coming from the kitchen.  Not wanting to stop what I was doing, I ignored it.  hmmmph

When I finally did get up and go into the kitchen, this was the sight that greeted me.  "Oh no, she's at it again" I thought.  What the heck is going on with her?  You see where the water dish is???  right smack in the middle of the kitchen floor--you can't really see all the water that's scattered around though.

See the little bench in the background?  THAT's where the water dish should be!

And here's the little culprit.  Normally she's sweet, lovable and well-behaved.  If I didn't know better I'd say she was in love.  But she's an indoor cat...  Hopefully she'll get over this proclivity pretty soon.

Nighttime is Too Late

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I usually post to my blog in the evening.  Mainly because daytime is when I'm taking the photos and usually out of the house.  But lately, nighttime is too late.

My eyes are drooping.  My brain is on "hold".  My imagination seems to be shut off.

Dang!!!  This is the third post in a row that is B.O.R.I.N.G.

I  can't think of a single creative, interesting, humorous, frivolous, appealing thing to write.

So.....a few more images from my trip to Cooperstown.