The First Basketball Game of the Season

or

Don't Forget Your Media Card

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I do actually believe that this is the very first post, and hopefully the only post EVER, that does not contain a photograph.

And here's why:

Tonight was the beginning of the high school basketball season.  Grandson's game began at 7:30 pm. I arrived home from running errands in plenty of time to eat, get my camera ready and get to the game before it started.

I put my super-duper long lens on my camera.  Checked the battery level.  Put the camera in a place where I wouldn't forget it when I left the house (as if that ever happened!)

Arrived at the game early.  Found a decent parking spot.

Opened the car door, preparing to get the camera out of the back seat, when BINGO, I remembered that I left the media card in the card reader on my kitchen counter.

And.....because I didn't bring my purse (just stuck my driver's license in my back pocket), I didn't have access to my emergency 64 meg card (good grief--what is that anyway?) that I usually carry in my purse for backup.

So.....For.   The.   First.    Time.   I.    Can.    Remember.  I sat at the grandson's sporting event without a camera in my hand.  

Tomorrow night is another game which is part of the same tournament.  It remains to be seen if I can do better then.

Honor Roll

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This morning my daughter called me bright and early....very bright and early.  "Oh, were you sleeping?"  "Well....I was, but what's up?"

The kids were each chosen for Character Honor Roll in their grade.  There was a breakfast in honor of the award and since she couldn't attend because of working, she asked me if I would go.

It was cute.  Short and sweet. 

Thanksgiving Dinner, or, Why You Need to Take

More Than One Shot

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Thanksgiving Day and we spent the afternoon at the sister-in-law's house.  I forewarned everyone that we would be gathering for a group photo after dinner.  Amazingly, not a single person argued the point. (image me doing a victory dance)

So while everyone was hovering around, sis-in-law decided to pose.  I couldn't resist this image.

Cousins

Siblings

A couple

Here's exactly why you need to take more than one shot:

the yawn

the hunched shoulders

the closed eyes

finally, the best of the bad shots

They're Here

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Late last night, or really, early this morning, Scott & Sybil arrived at Albany airport.  My husband drove over to get them while I tried to nap before they arrived at the house.  We all finally got to bed around 3 am, which was only midnight for them, but was  REALLY  3 am for me.

It was worth it.

This afternoon Scott took Sybil and me to Lock 27 in Little Falls to scramble around the rocks on Moss Island.  It was an awesome little hike (we estimate only about 1/2 mile) with some challenging spots getting up and around the rock formations.  I was thrilled to be able to do it in spite of the issue with my hip.  

Tomorrow we're going to the aunt's house for Thanksgiving dinner late in the afternoon, and by then Leah will be home too. 

Scavenger Hunt #18--"Something with Stripes"

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When I got the news that the scavenger hunt theme was "something with stripes", I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to find a photo op for the topic.  

We have a glass enclosed porch and several months ago my husband hung an American flag in one of the window sections.  I thought this would make a great photo for the theme.  I kept looking at it from the outside, but this afternoon I walked past the porch and saw how great it looked from the inside.  So here it is.  I know the flag is pretty cliche for "something with stripes" but I love the way the flag looks with the light coming through it...

Another thought I had was this window with these blinds.  The afternoon sun comes directly in this window, casting the most beautiful soft yellow light into the room.  The slats of the blinds make great stripes.

When I crack the blinds open, the sun creates a beautiful striped pattern on the wall...

Thumbprint Practice

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A couple of weeks ago, a young friend of mine posted a picture of these cookies on Facebook....well, okay, not these exact same ones.  I think hers looked a wee bit better than these.

Anyway, I think I've only made this kind of cookie once or twice in my entire life, and that was a long, long time ago.  So I decided to do some thumbprint practice this morning.  They didn't turn out too bad taste-wise, but I was reminded about how bad I am at decorating.  You should see my cakes, sheesh!

Funny thing about the recipe though.  It said to use about two teaspoons of dough for each cookie and that the recipe would make 4 dozen.  I thought that was too much dough, so I cut it down to one teaspoon per cookie and it only made 3 dozen.  What's up with that?  If I had done what the recipe said, it might have yielded 5 cookies total!

They're kind of fussy to make, so I probably won't be making them too often.  But I'm glad I did today.

No Purpose

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Once in a while I get the urge to do some photography.   If I don't have any place special to go that offers an interesting photo op, I'll try to work on still life.  

These photos were created last summer.  They have no purpose, except that they provided me with some photography practice.  

I didn't do them in the same session.  

I have no use for them.

There's not much WOW! factor going on.

But the sessions were fun.  And I learned a little bit of what not to do when doing still-life like this.

Of course, it was so long ago, and I haven't done any work like this since, so by the time I try it again, all those things I learned not to do will be forgotten, and I'll have to start all over again.  Sigh!

Scavenger Hunt #16--Strangers

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Last April I decided to transfer my allegiance from PC to Mac computers.  I became the proud but inept owner of a Mac laptop.  Upon the advice of several good friends, I wisely purchased the One-to-One training package.  It was probably one of the best decisions I've ever made.

So a few days ago I was at the Apple Store waiting for my group training session to begin, when I got the idea to take some stealth photos of "strangers".  

Whenever I do this kind of "street" photography, I totally remember how much I love it.  

Grasping at Straws

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My motivation for posting to my blog seems to be waning.  I'm not totally sure why but it could be partially because I don't seem to have much inspiration for doing photography lately & and I don't really enjoy posting without some images.  

So this post is pretty much a grasping at straws.  Last night was my weekly photo meeting night and being the first Wed of the month, it was also the print competition night.  There were a lot of people there and a goodly number of them participated in the competition.

For some reason I had my camera in hand, which isn't usually the case at these meetings, and I took this picture just for kicks.  There was some beautiful work on display.  I don't envy the judges on nights like last night.