Tex and Ace

the one on bottom is Ace and of course the other is Tex.

Liking The Bubbles

Well I found out that this one is Tex.  Same as other picture.  Still have to try to get Ace in a good pose.

Red-Earred Slider

This is one of my brothers pet turtles.  I don't remember if this is Tex or Ace.

Friend Helpin Out

You know you have a good friend when they will come over and help out.  I am a smoker and have been for many years and my best friend doesn't smoke.  I have just recently just switched to organic roll your own (don't get me started about that subject).  Anyway my bff came over and helped me roll a bunch of them up, thought that was pretty cool since she doesn't smoke and I don't smoke around her in closed areas.  THAT is a good friend.

Thank You!

To all of you mothers out there thank you.  Thank you for the precious life that you have shared with us.  Thank you for our future.  Thank you for reminding us what it is to be young again.  Thank you!

Galveston Beach After Storm

Wild Mushrooms

It's That Time of Year Again - Mushrooms Gallore

Big mushrooms small mushrooms they're all in abundance here in Oklahoma.  Might have alot to do with all of the rain we are getting also.  Another one of natures bountiful beauties.

Marleigh Christine

Baby Marleigh was born on September 03, 2009.  She weighed 5lbs 6oz and was 19 inches long.  She is my best friends granddaughter and let me tell you there couldn't be a more happier grandma.  The picture on the left was taken only a couple of hours after she was born.  To me it looks like she was trying to do an Elvis impersination.  Adorable!  The picture on the right was taken 9 days later on my birthday.  Isn't it amazing how much she has changed?  Almost doesn't look like the same baby.  Well just thought I would share a little bit of my bestfriends joy.  Oh by the way this is the first granddaughter how spoiled is she going to be do you think?  LOL.

Time To Quit Clowning Around

This little guy wouldn't be still so that I could get a clear shot so I just started clicking and now I'm using the best out of all of them.  Wish I could have gotten a closer shot though.  Maybe next time.

Happy Birthday To Me

Well it's September 12th and my birthday.  It's like any other day actually except that it is raining like cat's and dog's outside.  I woke up at 4:00 a.m. this morning thinking that it was going to be a long day.  So far I am right.  My children woke up and forgot it was my birthday.  That was o.k. kids are normally forgetful when it doesn't pertain to them directly.  So I was sitting here patiently waiting on my mother to call, she never forgets my birthday and she always sings me my birthday song (been doing it for years) etc.  It's 5:00 p.m. and I'm still waiting, wouldn't be so bad if she didn't live next door.  My best friend remembered though and her children.  So that lifted me up some.  Wish I could go out and take pictures (instead of watching it rain) that would help me feel better.  Oh well it's almost over.  To all of you wonderful people out there I wish you a Hapy Birthday and god bless.

Morning Sunrise

On September 4th I got off work from working all night and this is what I walked out to.  What a beautiful sky don't you think?

Going For The Nectar of Life

Natures Beauty

How many of us go by in our daily lives without really looking at the beauty that surrounds us?  Just stopping and looking at what nature has given us makes one really start to appreciate just ordinary things such as this pampas grass.

Wistful Thinking

Here It Is

Alright there was a few of you who showed interest in photography assignments so I started another blog just for you.  It is called Behind Your Lens and you can go there by typing or highlighting the link posted.  http://behindyourlens.blogspot.com/   I hope that all of you enjoy and have fun.   

Mother To Be

I feel that there are few times in life where one takes a picture and it says a thousand words,I feel this is one of those pictures.

Soko and Hallie

The little guy is Soko.  Running from a love sick Hallie.    every time I take Soko over to Hallies' house she slobbers all over him till he looks like a little ragamuffin.  Ah, to be in love.

Best Friends Cat

Oh she looks so sweet and nice, but let me tell you she could probably beat up the neighborhood dogs.

My Girls

This is why I live.  This is who I would die for.  They are the air that I breathe, they are the sun in my darkness, the light of my day, the hope for my future. They are my girls.

Mr. Bumble

Secret Fishing Spot

I guess it's not a secret any more.

Secluded

Alot of young people come here just to get away from whatever. It's a beautiful spot too bad they leave their trash behind though.

Good Morning Mr. Egret!

While out taking photos this egret stepped int shot like he was wanting his pic taken!! I think it came out pretty good, what do you think?

Sorry For Not Posting

I want to tell all of my follower's that I was sorry I haven't been responding or putting up new posts lately. My father has been in and out of hospital lately and it took alot of my time. So this morning I went out and took a bunch of pictures for all of you so that you wouln't think I abandoned you. Thank all of you who are my loyal followers and thank you for your patience.

Hooray! Yipee!

I am sooo excited and I had to share the news with all of you. My best friend has a daughter who is having a baby. She has asked me to be the one to take the babys very first pictures. Yea! I am so honored that I almost started to cry. Everyone has been waiting a long time for the baby to get here. So we only have a few more weeks to go. She has agreed that I can use some of the photos on my blog.

Vacation In Cozumel

When I went on vacation in Cozumel earlier this year, I got a pic of this guy. We were walking down the main street and there he was. I wasn't sure what was going on so I took this pic pretty quick and went on about my business. Since I was going through my photos last night and saw this and started wondering what they were doing again. Guess I'll never know.

Take A Walk On the Wild Side

I felt so lucky capturing this handsome fellow. They're not as pretty up-close as you would think, but I think this one has character.

Photographing Your Pet

Now we all know that our pets are adorable, cute, lovable, and sometimes pretty darn funny. Heaven only knows how many times they've done something and we wished we had our camera. I know its happened to me plenty of times. I'm going to give you a few tips to help you get that great photo of your pet. Now all of these tips, I have researched other photographers and photo websites, are the more common to use in photographing your pet. O.K. here goes. First off you want to try to take your pictures in natural light. If you try to take their pictures with a flash than you wind up with a unnatural glow in their eyes (kinda like red eyes in us). Set your camera to manual focus and focus on their eyes if you can. Their eyes say alot. Get down to their level. It makes the shot more personal. Get close, real close that is if you can. If you have a zoom lens that would be preferable if not then get as close as you can then use your photoshop program to get closer. When you start taking their picture hold down the button so that you get several pictures (you might be suprised at what you get). Speaking of surprises you can get some really good shots if while they are doing something and you are in position getting ready to take your shot and someone else (preferably behind you and off to the side) whistles or claps their hands. You can usually get some pretty good shots this way. Well that's all that I have for you so let's get out there and get started shooting our animals. This time that you spend with your animal is also great bonding time with them. As always good luck and have fun!!

The Tide Is High and I'm Moving On

This is where the boaters go to fill up their boats. Well they used to till it shut down because it couldn't afford the product anymore. Wonder how many more buisinesses are going to shut down.

Rule of Thirds

Well here's the skinny on most photography. This is the rule that most photographers go by and that is the rule of thirds. Since I am still a beginner it's kinda hard for me to get the hang of this rule, and I'll explain in a minute. When they tell you to use the rule of thirds they are talking about you not putting the main focus of your pictures in the center of your photograph(which is what I still keep doing). Supposedly when you use this technique you can add other elements to your pictures so that the viewers have more to look at. They tell you that if your going to break the rules then you need to learn them first. I personally think that if you put too many elements in your photo then you'll take away from the main focus of the picture(but then again that's why I'm a beginner and not a pro). So lets all practice this and see what all we come up with. Remember good luck and have fun.

Stuck Between A Rock and A Hard Place

Well I know that I have certainly felt like this before, haven't you? Sometimes we just get stuck but eventually we manage to get out of our rut.

Roo Taking Nap

I guess he tired himself out before I got to him. I thought of Roo in Winnie the Pooh.

GOTCHA!

Even I was blushing! Get a room you two!

Photography Assignments

I am thinking about starting a photography assignments section for all those interested in photography. With the economy the way that it is right now we kinda need something to do that is free. So why not do something that is not only free but also educational and fun. What more could you ask for. I think the person with the best picture on the assignment will have their picture posted here on my blog with a linkback to them. Well let me know what you think and I'll be posting the assignment soon.

Turning New into Old Tutorial

With this post I decided to explain how I turn something that is not very old into something that looks old and weathered. This is not to say that this is the way that you should do it or how other people do it. It's just the way that I do. I always like the results in the end. Start off with your photograph(not the original but a copy). Then you open up your editing software, I use Picasa(it was a free download and came with my google) I recommend it to anyone especially beginners. What I did was turn it to B&W and then added more shadows to it. I sharpened it a little then saved. I then opened my GIMP(another FREE program that I highly recommend) to scale it down to 800 pixels on the longest side saved again. You then have your end result's ready to upload to your website.

When I came across this hippo I got excited thinking I could get a pic of it with it's mom, but come to find out it is a pigmy hippo. Thinking my dog is bigger than it is. Ha Ha!

Oklahoma City Zoo

Well here we are again and it's such a beautiful day out side. I plan to go take some picture's today, but I thought I would tell you what I had been up to. I went to the zoo the other day and was taking lot's of picture's with the intent to post them for you all to see. Well all I can say is that out of 400+ photo's I only got a few that I would consider any good. I'll be posting them throughout the week's ahead. Remember in my earlier post I said not to get discouraged and to keep practicing? Well I didn't follow my own advise because I sure got discouraged and I haven't been practicing like I should either. Alot of them came out fuzzy etc. I tried to fix some of them in my photo editor to no avail. Well I've gotten over my hump I think and starting back up again. I also tried a new photo shoot of fire the other night that I was going to post for you, but I'm still trying to perfect it. I can't get it to show the final product, so as soon as I get it done right then I'll be posting the picture's and how I did it for all of you to see. If you have anything that you would like to post let me know and we'll get you posted.

This little number was over on my mother's porch just begging me to take it's picture.

Practice, Practice, Practice

When we first get our cameras we go out and shoot anything ad everything. Which is very good. Then we get to looking at all of the pictures that we have taken and say to ourselves "What was I thinking?". Well don't worry or get discouraged, this is a normal response(I still say it to myself). When we take photos that just don't seem to appear the way we want them to we automatically blame the camera first (trust me I do it all of the time) because we know we didn't shoot something that bad. Then when we're still not satisfied we start making excuses (My finger slipped or I wasn't ready and hit the wrong button). Eventually we bring it all the way back around to maybe it was my fault, well of course it was we just don't really want everyone to know that. So we go out and shoot a few more pictures, this time you've got quite a few that don't look that bad. Basically what I'm trying to get at is the old saying "Practice makes perfect", if you keep practicing you eventually get better and that's all that we really want, right? Now don't get me wrong some pictures that you shoot will come out really good, I'm just saying with a little practice they could be better. And that's all we really want anyway isn't it? So try to at least go out and shoot one picture a day or more analize what you have done and you'll start seeing an improvement. I know that at times you make up excuses not to go and get your camera(because I do) and start shooting photo's so maybe you should try getting a friend or family involved and they can help motivate you.

I took this photo on my very first cruise. I went to Cozumel, Mexico. It was a very pretty place, but I decided to fly instead of taking a cruise on my next vacation. Liked cruise it's just not my thing. This picture was taken early in the morning after we docked, thought it looked real nice.

My Thanks To All Of You And A few Answers

Well I just got off work and decided that I would get online and read what everyone has to say and I want to thank you all for your wonderful comments. They are all a really good ego boosters. And to be real honest that's what I needed. I wanted to answer a question for Teri K. though. She asked me what dslr was, it means a digital single lens reflex and it is a camera that let's a photographer use the same len's for viewing and shooting. Well Teri K. I hope that answers your question if not let me know and I will be more than happy to answer any questions that you have(If I am able, if not I candirect you to where you can find the answer). And as for Nita- getting a Nikon camera is also a good choice. You can get really good photo's from your very own film camera and be able to enhance photo's you take by getting them processed at a local Walmart or Walgreens without having a darkroom right now. After you get them processed scan them to your computer and use whatever photo editing software that you have. When you start doing that then you will start improving on photo editing which alot of people rely on after they're photos are put on there computer. I am not very good with photo editing programs yet because I still prefer original photo's that I take(plus it still all scare's me). If anyone has another comment that you think I should include please let me know I may have left something out.

Twins?

I think this little guy thinks this is his sibling or something. I walked out on the porch to water my plants and boy I sure got a surprise. I knew I had to get a photo, something like that doesn't come around everyday.

Camera Suggestions

I have been asked several times what kind of camera I use and I use a Canon Rebel XTi. There are so many cameras out there to use that you really need to research a camera that you are trying to buy to make sure that you are getting exactly what you need for what your going to use it for. I suggest, if your a beginner, that you get a dslr which is what I use. If you use film in the long run it's going to start getting pretty expensive what with the cost of buying the film and then getting it processed. With a dslr you take the picture and after you can look at it and see if you like it if you don't then you can delete it and take another. But if it was a shot that you can't take again then dont delete it cause you can probably download it to your computer and fix it in whatever photo program you use(we'll talk about that in later posts). The downside of a dslr is that you start to rely on looking at your pics afterward which could be somewhat bothersome if your photographing people that are out in public cause then you are taking a chance of losing your shot all together same with animals. Take as many pics that you can or feel comfortable with before you look in viewfinder and decide which ones that you like best then delete the rest. Like I've said before research your camera before you buy to figure out your needs.

Brightly Colored Fish

This picture was taken about the same time as the picture of the puffer fish in my earlier posts. I just love the colors of the fish.

Losing Landscape For Modern Convienience

I was taking the picture of the flower below with all of the road workers watching me and one of the workers came up to me and asked me why I was taking a picture of the flower. I stood up and looked at him for a moment and just told him simply that it wasn't going to be there tomarrow so I was taking it's pictue so that I could remember that where the road that they were putting in used to be a beautiful hillside. He just looked at me and told me he was sorry that he was just doing his job. After that conversation it got me to thinking about how much of our beautiful land was getting destroyed so that we could have the conveinience of driving a little faster to get to where we want to go. It's a shame that we dont stop to smell the flowers anymore. We're always in a hurry to get somewhere that we don't think about what we're doing to the environment. If it doesnt directly involve us then we really don't pay attention. Which is a shame because one day it won't be there. Maybe something like that is happening near you, so why don't you go out and take a picture of it or video. You'll be able to tell your kid's later you know where that store or road is... this is what it used to look like. Go on give it a try it couldnt hurt and you may get a really good picture that you want to share.

So Lonely

A lonely flower beside the highway where a bunch of construction workers were getting ready to widen the highway therefore demolishing this poor little flower.

This was actually a color photo but I decided it would look good in sepia. I think I made a good choice.

To Flush Or Not To Flush

I recently recieved a comment on my Egret photograph. Which I was very greatful to recieve because they sent me to a very informative web site www.moosepeterson.com . I think this person that responded to my photo had concerns about me flushing the egret out in order to get it's photograph. Well after reviewing th website that they sent me to I have to say that there was no nest involved and I knew the surroundings very well. So the bird was in no danger at all. But I do appreciate the comment and I intend to keep going to the website to make sure that I use proper procedure before going out to take anymore wildlife pictures. I would like to suggest this website also for any other new photographers wishing to capture a great wildlife photo opp. Thank you once again anonymous I would have never known about the website.

Viewbug Review

Another good site if your starting out is www.viewbug.com. On this site there are contests that you can win cash prizes and check out other photographers to get an idea for your next shot. The only down side to this site is that you have to earn so many points before you can really get into the special invitation areas, but if you keep at it every day then after awhile it stars paying off. As for getting a critic on this site basically all you get is "Good job" or "Nice pic" and that's because people are trying to get their points up to get to these other special levels. So I wouldn't get my hopes up about getting a real response about a pic. Other than that it is a nice place to start.

This was my first couples photograph. When I first looked at pic on computer it was so dark, so I had to go into one of my programs and lighten it up and I then turned it to B/W.

I took this pic one morning down the road from my house at a campsite. I had to honk my horn and finally act like I was coming for it before it took flight.

DPS Review

I suggest to anyone that is serious about learning photography that you check out a site that I give two thumbs up to. Go to http://www.digital-photography-school.com/. From what I can tell they are a very informative site. You can get advise about the kind of photography that your into all the way to getting your photos critiqued. I myself make sure that I vist the site at least once a day(sometimes more). It is a large community of photographers that have something to say or show. Like I said at least visit the site and then come to your own conclusion. Give me some feedback on what you think. If you think that I should visit any sites that you like feel free to let me know.

Something About This Site

I am hoping that everyone is enjoying my photos so far. I know that I enjoyed taking them and being able to share them with you is very rewarding. If you have any new ideas or comments please feel free to let me know and I will get back to you as soon as possible. I will also be reviewing some sites and letting you know my opinion on them. If you have a site that you would like reviewed let me know.

A Day At The Beach

Not So Puffed Up

Photo Ideas? Photo Assignments?

Well I have been surfing the web this morning trying to get some good ideas for photos, and you wouldn't believe some of the stuff that people come up with. Let's just say that I think that we can come up with some pretty good ideas of our own. So let's hear some of your ideas!! If you would like to share some of your pics maybe we'll start some photo assignments to help some of the people get the ball rolling. I know that when you first get a camera the first thing that you do is start taking pictures of everyone around you so how about we all send in some of our funny people pics? Or maybe one of your pet? Well let me know and go from there.

Pretty In Pink