Camera setting differences

I thought I'd show you an example of what happens when I don't check my camera settings before taking a shot. Sometimes when I take photos in the house, I have to set it to let in more light, for obvious reasons, and I try to remember to set it back to something a little more normal afterwards in case I need to grab it for a for a quick shot elsewhere.

Sometimes I forget.

This first picture is an example of one of those times. It has way too much light, although it appears Blogger tried to adjust it for me (thanks, Blogger - NOT!), because my original really looked worse than this:

A bit of adjustment... still too much light:

Oops! A bit too dark:

There... this is about right:

Just for fun, let's zoom in to the pretty new growth for the contrast with the evergreen trees in the background:

There's always something new to learn or experiment with. That reminds me, I still haven't started that Advanced DSLR class I bought over a year ago! Good thing it never expires!

Boring?

I was informed the other night (very gently, mind you) that my blog has gotten somewhat boring lately. :) I readily agreed. I'm kind of bored with it, and I guess it shows. I sorta feel like it's become "same ol' same ol'" in some respects. I mean, how many times can you go through the same events, year after year, and keep them interesting?

Writing blog posts takes time... time I'd rather spend sewing. So do I give up blogging to have more time for other things? Maybe. But not yet. I still have to think about it.

Maybe it's just the time of year. This right now is about the most dreary time of year ever. The snow has all melted but it's left everything just a blah tan/brown. Not much new life out there yet.

BUT... it's coming! On the way back from shooting yesterday's squirrel, I noticed these pretty leaf buds on the maple trees. They're so tiny... yet so colorful! Just look and see what I mean:

I especially like this next one. Have you ever looked closely enough to notice all those teensy spears?

Against a blue sky, they look especially lovely.

Just so you know, my tulips are making good progress, too. The color's coming.

So who knows what will happen with the ol' blog. Maybe there'll be new life here, too, eventually. Or maybe not. Any input or suggestions for possible future posts would be appreciated. Or feel free to tell me to give it up 'cause it ain't worth the time to look at anymore. ;)

Christmas decorating

We might have a white Christmas... or not. It's white enough for me right now, with just enough snow to cover the ground. However, with above-freezing temps predicted for this weekend, it could disappear. Never fear, though... there's snow in the forecast for next week, just how much remains to be seen.

We had some freezing rain on Monday, so the trees are coated with ice yet. I took these photos on Wednesday... when we actually had some sunshine for a while, making it a glittery world... to show you the "decorations". Click any pic to enlarge it.

The above photos were taken in the morning. Late in the afternoon I took some more when the sun was close to setting. You can see the color difference in these below.

I really should finish my decorating! The tree is up, and it has lights on it, but that's all. I was planning to have my little helper assist me with the tree on Monday, but due to the freezing rain, school closed early and she went to daycare instead. Since then I've been sewing... and I'd better get back to it!

Fall foliage, part 3

Autumn is on the wane, folks. The weather's been grand (but is now getting colder), the colors have been spectacular (but have now mostly turned to brown), and we couldn't have asked for a lovelier season. It's hard to let go of it, but let go we must. I still have all my gorgeous photos to look at whenever I want to, though, and I thought I'd share one last round of them for you to enjoy, too. Here ya go!

The reds are my favorites, but the golds were awesome, too!

Here's one of my favorite photos of them all, just because of its simplicity, I guess.

I hope you enjoyed the "tour". Beware of a lot of white pics ahead... likely sooner than we want. Bah. ;)

Fall foliage, part 2

Here are some more shots from my fall colors photo shoot last week. Enjoy!

Which are your favorites - the reds or the golds?

Fall foliage, part 1

Here are 3 more shots from my fall colors photo shoot Wednesday morning. I'm sewing a project with a tight deadline, so have to be quick here.

Such amazing colors! And it was a good thing I took the pics when I did. The winds we had yesterday surely sent the leaves flying!

To be continued.....

Morning macros

It's such a beautiful morning today, which seems to be rare these days, so I just had to take the camera out for a little play practice time. It's been unusually cold, for the most part, so spring has progressed slowly. The trees are only beginning to leaf out.

Here are some pretty macro (very close up) shots of those same leaves:

A good thing about the chilly temps is that the tulips have lasted much longer than usual. They're still blooming, although nearing the end.

The violas are getting thicker...

And of course the dandelions are popping up all over.

I've mowed once, and thanks to recent rains, need to again very soon. Miss C comes again today after school, and we need to finish our 'project' from yesterday, which I'll show you soon. I've also cut out another small sewing project. So I've been busy. I haven't planted any garden yet, but that'll need to happen soon, too.

They got a trim

Grandpa and his farming brothers arrived yesterday morning with a chain saw to clean up the broken mess of the trees on our lawn. This ash tree looks much improved although bare in places.

They got rid of the biggest branches. I began working on the mess of twigs in the afternoon.

The ground was covered with little branches and twigs like this.

I managed to get everything picked up there. That's a lotta sticks!

The guys trimmed the poor maple tree, too. It looks better....

... and reminds me of an elephant. :)

I just barely got started raking under it. There are a lot more branches there than there were under the ash. It's gonna take a while. Maybe I can bribe convince Courtney to help me. Hmm... how can I turn this into a "craft project"? ;)

Looking up, I noticed this baltimore oriole nest from a couple years ago survived all the ice and falling branches. Pretty amazing builders, those orioles are!

While I was taking pics, these big birds tried sneaking by in the background.

Did you notice how green the grass is getting?! It'll slow down, though. It's gonna get cold again. Bah! The only good part of that is that it'll delay mowing a little longer. I won't mind that at all.