Hiking

Reflectors + Painted Pots

I had fun playing with reflectors recently, and have a few photos to share...

These little pots are so unique that I just had to grab my camera!

7 Things I've Been Loving Lately

 The title says it all...here are seven things I've been loving lately:

1. The New Year.

I love the anticipation, the new starts, the goals, all the things to look forward to... :) (and a new planner!)

2. The Word.

Speaking of new starts and goals, I've decided to read through the whole Bible this year.
Something I've never done... about time to do it!

I'm afraid a bout of cold and fever put me behind a week or so, but I'm working hard to catch up!

3. Air-conditioning.

For those days when your sick sibling needs a little cool air, or when you are really tired of having sweat dripping down your back. :P

4. Burt's Bees Soap.

I got a little sample tube from a friend, and loved it so much I asked for more for my birthday. 

This soap is amazing. 'Nuff said.

5. Portable Tripods.

Who knew they came so small!? I got it for Christmas, and it fits in my camera case! :D

6. Lava Lamps.

Call me weird, but there's nothing like a lava lamp for a happy glow in a dark room. Makes me smile :)

7. Cat Yawns.

One of the funniest things I've seen.
She obligingly yawned for the camera yesterday, and my whole family got a kick out of the photos I got.

Is there anything that you've been loving lately?

Rainy Days

 Oh, how I love rainy days!

(check photo captions for what element of composition they are....)

element of composition: symmetry

 It is pretty much the only time the weather cools down. And I get to wear rain boots :)

And take photos of wet things.

element of composition: depth of field, possibly lines

Wheeee! I love the above photo!!!

elements of composition: n/a (tsk tsk.... it's not a great photo)

 *sigh*

element of composition: depth of field,

 Yes, dear readers, that IS a rain drop on my camera lens. Two drops to be exact. I didn't mean to get them on there. I cleaned the lens very carefully afterward. But I love the photo :D

element of composition: simple backgrounds (?)

And our cute kitty had her tail curled around her paw. Aw. Was she cold, or was she scared of my camera? 

Does anyone else love rainy days?

Elements of Composition #9

And the LAST element of composition I am posting about is:

Symmetry!

use mirrored or repetitive geometry to create balance

Today I have 4 photos to share with you...and I took them in the last 30 minutes! ;D  

 

Windows

Closet doors

A wet leaf

Our gate :)

Well, I hope you learned something and got a few ideas from this series. I've been blogging about nine elements of composition for the past two weeks, and I am happy to be able start posting other things this week! :) 

Elements of Composition #5

Depth of Field

use focus to draw the eye to your subject

I wrote a bit more about the technicalities of aperture & depth of field here if you would like to learn more about how to use it ;)

Next up: Frame Your Subject!

Spikey Flower

Yes, friends, it is more flower photos today :)

I found these while I was wandering around with my camera, just looking for something to take photos of... They were very interesting!

Bright pink/red, spiky... they had a tropical look to them.

And the buds were beautiful too! :D 

Have a lovely week :)

Creek Caution

Yikes.

I had no idea what might be down in that creek.

Crocodiles, piranhas, jellyfish, stingrays, sharks, killer crabs....

I didn't want to find out. I did walk carefully.

Illusions

Here are three photos I have taken recently.

I like them but they didn't really fit in any other post...

Trees reflected in a river.

Illusion: It's not really trees :) Just water that is reflecting them! Easy.

This needs a little more explaining. I took a photo looking up through a clump of leaves, but I purposely "unfocused" the photo, so the light looks like little round circles, and the rest is a blur.

 (This trick can be especially beautiful on Christmas lights....I can't wait 'til Christmastime!)

Illusion: Hah! I'll bet you didn't even know what the photo was! *wink*

Whenever we have flowers around the house, I take photos of them. Once, I was taking photos on the railing of our deck, and the flower fell into the stone gutter about a yard down. Now I drop flowers down there just to photograph them because I love the surface. ;D

Illusion: Now, this one isn't completely fair, because I didn't do it with the camera. I did it on the computer. :S The rose was originally yellow, but I was editing the photo a bit, and to my great surprise, the rose turned PINK! Hm. I liked it better than the yellow one.

I know this was kind of a strange post. My apologies.

Hope you have a good day anyway. ;)

And More Flowers

 I spent a good part of yesterday at a volleyball tournament at the school (where I take a few classes)...

I had a lot of fun walking around the campus and taking photos of flowers with a friend :) 

These were beautiful... some kind of orchid, I think.

We couldn't decide what these were; I think they are leaves. But look at how colorful they are! 

This is a random bush.

I know the word random is over used, but it describes this bush well. Please forgive me. :)

 Ah, daisies. I love daisies!

 Enough flowers though. I post way too many photos of flowers on this blog. But they are much easier to photograph than people. They don't (usually) have weird expressions on their faces when I am trying to take their photo ;)

Next time, I'll post some volleyball photos. I'm still learning how to take action photos. And later in the week, I should have some birthday photos to post! *grin*

Farewell for now, friends :D

Flowery

 Oh, how I love the macro feature on my camera. :)

I think close-up photos are my favorite kind to take.

I've been walking past a bed of these beautiful flowers for weeks... And I finally took photos of them yesterday! :)

  Almost rose-like...I wonder what kind of flower they are...

God's creation is one thing that never ceases to amaze me. Even more so when I get close in and see the detail and intricacy of every flower...the beautiful coloring and design, and the fact that it is a living thing!

I'm taking a class on the Old Testament in school this year, and it has been really interesting to take a deeper look into the creation of all things.

 

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

Psalm 104:24

Have a lovely weekend!

This Little House

 The one we saw in the village...
We were just walking down the dirt road, taking in the view.
Fields of rice, palm trees, rolling hills, a cow pulling a cart of kids, a purple butterfly.
And we saw this house.

Right smack in the middle of a rice field.

In a clump of trees.

Just in front of these rolling hills.
(Looks like rain, hm?)

I never saw anything so picturesque before.

And yes, I had to stop and take pictures.

:)