Pink Sunset

Returning home from photographing a wedding we noticed this scene and knew we had to stop and photograph the fishermen casting for pink salmon in the Puyallup River at twilight.

A Cheery Flower

Recently while doing an Operation Love Reunited photo shoot, I spotted this beautiful, cheerful flower. Unfortunately I'm not a gardner and I have no clue what kind it is. It's not a dahlia, that's all I know.. :-) Anyway, I wanted to share this beauty with my readers tonight. Enjoy and I hope everyone is staying cool during this heat wave.

Pick Quick

Seems lately I haven't been doing much posting over here. Truth be told, I've been sharing my photos on a more personal level over at 'Shutterly Happy'.

When possible I participate in many online photo challenges and weekly photo themes at the personal photo blog. The other thing that is different, I don't use my DSLR camera's. I keep a little point and shoot in my purse at all times.

This way if I see something of interest or if it fits one of the photo challenges or themes, I'm ready without carrying a lot of bulk.

I imagine it must look really silly, me jumping out of my truck that has our business name on the back window and then me taking a photo with that little point and shoot camera!

Anyway, today I just wanted to share some photos taken at Pick Quick in Fife. It's a favorite place of ours on these warm summer days for meeting with customers or just grabbing a quick dinner.

Yes, these were all taken with that little point and shoot kept in my purse. Now it's time for me to get back to working on wedding photos. :-) Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Growth

As I was walking into the house a few days ago I looked off to my right as I was entering my house and saw all the buds on the Rhododendron bush.

I decided it would be fun to photograph the growth of the bud as it grew into this bright large blossom.

Round Robin ~ Floating

Yesterday I went out with camera in hand to see what I could find for current Round Robin Challenge. Unfortunately, the memory card I grabbed was one I couldn't use.

I saw some beautiful geese floating on the pond near some turtles sunbathing on a rock with pink flowering trees reflecting in the water. It was peaceful, serene and most beautiful. And I couldn't photograph what I saw. ::sigh::

This morning I saw other entries for the Round Robin and I was shocked, two weeks has passed ALREADY! Oh my, it means going through my files and looking for old photos that will fit this theme.

This first photo is a youth group floating (aka kayaking) on the river.

Sonny and I went to Eastern Washington to check out a hot air balloon festival. What a sight to see all the vibrant balloon colors floating in the early morning sky.

In Tacoma, we've had a couple Tall Ship Festivals. The first was my favorite. This is Lady Washington as she is coming into port. Isn't she exquisite?

Here is a starfish that floated to shore providing a photo op.

This last photo might be pushing it a bit. I say the kites are "floating" in the air. This man was so much fun to watch, he did maneuvers that made you feel as if you were watching the US Navy's Blue Angels!

So, that's what I found in my old files. I apologize for not providing something new. Please take a moment to check out the others who participated in this photo challenge - Round Robin.

FYI - I'm HOME now! :-)

Round Robin ~ See The Music!

Once again I was thinking I was going to have to send an e-mail to Karen & Carly telling them I'd need to pull out. Not for lack of photos or ideas!

This time, I find myself writing this from Fort Mead near Baltimore, MD. I'm here visiting my son who has started a new job with the Baltimore PD. His wife is deployed on the USS Comfort - a medical ship on a goodwill mission until August. My purpose here is to assist with the care of my beautiful granddaughters.

The problem? My photos are in WA! So, I went to my old blog and found the following two photos from a concert I attended last September featuring country singer Sara Evans.

Be sure to visit the others who participated here -> http://roundrobinphoto.blogspot.com/

Camera Critters

I've seen the Camera Critter entries around on several blogs and each time I'd think I should participate. I certainly have enough of my own camera critters in this house!

The photo I'm sharing at this time is my sweet baby Jett. We found him on the side of the road. I told my daughter we would take him home once we confirmed he didn't belong to a neighbor and we would immediately start looking for his forever home.

Yeah right. He was so little he could fit in the palm of my hand. He immediately became attached to me and vise versa. He wasn't going anywhere, who was I kidding! :-) He's my spoiled baby.

This photo was taken about a month after we found him. He was peeking out from behind the laundry. Silly Jett! In July we will have had him for a year, so he has grown a lot and in a future 'Camera Critter' entry I'll show you how he looks now.

Constructive Feedback

Over at I Heart Faces they are doing a Constructive Feedback Friday. I decided to play along, and actually add my link. I've been "playing" without linking.

This is a photo where I had turned to do something else, or change position ... something! When I looked back at the bride and groom this is what I saw and tried to quickly snap it before they were aware of me again.

Obviously the camera and I weren't ready for the low lighting conditions.

Here is the original

And here is my edited copy

I look forward to hearing any suggestions on how to improve this moment. Photography I love, editing I'm still struggling and learning day by day! :-)

What I did - lightened the couple, removed some distractions - ie, the truck that drove by, gave it a soft focus and cropped. Again, I truly welcome ideas! Like what can I do about that sky - it was raining and overcast or any other great suggestion. :-)

Round Robin - Numbers

If I said this was an easy challenge, I'd be lying through my teeth. Each day as I was driving around, I would be looking for numbers. Nothing jumped out at me. Sure I saw numbers just nothing that screamed at me!

Last night I was ready to write Karen and Carly to tell them I wouldn't be participating. No inspiration - none, zip, nada.

However, the inspiration hit me this evening as I was searching through my closet for something unrelated to the entry, I saw this number and it immediately made me smile.

I remember sitting and watching my youngest son play football on Friday nights for his high school. While I was never a fan of football before, I didn't miss a game. He played both offence and defense, meaning he NEVER left the field! The poor kid would be so exhausted afterwards. Which meant a peaceful quiet evening for me! :-)

While putting together the entry this evening and with thoughts of my youngest son, it hit me, I have a favorite number this month - 18. That's the day my son returns home from deployment, it's the day I get to hear his voice again and know he is safe on US soil!

All that time I spent looking for numbers OUT THERE, waiting for something to 'scream' at me to photograph them and all the time the numbers were quietly waiting for me here in my home. :-)

Be sure to check out the other photographers who participated in the Round Robin Photo Challenge.

This Old Place

Seriously, TWO weeks passed? I had BIG plans for this entry. I knew several locations within Tacoma that I wanted to photograph.

Unfortunately, two weeks passed and it pretty much RAINED every day! I just LOVE living in the great Northwest! (sometimes). So, being that I never photographed what I wanted, I dug through some old files and found the following for this entry.

San Francisco's famous painted ladies as seen from Alamo Square. The 'painted ladies' are Victorian and Edwardian homes painted in three or more colors. I love seeing the colorful Victorian homes with the modern city skyscrapers in the background.

Staying in the Great Northwest, I couldn't resist sharing Pike Place Market which celebrated it's 100 birthday in 2007. I love the hustle and bustle of this market. People watching is the best here! Many sights, sounds, fragrances and colors to stimulate every possible sense.

This last photo in the Northwest area, I've shared a few months ago on my blog. I figured the Round Robins haven't seen it so it was worth sharing. It's an old grist mill (age of mill unknown). I forgot how old it was, it was over 50 years old.

Returning to one of my home states - Indiana. This beautiful covered bridge was burned (vandals) in 2005. This photograph was taken the year before. In 2006 the community got together and rebuilt a replica of this very bridge.

Thank you for visiting and taking this quick tour through time to some beautiful old places. Please be sure to take a moment and check out the other participating photographers who participated in this Round Robin Challenge -> ROUND ROBIN.

Spring Break

I don't know about you, but I seriously need some sunshine and spring flowers! So I did the next best thing, I bought a mixed bouquet of flowers and then I got my camera out so I can share some color. Besides I LOVE "playing" with my camera.

Hope you enjoy this mini "Spring Break".

The roses were from my daughter a few weeks ago, aren't they beautiful.

Round Robin ~ Purple

Once again it's time for the Round Robin Photo Challenge and this time we were looking for the color of purple.  This past two weeks slipped right past me and I never had the opportunity to go play and find purple items.

The other day when I was at the craft store I found this purple silk water lily, I thought it was perfect for the challenge so I bought it!

The three above were all taken when Chihuly had a display at our beautiful Victorian style conservatory here in Tacoma.  The last photo of the group also has blue frog feet!  

Three bridesmaids in shades of purple caught goofing off while the groomsmen were getting their formals taken.

Taken sometime last year.  I can't remember where or when! ::sigh::   Does it count?  It's more of a periwinkle isn't it!

This last photo is an old photo - about two years old.  It's a favorite of mine, all I did as add a wee bit of saturation.  This was taken one winter evening at the beach during one of our weekend escapes.

If you would like to see more purple go check out what the other photographers found - Round Robin. 

** I was early with this and didn't even realize it! I was a day ahead of myself.  Since I was early, I've come back to add this new photo.  I stopped to take some flowers to a friend and fellow blogger in the hospital.  I found PURPLE carnations so I HAD to take a photo of them to share. :-)

Chihuly at Seymour Conservatory

Today I headed over to the Seymour Botanical Conservatory at Wright Park in Tacoma. This happens to be my personal favorite time of the year at the conservatory as it's full of beautiful tulips, daffodils and fragrant hyacinths that impact your senses as soon as you walk in the door. This year it's even more impressive because of the Chihuly glass display among the foliage.

This weekend is the last for the Chihuly glass exhibit. So, this was a great time to get back to the conservatory for some photographs. If you haven't been, I highly recommend making the trek over to the conservatory. It's worth a visit with or without the glass!

We had photographed a wedding at the conservatory on Valentine's Day and it was afterwards that I had an idea of HOW I wanted to take a photo to remember the beauty. I'll share that photo first. The other photos are from this current visit and from my visit in December.

I hope you enjoy visiting the conservatory via my photographs!

This is from the wedding, you can see the rest at my wedding blog: Wedding. The wedding was in the evening and the lights inside provided a dramatic effect on the glass.

Anyone care for some blue frog legs?