Spring is as Beautiful as She Ever Has Been

I haven't participated in a Sweet Shot Tuesday in quite a while.  But I have gotten so many sweet shots lately that I have to share at least one or two...or more...

I went out Saturday night to capture that beautiful full moon.  At first I had my ISO cranked way up and my shutter speed way high to let in lots of light.  ???  All I was getting was a haze.  So I went back inside and went to Darcy's blog to find out what I was supposed to be doing and I ended up with some great shots!  Thanks Darcy and Kent!

 Trespassing.

 Well, not entirely.  I did get permission from our neighbor to use her beautiful trees for some pictures a few days before I took these.  Just a few days ago the blooms were all snowy white but on Sunday they were the most beautiful pale pink.  *sigh*

Because it was nice and warm the kids wanted to take the dog for a walk around the block.  They did the Spongebob musical doodle dance about half the time we were out.  ; )

Sweet Shot - Autumn Style

Sorry 'bout posting twice today but I wasn't about to pass up on the opportunity to enter to win a free e-class with Kent Weakley.  Especially considering I didn't end up going to his class led by Joe McNally yesterday (I so wanted him to sign one of my copies of LIFE magazine where his photos are the cover story).  Ah well, maybe one day.

So here is my Sweet Shot from the last week.  Actually it's three shots because I couldn't decide between the three.

 I love this one for the orange leaf bokeh!  And for that green vine standing out in contrast.

 Ooooo!  Pretty pretty!  And right in my own backyard.  

Actually all of these are in my yard.  I love my yard.

And this one because, if you notice, I'm using my remote shutter release which means I didn't have to run to get in place to take this picture of myself.  

And I don't look half bad in this one and I love my new cranberry colored sweater and those shoes!!!

I'm not waiting for perfect.

I love this picture of Anna.  She has kind of a funny, annoyed expression on her face but it's so ... her.  I'm learning that I don't have to have "the perfect light" or smiles or bokeh or to be following a thirds rule in order to take pictures.  I just need to capture some memories even when they're not technically good.  After all, my life is not perfect so why should all my pictures look that way?  My imperfect pictures are a reflection of my imperfect life.

And that's okay.

Krispy Kreme

My husband and sister-in-law threw a surprise birthday party for my father-in-law on Saturday to celebrate his 70th birthday!  Part of the surprise was taking a limo to several significant locations from his life around Atlanta.  The original Krispy Kreme location is just down the street from the old Sears building where Jim worked for several decades.  Naturally, we had to stop there and get a couple dozen doughnuts!  Especially since the Hot Now sign was lit!

I was playing around with editing options with this photo and now I can't decide which is my favorite. When you don't have to think about skin tone the options are endless.

 original

 vintage

 vivid

 sepia

 soft glow

*This is how angels see Krispy Kreme!  ; )

lithograph

More to come on the birthday party later!

FORTY - Part 2

Do you ever get bored with your own pictures?  I think I'm bored.  It seems like they all start to look the same after awhile; except the part where the people in the pictures look older.  Especially beach pictures tend to look like the same thing over and over again.   To me.   I suppose this just means that we need to go to different vacation destinations each time.  ; D   That would work to get me out of a creative slump, right?  

 

Anyhow, hope these won't bore you ...  unless you've already seen them on facebook.  And, in that case,... well, I can't help you there.

 

 

 

 

As much as I love those beautiful faces up there, this might be my favorite from the weekend.  

We certainly weren't bored making these pictures.  Creating these memories.  Celebrating a certain wonderful someone's big 4-0!  Enjoying each other's company.  Eating shrimp and crab and scallops.   Chasing sea birds and catching frisbees.  Resting, relaxing and getting away from our usual scenery and usual routines. 

Rock On!

Time for Sweet Shot Tuesday.  It was simply impossible to choose my favorite shot of the week  1) because  we had a VERY busy week with birthday parties and tubing on the Chattahoochee River and  2) because this wild child stood in this spot, on the playground at Joe's Crab Schack, lip-syncing and dancing to almost every song they played and I think I took 20 pictures of that alone.  At one point, he was using a shovel as his microphone and had a few other children improvising on air drums and air guitars!  He is the funniest little thing.

I love Joe's Crab Shack!  This was the first time we had taken the kids there and they ate so good and played really hard and got along so well with the other kids; it might have to become a regular hang-out for us.  It was so nice to be able to eat our dinner together while they played.  They played while we waited for our food and they ate and then they went back and played and then they came back and ate some more and then they played some more.  And, all the while, Brian and I watched from the comfort of the outdoor seating area and cracked crab legs and sipped sweet tea.  Aaahhhhh...

 

 

Slow and Steady

I knew immediately when I saw this wonderful couple that I had the subject for my Sweet Shot.  It was just a matter of getting a great picture of them.  They had been standing there, on the top of Stone Mountain, with their hands clasped tightly together behind them and just before I took this shot of them they curled their arms around one another.  They stood there looking out over Atlanta for a long time talking quietly to one another before they went closer to the edge.  When they started back toward the SkyRide building they were helping one another navigate the rocky terrain and making their way back at their own steady pace.  

And I want to be just like them.