Smart kitty :)

This morning C had a late start day, he didn't have to be at school until 10am (heavenly)! So while he sat in the living room studying and drinking his coffee before leaving, the cat decided she wanted to learn US Government too. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just absorb information by sleeping on top of it? Imagine how smart we would all be! It made it kind of hard for C to read though. :) He's such a softy, he wouldn't move the cat off his lap (and the book) till it was time to head out the door.



It's been lightly misting out all day long. C found a PERFECT spiderweb with water droplets on it for me to shoot outside the living room window. Unfortunately once I got out there and saw how high it was I was disappointed, I would have had to set up a small ladder in the shrubbery to get to it. Too much work on a cold and wet day. So, I hunted around and found this one which was easier to get to in my gazanias. It had a big, dead spider in the middle of it (who knew they build their web and then die in it?), but I spared you that sight!

Shooting webs is tough. It was very slightly breezy out, but those babies really move even in the smallest of winds. I'll try again another day.

Yummy fall colors

I haven't been shooting much lately at all, just other stuff occupying my time I guess. I did manage to take a few frames of this pansy today, how could I resist? The colors just say "AUTUMN" to me!

End of summer....

Caught our cat (S'mores) hanging out in the backyard this afternoon, she too (like me) appears to be trying to get as much sun in her system as possible to tide her over till spring. She hates the rain, it's going to be a long winter for her as well. I love Seattle summers, but the rainy months are just so darned gloomy.



Not much is blooming in the garden any more. I've got some roses that have a couple of blossoms on them, and the Japanese Anenome below. That's about it. The fall colors haven't really started yet, but I'm anxious to see how I do with them. This is the first fall I've been into macro, and I've seen some beautiful fall shots. I hope I can do it justice!

I usually try to avoid shooting macros in full sun due to the shadows being distracting, but today I just took what I could get!

Over the moon excited for C!

So today C did his first ever "open call" for a Broadway (as in New York City) show. He's auditioned for lots of local stuff over the years, but never an open call, and never for a Broadway musical. We all really looked at it as a learning experience, and while it would be great if he got a call back (or more), it was not expected.

So, he was there for 5 hours today (yes, he took the day off school). Of course all day long I was wondering how it was going. Imagine just how thrilled I was to get a call from him this afternoon telling me he got a call back. Can you believe it?!? So stinkin' cool! The call back is this weekend. He probably won't know anything beyond that for quite a while, as the casting agent is also doing calls in a few more cities as well.

But....just getting the call back is huge. It lets him know that he's doing well at what he does, and continuing to move forward. Is a big pat on the back for him, especially as he moves towards his college auditions this winter. He is flying high tonight, and I just could not be more happy for him.

I have no new photos to share, but thought this one is appropriate. It's his headshot (which I need to update this fall).



and a few from the most recent show he was in "Sweeney Todd." I did not take these next few photos, though I did edit them as best I could:









Thanks so much for sharing this proud mom moment with me! :)

"Customer of the Week"

Yep, that's me :)

I live in Seattle, home to Starbucks. I learned to drink coffee at the first Starbucks store in the Pike Place Market back in the early 80's (yes, I do realize I am dating myself). I got tired of going out for coffee with my friends after nightclubbing and being the only one to order hot chocolate so I "taught" myself to like coffee. Little did I know how that would turn out. I started with Mochas, graduated to Lattes, and now drink a Grande sugar-free Vanilla Americano. YUM. Iced Lattes in the summer months.

Now, I know a lot of people don't like Starbucks. They want to support the neighborhood shop, not the big corporate entity. I get that, totally. But see, for me, in my mind, Starbucks still is the little guy with that one little hole in the wall store, not the giant with over 12,000 stores. (wow, way too many commas in that sentence...who wants to edit it for me? ;) ) I love that original shop. It is OLD, and funky, and is literally a hole in the wall. There are no chairs, and you have to plan on spending a minimum of 20 minutes in there to get your coffee during the summer months when the tourists are in town. It is C-RAZY in there.

I like being able to go to NYC, or Chicago, or even just across town, and get exactly the coffee *I* want. No wondering if it will be too strong, too weak, or whatever. I LIKE knowing that I will always be treated as a valued customer when I go in, not like someone who is bothering the barista to make my coffee.

So anyhow. Like I said, I live in Seattle. I just went to the "store locator" on their site on a whim. There are 63 stores within 5 miles of my home. 63! A couple of years ago a little one opened up about a mile away from our house. It has the feel of a neighborhood coffee shop. Fireplace, cozy chairs, neighborhood bulletin board, water dish for the dogs :) I love that they know me. I love that I run into my neighbors up there all the time. My neighbor across the street is in there as much, if not more than I am.

Last winter they started doing a "customer of the week" drawing. You put your name in the jar, and once a week they pull a name out, and if your name is pulled you get a free drink a day for that week. Shortly after they started doing this, C's name was pulled. He started drinking coffee (decaf) at about age 11, yes, he IS his mother's son. For a (then) 16 YO to get free Starbucks for a week was a BIG deal, he was happy as a clam!

Today they called me. I am the customer of the week. Really, if you knew me and how much I like coffee you'd know that there is nothing more fitting. I had to refrain from bringing my camera up to the shop to take a picture of my name on the chalkboard.

So yes, I am mildly obsessed, I admit it!

Do you ever feel badly for the animals at the zoo?

I do. A lot. Don't get me wrong, I love going and seeing them, they're all so beautiful to watch. Sometimes I can stand mesmerized for quite a while. But no matter how lovely, open, and interesting their habitat there is, I always feel badly for them. Especially the primates. I guess it's because they are so close to us humans.

These guys looked particularly bored until the keepers showed up with a lunch of celery, broccoli and red apples. Then they livened right up!

Shot through dirty glass at an ISO of 1600:







This guy/girl wanted nothing to do with the veggies (even though the keepers tried their best), only the apples :)

It's been over a week since I posted any dahlia pics :)

.....if you can believe it, one of our area parks has a whole garden of them, access is free. And it's only about 10-15 minutes from my house. I didn't even realize they had it. I think it's cool that it's there for us all to enjoy!

Every day's a school day...

It's a saying I learned from my fried Barb, and she's right. If I learn something new, it's been a good day.

First off, I just want to say, I know I post a lot of pictures on a regular basis, and I am sorry! I seem to have a hard time picking favorites. Today is no different...

So yesterday when we were at the zoo, Pat and I went and shot in the butterfly exhibit for about an hour and a half! We had been out there in June, and I had learned a couple of things then.

1. to come in the early morning while they are warming up. They are less active and easier to photograph then.

and

2. to bring my flash with me the next time.

So, all of these are shot with flash. What I learned this time, and will practice next year when I visit (the exhibit is about to close down for the winter so I won't get back till next summer), are a few things.

1. to watch my backgrounds!!! Since we have to shoot from the pathways, we're kind of limited as to how we can photograph them, and sometimes can't move to get something distracting out of it. I have several really good shots I won't even show because i didn't watch my backgrounds closely enough :(

and

2. Maybe try shooting a little more stopped down next time. I'd like to have a deeper DOF. Most of these are shot at f3.2 to f6.3. There's such a fine line between getting enough of the butterfly in focus, and throwing the background out of focus, it can be tricky.

oh, and

3. I brought my 1.4 tele-converter with me, but I didn't use it on the butterflies. Next time I definitely will! I want to play around some more with extreme close-ups, the tele-converter will help with that.

I am supposed to be resting, I hurt my neck (old injury has been flaring up the past 10 days), but I am so stinkin' BORED that I had to pop on the computer and edit a few of these. I have been pretty good today, an have been alternating ice and heat, and keeping it supported most of the time. If anyone asks, you never saw me here, ok? Ok! :)































and one homely looking one:

Here kitty, kitty...

What's better than an 80+ degree day, and nothing to do but while away almost 6 hours at the zoo? NOTHING! What a great day! Since the kiddos are back in school, it was very quiet and peaceful there, and Pat and I got to shoot to our heart's content without worrying about being in kids' way.

It may be a while till I can edit most of the pics, but I had to do these tonight. Isn't he just a cutie? He's the cub that was born last December, and I happened to see he was out while I walked out to the car.

Thank goodness for noiseware because I had to shoot these at 1600 ISO, with my 70-300 lens (which unfortunately is not the sharpest lens in the world) and a 1.4 tele-converter on it:



I played with the processing on the background of this next one, what do you think of it?


Doesn't he just look too sweet and cuddly in this one?

One TOUGH flower to photograph

Passion flowers are so incredibly UNIQUE, but man, they are so hard to photography! I tried about a month ago and failed miserably, so I tried again the other day. You can see my previous dismal attempts here: michymphotography.blogspot.com/2007/08/passion-flower.html
I think the key for me this time was backing off a bit, otherwise as 3 dimensional as these flowers are, they just look funky.

Here's the best of the bunch in my opinion. I can't decide if I prefer the horizontal or the vertical. I do wish I had plucked a couple of the leaves off the vine prior to shooting it though. Live and learn....





Refering back to yesterday's entry, I found B reading the D50 manual several times today, and he changed the kinda feminine strap I had on it back to the Nikon one. Good signs, dontcha think?

Did pigs fly today?

B and I decided to spend this absolutely gorgeous end of summer day in LaConner, a small town about an hour and a half away. I love days like this. You can feel autumn in the air, cool, crisp mornings and evenings, but stunningly beautiful and warm days. I feel like I'm trying to hang on as tight as I can to summer here, I really get down in the dumps during the winter. Seattle can be SO gray and dismal for months on end.

We left here at about 10, had a wonderful waterside lunch (until the bees started bothering us that is), lots of conversation, a little gallery shopping, and a couple of stops to buy fresh produce and bread at roadside stands. Really a fabulous day.

But, I digress. On to the true point of this entry....

On a whim, as I was getting my camera gear together before we left, I asked if he wanted to take the D50, and maybe learn a bit about photography today. It's been sitting, unused since I got the D200 a month ago. He very rarely uses a camera, and when he does is is "auto" all the way. Anyhow, he stunned me by saying yes :)

He already has a small understanding of ISO, SS and aperture, which makes it nice that we're not starting from square one. He was a very good listener, and I think he could pick this up in no time flat.

So, he snapped a few pics (on aperture priority) today. He spotted this church across the river from where we were. I think it turned out pretty well!



I can't even begin to get across how thrilled I would be if he decided that he really was interested in photography. How FUN would it be to have someone to talk "shop" with and go out and shoot with whenever I want?!?

I'm going to do my best not to pressure him though (which is going to be HARD). After we got home I gave him the camera manual, and my copy of the book "Understanding Exposure," and the rest is up to him. I'll help him whenever he wants, but I don't want to push him.

I only took 3 pics today, and all of this metal gate. Here's a detail of it:


Oh, and that thing behind C's head in yesterday's photos is a plant. As soon as I pulled them up on the computer I knew is was distracting...so you're all right about it. Wish I hadn't been so rushed to get the shots and had had him move just a smidgen. Oh well, they're just for my scrapbook :)

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR

Not sure just HOW the time went so fast, but C entered his senior year this week! I know it'll be a great (and busy) year for him, and unfortunately I know it'll go all to fast :( By this time next year, he'll be far away at college, it's going to get awfully quiet around here then....

His first day of school, and he cooperated very nicely. I think it helped to know that this was the last year he had to put up with this!







And a photo I got yesterday. I know some of you have seen it already. This little guy (he was about 1/2" across) was a bit camera shy. I got ONE shot off, then changed settings on my camera (I wanted a slightly deeper DOF), and the second shot taken 20 seconds later is of his OOF rear end scampering away. I feel lucky to have gotten this one, I guess he didn't like the camera.....