For Loved Ones....

Today I'm thinking of family and a friend, and sending lots of love and {{HUGS}}

I also managed to have a flash of inspiration and take a photo today; it feels like I'm getting back on track after last week's discouragement.

June 18 ~ Art Supplies

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant. Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness. In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do. You are unique, creative, and expressive. You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while. And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this world So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all... But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you. Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses. Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others. Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Happy Father's Day!

Before I post today's photo, I just want to wish my Dad a very happy Father's Day (and remind him that I owe him a pint next time we're together!) I love you so much Dad.



This shot of me and Dad was taken in 2004 when my parents were here for a visit. We were on the train from Sunderland to Carlisle when my mom snapped this. It's technically not the best photo due to flare, but it's incredibly precious to me.

Okay, on to today's photo. I'm hoping that my photographer's block is behind me:



I left my deck chair out in the rain this week, and when I was wandering in the garden today I noticed that a flower from one of my potted plants had broken off and fallen into the puddle that formed on the seat. Just what my eye needed - a happy accident!

Hope you all have a lovely day, and that all the dads enjoy their Father's Day. {{{HUGS}}}

At Last!

At last, the rain has stopped! I managed to get out with the cameras today for a wander round the woods. I paid a visit to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Washington, which is about a 5 minute drive from home. I love walking round there and stopping to smell the flowers - literally! I felt a bit more inspired today, and came back with these photos:



This fellow was showboating on a perch over the lake just outside the hide I was sitting in. He must have spent about 10 minutes preening and posing. I was transfixed!



Just playing with the Samsung, the kit lens, and some close up filters.



This is the first live hedgehog I've ever seen! I turned a corner in the forest just in time to see him scuttling from the path into the undergrowth. He then snuffled about for about 15 minutes while I watched him and took photos. I was hoping he'd make himself a bit more visible, but he seemed far too happy where he was to accomodate me! I was flabbergasted though; although I was crouched on the side of the path taking photos, there were so many people who just marched on by, never pausing to enquire about what was so fascinating to me. They just walked far too quickly to ever notice....



Another of the showoff :)

It felt good to vent in my post earlier today about my lack of photographic inspiration, and I appreciate those who read this blog and keep encouraging and supporting me. It means a great deal. Thank you. {{{HUGS}}} Here's hoping tomorrow is another good photo day!

Lack of Inspiration

Sorry I've not posted in here in almost a week; I'm suffering from a severe lack of inspiration. I just feel rather flat these past few days, and as a result my PAD project has taken a bit of a beating. I'm hoping to get back on track today, provided I can get out to find some subjects to photograph.

It's been a very long week and I've been working some crazy hours. The end of the sales quarter is in two weeks' time, and I'm off for the last one (last week in June) so I really need to make the few days I have left at work count. I'm feeling some burnout as I've not had any holiday time since January when we came home from Canada. I'm really looking forward to this upcoming week off to recharge my batteries, spend lots of time with Chris, and hopefully take lots of photos.
The first day of my vacation is going to be spent on the Farne Islands in Northumberland taking photographs of seabirds with several members of Photography Cafe and Enjoying Photography, as well as members of Washington Camera Club. I had a great time on this trip out last June, and am really looking forward to next week. I am hoping to get a shot or two of a puffin with a beak full of sand eels, something I didn't manage to see last year. At any rate, the day trip will hopefully fuel my creativity, and will provide me with a huge amount of inspiration. My photographer's block should hopefully be well and truly cured by the excursion! These are a couple of my favourites from last year:























Guess I've rambled on for long enough, and put in enough puffins to bore you all (just wait till next week!!!).... {{{HUGS}}} to you all, and you're all in my thoughts.

Weekend Wrap-Up

June 8 ~ Mellow Yellow



Hi everyone, and hope the weekend's been kind to you all. It's been a rather quiet affair here, but enjoyable nonetheless. Friday night was the usual camera club meeting, but I was rather taken aback at having my win announced in front of everyone! I had to get up in front of all the members and collect my prize; I can just imagine how red-faced I must have been. Saturday, although dawn revealed a fog so thick I could barely see across the street, picked up around lunchtime when the sun peeked out. Chris and I headed out with the cameras to Washington Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust to see what we could see and get some fresh air. Here's a photo of Chris using the Samsung, which he has taken to like a duck to water (groan - just realized that I am talking about our visit to the wildfowl centre.... no pun intended, honest!)



June 9 ~ Sitting Around



Saturday evening, I met up with my friends from work to celebrate my friend H starting her maternity leave. She's due on July 12th and she looks magnificent. It was a lovely meal; lots of good wine, good food, and good conversation. I miss H like crazy at work, but it's wonderful to see her so happy. I can't wait till the little one is here!

Today was a nice and laid-back day. We finished watching the Rocky movies (which I had never seen) and I have thouroughly enjoyed them. By the time we had done that, the sun had poked out from behind the clouds, so we headed out to the back garden with the cameras.

June 10 ~ Sunlit



Two more weeks to go, then I have the luxury of a week off; I can hardly wait! Until then, just going to keep working hard and playing hard. {{HUGS}} to them that want 'em!

June 7 ~ Centre of His World

When you're a little bug, a wild rose is very big!

Hope things are going well for everyone today. I'm really proud of myself - I won a photo competition on Enjoying Photography http://www.enjoyingphotography.co.uk/html/news.html ,a forum I'm part of. First prize is a Manfrotto Modo tripod, and I'm very excited about it. Now that Chris is showing interest in photography, a second tripod will come in handy. This is the photo that won me the prize:

Recharging

Here are today's and yesterday's photos; I took today off to recharge my batteries as I was feeling really under the weather yesterday. I'm pleased to report that I'm feeling MUCH better now :)

June 5 ~ Candyscape



Mini-Me's giant lollipop is so vast, it makes a 'scape all of its own!

June 6 ~ Good Duck, Bad Duck



The two sides of a duckie conscience.

Hope you're all well, and that the week is treating you kindly. {{HUGS}} to all who want 'em!

The Backlog

Morning everyone! Realized I'm falling behind in posting here because life keeps getting in the way, so here are the missing Photo A Day images from me.

June 1 ~ The Garlic Bulbs of June



You may have heard of The Darling Buds of May, so enter The Garlic Bulbs of June!

June 2 ~ Security



June 3 ~ Super Duckie



It's a bird..... errr, well yes actually, it is! Meet Super Duckie, guardian of all things fowl :D

June 4 ~ Hooray for Candy!



Mini-Me is rejoicing at finding THE biggest lollipop he's ever seen. Hopefully that will satisfy his sweet tooth for a while!

Hope you are all well; I know it's been a little while since I've caught up with all of you in blogland, but please know that you are all in my thoughts. {{{HUGS}}}

May 31 ~ March of the Penguins

Or at least MY take on things! I struggled for about 90 minutes on getting this photo the way I envisaged it, and even now I'm not entirely sure I like it. Oh well, guess this is how I learn!

May 30 ~ He's Beyond Posh - He's Plush!

"Eeeh, Gertrude - would you look at him!?!"

"I know, Mabel - he's so... so.... posh!"

"Nevermind that, Gertrude. He's beyond posh, he's PLUSH!"


Aren't the duckies a scream? :D

May 29 ~ Spicy!

One ransacked spice rack later, and here I am with today's photo. I was struggling for inspiration today, and then noticed my lone chili pepper which is now drying out rather nicely, getting a fascinating wrinkly texture. The aromas of the various spices was making my mouth water! They don't go together well aromatically, but texture-wise and colour-wise I think they do. My spice rack is now missing some cloves, peppercorns, chili pepper flakes, cinnamon and steak spice as a result!

Tough day back in the office; it always seems to be that little bit more difficult the day after a Bank Holiday. Onwards and upwards though, as they say! Hope you all have had a Tuesday that was kind to you, and {{HUGS}} to you all!

May 28 ~ Stormy Morning

Well, it was a very early start to the day for me today. The alarm sounded at 3am - radio setting - which I then promptly proceeded to knock onto beep sound! Not the best noise at any time, let alone first thing in the morning (or dead of night, whichever you prefer). A quick glance out the window showed a mostly clear sky with the occasional cloud scudding across it. Perfect, thought I. How wrong I was.

I left the house at 3:30am with a drive of about 25 minutes ahead of me. Sunrise was due to be at 4:40 this morning, so I wanted to get to St. Mary's Lighthouse by 4am to get set up. As I drove north along the A19, the clouds just kept on rolling in. By the time I got to the lighthouse, I realized that there was going to be little or no sunrise to speak of.

In spite of this, and despite the howling gale which had cropped up, I was determined to get some photographs. I have so few times in a week when I can actually get out and about with my camera, I wanted to make the most of it. Besides, I was eager to put the GX10 through its paces on landscapes. I figured that the wind speed would let me get some longish exposures of the scene, with the increasing cloud cover sweeping across the sky. Here are another couple from this morning:







While I'm not overly thrilled with these images, it just goes to show that even in not-so-great weather (really gusty winds and very chlly for this time of year) half-decent photos can be taken. Here's hoping for a more sunshiny sunrise next time I venture out!

{{{HUGS}}}

May 27 ~ Looking Up

The rain stopped for about 2 hours this morning, long enough for me to go out for a walk in the wildfowl reserve. I took about 50 shots, but this was the one that really struck me. I love the almost inquisitive expression this duckling has. He was far more interested in the plants that grew beyond his reach than the ones right at his little webby feet.

By noon the rain was threatening once again, so it was home to make pizza for lunch and settle down with Chris to watch Rocky Balboa on DVD. It was the first Rocky movie I'd seen properly, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. One day I'll have to rent the others to see what a cultural phenomenon I've missed!

I'm really enjoying the fact that I have tomorrow off as well - how I love long weekends! I'm thinking about heading out EARLY to capture the dawn, as I've not yet put the Samsung through its paces on landscape shots. The weather's looking promising, but I can't guarantee that when the alarm goes off at 3am that I won't just roll over and go back to sleep!

Have a great Sunday, and {{HUGS}} from me!

May 26 ~ The Escape

I was told about these wonderful door handles in the Empire Theatre while we were on the last practical day of the workshop today. They are on the fire escape doors, but simply read "THE ESCAPE". Sums up my feelings about the theatre in general, really - it's an escape for us from everyday life. The theatre is a means to leave our cares behind and immerse ourselves in the lives and loves, trials and tribulations of those we see on stage.

I'm a little sorry to see this workshop coming to an end, but I am looking forward to seeing the exhibition where my few images will feature. All in all it's been a good experience, as you are not permitted to take photos in the building except by special permission.

Here are some other photos taken today that I may consider:

May 25 ~ Bright Day

This photo sums up how I feel today - sunny and cheerful. It was a great day, enhanced by the knowledge that it's the start of a long Bank Holiday weekend here. Shame the weather doesn't look like it's going to cooperate. LOL

This is another shot taken with my new light tent - this time with the blue background provided. I do want to get a couple of industrial lights to use with it, as I find that the desk lamps I had been using for my previous tabletop setup just aren't powerful enough. Might take a trip to B&Q or Homebase then this weekend....

Have a great Friday, and {{HUGS}}