Yard Finds

Back to your regularly scheduled blogging friends. Mr. Bruce is at the airport as I type awaiting a flight to the cold country. It's been somewhat chilly here the last few days, however, it's much, much colder there. Brrrrrr........

Friday morning, while it was still a bit cloudy I was out back hanging clothes on the line and cleaning the pool. I glanced over and thought how pretty and colorful the tree was along with the bougainvillea; I knew it was an Olympus moment. Pool cleaning had to wait a bit.

What I've been doing of late is keeping the 20mm lens on the Olympus and the 55-200 on the Nikon so I can shoot the birds through the windows. It's working quite well. Before I got the 20mm lens I read great reviews with most of the folks saying that once they had it they kept it on their cameras, shunning the kit lens. I now know why. Although the body of my camera is Olympus, the lens of which I speak is made by Panasonic, a brand you know I'm partial to because that's how I got my start as an art photographer. I still miss my baby camera--what a shame I lost it. The weird thing is I've rarely lost anything that I can recall, however, I do recall I lost my starter camera. Boohoo!

Anyway, with the Olympus in hand I decided to challenge myself in my own yard using the Black and White Film Grain setting on the camera. It's no wonder that people think b&w pictures are dramatic as I hope to show you with these simple images.

This one is of the little gnome we brought home from Bruce's Mom's house.

His little face is showing wear now that we've had him out in the sun protecting our new tree. Actually this little guy, who is actually a sprinkler, was a gift from us to her long ago. You might note that finally the stakes are gone keeping the tree in place for which I'm exceptionally grateful. It took a lot of whining to convince Bruce that after eight months the tree was established. I hope he does not have the chance to say "I told you so!"

Still in the side yard,  Pat and Ruth gave us a lovely iron heart for Christmas which looks especially interesting amongst the fallen leaves.

I've placed it under the bird feeder near the flowers in my garden. I'm thinking it will work well in the warmer weather for the butterflies who like to light upon hard objects to gather warmth. While on the subject of gardens, I'm so happy with this sign I purchased at the Geffrye Museum while visiting Matt in London this summer. I only wish they'd had a larger one!

On the other side of that fence is our back yard which closes using this:

Keeping in mind I'm wandering around the yard looking for stuff, I came across this pile of logs from our fallen tree which Bruce stacked like this to discourage nest building by pesky rodents.

The stump to the right is another leftover from the big tree. Not to get too far off topic, but there are those who might be saddened to see this horrible story about the Big Tree which burned yesterday. 3,500 years old and now gone???

Of late we've been spared the presence of rats, however, the squirrels still wreak havoc any chance they get. Bruce managed to fix most of the kayak, however, he still sees small areas of chewing which is pretty discouraging. He know has no idea where to store the boat to keep them at bay. Thus, it's still on the deck adjacent to the pool.

It's a testament to photography that even a hose can look good.

The foliage intermixed is the brown bud alamanda we planted when we did the remodel. It seems to be a mistake as the branches go hither and yon at will. That said, the yellow flowers are nice and as Bruce keeps reminding me, a tropical yard should be a bit wild.

Moving into the front yard, here's the plant shelf on the porch,

with the trailing golden pathos which is also known to spread far and wide. Then there is the sign on the street side of what we fondly call the jungle.

That's our gigantic oak tree on the right without many leaves remaining. It is so weird how the leaves have fallen this year. This tree is always first, followed by our neighbor on the pool sides huge oaks which really dump in our back yard. To date, they are still on his tree. Perhaps I'm confused. Maybe they don't fall until March? In any case, it's made my pool cleaning duties easier for the moment.

Had enough black and white? Well, me too. The leaves on the Chinese Tallow tree in our yard have been just as beautiful as the neighbor's tree I showed you a few days ago. Here's the reason I even went and got my camera.

I'm often asked about black and whites, whether I have any or not. There are very few in my baskets. Responding to the question, I tell folks that I took black and white images for 35 years and that was mostly enough for me. On the other hand, every now and again it's kind of fun to experiment. Never fear, I won't be devoting a whole post to this topic any time soon. Color is my middle name.

This post has been on my mind since I shot the photos on Friday, however, things have gotten in the way of blogging. This week should be different--don't be surprised if I write every day because I've got lots to say. Hopefully you'll want to read it.

Colorfully yours,
Gail

Four Cameras

With all the writing I've been doing lately, you'd think I didn't take very many pictures. You'd think wrong. If you can imagine, today I used all four of my cameras, each of which are good for specific tasks. Sadly, the Panasonic pocket camera I bought last year has never gotten the use my former one did. I don't know if it is me, or the camera, but I mostly haven't had too much luck using it. I still, on the other hand, use my workhorse Panasonic Z8 that I've had for nearly four years now. I can always rely on that camera, in fact, although it's just a point and shoot with a long zoom, some of my best selling photographs have been taken with it. I started off the day reading this essay,  Natural Aging.
I am all about natural aging.

As such, after getting myself dolled up for my museum stint, to use an old-fashioned term, I brought my tripod in my bathroom to record the moment. My hair has looked like hell the last few days, what with swimming and yard work, time to remember what it looks like if I fix it!

As you can see, I didn't know where to look in the mirror! So, I tried again:

Even though I cut myself off, at least I was looking at the camera! I brought my Olympus to the museum which was slow as usual. I shot this of the flower beds with it:

 Today there was a volunteer appreciation lunch which broke up the time!

 

The grounds are oh so lovely. Mr. Polasek's Pan is there to watch over us. After leaving the museum, I went to see Corrine. This time I got out my pocket camera:

I'm happy to say that she is out of ICU, and doing considerably better. While talking today she told me the story of her first husband dying after coming in from mowing the lawn. Very sad indeed. I don't know when she's coming home just yet; her heart has the nerve to behave like it is 85 years old! She and I discussed the fact that she never in her wildest dreams imagined she would live so long. I know I can't imagine living nearly 30 more years!

It's the city calendar contest time once again. The neighborhood is Lake Ivanhoe, which is just down the street from Florida Hospital where Corrine is staying. I stopped at Lake Ivanhoe and brought out the baby camera, using the black and white film grain setting. They want black and white, however, after trying this, I don't think they will be happy with the grain. I kinda like it though.

I will definitely be going back with a longer zoom to photograph lotus flowers!

Next stop--Mr. Roger's house to check up on his progress. Slow and steady.

Poor, poor Baxter! This morning Bruce left early while I was still sleeping. When I got up around 7, Baxter was on his couch perch sleeping. For some reason I thought he'd gone out. He had not. Arriving home just before 4 this afternoon, I was met at the door by Baxter who was mighty glad to see me. No wonder! I put my things down and said--"let's go get the mail!" He did not hesitate one second. I swear I've never seen him pee so long! 

Walking around the yard I saw a few things I wanted to share with you, necessitating me to get out the Nikon D60, which is not in the greatest working order after it fell from the counter at the Polasek. The camera works, the flash does not. Plus, the sensor is dirty. I'm still puzzling about what to do with it. Meanwhile I use it when it seems like the thing to do! Bruce dug this up when working in the bed,

Neither of us can imagine how it got there. Finally, here's the bed itself with the Nandina staked,

I know it's crazy having so many cameras--it's giving me fits trying to decide which two to take on our holiday which is only 30 days away. The older I get, the faster time goes making this seem like no time at all. It's not enough to have to wonder what clothes to pack....decisions, decisions.

Surprise, Surprise

Little did I know when last we met,  that my closing words would become a reality. To refresh your memory from last Friday's post, I concluded with something like, who knows what surprises are in store for today. Really, it was totally unplanned. Of course, I'm known for being somewhat impulsive!

I finally bought the new type of camera I've been thinking about for nearly a year. Several years ago Olympus and Panasonic developed a new type of digital camera that incorporates the large sensor from a single lens reflex (like my Nikon D60), in the body of a nearly pocket sized camera. They call them Micro Four Thirds. Really, it's quite an achievement! They keep making cameras with more mega pixels which are really only needed if you intend to print huge, or you crop like crazy. Early on, Mr. Roger explained it was mostly a marketing tool to get people to continually upgrade their equipment. He says that you need only six mp to print a poster-sized image. So anyway, I'd been thinking, thinking, thinking about getting the Panasonic version, but you well know how frugal I can be. I've been saving most all of the money I've made, however, the floodgates are open now! Once I purchased the kayak for Bruce's birthday, it just seems easier to let the money go. Right about now you're probably wondering why I got the Olympus version when I said I wanted the Panasonic and you would be well within your rights to wonder. Here's why: Colonial Photo only sells the Olympus version! I like having people I can go to when I've got questions, thus I'm still a fan of buying from a store.

As you can see, it has a very cool retro look. Additionally, with metal on the body, it has a very satisfying sound when you close the battery cover. Arriving home around two, I immediately began the battery charging. It took forever!! Nearly three hours to be exact which seemed like twenty! The weather was sketchy; nevertheless, I phoned Regina asking if I might try it out in her backyard. That's her in her kitchen while I'm on her back porch. I'm already in love with this camera.  Naturally, Baxter was one of my first subjects! I told you he much he loves to perch on the couch, watching the world go by! 

Several things about my Nikon have always bugged me. All of these photos were taken in the automatic setting because I'm still getting the hang of things. While using auto on the Nikon, the flash was constantly going off, giving those photos an unnatural look. As well, there were only three focal points which never seemed like enough. Although I've only got this one little lens so far, I'm in the market for a longer zoom, once I've got that going, I may try to sell the Nikon on ebay, that is, if I can figure out how to do it!

Saturday afternoon we set the booth up in the yard, just like Brandy and Marcie did. Two years ago I applied to the Winter Park Autumn Art Festival and didn't get in, however, I'm trying again for this fall. The deadline for entering is Friday, thus, although the weather wasn't perfect, we soldiered on. Evidently, sparse is good, which worked well for us as I'm seriously short on canvases. Not for every week showings because we don't use the left wall. Once that's up, you need lots to fill it.  We did what we could with the stock on hand and I feel much better about this shot. Reviewing what I sent in earlier I was somewhat mortified! The other shot was taken at a show with sun streaming in the back, Bruce in the picture, and sun spots in the foreground! Cluttered looking? That too! I sent in the images yesterday and hopefully this year will be the charm. Mostly I want to do it because of the crowds. After doing Mayfaire we realized first hand how much this helps with sales. Time will tell my friends.

Sunday, although the market closed an hour early due to an impeding storm, we did pretty well, I'm delighted to report. I'm also happy to share that Maureen is slowly recovering in the comfort of her own home. She's operating a bit in slow motion, but the good news is, her doctors say she'll have a full recovery.

Because the market usually wears us out, we postponed any Father's Day celebration until Monday night at our home. Serving Bruce's favorites made me happy. Bill, Dave and Michelle came over, bringing Ginger with them to harass Baxter. Seriously, she loves to chase Baxter through the house. He, on the other hand, is not so crazy about it but will play along for a little while. She finally tuckered out, resting on the couch. I just love this one of her taken with the new camera! What a face!

Before dinner Matt phoned, letting me know that his birthday gift arrived which shocked me as I'd only mailed it last Tuesday. It's always hard buying gifts so this year I decided to make a photo book using my Mac. Eagerly opening the package FedEx delivered Tuesday afternoon, I wasn't disappointed with the quality--terrific. Immediately I repackaged it, heading up to the post office before closing time. Before I left I mentioned to Bruce that it would probably cost $20 to ship, making the $17 cost a nice surprise. He seemed to like it.

Only two more weeks left at the Polasek. They close for the months of July and August and to that I say, hear, hear! Have a great day dear ones.