Deep Thoughts

I saw this quote on Flickr. If anyone knows who to attribute it to, I will be happy to give credit as I've Googled to no avail.

The torn paper texture is by an inactive account at Deviant Art.

Font is called Sunshine in my Soul.

Slideshow and Project 52

In my spare time I have been working on a slideshow of my trip. I have published and unpublished it so many times that I've lost count. Either the flow wasn't right, or a picture didn't pan correctly, or I'd decide to change the music. On the last viewing I discovered I had typed "Oak Bottom" instead of "Oaks" Bottom in the description. I'm not a total perfectionist, but accuracy is fairly high on my list of priorities. The other thing I'm not happy about (but I refuse to change), is that I used the resized images with watermarks. I like using the Ken Burns effect (pannning and zooming of images), but if you have a watermark, it will get cut off unless you adjust each frame. Who has the time?! Using smaller images means that if you view it on full screen it's going to lose a lot of clarity. The next time I do a slideshow I will save a copy specifically for that purpose before resizing and slapping on my watermark. Live and learn. :/

There are so many more photos, but they must wait until I have more time to work on them. If you have 3 minutes and 41 seconds, I'd be honored if you'd watch my slideshow. Music is Brahms: Serenade #1 in D, Op. 11.


Here is my submission for this week's Focus 52 and Photo Feature Friday.

More Portland

Because I have SO many photos, I am trying to put together a video. I was up until 1AM putting the finishing touches on it...went to bed thinking it was finished, then decided I wanted to change a couple of things around for better flow. Anyway! Here are some more photos that I want to share with you all today.

I always chuckle at the way a squirrel becomes immobilized when they first see you. It's like I'm a cop, my camera is the gun, and I say "FREEZE!"

I could not get over the large, reptilian-looking appendage on this little gosling. A gosling is a young Canadian goose, btw. I think I'll call this one Ryan. :)

Bridge at Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden

I have never seen such abundant azaleas. I thought Louisiana had the prettiest, but Portland's are thicker and more colorful, I must admit.

Great Blue Heron with tiny fish. 

Crustose lichens grows on a lot of trees there. It's a type of fungus/aglae.

Rhododendron bloom

Tree Swallow at Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve, Hillsboro, OR
My daughter and I were able to get incredibly close to the tree swallows. Love their bluish-green iridescent feathers. When the light hits it just right, it's so pretty!

Guess Who?

Jillsy Girl sure knows how to put on a blog party. There's always something going on at her place! The idea is to see if any of the participating photographers have a signature look. Jill asked for submissions and put together a mosaic with a list below of who the photos belong to. Sorry to say I am not too familiar with some of the photographers, but I will try to check them out tomorrow to see if I can pick up some clues. In any case, I think it's a great way to meet other photographers and bloggers. Thanks, Jill for hosting!

What a diverse and beautiful mosaic of images, no?

It just so happens that each of the above images came from a different photo-blogger.

Can you pin the photo to the blogger based on their individual photographic style and/or content?

Let's have a little fun and see if anyone can guess them all correctly!

Here is the list of bloggers who contributed one of the above photos

Even if you are not familiar with a particular photographer

please take a few minutes to browse through their blog, say hi, then come back here and leave your guesses below

 On Blogger blogs, the "dynamic" view has been linked for easy browsing. 

To leave a comment on their blog, just delete /view/mosaic in the URL window to get to their homepage

Amy @ Tilting Windmills

Kamana @ Journalling Through Photos

Lissa @ A Chance of Sunshine

Beth @ Be Yourself

Barbara @ Long Hollow Photography

Gail @ Louisiana Belle

Vanessa @ Nessy Designs

Fiona @ Lady Fi 

Christine @ Creating A Life of Beauty

Jill @ Jillsy Girl Studio 

Now...off you go

and enjoy the photoblog tour while you're at it!

It's guaranteed you'll see some excellent photography!

Have Fun!

Portland

Oh my goodness! Where to even begin? My birthday trip to Portland, OR was amazing. Usually I don't like to make a big deal about my birthday, but when I enter a new decade, that's kind of a big deal to me. So, hello 50! There's no turning back now! When I was younger I had this idea that I wouldn't live past the age of 36, so to be 50 and feeling pretty good, is a huge accomplishment.

This will be a short post with a few photos to whet your appetite. :) I took 960 pictures, most of them with the new 100-400mm lens, and I was pleased with the quality of most of them. This means hours and days of sorting and processing, but the ones I've processed have needed minimal work, which is very nice.

View from Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden
Gray skies, but still beautiful

While there I saw lots of brightly colored and creative hairstyles, a girl who exposed her entire derrière as she left a restaurant, had my credit card stolen, trudged until our feet and backs ached, drank coconut chai tea, ate meat pies, explored until we could explore no more, and spent precious time with my only daughter who is the sweetest person you could ever meet! And she is a bird enthusiast and photographer just like her mother! Love that girl so much.

Autumn enjoying the scenery at Tryon Creek State Park 

I would love to post more, but my boss has asked me to edit photos for a landscaping book that he is having printed. Yay! This is my favorite thing to do. Just wish I could work on my own photos. :/