Oh, Happy Day!

My daughter's wedding in Portland, OR was the most beautiful setting for a ceremony I've ever witnessed. Yes, some things went wrong, but there are so many moments we'll be laughing at later. Like the judge who was late because he was stopped for speeding; then his iPad died while he read the script my daughter had so carefully written. However, my daughter--planner extraordinaire--made two hard copies just in case.

Our connecting flight home was missed because Alaska Airlines had a mechanical malfunction in Portland. The first two days home I slept more than I've ever slept in my life. So here are the only two photos I've been able to edit. Hope you enjoy!

Jason and Autumn - 9/5/2015

Trillium Lake near Mt. Hood - 9/6/2015

A HUGE "THANK YOU" to my dear friend, Bridget for watching our precious Izzy and spoiling her rotten while we were gone. This was an image that B made up for Autumn's wedding day, along with a blessing. Sweetest thing I've seen in a long time. I am so happy to have a creative and caring friend like B!

I'll be 'round to make the rounds soon!

Weekend Update

Howdy folks! The arts and crafts fair put on by St. Luke's Episcopal Church was a great experience. I loved spending the day with Sweet B and her equally sweet son. We met a lot of people, even making some contacts for future work. A lady from St. Amant purchased cards from both of us and asked us to photograph her horses and stables. There were three ladies who wanted photography lessons, and the guy in the booth next to us was interested in buying art for three locations of a business he was expanding. So even though sales were a little lackluster, we made some great contacts! Our minds were swirling with ideas like getting a web site, etc. Not sure where all this will lead, but I feel hopeful.

Some of you asked which notecards sold at the arts and crafts fair. Below are the ones that sold. You've seen them all before here at some point.

I have been a little worn out from the experience, so I promise to catch up with everyone during the week. Oh, and since I have so much extra card stock I am going to host a couple of give-aways in the near future. Y'all be good and have a great week!

Linking with

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SX50 Test Run

Happy Monday morning to you all!

I've been playing with the Canon Powershot SX50 quite a bit, and though it's been a frustrating experience, I think I've finally figured out through trial and error, and tutorials on the internet*, how to obtain fairly sharp images. However, it's been raining and/or cloudy since I got the camera, so I haven't had adequate light to know if I can get the same sharpness I am seeing from others who own this camera.

On my DSLR (Bertha) I shoot in aperture priority, sometimes at 1600 ISO to get a fast shutter. Since the sensor in Bertha is full frame, there is no noise at this ISO level. No-can-do on the SX50. The main trick with this camera is to have a shutter speed of 500 or more, an ISO below 400 (preferably), and let the camera choose the aperture. Also, I have better luck using the back screen for finding my subject, rather than looking through the viewfinder. The viewfinder pretty much sucks on this camera, imo. Put her on a tripod and use the back screen with the other settings, some bright light, and it's a great little camera.

No cropping on any of these, just resized, noise removed, and sharpened slightly for the blog. I think this is going to be a good option for kayaking and for times when I do not want to lug all the heavy gear.

The Autumn Carnation azaleas I planted are going crazy! There are hundreds of blooms on three small bushes.

Downy woodpecker. Not sharp, but I was amazed at how much closer the zoom allows than my 400mm.

Izzy. Double D has made her rotten.

Sparky. My first rescue from the emergency pet clinic. He's 12 now and on three medications for
congestive heart failure and thyroid disease.

*I found this link very helpful on how to achieve sharp photos with the Canon SX50. I hope this helps someone else out there who owns this camera, or is thinking of buying it.

Linking with Saturday's Critters. Please check out other submissions on Eileen's fun new meme!

Fall Cleaning - Photo Style

For whatever reason, some of my images never made it to my blog. I went through all my photos from the first three months of this year and had a big ol' Delete Party. It feels good to lighten the load and make more room on my hard drive. I'll be doing more of that as time allows.

Bald Eagle landing - 2/3/13. Looks like he's wearing a white skirt.

iPhone shot of levee where eagles were observed - 2/5/13

A pod of pelicans - LSU Lakes - 2/13/13

Green heron - LSU Lakes - 2/24/13

Lilacs Wisteria- Avery Island - 3/16/13
Thanks for the correction, Anni! I always get lilacs and wisteria confused. :/

Nesting egrets - Avery Island - 3/26/13

Egrets in breeding plumage - Avery Island - 3/26/13

iPhone shot of breeding platforms - Avery Island - 3/26/13
The green area is algae

iPhone shot of Trees and Trails nature area at Burden Center - 3/19/13
Carrying heavy camera equipment over this narrow boardwalk sans railings was a bit scary.
I was more worried about damaging my camera equipment then getting devoured by alligators.

iPhone shot of azaleas - same location as above - 3/19/13

Izzy wanted to say "HI!"
Basking in the sunshine - 3/29/13

Linking to Skywatch Friday. Thanks, hosts!

I had a plan

Oh, yes I had a plan; however, as with most of my plans, it went horribly awry. My idea was to take Christmas pictures of the dogs. I had the props, a fully charged camera battery, the Christmas tree decorated, and a fire blazing. Have you ever tried to pose three dogs at once? I'd get one situated and the other two would wander off. Reminded me of my three toddlers from long ago. So I got the bright idea to lure them with treats. Lawdy, lawdy, Miss Claudy! All they were interested in was my hand and pocket. I tried outside shots and inside shots. Outdoors I was rewarded with muddy knees and shoes and nothing to show for it. Inside I was clean, but just as frazzled. Well, see for yourself how all this played out.

Daddy tried to help, but he only has two hands. Okay, two will do. He got the squirmy worms posed as best he could and I metered the shot all wrong. I had to rescue in Lightroom which caused major grain, so I imported to PS and added this lovely texture by Kim Klassen called Word.

Now Chance decides to enter the frame, but the settings are still all wrong. Then I got the giggles because nothing was going right which resulted in camera shake. You see? I cannot shoot indoors. I hate it. I suck.

Let's try outside! Light is too bright, creating harsh shadows. No matter, my precious babies are not cooperating anyway.

I gave up on the chihuahuas (temporarily) and decided to work on Chance. "See boy? I have a treat!"
He only looked at my hand from there on out. :/

Finally! A pose. But the sky is blown. Jeepers, what's a mother to do?

Okay, let's return to the chi chis and try the patio chair. Where's Izzy? Oh, never mind, I can at least get one dog to pose, right? Sigh. I guess not.

I know! I'll lure Sparky with the treat by putting it in the angel statue. Chance, unfortunately for Sparky, figured this out much quicker. And he's much taller. :/

"PLEASE MAKE HER STOP. I BEG OF YOU."
IZZY!!!! Where'd Izzy go? Oh, there she is, hiding in the monkey grass, hoping I won't find her. Ever. I think she's pretending to be a lawn ornament.

Oops, Chance discovered her hiding place, too.

Back in the house we go! Let's try a more controlled setting. "Nah, ma, I don't feel like cooperating. If you don't give up that treat, I'm going postal on you. Doggie style!"

I just want one shot with your face and the antlers in focus! Just one, dadgummit!

Aaaaaannnddd! That's a wrap. This is good as it's gonna get. Notice that I did not put my watermark on a single one of these. Heh.

Okay, I need a nap now. I think reliving it added to my exhaustion. Hope y'all had a more productive afternoon than I. Or is it me? My English Major daughter will know. I'm off to make dinner, so I'll be back later to catch up.

Has anyone else had trouble with my blog pics downloading? Only one person has mentioned it so far, so I don't know if it was just her or if everyone is having that issue. Thanks!

Geaux Local II

As part of my Geaux Local series, I am pleased as punch to share another creative soul with all of my animal loving friends. Nadine has been a longtime blogging buddy from my days as a chihuahua blogger. She has two sweet ones also, Chewy and Lilibell. I was so smitten with her jewelled collars, that I ordered some for Izzy. The quality of Nadine's work is exceptional, which I can attest to since Izzy owns four of her pieces. Since then Nadine has branched out, creating dog attire that rivals Versace. Nadine is also a dedicated voice for orphaned/neglected animals, giving a portion of the proceeds to rescue organizations. Please check out her Etsy site here and her Facebook page here. Below are the necklaces that were crafted by Nadine and modeled reluctantly by Izzy.

Lilibell's Couture link

Christmas, 2010 - My punkin wouldn't sit still, so I ended up with a bit of blur, but you get the idea.
Texture by Skeletelmess, Beneath the Surface

I think this was the first necklace I ordered. It looks so elegant.

This was a "bonus" necklace that Nadine sent. The ladybug charm is perfect for Izzy and the red/black/white color scheme is so White Stripes (a band I will always love)

Our little Valentine

Please note that Nadine of Lilibell's Couture did not solicit this post, nor was I compensated in any way. I am simply sharing my experiences of buying from independent designers/sellers. Sharing the love, that's all!

Random

Still trying to recuperate from the LSU tailgate party yesterday. I managed to make it to noon mass at St. Joseph's, but that was about all. Partying is no longer in the cards for me, I guess. My mind wants to have fun and be a social butterfly, but my body won't let me. I WILL be posting about it soon, though!

Posting these random images because I really didn't know what else to do with them.

Observed this at my dad's football game. A little girl under the age of two sat in a stroller right beside this mother who not only wore dangerous jewelry, but also sported psychedelic shoes with 6" heels, and shorts so short and tight she made Pamela Anderson look like Mother Teresa. Every time the child fussed, she stuffed Cheetos in the child's mouth or just ignored the poor girl. I bit a hole in my tongue to keep silent, and felt helpless and angry the whole game. I envisioned a big confrontation, but I also envisioned having my eyes poked out. Gosh, what does one do in a situation like this? I'm sure I could've devoted an entire post to this, discussing the social ramifications of this mother's behavior, but what good would it do?

Playing with Izzy and the iPhone in July while Daddy's out of town.

Our beloved State Capital building, June, 2012. The tallest capitol building in the U.S.

Gecko cutie pie.

BBQ shrimp and grits. YUM! I did not know grits could be fried. Another iPhone shot.

Just playing.

First time ever seeing a wren's tongue.

My new reading chair for the master bedroom. Ordered it from overstock.com. I escape to this whenever my husband is on a sports-watching-binge. Which is frequently.

LOVE this shirt, but had to return it for a larger size. Unfortunately, this was the last one. If anyone sees this shirt anywhere, please direct me! From the fleur-de-lis--to the faded Saints lettering--to the Football script font: this has ME written all over it!

Spotted this dinner napkin at Hobby Lobby. The translator obviously had a problem with the word BLESSINGS! LOL

Hope your week is bleesed!