Winner announcement tomorrow!

Due to unforeseen issues at home, I will be posting the winner of my photo contest tomorrow! Thank you for your patience!!

Photo highlights of the week

We had a pretty good weekend. Went to a Mardi Gras themed gathering with my church Saturday night. Got really jazzed up beforehand after drinking Starbucks instant coffee. It's like twelve shots of espresso in one cup. Holy coffee beans! Later that night I had a rough time trying to go to sleep, then woke up at 4:30 Sunday morning and stayed awake. :/ Church was great today. I'm meeting more people and feeling more welcome there. Our priest is still the most wonderful clergyman I know.

Managed to find time for photography which is always nice. Here are some things I shot over the weekend that I'm pleased with:

Keenan Cemetery
Farmers Branch, TX
Read more details about this photo here

Sunset at Indian Creek Golf Course
Really wish my camera settings would have been better.
Those bright orange sunsets make me awe-struck and I can't think properly.

Dandelions sprouting in the yard and I'm excited! Spring is around the corner.
Don't the ends of the spores remind you of 4th of July sparklers?

Squirrel greeting me on my arrival at Nob Hill Greenbelt

Week 7 of Focus 52
Pansy macro

I Won!

You guys, I never win anything. I go to the gambling boats in Baton Rouge when I go home to visit and promptly lose $200. Every. Single. Time. The Belle of Baton Rouge has taken me for a ride too many times to count. Although, it's probably a blessing that I don't win big because that would only encourage me to gamble more. But for some reason, on the internet, I seem to have better luck winning things.

I entered a contest over at lovely Kate's Chronicles of a Country Girl blog. She made entering her contest super easy. All I had to do was leave a comment on her blog stating which of her prints I would like to have if I won. I became super excited when I saw her cardinals in the choices. Ever since I came across her photo of the Female cardinal in snow bokeh on Flickr and on her blog, I was instantly smitten. So, on Valentine's Day, my comment, #17, was chosen by the random integer generator thingy.

I hope she doesn't mind me bringing the photo over here in my post, but I simply must show off my beautiful prize:

Photo by Kate of Chronicles of a Country Girl

Isn't she beautiful? As many of you know, I have a thing for birds, especially cardinals. And a cardinal in the snow? Wow. This knocked my socks off. She is one of the prettiest female cardinals I've ever seen. Kate did a splendid job capturing this one.

Thank you, Kate! I received my 8x10 and 2 smaller prints in the mail today. Love, love, love it!! Can't wait to find the perfect frame.

Please check out Chronicles of a Country Girl. Kate is pretty awesome. I can say that about her even if I didn't win anything because her blog is always so entertaining. Go! What are you waiting for?! :)

Photo challenge & give away!

Yesterday I posted my photo of these Mute Swans doing their mating ritual. Above is the original (resized). Pretty atrocious, huh? They caught me by surprise with their lovemaking, and turns out I only had a brief window of time to capture them before they sailed off into the sunset, which didn't take long once they noticed the telephoto pointed right at them. My camera was on all the wrong settings, naturally. But underneath this awful photo there is potential for something beautiful, just like the story of  the ugly duckling maturing into a graceful swan. I believe that with all my heart. ♥

I've attempted a few times to edit this photo, but I don't like anything I've done! So, I've decided to throw down a challenge to whomever can salvage it best, with a prize for the best edit. Yes, I am bribing anyone who will take the bait because I need help. This photo needs YOUR help!

The 1200x800 version is here. The original RAW file can be found here, but when you click this link it automatically starts downloading--just know that it is a very large file. Please let me know of any problems with any of the links.

You have until midnight central time on 2/22/11 to submit your entry. The grand prize winner will receive one $25 gift card to Amazon. One entry per person. I would love to offer a bigger prize, or something for runners-up, but Pioneer Woman, I am not. :)

Rules summary:

1. Edit the photo any way you wish 
2. Link the edited photo using Linky Tools below, OR leave your link in the comment section of this post
3. Leave a comment on this post with an explanation of your edit(s); it can be as brief or as detailed as you like, but I'm a nosy girl so the more information, the better. :) 
4. Become a follower of this blog (if you're already a follower, great!)
5. Brownie points for putting my blog button on your blog (if you don't have a blog, no biggie). The code is located on the sidebar.
6. Please include your email address when submitting your comment (this is important in order to contact you if you win!)

To use Linky Tools, upload the edited photo to your blog or a service like Flickr, Snapfish, etc. Copy and paste the link of your photo in Linky. Please note that the link must be to the URL of your actual photo, not just to the site it’s posted in. 

That's all! I'm looking forward to your entries!

P.S. I used Linky Tools to upload the first thumbnail, but obviously, I am disqualifying myself. Just wanted to make sure it works!

UPDATE 2/15/11, 3:39PM: Apparently, Linky Tools is having issues which is causing the link to not show up (and I think it's playing havoc with my blog, too). Hopefully, they will get it resolved, pronto!


UPDATE 2/15/11, 4:48PM: It appears that Linky Tools is back up! Hope it stays that way. 

Mute Swans In Love

I took this photo last October. Two mute swans were doing a mating dance, oblivious to me and my obnoxious, clacking camera. I've been waiting to upload it on THIS day ever since! Seemed like forever, and I hoped I wouldn't forget, as my memory is not what it once was. :/ I was going to work on editing yesterday to try to clean them up, but hubby spent the entire day on my computer trying to get our Harmony One remote programmed. :/ So, this is pretty much SOOC (straight out of camera) except for minimal cropping, exposure adjustment, and sharpening. I may try to clean these two lovebirds up another day. 

EDIT UPDATE:  I reworked the photo with a texture overlay from Dubtastic. I'd still like to see what else can be done to help this photo. :)