mmmmm.... veggies!

Yes, I photograph produce for fun... got a problem? Hehe.... anyway, this is a continuation of Friday's post. I had so many nice pictures from my sojourn to Ferjulian's that I thought I would post some more. The staff at the stand are very nice and always let me run amock with my camera in tow. The only thing that bad about going here to play with my camera is that I feel really guilty if I walk out empty handed after spending a 1/2 hour giving their wares the paparazzi treatment. Oh, that gives me an idea! Maybe I should start a website of the various fruit and vegetables I have caught on on camera unawares in compromising situations.... I so have no life!... Needless to say, I left Ferjulian's with a bag full of yummy vegitation and some fodder for my blog. Not a bad deal huh?

Mmmm... methinks it is time to make some cuke salad!
You know, I don't think I have ever actually cooked eggplant before.... I've only ordered it in restaurants. Hmmmm, maybe an experiment is in order.

Beach Day!

There is nothing quite like your first time at the beach.... and as you have probably already figured out, this little guy had his first experience documented :-) A whole bunch of us went to visit our friend Kristin today for a BBQ and she had offered that we could all come down early and head for the beach of we wanted. Since we were driving about 2 hours or so, it seemed to make sense just to leave early in the day and stay for awhile. We had a really nice time and I only got a little crispy around the edgesfrom all the sun. After a few hours with the sand and surf we headed back to Kristin's to change and put some burgers on the grill to enjoy with good friends. Thanks Kristin for giving us such a memorable day!

Bee-utiful Opportunity

So, I was killing time today at Ferjulian's farm stand with my trusty camera in hand. I was back in the greenhouse taking pictures away from the myriads of customers milling about the fruit and vegitable area when I happily stumbled upon this little guy. I was so psyched to get a picture of this bee. I was recently lamenting the sheer lack of fauna I have seen this summer... well besides skunks and the neiborhood cat Molly tried to kill through the slider door. That was a fun night I tell you. Actually it was a pretty hard week on Molly in general. First she had her run in with the scary kitty on the other side of the slider on Tuesday night and then the building's fire alarm went off on Wednesday. She was so scared that she had a little accident when Brian and I were manhandling her into her carrier. The poor thing.... I felt so bad for her. She was absolutely inconsolable until we got her back inside once the fire dept. said everything was clear. Stupid people that don't know how to cook... grumble....

Inchie Love

So, tonight I tried out making my first Inchies.... what are they? Well, they are 1" by 1" squares that you exhibit your vast quantities of crafting talent silly!!! ahem... well, maybe not vast, but this size is about all my attention span can handle these days. I'm probably selling myself a little short here, but nevertheless, they are fun and don't require hours of committment to finish. I did this four in a fairly short amount of time for me, maybe an hour?

So, if you want to learn more about Inchies, you can go to InchieArts.com and check it out. The sky is the limit sinc eyou can use any old stamp or paper to make them. I'm very excited :-D If you want to check out someone who makes really nice Inchies and incorperates into her other crafts, check out Mish Mash.

I need to work on night photography

So, can you tell how dire my need for instruction is on this subject? This is the best shot I got of about 50 or so I tried to take on the way to the grocery store. GRUMBLE!!! It looked soo cool and I just couldn't capture it. The picture was always too grainy plus, I wa messing with the shutter speed without the aid of a tripod and so many of them were blurry in addition to the grain that was already annoying me. I am somewhat happy with this although I know it could be much better. I better get reading that night and low light photography book I bought after getting so that night.

Lazy Sundays are the best....

Lately our Sundays have kind of become just hang out and relax together days. We just spend time together, whether it's reading, gaming or whatever. This Sunday I was lying in bed reading next to Brian when I turned over and saw this view before my eyes which inspired me to grab my camera. I really like how the light is coming from in between the blinds in front of the window behind him. It makes the picture seem intimate while really it is not other than the close-up nature of my photography.

Awww, isn't she cute...

This is Lucy, our Friends' Heather and Rob's new puppy and she was just one of the many attendees of Lars' surprise birthday party. They have only had her for a couple months of so and believe me, she is sooo small compared to Erin and Joel coon hound Katie (see second picture). It was acually quite funny having both of the dogs there... Lucy kept on walking up to Katie and acting like she wanted to play until Katie got all excited and came right after her. I think Lucy was a tad overwhelmed to say the least and dove for cover behind the nearest human or inanimate object. To add to the hilarity, Lars and Tara's son Luke was there as well as another friend's little girl named same. One puppy, one adolescent hound, and two 2 year olds.... you do the math here.

I'm gonna get it

So, I wonder how mom will retiliate for this one? Lets see how long it takes her to notice that I put this one up. Actually it is one of the best pictures I have ever taken of her. We have a mother daughter day and decided to go to Wheaton and do some photography around campus since it is always so beautiful there in the summer. We had some pretty good luck wandering around. It was pretty hot though, so we didn't stay too long.


Here are a few more good ones I took while we sauntered the grounds:















The columns and inscription above the Madeleine Clark Wallace Library



















The lower campus view of Cole Memorial Chapel - a place very special to me since I was there every Monday and Wednesday for Choral practice and Brian and I were married there.

The cupola on the Mary Lyon building - This is occasionally used for classes such as the illustrious Religion and Sexuality course. However, it is usually used for small functions and some administrative offices. This cupola is actually a pretty big symbol of Wheaton itself.

I'll consider myself pampered....

So, I was lucky enough to get a couple days off this week and on one of them I went with my mother-in-law to a salon to have a "pamper us" day. She got a manicure, pedicure and a facial and I went a little overboard by getting the following: manicure, facial, eyebrow wax, highlights and a hair cut. Believe me, all but the manicure and facial were absoluetly necessary... So, here is a portion of my new do. I have bangs again and for once they look like they are on purpose instead of some freakish accident :P Anne, my stylist took off about 7 inches of pretty much useless hair, so by the time she was done with the cute and natural looking highlight and the cut, I really looked like a changed woman (or a human if we talking seriously here). Anyway, it wa a great day and very relaxing. Hopefully we can do it again sometime, although my wallet might need some recovery time.

The joys of employing a hackney carriage

Yes, it was that fateful day today... the day Molly had to go to the V-E-T. Actually, the problem for Molly is not really the vet. It is the sub-standard transportation company she employs to get her there. I mean, they lock her in a cage... yes, a cage! Plus, there are no snacks or drinks offered for her refreshment. This will be the last time she rides in coach! She was quite vociferous about her displeasure yet the driver continued on, completely ignoring her request for another means of transport. The return home was slightly better. The driver saw fit to allow her access to the sun roof area so that she could get some air and be less confined. Also, for some reason a masseuse was employed for her relaxation on the return trip. After exploring her surroundings, she settled in for a nice nap in the cool breeze of the excellent climate control system. Despite the driver's poor morning performance, she did seem to go above a beyond on the way home to cater to Molly's needs and wishes. Oh, and the vet visit went very well, she is fit as a fiddle and has even lost a bit of weight over the past year. Weight Watchers has really worked out for her. Congratulations Molly on your excellent health!

Killer back yard peacocks of doom!

Now that I have your attention, I wanted to show a photo taken by my father-in-law, Dave. He sucessfully captured a peacock on film (well, on media card anyway) right in his own back yard. How cool is that? So much of being a photographer is just happeing to be in the right place at the right time. Methinks I need to work on that ability a bit.... I might get more interesting pictures that way. So, who knows how to be in the right place at the right time? I need a tutor....

Yet another awesome Pixar movie

Brian and I were just planning on hanging around the house together for the day.... but Colette called wanting to escape the gloominess of the overcast day by asking if I wanted to take her up on the free movie she owned me. I was hedging because I wanted to kidn stay home until she mentioned... "well, I kinda wanted to see WALL-E..."

That was it, I was in... I didn't care if B didn't want to go see it with us, I was going out anyway. So we went and it was worth every penny. you know a movie has to be good in my book if I'll post about it on my photo blog!! So, I beseech you, check this one out. To see the trailer click here.

Well, at least it's not a storm....

Ok, well, it's after the storm. While I love thunderstorms this is getting to be a bit much. I think we've had storms for over 5 days now at some point in the day. I took this one in my car while I was in the parking lot of our apartment building. I had been trying in vain to capture some lightning since there had been so much of it lately, but finally decided it was best to give in and document the storm's aftermath.

WTH? Another Hail Storm?

Ok, twice is two days? Come on!!! So the day following the hail storm at home was proptly followed by one at work the next day. I wish I could have captured this storm better on camera. It went for about 20 minutes and caused a complete white out. This is some of the hail that fell off the building during the storm. There was so much water cascading off the building it actually looked like a small waterfall. It was very neat and all of us were just sitting there looking out the window watching the carnage.

Hail to Thor, God of Thunder!

Ok, so the title for this is just a revolting play on words. I just wanted to make that clear in case anyone thinks I have decided to start worship of the Norse Gods... You are mistaken. We actually had a rocking thunderstorm pass through town tonight and I managed to snap a few pictures during the mayhem. I, being a complete thunderstorm freak, rushed to check the radar on my computer when I started to hear the low rumbles from the southwest. Much to my delight, it looked like a pretty big one was going to go straight over us. YIPPEE!! Yes, I am weird, don't ask. I was trying to corral the cat (because she is very afriad of thunder) into the bedroom so I could sit with her and try to convey to her that nothing was going to hurt her. I had the idea that I might be able to make her less afraid and she might stop hiding under things during storms. So, I'm squishing her to bed in an effort to keep her in one spot when I start hearing the distinct sound of something hitting the side of the building... it only took me a few moments before I thought "duh, it's hail!"

So, I figured my efforts with Molly would be fruitless since it was probably a nasty storm and let her go to hide somewhere as I searched out my camera. I managed to get the slider open to take this first shot, but I knew I wasn't doing the storm justice. The hail sounded really loud, so I went out to the back door to take a look and took the second picture. Crazy huh?

This whole storm I swear was gone in 10 minutes tops. Once I stopped taking pictures I decided I should probably try to find out where the cat went. Quel suprise... she was under our little couch. Now, this couch does not have alot of clearence under it and she is not exactly a petite cat. In an effort to extract her from underneath it, I ended up pushing her towards the back. I went around to the other side to grab a leg and pull and found this image before me: