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Today I really wanted to get back into the Daily Shoot photos. The theme today is "weather" and we have had heavy clouds all day, so I just knew I could get rain drops falling in a puddle for today's "weather" shot. Shows what I know - it never rained! I stopped off on a side road on the way home from Hamilton to take some pictures of the clouds since I couldn't do the rain thing...I ended up at a pretty valley with a good view of the mountains and the picturesque farm at the base.

 

Just for fun I added CoffeeShop's Soft Autumn Glow action to this at about 70% opacity...

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I have to confess that I did not take any photos today. I spent a good portion of the day editing photos from our vacation and church party, so I’m going to post a few of my favorites from our vacation.

Mt. Rushmore was really impressive. I loved it!

We spent a couple hours on Pactola Lake on Thursday. All the kids got a chance to drive the pontoon boat, and we had a great time! Katie obviously saw something wonderful.

The sunrise on our last day in South Dakota was just gorgeous!

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We had the 10th anniversary party for our church today. Everyone enjoyed it, and it's all done! Whoohoo! 

This isn't the best photo of any of us, but I thought it was time I showed my face again. My friends Michele and Jill came to celebrate our church's anniversary and sing with me. It was so much fun they invited me to come and sing at their church next week! 

(Credit for this photo goes to my husband, Ken.)

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This was shot about 30 miles east of Missoula on our way home. I'm going to have access to my photo computer soon, but I doubt I'll have time or energy to get to photos today, so I'm posting from the road one last time.

By the way, this is the Clark Fork River, and for us it means we're nearly home.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

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For our last camping night we stopped for dinner at a cool, new McDonald's in Billings. We chose this one because one of our friens works here, and we haven't seen him in a few years. It was good to see Matt, and we were fascinated with the chair and tv's in the fine dining establishment.

Tomorrow we will be home!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

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Once again, my mesage didn't post earlier. I don't know why it- happening.

We went out on Pactola Lake today. It was so much fun! All the kids got to drive the boat - they were thrilled!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

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I don't know what happened to tis post this morning. Ergh. This is the second time I've sent this today.

Today was Kristi's 9th birthday. We went to Reptile Gardens, which was fun, and then we had a little celebration at our campsite with the neighbors. It was a great day.

The other photo is of our camp kitchen at sunrise. Just for fun. Thanks for dropping in!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

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Kristi was quite worried about Dale going hunting for firewood. She felt the woods were "dangerous" and she watched until he came back up the hill safely. Funny girl. 

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Fw: 235/365

(I sent this yesterday, but there wa an error. Bummers.)

We went to see Mt. Rushmore today! It was great! I was really impressed, and I think everyone enjoyed it. 

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

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Here's another cell phone shot. Today was the actual day my baby turned 5, so I took this snap of him this morning. I had Kristi create shade for him but the wind blew her hair, so some sun peeked through - that's why Caleb has the sun spot around his eye.

We are camped just outside Rapid City, South Dakota, and it is WINDY! It was super hot today, so I'm thankful for the breeze, but we really spent the whole evening tying tents down. I hope they're secure!

I'm off to work for a bit. Thanks for stopping!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

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This doesn't look like much, but it is the aftermath of a "storm" that sent our 14x14 tent over on its end. Normally that would be just a minor annoyance, but this time there were 3 sleeping boys in the tent. Poor Caleb was on the end that went flying, and he ended up in this pile of sleeping bags and suitcases with our bed on top of him. Fortunately, he was just shaken up and bumped around. After the gust that up-ended our tent the storm moved on.

I seem to have forotten the cable that I need to connect my camera to my computer, so my vacation posts might be all cell phone shots.

Thanks for peeking in!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

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I’m thinking I won’t have time for a longer blog post this evening, so I’m going to make a quick post while I have 5 minutes. Ken and I have a meeting, and we still have to pack everything up and run errands. GAK! So here’s a square-cropped shot of Caleb and his dinosaur checking out the dinosaur birthday cake.

(It’s square because the Project 365 group’s Friday Challenge is “Square.”)

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I didn’t take a Daily Shoot photo today, so this will be a Thankful Thursday photo. My friend Jeff posted something on Facebook about traffic and stoplights making him homesick for the lazy peacefulness of Montana. I went and took this shot just for him (he’s in Mississippi now). I did have to wait for a minute or so to get a shot without several cars in it, but it certainly isn’t bumper-to-bumper traffic! I’m so thankful that I live in a nice, small town. I’m even thankful that it’s the type of town where I know almost everybody, and they know me.

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Today’s assignment from The Daily Shoot (a photo of a photo) worked perfectly into my photo plans for the day – taking a 5-year portrait of Caleb. Unfortunately, my plans didn’t work perfectly into Caleb’s plans – he wasn’t very cooperative. I did get this one shot though, and it’s pretty close to what I was envisioning. I wanted a 5-year portrait of him with a baby picture. This is my very favorite baby picture of him. I took the baby photo before I knew much about lighting and composition, but I’m reasonably pleased with it. The light was diffused window light from two huge windows, and at the time all I understood was that I loved how the light came out in the shot. Now I know I should give him more head room, and maybe reflect a bit of light back toward the right side of his face…but this was pretty decent for a novice! The new shot was done outside on our new grass, and was all natural light in the shade of a maple tree.
For some reason Caleb didn’t want anyone to see the baby photo, so don’t tell him I showed it to you!

This Sunday is this little man’s 5th birthday. I asked him how he got from that little 6-month-old baby to this big, 5-year-old boy. He answered, “I waited.”

Duh, Mom.

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The Daily Shoot assignment today is “Make a photograph that features a sign of some sort today. Maybe a stop sign. Maybe an information sign. Or an advert.” I tried a couple different things today. I shot this magnet that I love early today, but didn’t get a shot I liked of it until I took it outside to get natural light. I had to wait until I had a white(ish) truck to put it on though. So I actually ended up shooting this several times at several settings. This final version was outdoors with nothing but natural light, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/100.

The other idea I had for the assignment was an American Sign Language sign…

…but when I looked at the Daily Shoot entries I saw that someone else had done something similar, and I didn’t want to look like I had stolen someone’s idea, so this one is just for my blog followers. “I love you!” My sweet kids even said it to me while they signed it – maybe they do love me!

We are getting ready to leave for our week long vacation to South Dakota (Mt. Rushmore and the other attractions in the Rapid City area – whoohoo!!). We are excited about it because we will be meeting my oldest daughter, Jenny, and her family over there, and we will get to spend 5 days with them! I can’t wait! I will be taking my laptop since I have to work while we’re vacationing, so you can count on daily posts from me! (Besides that, I have gone 229 days without missing, so I don’t want to skip a day now!)

Thanks, everyone, for reading my blog. I appreciate you!

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Happy Monday! I have kind of quit on my Monochrome Mondays. I have discovered that in the summer I really, really want COLOR! There's so much vibrant color around that I just can't bear to shoot or process colorless images. So today's shot was taken early this morning as the rising sunlight was shining on my tiny poppy.

I took some shots of this poppy from the "front" (so the camera was on the same side as the sun) but the shadows were pretty hard, and they were pretty boring. I moved around so I was "behind" the flower and saw the hairs on the stem all lit up - I loved that! I also loved the big bokeh dots (bokeh dots - like polka dots - hee hee hee hee hee) that showed up through the maple tree in the background. I left leaves in near the bottom of the frame - even though they make it slightly unbalanced - because they give it some context. I think they tell the viewer that it is a poppy plant, and not a picked blossom. Since the Daily Shoot assignment was "a plant" I definitely wanted it to give the impression of planty-ness.

So there ya have it. Time for me to get to work! Thanks for dropping in - I'd love to hear what you think!

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Today we celebrated some new beginnings in Christ. As a symbol of being buried in the likeness of Christ's death, and raised in the likeness of His resurrection these people were making a public display of their commitment to Christ. It was a glorious time at the river, and a beautiful day for a good, old-fashioned baptism!

This precious lady and her husband were both baptized - what a joyous day for them!

I didn't even try for the Daily Shoot today. I took a bunch of photos at the baptism and some snapshots at the barbecue after, and these are my favorites from the day. I'm ready for a nap now.

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It was a lovely, quiet, slow Saturday. I like those! It's been so long since we've had one. I worked for a while (got a lot done!), cut the boys' hair, took a nap, nursed a sick boy (still), played on the computer...it was just a nice day. I didn't work on any photos until after dinner. It just seemed like work, and I didn't feel like working. The Daily Shoot assignment was motion blur, so once again, I got kids out on bicycles to practice making something blurry.

This one is the kind I like to do - I like detail-y shots. Photos that hint at a story. 

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear what you think!

225/365

Today’s assignment for The Daily Shoot was “Make a photograph using wide focal length. Zoom or prime or iPhone cameras all qualify for going wide today.” I didn’t have a lot of time for planning and shooting photos (I made my third trip to Hamilton for the week, and then finally had to get some hours in at work.) but I did take a short side trip up into the foothills of the Bitterroot Mountains so I could get a wide angle shot of the east side of the valley.

One thing I like about this photo (maybe the only thing – I’m not excited about this one) is the layers of color. The whites in the top third, the blues then greens in the center, then the almost autumn yellow/green in the lower third – it all breaks it into those pleasing “thirds”. It’s a bit busy to me – there are essentially 2 focal points (the valley in the distance and the farm in the center-ish). I think that’s why I’m not thrilled. Oh well…there it is.

I had an idea for my Friday the 13th photo for the Facebook Project 365 group, but it doesn’t look like I’m going to be able to carry it out – the subject I need (a particular person) isn’t home. Hmph.

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Today’s Daily Shoot assignment was “repeating patterns.” I really didn’t have the time I would have liked to devote to working on this assignment – I enjoy repeating patterns in photos, and I wanted to find something really interesting – but I also wanted to show off my new basket, so I guess it worked out.

I didn’t want a standard, boring snapshot of a basket. For my first shots I zoomed in on the repeating patterns in this handmade basket. For those who are interested, I just purchased this from the African man making them at our local festival.

After shooting just for the assignment, I decided to take some shots to show off my beautiful basket. I didn’t like any of the angles I tried showing off the entire thing, so I zoomed in a bit more and just included enough to “describe” the basket without looking like boring stock photography.

In case you can’t tell, I just love this basket. I almost talked myself out of spending the money on it, but my mother and my husband both told me I’d be sorry if I didn’t get it. They were right. I’ve been using it to carry everything everywhere!

Here’s a bonus of the basket creator working –this was taken with my Palm Pre Plus.

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Today's Daily Shoot assignment is "Make a photograph that uses the rule of thirds composition in a very obvious way and post it."

When I shoot my photos I always do so with the rule of thirds in mind, but I don't always follow it precisely. I imagine a tic-tac-toe board, and try to make sure my focal point is at one of the cross points on that imaginary board, but sometimes one must adjust or break the "rule." In the case of the photo above, I shot it with this very challenge in mind - Linda's face, which is intended to be my focal point - is approximately one third of the way down the frame, and one third in.

With the photo below, though, I did frame it with the kids' faces about a third of the way up (which leaves 2/3 above, and works well with landscapes), but it was unbalanced, so I cropped it so their bodies were generally near that 1/3 up "line." This puts the kids' faces closer to the center of the photo, but since there's still head room and there is a "dividing line" at the upper third (the grass/fence), this works for me. This one is included only to explain some of my "rule of thirds" thought processes.

Now, if I were to print this photo (and I might) I think I would crop it to 20x10 and cut out the sky. I actually really like this version except for some squintiness.

As you can see, I have decided to try to include a bit more about why do what I do with my photos. (Oh - I also want to note - I let the kids pose themselves for this one. I just told them to put themselves in "this" general area and make sure they could see the lens. They did a good job!) Thanks for stopping by!

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The Daily Shoot assignment is “Today's color is green. Make a photo of a green subject today and post it.”

This is one of the plants my kids brought from the neighbor’s giveaway, and it is obvious that this cactus likes the care it has been receiving here. All the branches(?) have new growth at the end like this one.

Now I’m off to get ready for my training meeting for work. Thanks for stopping by!

221/365

Instead of a Daily Shoot photo or a Monochrome Monday shot, how 'bout a "this is the only shot I have" photo?

It poured down rain today, and once again we had a river flowing down our sidewalk and into our driveway. It almost looks like whitewater there at the bottom! The kids were ankle-deep in water - they loved it!

Okay - gotta git to work! Thanks for stopping!

220/365

No Daily Shoot photo today – but I do have a Sunday Snapshot. These lovely sunflowers are from our new neighbors. They have so many sunflowers growing in their yard, and they’re one of my favorites. It was so sweet of her to give me a bouquet of happy sunflower faces!

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The Daily Shoot assignment today was "Visit a park today...make a photo of something that catches your eye." I don't usually post cell phone photos on Flickr at all, let alone in a challenge, but this was my favorite shot from the park today. Our town is having its annual Creamery Picnic festival in the park, and my husband bought this fabulous hat for our daughter. I just LOVE it!

We had a great time at Creamery Picnic - we ate some pulled pork BBQ, wandered through all the booths, ate yummy donuts, bought a few treasures (a fabulous basket, a great t-shirt, plastic swords, and, of course, Kristi's hat), and just enjoyed the afternoon. Our kids were great the whole time. Yay! One benefit to the kids growing up is that it's much more fun to take them out in public. The only problem with meandering through Creamery Picnic in the 90 degree weather is that we are all wiped out this evening. I feel an early bedtime coming!

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Not much time for photos today – this has been an absolutely crazy day! Busyness from the beginning to this very moment, which is not the end. I’m ready for some relaxation…a cold drink under a big umbrella on a sandy beach. That’s not happening, so here’s an insect I shot on a flower at WalMart. Gotta do my homework as the opportunity arises, right?

The Daily Shoot - “Insects are everywhere. Photograph a bug in your environment (no spiders - they're arachnids).”

I gave this a non-traditional crop just for fun, and then applied Pioneer Woman’s Lovely and Ethereal action at 40% because it needed something extra. I love the color of that lily!

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The Daily Shoot assignment for today is “Fabric: we wear it, sleep on it, decorate with it. Make a photo of an interesting cloth design or texture.” I love this pillow in this chair – I just love the combination of fabrics. I love this chair and pillow so much I keep the well-protected with laundry most of the time. :-)

My migraine seems to be gone (although it tried to come back and I sent it packing), but my head still feels bruised. I got my work done, but that’s all the thinking I’m going to do for today!

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Migraine day. Not much exciting weather for The Daily Shoot assignment - "Weather affects us all. Make a photo of weather or something affected by weather today."

I loved the height of this cloud formation. It was so white and puffy and huge!

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The Daily Shoot assignment for today is "How does your garden grow? Make a photo of something growing in your or someone else's garden today."

This lovely sunflower is in my neighbor's yard. It's rising high above a 6-foot fence so I'd say it's easily 7.5 feet tall. I just love sunflowers.

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After 18 years in Montana I finally got to see a coyote today! (A live one.)

The Daily Shoot assignment is "Make a photo of naturally occurring beauty." I stopped at a pullout to take some pictures of the scenery, but my favorite shot of all the ones I took ended up being this "weed." It's happily thriving right alongside a major highway.

 

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The Daily Shoot assignment was harder than I thought it would be. “Go anti-bokeh today. Use a large depth of field (higher aperture numbers) today to tell a story on multiple layers.” I had to use my older camera and a sub-standard lens for this shot because all my normal gear was in my husband’s truck and he wasn’t home. I’m hoping the story this tells is of the age progression…Kindergartner, 2nd grader, 3rd grader, 5th grader, senior (and, of course, the car). The dog didn’t want to be left out.

This one works for Snapshot Sunday too, although it took way too much setup to really be a snapshot. lol.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous week!