Day 151: May 31, 2010

How to Spend a Rainy Day

Today, in addition to being a holiday (Memorial Day) was also rainy and stormy and very gray.  The cats had the right idea.  Not much was done around here by anyone - just the way to spend a day off!

Day 150: May 30, 2010

Sunset in a Flower

This is the exact same flower from yesterday's shot.  It opened today to reveal glorious color!  I removed the offending vine and the flower does seem happier!  Can't wait for the rest of the lilies to catch up to this one.

Day 149: May 29, 2010

Invader in the Garden

As I mentioned in a previous post, some former occupant of this house was a masterful gardener.  Something is always blooming from April through September.  The day lilies have sprung up seemingly over night with all the rain of a week ago and a few are almost ready to bloom.  I didn't notice the invading vine strangling this one until I began to edit the photo on the computer!  I guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow in the garden!

Day 148: May 28, 2010

Snow?

No, that's not snow.  It's cottonwood.  Otherwise known as the thing I am most allergic to.  It's an especially heavy year this year for cottonwood around here.  Everyone is sneezing.  It often looks like a snow storm with the cotton blowing around and drifting to the ground.  You can see just how much it piles up in this photo - the grass is barely poking through!  

*Disclaimer - I actually took this photo a few days ago - and am posting it on Saturday the 29th.  The 28th was Field Day at school and between the sun (90F), cottonwood, and kids, I was utterly exhausted and did not take a single photo.

Day 147: May 27, 2010

Rosy

I am renting this house, and one (or more) of the former tenants was big on landscaping (though I suspect it was the original homeowner).  It's been a pleasant surprise watching what comes up and blooms each season.  Even though this is my second June in this house, I didn't notice the rose bush last year.  It may not have bloomed, I'm not sure.  I love the color of the blooms!

Day 146: May 26, 2010

Colors

 

 

This is the second art piece my daughter had in the art show yesterday.  I tried to shoot it at the show but the lighting was awful.  I didn't take as much time with this shot as I should have, but it's better than what I was getting yesterday.  It's essentially a big Shrinky-dink sheet of plastic, colored, cut strategically, and partially melted in the oven.  The kids then painted a wooden block for a base and glued the sculpture onto it.

I really like the organic shape hers took on and the colors are great.  I did not expect the projection of color onto the wall behind the sculpture - an added bonus of using a flash! Makes me want to play with this more with different lighting.

Day 145: May 25, 2010

Helping Hands Art Project

I took this photo on the date above, but am posting it a day late - yesterday was a very long day!  Yesterday was the Spring Festival of the Arts at school followed by the 8th grade play.  My daughter had three pieces in the art show, including this one.

The kids used a rubber glove to mold a hand performing an action, then cast in in plaster of paris and painted it.  They were to highlight a charity of their choice and attach meaningful words and other symbols to the sculpture then write a paragraph or two about the charity.

My daughter chose Afghans for Afghans, which collects knitted squares to make into blankets for children in the war torn region of Afghanistan.  As the entire Middle School read the book Three Cups of Tea this year, which deals in part with the abject poverty and lack of schools in that area of the world, her choice was very fitting.

It's not the best photo, but it is meaningful to me.

Day 144: May 24, 2010

Camouflage

I found this Swallowtail butterfly feeding on nectar while on my way back through campus today after dropping off the band students at practice for tomorrow's Festival of the Arts.  Normally, yellow would seem to be a rather dangerous color for a little insect, but if it hadn't been flying when I was looking, I would not have seen it on this bush.   I cropped this photo in pretty tightly (hence the less than perfect sharpness) and upped the contrast a bit to make it a bit easier to see the butterfly.  I was only able to get this one shot before it flew off.

Day 143: May 23, 2010

Harvest of One

Thanks to all the rain last week, the strawberry pots are doing well! This one is just about ready to pick - should be able to eat it tomorrow or the day after I think.  There's another one almost ready and a bunch more that are just forming. I took this after I watered them - it's supposed to get HOT this week!

Day 142: May 22, 2010

Lines of Symmetry

Today was dreary and rainy off and on...again.  After dropping my daughter off at the Zoo for her volunteer job, I stopped off at Walbridge Park across the street.  Walbridge park is a long skinny park along the Maumee river and encompasses several boat docks and lots of picnic areas.  It sits high above the river and has stone steps leading down to it, with two wide, grassy terraces along the descent.  This is the first one and it's lined with benches at very regular intervals, spaced between large trees.  

From the look of the stone buildings and steps, my guess is the park was built in the 30's as a WPA project.  I'm sure at that time one could sit on these benches and see more of the river - today the vegetation has grown too tall to afford much of a view.  Yet people must still sit here as the ground is well worn at the base of each bench in the row.  

I decided to convert the shot to monochrome as the lighting was pretty blah and hazy.  Also, it makes it look like the photo could have been taken when the park was first built - except for the size of the trees!  Do stop by Monochrome Weekend for many more monochrome shots!

This is definitely a place I want to explore further on better-lit days!

Day 141: May 21, 2010

Bubble Joy! **

Today was the last day of my Science Elective class, so I whipped up a batch of bubble solution (*the secret ingredient is glycerin) and we had some fun.  Yes, there's "Science Content" in there with surface tension and refraction of light, etc...but mostly the kids had FUN!  They quickly discovered their (wet) hands made the best bubble "wands" and also that if their hands were wet, they could catch bubbles and stick their hands INTO the bubbles!  

Today was another rainy day, so we were stuck under the long covered walkway in front of the school, but thankfully the bubbles' structural integrity wasn't hampered by the weather.  I saved the left over bubble solution and the kids in after-care played with it all afternoon.

** The title of the post is the name of a song that was on a record (yes, an actual vinyl one) I had when I was little - sometime in the mid-70's.  I think it was called Big Blue Marble, but one of the songs was called Bubble Joy - I can't remember all of the words, but the tune has stayed with me.

Day 140: May 20, 2010

Trapped

Shot my favorite chameleon today while at the Lourdes' Life Lab.  Played around with more artsy-fartsy filters in PSE.

Day 139: May 19, 2010

Strawberry Fields Baskets Forever

I always buy a couple of hanging baskets of flowers around Mother's Day.  This year, I was out scouting the sales and found a great sale! And then, on the sale rack, I found....ever-bearing strawberries!  In baskets!  Woo!  I was so excited I didn't look at a single basket of flowers after I saw them.  I'm hoping against hope the birds and squirrels don't eat the fruit before I can get to it. They are supposed to bear fruit all season long so I may have a fighting chance.There are already some white and pinkish berries on the vines and quite a few new pink flowers!   So pretty!  I can't wait to eat strawberry-everything!

Day 138: May 18, 2010

Orange Barrel Season

They say in Toledo we only have two seasons: Winter and Orange Barrel. And in my end of town at least, we are smack dab in the middle of Orange Barrel season! Thankfully I know a lot of shortcuts through neighborhoods to avoid the worst of the construction zones!  Sometimes, however it simply can't be avoided.

Today was yet another rainy, gray day.  I swear we're turning into Seattle or London!  I had a super-hectic day and didn't think I'd be able to get any sort of creative shot today at all.  Then, while stuck in traffic thanks to the above-mentioned construction, I grabbed my camera and shot the big earth-moving machine that seemed to be slowly sinking into the mud.  The traffic started moving so I only got one shot in before having to roll up my window and put the camera down so I could drive.

I cropped it super-close and started playing with more of the filters PhotoShop Elements has to offer.  I like this one in a funky sort of way (click make it bigger for the full effect).

Day 137: May17, 2010

Kitten Close-up

It's been a little while since I posted a cat picture.  It was another dreary rainy day (payback for the beautiful weekend we had) so I was stuck with shooting indoors today.  This is Wednesday, our kitten.  She is 8 months old and has grown so much since we brought her home last December!  She is still a tiny kitten compared to Colby who is 16 lbs!  

She blinks with the flash every single time and the lighting in my living room is not ideal, but managed to get this shot without a flash.  She really is a beautiful cat with a long super-fluffy tail.  One more reason I need to invest in a light or two!

Day 136: May 16, 2010

Shadows and Reflections

Today was another busy day and I had so many shots to play with from yesterday, I decided to use one of those for today's picture.  I played around with saturation and tint with this one - I wanted most of the color to be the green of the leaves - there's a lot going on between the shadows, reflections, light, debris on the water, and all the vegetation.  So much to learn about how to use PhotoShop Elements to its fullest!

Day 135: May 15, 2010

Monochrome Shadows

Two themes in one photo today! Digital Photography School's weekend challenge is "Shadows".  And I liked it better in monochrome, so it's also part of Monochrome Weekend!  Now if only I'd managed to capture a reflection as well...

This is the boardwalk to the covered bridge at Wildwood again.  Got a lot of good shots there today - the weather was absolutely perfect!

Day 134: May 14, 2010

Moth-Ra

(OK not really.)  We've been inundated by these brilliant orange and brown moths for a few days now.  They swarm around the yard in twos, threes, and fives in some sort of intricate, high-speed mating dance only they understand.  The moment they land, their wings fold up and they are nearly impossible to see, blending in perfectly with their surroundings - not a hint of orange color showing.  They move so quickly in the air I despaired of every capturing them on film.

And then today, with the warmth of the sun fading, they began to alight on the fence and open their wings to the sun.  This little guy let me get close enough to snap a few quick shots.  In fact, until I looked at this picture and saw the furry antennae tips, I'd been calling these guys butterflies!  I'm not sure what species they are but have been fun to watch!

Day 133: May 13, 2010

Eye in the Clouds

I know, I know....another cloud shot.  But they were too stunning to not photograph today.  We've been under a tornado watch all afternoon, and the clouds started to really build.  The wind was blowing and different layers of clouds were scudding across the sky at different rates - a very dynamic sky!  Suddenly a hole opened up in some darkening clouds and the late afternoon sun lit up the edges of the hole.

It must have been a good omen because the storms all scooted north of us and it's calm with a nearly clear blue sky just 2.5 hours later!

Day 132: May 12, 2010

Ohio Farm

I attended a training in Archbold, Ohio today after school, which resulted in a 14 hour day due the hour drive each way.  I wasn't sure I was going to have any time to get a photo, especially as the day was very dreary and overcast, but I saw this farm on the drive home and literally stopped in the middle of State Route 20A to snap this picture through my open window.  There was so little traffic, I didn't see a single vehicle in either direction while I took my picture!  However, I didn't stick around to take more than one quick shot!

This is extreme NW Ohio - farmland as far as the eye can see.  Acre upon acre of corn and soybean fields with farms dotting the flat landscape.  It's flat.  Really flat.  So flat that a farm like the one above sticks out and can be seen for miles in any direction.  I wished I'd had a wide angle lens to capture the utter flatness of the landscape and the scale of the farmland out there.

Day 131: May 11, 2010

Off Trail

Today stayed in the low 50'sF  and rained.  All day.  Still raining.  So.... today's pictures are from Saturday's trek to Swan Creek Metropark.  As I noted in Saturday's post, I ventured off the marked trail to find fungus.  I also found some swampy areas (above) and was able to get close to the rather silty/muddy Swan Creek (below).

Day 130: May 10, 2010

Fun With PhotoShop Elements

I got these beautiful sunset-colored tulips for Mother's Day and played around a bit in PhotoShop Elements.  The original shot is below.  I kind of like the effects above, but I have GOT to figure out how to not have the white line around the cut-out colored parts.  Of course, I haven't read a thing about how to do this the right way - I just played around.  More to learn, for sure!  But fun!

Day 129: May 9, 2010

A Place to Sit

I shot this today while at my mom's place for Mother's Day.  She lives in an apartment building in Ottawa Hills which backs up to "The Meadow" which is essentially a wetland/park area owned by the village.  At some point, someone placed these rustic seats in prime viewing position.  While it looks like a lovely spot to sit and enjoy nature, I think I'd need to bring a cushion or two to sit on!  

I liked the shot better in black and white - the benches and the absence of anything "modern" in the frame give it almost a timeless feel (yay for cropping!).  So then I started to play around with PhotoShop and some different effects and created the shot below just for fun.

Day 128: May 8, 2010

Why did everyone want to invite the mushroom to the party?

Because he was a Fun Guy! (say it out loud)

Today was, as Winnie the Pooh said, a Blustery Day.  Cold and windy with showers off and on. (Wind chills in the 30's F....in MAY!)  But I braved the elements and ventured out to Swan Creek Metropark.  The trail I walked is the same one that runs right behind my very first apartment.  I used to sneak through a hole in the fence and walk the trail...19 years ago.  Now there's barbed wire topping a new fence between the trail and the apartment complex. I feel old!

One good thing about this sort of weather is it provides perfect growing conditions for fungi.  I love shooting photos of fungi - there are so many varieties! I've learned you generally have to venture off the beaten path to find the best ones, however, and today was no exception.  I followed a deer trail to down to the water and found these specimens growing on rotting logs.

Sorry for the bad joke, but it does make the 5th graders laugh every year when we study classification!

Day 127: May 7, 2010

Monochrome Storm Clouds

This is my contribution to Monochrome Weekend.  I took this a couple of days ago, but it could be from almost any day this week.  We have had storms roll through more days than not lately.  Yesterday being an exception which is how the lawn got mowed.  

My daughter says I take too many pictures of clouds, but I've been captivated by the contrast between dark and light and the depth of the clouds in our skies lately.

I did take photos today but they were all of students!  Today was May Crowning at school and my daughter's class (the 8th graders) performed the ceremony and read all the parts.  My daughter was MC and did a nice job.  It's always a bittersweet day seeing the 8th graders all dressed up (uniforms are the norm) and suddenly looking quite old and ready for high school.  Her class has been together since kindergarten - 9 years seems to have passed in a blink of an eye!  So you get clouds instead!

Day 126: May 6, 2010

Mowing

I rarely post photos of people as I rarely gain their permission to do so.  Today, my daughter consented to my using this photo of her first time mowing the lawn.  Yes, the lawn is more weeds than grass, but I'm renting this place and don't want to sink that much money into a yard I don't own.  Yes, that's an electric mower - had to buy over 300 feet of electrical cord when I bought the mower (giant double-lot), but less air pollution is worth it!  I'm just happy I now have a lawn care helper in the house!

Day 125: May 5, 2010

Flowering Trees....Achoo!

Everything is blooming and allergies are at an all time high.  Tree pollen is especially high this week which is making me (and most people I know) sneeze and cough. At least the blooms are pretty!

Day 124: May 4, 2010

Star Wars Day

May Fourth be with you! Ahem.  (This is what happens when you teach Jr. High.)

Today was an insanely busy day - with zero time for photography.  But I thought it sort of fitting to post a picture of the University of Toledo planetarium and main observatory on Star Wars day!  Still figuring out Photoshop, but having fun doing it!  Can't wait to learn more tricks and do more than I was already doing in GIMP.

Day 123: May 3, 2010

Gathering Clouds

I washed the car this afternoon and planned to mow the grass....so obviously, it's thunderstorming.  Sigh.  At least it made for a cool shot of the clouds.  If only Blogger would upload .tif files - trying to minimize loss after working with files in RAW.  It's doable in theory but not in practice for me.

Day 122: May 2, 2010

Raindrops on Hosta

Rained again this morning - thanks for the early wake-up calls on weekends, Mother Nature!  But it does make for some cool shots.  Went out in my bare feet and sweats this morning to shoot the raindrops on the Hostas.  Just got a copy of Photoshop Elements 8 to play with so I can learn it well enough to teach it in the fall.  Shot in RAW for the first time and played with a few settings on this picture.  Saved it as a .JPEG though as it didn't seem to want to upload here otherwise.  I have a LOT to learn!  But it will be fun playing and learning!

Day 121: May 1, 2010

Eye on the Sky

There is a large observatory in a building adjacent to this one at UT that most people know as it's open to the public.  I've always wondered about this smaller one that is higher than the larger one. UT has some interesting architectural details hidden about here and there - I have a feeling I'll be posting more of these this summer as I'll be in grad school classes there M-F, from 9-5 for six weeks straight!