Not long into this morning’s walk I noticed a family fishing. A mom and her 3 kids. The elder boy is out of frame to the left, running and screaming as the sprinklers came on where he was fishing.

I missed getting a shot of the boy running but did see some cool light filtering through the tree while the sprinklers were on. The boy’s bad luck. My good luck.

Next sport – lawn bowling. I think these were beginners getting lessons. None of them had that intent look I normally see on the player’s faces when I walk by.

And, they must be newcomers, as they obviously don’t know there is a sign indicating they have parked in the no parking zone.

I’ve kinda been on the lookout for signs. Carol Leigh is offering a Photomotivation project that begins January 1st that I signed up for. She’ll post an idea/lesson/tutorial every Monday for three months. Carol sent out a group email where she said, “Want to see the first one? For free? This will give you a better idea of what I’m offering, and here’s the link: http://www.photomotivation.com”

On the return leg of the walk, I started shooting on shutter priority rather than aperature priority. I’ve been thinking that I never shoot anything in motion. I looked down at my legs moving and pointed the camera down and shot off about 15 frames before reaching my front door.

Ok, I’m done looking for something new to shoot in the flower bed outside my front gate. Who knows what the neighbor thought when she saw me on my stomach, in my pjs and Uggs, splayed out on the damp grass looking through the lens. On her way back by about 20 minutes later, I got up and we chatted……but not about what I was doing with my nose 4 inches away from the flowers.

It’s late. I’m tired after a long day in LA. While killing an hour+ in Borders, I really, really enjoyed reading Joe McNally’s book: The Moment it Clicks.

For 10 minutes I shot the flowers outside the front door. I’m racing. Fitting using the camera in. Not thinking. Bored with what I see all the time. Just shooting without really seeing. My eye caught the morning light on the newly planted flowers. I cropped this shot. I worked in Adobe Lightroom trying to get something other than what I shot. It ain’t gonna happen. I can’t wait until we go to my sister’s beach house where I hope to have time with my camera, in a NEW environment.

I went back outside to shoot around 3:45, about 20 minutes before the sun dipped below the San Jacinto Mountains. I hoped I’d come up with something better than the morning flower.

Nothing I shot turned out to be anything. I did like the tree leaves reflecteded in a circular pattern on the neighbor’s car door in this shot but the camera saw the shot different than I did. I showed this shot to Ray and he was less than enthusiastic. But for the record, here it is.

And, here is the last shot I took before heading back inside.

I took the 25 extension tube off the 50mm 1.8 lens for these shots.

One good thing that I’m happy about is I’m becoming more and more familiar with what this lens can do and NOT do.

My morning started early. By the time I had some free time it was 11:30am. Not my favorite time to shoot.
After lunch I picked up the Canon 40D fitted with the 50mm 1.8 lens/25 extension tube combo and starting walking around the kitchen and dining room looking for some good available light falling on a potentially interesting subject. Nothing looked great enough for me to look through the lens.

Ready to put the camera down on my desk and take a computer break playing Word Twist on FB, I spotted the key in the old French glass secretary that stands to the right of my desk. I started shooting the key on the secretary. Then I noticed the green grass color being reflected in the glass all around the key and the key’s reflection. I shot to include as much of the green as possible. I don’t know that I would have seen the look I posted below if my eye hadn’t been looking through the lens while initially just shooting for the key and its reflection.

Each day, before I shoot, I think, “I’m not gonna see anything different today.” Each day, if I just pick up the camera, move, look through the lens, and keep moving, I eventually find something that pleases me. I’m always amazed at what is hiding just out of sight.

Usually I have to shoot about 40 shots to get one to post. Today I shot less.

In this first shot I decreased the clarity slider all the way to the left in Adobe Lightroom. I did this to declarify the yucky look on the secretary glass and the outdoor glass.

Cleaning out some old drafts, I inadvertently deleted this post. Haste makes waste.

Can’t remember what I wrote, but I’ve uploaded the photos again just for myself. Sorry.

No blog today. Spent much of the day with Scottie who drove out from LA to help Ray and me with computer stuff. I’m getting a solid state harddrive which will make applications etc open faster (so I can delete things faster!!!!)

Ray wondered why I hadn’t posted this photo of where I dined last night in yesterday’s blog. Do you know what I ate and really enjoyed?

Shots from this morning’s walk around Mission Hills CC. After taking these shots, and after seeing another woman walking and jogging, walking and jogging, I tried some jogging and walking. I did this all the way back to the condo without incident/injury or pain. Maybe I could build up to jogging again? I thought those days were over.
TBC (to be continued.)

Both these photos were shot with my pocket Canon Powershot A650.

While home sick (I didn’t drive into LA today with Ray for the Thursday night meeting) I’ve been getting my money’s worth watching Adobe Lightroom tutorials online here at Scott Kelby’s Training Center. He also has a new good tutorial on WordPress (which is the journal I use) and another new great tutorial called Light It; Shoot It; Retouch It. I think I have a serious interest in learning studio lighting. In this Light It; Shoot It: Retouch It tutorial Scott starts at the beginning of a photo shoot, showing a bare studio and then building the entire lighting system from the ground up to the end of the shoot where you learn to work with the photos in Lightroom as well as Photoshop. I learn best watching video tutorials as opposed to reading about something.

I haven’t a clue what is going on. This is the second day I have felt like I’m coming down with something. I have no energy, foggy brain and tire with any exertion.

I did however pick up my camera as evidenced by this shot of me photographing myself in the large mirrored closet doors in the guest room where I’ve been sleeping since Ray’s two operations.

Yesterday I watched this You Tube video.  (I found this video link in the first paragraph on Scott Kelby’s  blog site entry, 11/09/09.) I could not believe how watching this video made me feel. I was immediately moved to call someone back who had asked me if I ever shot family portraits. I knew they wanted me to shoot their family  for their Xmas cards and they were afraid to ask directly if I would. So I just said, “No, I don’t shoot family portraits.” But, so what if I don’t really know how to shoot them the way someone studied in lighting etc would. I have a camera. I am capable of turning out something so the family doesn’t have to pay the money they don’t have to pay a professional for portraits.

Now this morning, while still thinking about yesterday’s video and how can I be helpful to others with my photography,  I followed a link in an email message that Carol Leigh had posted on our photography alumni site.  I could have deleted this morning’s email from the alumni groups daily messages and not read any of the 5 or 6 messages, or I could have read Carol’s message but not have clicked on the link in her message, or I could have clicked on the link, read the linked artist’s blog she referenced and been done, or……….  like I did,  keep following links and browse some of the linked favorite sidebar blogs  of the artist’s blog Carol was referencing. Phew, are you with me? Anyway, I know what I did.  I ‘m so glad that I lingered and spent time clicking on a few other referenced blogroll favorites while on the site.  Why am I glad I lingered? Because I found THESE VIDEOS!!!!!!!!!!

Finding these videos yesterday and this morning, so back to back, both about what am I giving rather than what am I getting, has moved me to rethink some things.

So many teachers, so many mentors. There are so many sources of inspiration, so many role models/mentors. I’m feeling pretty good right now. I’m soaring, maybe not as high as this plane and bird, but high enough.

Click on photo to see bird and plane.

I need YOU all.

p.s. My husband said, “Good blog baby.” I said, “Did you watch the videos? ” He hadn’t. I said, “WATCH the videos!”
He’s watching them as I type. I wonder what he’ll say about them? Did they move you like they moved me?