SumUp Sunday 02/10/13

To My Granddaughters...and future grandchildren,

In hopes of...across the miles...we can stay connected and you can grow up...knowing me....because I love you...and miss you so much......

This...is my best friend, Lexi.  You've seen her..you know...on Skype...sleeping next to me on the couch while I chat with you.  Her most favorite thing in the world...outside of biscuits, eating, and chasing her kong...is snow.  She was born in January..therefore, she is truly my snow baby.

She is an old soul...just the right energy level for me and she loves to walk in the woods...just like me...your grandma.

So...my week started with me going to find this red barn that I discovered some time ago and I so wanted to capture it with snow around it.

Needless to say....it had some...but not as much as I hoped for. It was cold out....bbrrrrr...and I just couldn't be out there in the below freezing temps but I drove my car around...parking on the side of the round in all kinds of directions (thankfully on a side road not much travelled) to capture it in many ways.  This one I liked...because of the texture in the road.  Another...I sent to your  Great Uncle Philip to see if he could paint it. He does some kind of painting on the computer.  Kind of cool. I'll share more versions with you next week on my website.

I stated there wasn't as much snow as I wanted and if only I had waited a few days.  On Thursday we were blessed with an absolutely awesome snowfall...the wet kind...that sticks to the trees. The below though is when it just started...lightly falling.  This lady was walking by my huge picture window at work...across the street from me and, of course, the colorful umbrella caught my eye.  I was trying to capture a shot like what I have seen your cousin Chelle post on her Facebook.  This is no where as impressive as those that she posts from Korea but again...it was the umbrella I liked.  (At my age...for some reason..I am so attracted by bright colors.)

 So the snow fell..quickly in the afternoon and I came home to this.... (my back yard and my driveway)

 The next morning at work, the parking lot..reflected the morning sunrise on the snowladen branches....

So...I thought...when I leave work I want to find a place I can go to capture the beauty the Dear Lord blessed us with so I headed out to one of my favorite places, with Lexi in tow...to the Horicon Marsh where I go on a regular basis to find what wildlife...bird life mostly...that I can sit and watch and enjoy. This relaxes me and makes me tremendously happy.  Needless to say...no bird life was found and the gates to the road tour area was closed (very disappointed) but we found this...at just the perfect time of the evening...

(Sigh.......)

These are the things your grandma loves.

Birds.... they are a big part of my life.  I think maybe I was one sometime in the past.  I just seem to 'connect' with them somehow.  Owls are my favorite and yet it is so difficult for me to enjoy them in the wild. Next...aside from song birds such as the blue jay (for reasons I can explain later...don't let me forget) are Pelicans.  White Pelicans in particular.  These birds I first discovered in Texas when I was out camping with your Aunt Lorry.  Lake Somerville.  We went for a bike ride down one of the  trails and came upon this water area, that I guarantee you....had hundreds and hundreds of White Pelicans gathered together.  It was so breathtaking.  I didn't have my camera with me.  I stopped and took a deep breathe and thought....I have to go back.  I have to get my camera.  I just have to.  Well...I learned something that day..and that is...enjoy it while you can..enjoy the moment that you have been given. Enjoy it then...when you are given it...because it will not last forever.  

I went back for my camera and returned to that spot to capture a picture of....nothing.  Not a single pelican remained.  Not even one.  Sometimes I wonder if it hadn't been a dream...but your Aunt Lorry promised me they were really there.  They really were.

So...I've discovered them again here in Wisconsin.  Horican Marsh is where I see them every summer.  I hope some day you can come see this amazing place with me.  I just know you would enjoy the variety of life you will find here.  They usually are not here in the winter but a photographer friend of mine discovered these over a month ago....living on the frozen tundra of a local lake...near a dam area that had open water so they could feed.  Finally this weekend I decided to go see if I could find them.

Guess what?  I did.  I found them.  I wish I had been there just a little later in the day because they were taking their siesta and were bedded down on the frozen lake..and although the sun wasn't shining...all the frozen white ice camoflauged them so they blended in quite well in my pictures.  I was lucky in that they did actually move around, ever so slightly, but enough to capture some nice photos.  This...made me happy.

And along with them...were these....

Lots and lots of ducks...mixed in with a few geese, a coot..some ice fishermen and snowmobilers...in the far distance.

Today..it was warmer...and rained...and I sat inside and did my taxes and Dave's taxes and dreamt of spring and gardens and walks in the woods..and the near future when i would see you, your mom and your dad.

I love you, Dear Ainsley and Lucy. I love you.  Be good for your mom and dad.  Be good.

SumUp Sundays - Lesson Learning Challenges

This week brought some challenges for me...some good challenges...some not so good..or rather some challenging challenges.  All learning experiences.

Work continues to be a frustrating one as we are back preparing for our annual audit which requires extra to-dos on top of all the normal day to day long list of to dos.

I had two photo shoots I had to get finalized and put up for clients to view...one that totally caught me by frustrating surprise of requiring a bit more of my attention than it should have.  I don't shoot in small apertures very often and have the larger group to photograph I used a smaller aperture to only find out that my sensor tremendously needed to be cleaned thus resulting in lower quality photos than I should have had.  Composition and poses were great.  Quality not so much.  I await a decision to possibly re do the shoot.  Lesson learned.

I am a member of a few different photography clubs and organizations.  One, WACCO (Wisconsin Area Camera Clubs Organization) has yearly photo competitions of which I have never attended or entered in the past.  I let myself be talked into it this year...still being my worst critic and in a position, employment wise...that I am still doing everything last minute.  I waited to late to make a decision of what to enter and now understand why some say they make their selections and have them printed up prior to deciding what to really enter...because sometimes prints don't look the same as they do on the computer screen.  I liked what I chose...on the computer screen but wasn't quite as thrilled when I got them back from the printer.  Not that they were poor...just not what I had hoped...  Although none of them came in first or second...I think I might have lucked out enough to possibly have had a score high enough to get an 'honorable mention'.  Still to be seen.    The above..inspired by my late sister...did get in the top three so I think I will get one for it at least...which makes me happy.

I entered some as digital also and the one I really thought would get a nice score, got less than average. What the heck?  Totally frustrating.  But another that is one of my favorites, I also think will have an honorable mention.  Again...to be seen.  I heard a lot of comments from the crowd...good comments.  So...

Quite a few of the attendees that had attended and entered many times, were totally surprised at the way things were being scored.  Nothing like what they expected.  In the end, we all agreed that the winners were truly winners.  Although I had to disagree on the 'Best in Show'.  In the end...it comes down to what do the judges like.  It really does.  Photography is all about 'one's passion'.  Not only in judging but in taking the shot.

Aside from that, I have another portrait shoot coming up that I am excited about.  Another weekend up north that I am looking forward to.

The seasons are changing.  Although winter is officially another couple of months away, our 70s have gone away to be replaced by 40s during the day and below freezing, frosty mornings.  The time change will not wake us up to darker mornings and bring us home during less light evenings.  The days..shortened will bring even more excitement for weekends.

The fall colors are being replaced slowly by the browns and tans of 'the season between awesome bright fall and enchanting, mysterious, cleanliness of winter's white blankets'....of which I am actually looking forward to from a photographic perspective...and hopefully a chance to use some new snowshoes that were received last Christmas with little to no snow to use them in.  Wishing for just enough to get out in..but not too much...or not too cold to enjoy, I should say.  I don't mind the snow.  I mind the 'way below freezing' that keeps me cooped up inside.

All in all...no major complaints about this week.  Lessons learned.  New goals to work towards.  Things to look forward to.  Another new year soon to be planned.