Day 584 - Friday Bloom

A bright start to a long weekend!

Day 583 - Fresh Faces

Day 582 - "Gearing Up"

Feeling "Blue" through 2013!

Happy 16th Birthday to my favorite Knight!

Day 581 - A Night for the Knights

Day 580 - Bonding

Starting and finishing a 550 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle with my son on a Monday night...
Priceless!

Day 579 - Some like it Hot!

 In response to the Daily Shoot Prompt
 "Create a photo with a single element, no distractions, & lots of contrast."

Day 578 - Megan-Kathy, my friend

Here is a LINK to more pictures from this shoot.

Day 577 - Embarrassing

Rest of the country, please, I live in Texas...

You DO NOT want to go here!

Day 576 - Jenga is Crazy

I am thinking my creative energy has suffered from lack of time these last few weeks.

More to come...

Day 575 - Handing off the Keys

Day 574 - Food Family

(taken with iPhone)

Lunch at favorite Thai spot.

Realized that while my family is all spread out geographically, I had pictures and texts that related to food.  Guess we just like to eat!



Day 573 - Drought Color

Day 572 - Sunrise view from 604

Day 571 - Seeing Red

Day 570 - Barbed Wire & Wind Mills

Wind Farms outside of Lubbock, Texas!

Day 569 - Guns Up

Shooting her way out of Austin

Day 568 - Los Lonely Boys

The last "Blues on the Green" concert in Zilker for this summer.  Los Lonely Boys played.  What a treat for a Wednesday evening.  Struggled a bit with the crowd and keeping my camera steady, so wasn't completely happy with most of my shots, but it was a great night for music regardless!

Day 567 - Lobby Brew

Meeting at a hotel today. 

We met in the lobby afterwards for a brew and a "debrief" afterwards.

(taken with my iPhone)

Day 566 - Toy Story?

A Tea Set Forgotten

Day 565 - Smooth Landings

Shot in response to the Daily Shoot Prompt #637

"Make a photograph of something smooth."

Day 564 - Bad Hair Day?

More hot weather today.  Went in late afternoon to walk around one of my favorite places, Zilker Gardens.  Several Cardinals were enjoying the small man-made stream in the gardens.  Didn't seem to mind me being there! 

Day 563 - My Money is on THEM!

...as they have amazing parents!  Seriously, good luck to these college juniors as they get ready to head into their last two years.  Glad to have dinner with you tonight.  May your friendships be everlasting.

Day 562 - College is Calling

These two met at the beginning of their freshman year...and through the drama of high school they have stayed the best of friends.  Tonight, just a few days from heading off to different universities, I take this picture. I hope their friendship will be everlasting as they are very good for each other.  Whatever the future brings, I know they will both be amazing!  Also, Jenga is awesome!

Day 561 - Self-Portrait in a Spoon

Shot in response to the Daily Shoot Prompt, "Make a photograph featuring a metal or metallic object or surface."

Day 560 - Waiting for Ice Cream

Shot this morning in my kitchen in response to the Daily Shoot Prompt #632, "Make a composition today with four elements in it."

Day 559 - Game Table

Thanks to Sabrina for spending time with us...and much love to Christine and Matt who we don't see enough.  But most of all, glad to have my three kids in one room around our "Puzzle Table" that contains many memories.

Day 558 - Dusty Dog

Another week of no rain and triple digit temperatures makes for a pretty dry dog park.  These picture accent how dusty and dry everything is.   However, if you have a ball, dogs will play only to cool off later in the lake.

Hope we get some rain soon!

Day 557 - Daybreak & Balloons

 

Went to Mansfield Damn this morning with a photography group to take some photos of hot air balloons taking flight.  Very early, but it was worth it.  Couldn't decide between these two pictures, so I am posting them both.  I like the balloon one as you can see a bit of the fire heating up the air if you look closely.  Used my 35mm 1.8 & 70-200 2.8 for these shots.

Day 556 - Ah....Friday

Day 555 - Just Shoot Me

Experimenting with one small LED flashlight and some postprocessing.

Day 554 - Spice of Life

Day 553 - Up Close and Personal

Day 552 - Not B&W in Real Life

&

Thanks for cooking!

Day 551 - Sunday Smile

This mural painted on the side of a sandwich shop made ME smile and laugh this morning.

Hope you all smiled or laughed at some point today!

Day 550 - Saturday at Salt Lick

BBQ, Wine Tasting, and Friends.

A Good Saturday Lunch!

Knocking one more off Lauren's "Austin Bucket List"!

Day 549 - Friday Night Sushi

(taken with iPhone)

Kazu & Smokey

best "Friday Night" friends

Day 548 - Cover Bird

Daily Shoot Prompt "Go meta and make a photo of a photo today. Don't just be a copy machine, however. Get creative with composition."   I make a cookbook every year for family and friends with pictures. Thought I would bring out the star for the "cover shot" from 2008 for this challenge.  You know, I need to get started on that cookbook for 2011!

Day 547 - Morning Yawn

 

My cat as I left my driveway this morning.

Kind of want to be my cat...yawn and all.
(just have to say, grass blades are very sharp!)

Day 546 - You must remember this...

a kiss is just a kiss...

(remember this line from my mom and dad's music)

Day 545 - Patrick

Day 544 - Water Movement

In response to the Daily Shoot prompt, "Find something beautiful and make a photo. Don't over think it."

Today, I put my camera bag and tripod in my car..only to realize that the small, screw-in connector for my tripod was left in my purse in the kitchen.  Lesson learned.  Check gear before leaving house. 

Anyhow, maybe that was a good thing as I decided to shoot some water lilies.  I have shot these a million times, but today, there were some kids trying to catch minnows in the water (thus the water movement) which lead to some pleasing background and bokeh in this shot.  I did underexpose the shot a bit which I think makes the background of the water richer and a better background for the flower.  Just goes to show you can always find a new way of looking at things behind the lens.

175 mm

1/250 s

f/7.1

ISO 100

Day 543 - Feather Diving

Shooting with my macro lens this morning.  I caught this ant on a feather.  Still have that dial on the manual mode!  Even though I wish the focus was a bit better, I like the colors and textures of this photo.

1/200 s

f/4.5

ISO 200

105 mm

Day 542 - Long, Hot Week. Small, Cool Reward.

Work was tough this week. 

Thanks to my coworkers for meeting up before heading home for the weekend.

(taken with my iPhone)

Day 541 - Puss & Boots?

You decide..

This??

or.... 

This??

Day 540 - Beach Dreams

 

Shot in response to the Daily Shoot Prompt,

"Make a photograph today that features the use of low contrast to create a mood or feeling. "

I just need to go to the beach!