Poppies for Remembrance

A huge thank you to all our veterans...one of whom is my father, and another of whom is my husband...for everything they've done to serve and protect our country and rights over the many long years. It is appreciated. Hoo yah and semper fi!!

I love my macro lens!

I've recently fallen head-over-heels in love...with a lens! I bought my Canon 100mm 2.8 macro quite some time ago, but only recently have I started using it pretty much exclusively when I go out and about in the world taking photos. It's so versatile...I can use it for just about any kind of shot I want to take! Okay, yes, since it's a prime lens, I have to back up sometimes in order to get enough of the subject in my shot, but that's a small price to pay for the lovely things I can capture. But really...the main reason I have the lens in the first place is the macro capability, and there, the lens truly shines! Love love love it! I can get up close and personal with just about anything, though my usual suspects are flowers, plants, and, recently, insects.

A ladybug laying her eggs...


A pretty little bee, flirting with the rowan blossoms...


Pink dogwood...

And finally, the heart of a crocus...what color!

Polaroid Week, Day Two

It's Day Two of Polaroid Week! I wanted to go over to the little playground and shoot the swings, but there were people over there and I wasn't about to go over and insist they get off the swings so I could take a Polaroid, lol! So instead, I wandered over to the lilac bushes to check on the bloom status. Getting there, slowly but surely!

Polaroid Week, Day One

It's 'Roid Week 2009, and, for once, I actually have a working Polaroid camera with which to participate! It's not the much-coveted Polaroid SX-70 camera...I have one, but it doesn't work, ha. It's just a Polaroid One Step...the big blocky black plastic camera most people think of when they hear the word "Polaroid." But it works! I intend to have some fun with this!!

Slowly editing...

Well, I've slowly been editing my way through photos from my trip. Somehow, despite being in one of the most lovely landscapes around, the Blue Ridge Mountains, I ended up taking many more photos of the small details...the flowers!...than the large ones...the mountains! As usual, the bright colors and little surprises hidden in the blossoms captivated me. I'll probably be adding at least one or two of my trip photos to my Etsy shop, of course.

Just a taste...

Bee Happy


Pink Dogwood

Regarding the dogwood photo...a funny conversation took place about that tree, which was in bloom across the street from my grandmother's house.

My Cousin: "What kind of tree is that?"
Me: "A dogwood."
My Cousin: "Uh, why's it pink, then?"
Me: "'Cause it's a pink dogwood."
My Cousin: *pause* *blink* "Oh, why didn't I think of that?" *blinkblink*

New Etsy Shop Items!

Oh, spring has sprung at last, and I'm going just as snap-happy as I knew I would! I've been filling up my memory cards with flowers and blue sky and green buds and even a few birds, and I've decided it's time to rejuvenate my Etsy shop, too! I haven't added too many items there lately because I hadn't been shooting much, but with the world coming back to life, I should have plenty of new material to work with.

I added five, count them FIVE, new prints to my shop yesterday. They are all flowers, and they are all vibrant and rich and sun-drenched and would look wonderful in a white mat and hung on a wall (hint hint!). I posted a few of the images in my blog a couple of posts back, so I won't repost those pictures here, but they are Saffron, Mum's the Word, and Primary for those who are interested!

In addition, here are the other two prints, previously unposted here!

Opiate

Tulipomania

They're all listed as 8x10 prints, but, as always, if anyone wants a different size, I can accommodate requests, as well! You have but to ask.

Weekend Rundown

I'm not really feeling very bloggy just now. It's been a grey, rainy, cold day, and that always tends to leave me feeling rather uninspired. But I did have a lovely weekend, so instead of blathering on, I'll just post some images.


On Saturday, I met up with a girlfriend for brunch and a shopping trip. I didn't really spend too much...two spaghetti-strap tanks that were buy one, get one 50% off and two cardigans that were 40% off. A cardinal rule of fashion is that one can never have too many tanks or too many cardigans, after all. But I fell completely in love with a purse at Anthropologie. I didn't buy it. But I love it dearly and muchly.

It's big and yellow and bright and springy and made of buttery-soft leather. It would be a real investment bag for me, though. I don't usually spend more than $50 on bags because I tend to be hard on them, throwing them about and all, and I don't want to waste money on something I'm just going to damage or dirty later. But for a bag like this one, I'd have to just plain grow up, act my age, and learn to be much more careful with my things, ha! It would go with everything and would make me happy. Pondering...pondering....


Then on Sunday...also known as "Easter" to some people...my husband and I went to the little restaurant around the corner where the staff and owners all know us because we go so often, then headed to the Chicago Botanic Garden to enjoy the sunshine. We're not religious people, and we have no children to entertain, so to us, a day like Easter pretty much just means everything's closed and everyone is posting pictures of eggs and bunnies online. But the Botanic Garden is open every day but Christmas, and it's been long enough since we were there last that there were plenty of new blooms.

From the back garden you will be able to see the wild wood...

Diamonds and Roses

Primary

Mum's the word...

Saffron

Hmmm. Look at all those bright colors....the bright yellow purse, the brilliant colors of the flowers...hmm. You know, I see wonderfully soft, dreamy, pastel-toned Polaroid SX-70 shots and the like around a lot these days, and I do like them. Often I even love them. But I think that for me, brilliant shots of pure color is just where it's at!

Blossom by blossom...

It was bright and sunny out today, and just warm enough to be wonderfully pleasant. The wind still had a slight bite to it, but nothing so bad as to even warrant a coat. Light hoodies sufficed. So my husband and I decided to get our behinds up off the couch and, most importantly, outside for pretty much the first time in months! We headed over to the Chicago Botanic Garden, which is only about ten miles away. Wonderfully and amazingly, the crocus were in bloom! I haven't seen real honest-to-Gaia growing-in-the-soil flowers in so, so long. It was amazing.

And I have always loved crocus most of all the spring flowers. When I was a child, there were a few "volunteer" crocus plants that sprouted in random places in our yard. As soon as the days started getting longer and the sun started getting warmer, I would head out into the yard, carefully inspecting those magical locations for signs of those fresh green shoots and sugary purple petals. And then, one wonderful day, there they'd be! And I would know that spring was really coming back! To this day, the sight of the first crocuses of spring puts a smile on my face and a spring in my step...pun intended, ha!

It was a wonderful day!

Sweet! Front Page, baby!

Sweet! I feel like Jonathan Frake's head on that episode of "Futurama!" (If you got that reference and laughed, you and I would probably get along really well.)

The image linked above, "Out of the Light," made it into a treasury on the front page of Etsy! Views on just that image skyrocketed, but front page is great for more than just the one thing that makes it there, of course. All of my prints show increased views, I've already had a couple of questions about some of my other prints, and a bunch more people have "hearted" my shop. Love it! It's the little things in life, really, ha. I mean, I haven't exactly sold a whole bunch of stuff because of this, but I still might, I suppose!