Through A Photographer's Eyes: May 2011

Day 151 - End of May

I can't believe the month of May is already over. If it's true the older you get the faster time flies than life is going to be a blur here for me in a minute. Happy almost June, everyone!

I was raised a Military brat and have such extreme respect for those who serve our country especially those who gave their lives so that we might have our freedom. Thank you! We are indebted to you. Check out my dad's old school BDU hat! Brings back memories of the military days with the fam.

Reminder: Favorite Photo of the Week Contest linky closes tonight at midnight. Get your picture in.

Day 149 - Box of Crayons

Every time I see a box of Crayons I always think of the Crayon Box song I sang in Sunday School when I was a kid. The chorus goes like this:

Red is the color of the blood that He shed,

Brown is for the crown of thorns they laid upon His head.

Blue is for royalty! In Heaven He does dwell;

And yellow is for the Christian who's afraid to tell.

Remember you have through Monday night at midnight (PDT) to get your submissions in for the Favorite Photo of the Week Contest.

Project 365 - Week 21

Click on the title below to see the full picture.
1. 10:26pm
2. Sprinkler Art
3. Some More Spring
4. Turkey Vulture's Meal
5. Single Red Rose
6. Flashback Friday
7. Webbed Home

Don't forget to link up for the Favorite Photo of the Week Contest. The linky closes tomorrow night. Get your photos in!

Day 148 - Webbed Home

I've never really seen a web like this before funnel shaped down into the bushes where this spider made its home. He ran away a couple of times and I had to patiently wait for him to work his way out again.

Day 147 - Flashback Friday

Marsh Lake, Eastern Sierras, 2007

Linking up with 525,600 minutes again for Flashback Friday. If anything go check out her pictures. They are amazing!

Be sure to enter your photos into the Favorite Photo of the Week contest on my blog too! Linky closes on Monday.

Day 146 - Single Red Rose

It was difficult getting a good picture with how bright and sunny it was today (no complaints) but thankfully this rose was shaded so the lighting was much more conducive so as not to wash it out. I love red roses.

Also, make sure you check out my new contest and link up for your Favorite Photo of the Week. You have until Monday night to add your link.

Linking this photo up for Texture Thursday.

Favorite Photo of the Week Contest

Who doesn't love more contests and more ways to get your blog out there for others to see? I am starting a new contest featuring your Favorite Photo of the Week. I will choose the top 3 winners and then the overall winner from your entries. I'm opening the linky early this week since it is the first week and it gives you all an opportunity to get the word out there for others to post their favorites as well.

Details:
1. Ordinarily linky will be posted Friday at 12:01am and closes Monday at 11:59pm. Linky is open now for early posters to help get the word out there.
2. Winners will be announced the following Wednesday.
3. Photo must be taken this week.
4. Only one entry per person.
5. "Favorite Photo of the Week" button must be on your post in order for it to qualify.
6. Link only to your blog post not your main blog url.
7. It's not mandatory but do try to visit other participant's blogs and give them some comment love. That's kind of the point of having another challenge like this. We all LOVE comments.

My challenge to you: Be creative. Think outside of the box. Try to find the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Here is my favorite photo from this week:

Day 145 - Turkey Vulture's Meal

Do you ever happen upon a great find? One of those once in a life time pictures. Today was that picture. I was so excited to find this guy chowing down on his dinner. I was driving around the lakes looking for something to take a picture of and spotted this guy out of the corner of my eye. After crawling in the grass inching my way towards him and snapping off a hundred shots, I felt satisfied I had gotten a picture I would like. Isn't he magnificent! I'm itching like crazy now from the grass but it was so worth it.

I'm entering this photo as my favorite of May over at Click It Up a Notch.

Guest Photographer/Judge for "Edit Me"

Yep, that's me! Branson over at Reflection of Something has started up a really fun challenge called "Edit Me". She requests a photo from a guest photographer that they will allow others to try out their editing magic on and then later judge who the winner is. Well, this week she asked me to be the guest photographer/judge! Branson has been such a huge encouragement to me throughout this 365 project and I so appreciate that she considers me an inspiration. I'm excited to see all the edits everyone comes up with. Check out the contest/prize in more detail over at Edit Me - Week 2. Here is the picture I submitted for your edits. You can download it over at Branson's site and post your edits there. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Day 144 - Some more Spring

Mid 70 degree temps today. My baby girl and I packed a lunch this morning and after enjoying story time at the library we headed to the park at our local lake. The sunshine and cool air made for a perfect day to be outside. These are some more flowers from their Sensory Garden there at the lake.

Day 143 - Sprinkler Art

I went outside today to walk around and see if I could find something to take a picture of. Not long after I went out the sprinklers came on and I thought I was just going to have to head back in to avoid getting my camera gear wet. Thankfully they are on rotating timers and I found an area where the sprinklers were already done with their cycle. Cool droplets, huh!

Day 142 - 10:26pm

Yes, that is PM! Too late to be walking around looking for a picture. I am tired. Sundays always wear me out. So this is all I have for today - an artistic slant on an ordinary object. Goodnight, all.

Project 365 - Week 20

Click on the title below to see the full picture.

1. Heart of the Orchid
2. Straw Anyone?
3. Sunflower Seeds
4. Colorful Q-tips
5. Becoming New
6. Flashback Friday
7. Dandelion

Day 141 - Dandelion

I have seen some amazing dandelion pictures lately. I decided to give it a try today so here's a dandelion from my perspective.

Day 140 - Flashback Friday

525,600 Minutes is hosting a Flashback Friday so I decided to post this picture I took...wow...4 years ago! The hubs and I used to take a couple trips a year to the Eastern Sierras and go camping. Can't wait to take my baby girl up there. While fishing at Convict Lake, I took this picture. I remember when I first took this photo, I was a little annoyed that this fisherman had stepped into my picture but looking at it now, he actually kind of makes the picture.

Day 139 - Becoming New

While out for our daily walk today I found these pretties blossoming all over the place.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Edit Me Challenge

My Reflection of Something is hosting an Edit Me Challenge this week. We are to take her photo and give it our own style using whatever edits we like. Below is the before (her photo) and after (my edits).

Before:

After:

My edits included:
Choosing the EFF Dragan3 Preset for LR
Adjusting Hue, Saturation and Luminance
Adjusting exposure, clarity, contrast
I did selective adjustments with my adjustment brush as well such as adjusting saturation, clarity and contrast.

Day 138 - Colorful Q-tips

I've been trying for a while now to come up with a creative way to photograph q-tips. Then I remembered tonight that I had bought these colorful ones! :)

Day 137 - Sunflower Seeds

End of the day and once again I am searching around for something to photograph. So of course I revert to food again. :)

I noticed I have lost a couple of followers in the past couple of weeks. Hmmm. Wonder why.

Day 136 - Straw Anyone?

My baby girl has recently discovered she likes drinking out of straws...whether colorful or not, but the cool colors do make for a fun picture.

So blogger randomly threw one of my posts out of order (the one they removed and had to restore again). Did this happen to anyone else? I wish I knew how to put it back in the proper order.

Day 135 - Heart of the Orchid

My hubs and baby girl bought me some beautiful orchids for Mother's Day last week and I realized I hadn't taken a picture of them yet, so without further adieu...the detail of one of my orchids.

Project 365 - Week 19

Click on the title below to see the full picture.

1. Happy Mother's Day
2. Beauty in the Small Things
3. Doctor's Orders
4. Tulips
5. 4th Anniversary
6. Sensory Garden
7. Goslings