April Butterfly

Wow! How time flies. It's been a couple weeks since I've been here. Sorry to say that I have been busy, but not been out shooting many photos. I did catch a couple and I'll try to get a couple posted in the next couple days.

Here's one of a butterfly I spied in my front garden.

No new photos :(

Busy busy busy! No time for photos :( Hope to get back to it soon! Maybe y'all should count on Picture of the week, instead of picture of the day. Less disappointment involved.

Pear Blossom Revisited - Again

Playing more with the macro function on the camera and seem to be getting better and better shooting these up close flower blossom subjects. Hope to switch gears and find some new inspiration today.

Red Bud's a'Buddin

So much fun to walk the yard and see the daily progress of the sprouting and budding plants. I'm loving spring and daylight savings time!

Mulch Fluffin Pansy Lover

And just because someone called me a 'mulch fluffin' pansy lover', here's an other one of the toughest flowers in my back yard.

The Pear Again

Here's a somewhat more emotional photo of the pear tree outside my window for those of you who can't stand a picture just for the sake of a picture. You know who you are.

Outside my Office

A rather unremarkable picture of a blooming pear tree outside my office. My window is the middle one at ground level. The Crepe Myrtle is going to be pretty spectacular when it blooms!

Not sure how the term 'pansy' got the connotation of something weak or fragile, because these little guys are tough. The yellow and purple once survived multiple snow storms under several feet of snow at times this winter and are still going strong. The violet one is a spring to winter variety which adds a little spring color while everything else gets ready to bloom. Pansies are TOUGH!

The King of the Yard

Caught a couple good shots of spring flowers and and the pup playing in the yard. Here's my pick of the bunch.

Oldie but Goodie

This one is a couple years old, but still one of my favorites to tide you over.

Excuses Excuses

So I've been neglecting my picture posting for a couple weeks now. My latest excuse is that the hard drive on my laptop is full. Time to archive some pictures and maybe invest in an external storage device. I did have the camera out last evening and hope to get something posted later. I am thinking that I should invest some time and snap a bunch of photos so I have a reserve for those busy days that I can't get out and shoot. We'll see how that goes. Hope someones still out there checking in here from time to time.

Finally Back at It

I snapped a couple pictures yesterday after a long break. Nothing too spectacular but pictures non the less. No surprise that an old barn caught my eye. Hopefully I can keep up with a daily post again. Cheers!

Busy Busy

It's been a very busy week. I will get back to the photos after I'm settled at my new job. Forecast for some spring like weather this weekend which might be perfect for a photo shoot.

Full Moon Morning

I caught the full moon just before it slid away behind the trees for the day.

Still Plenty of Snow

The snow is subsiding and I can finally see grass in my yard again. Repeated snow storms of 1+ feet have really done a number on my landscaping. I hope the little guys pep back up in the spring. Countdown to spring = 20 days.

No Racing Today

I was in Richmond yesterday and stopped by the Raceway. Would have been sweet to find an open gate and run a couple laps :)

Can You Canoe?

I wonder how many of these boats might be for sale?????

Almost....

I had the camera out, all ready to get back to this, and low and behold...no SD card. Hopefully I will find some good ops today.

More to Come

I've been having some technical difficulties with my computer and am running out of inspiring photo ops between my house and work. I be back at it soon. Stay tuned!

Snowy Mall

The downtown pedestrian mall is one of my favorite places in Charlottesville. From it's trendy martini bars and up scale boutiques, to it's music venues and dive bars, it can make you forget you're in a small rural VA, and leave you feeling like your in a cool urban neighborhood.

Cunningham Store

The only thing that makes Cunningham, VA a town these days is this store and a sign that says so. It reminds me of the old country store in Neshanic Sta., NJ where I grew up. I hear this shack has some great fried southern specialties at the lunch counter, but I can't say for sure.

Color Accent

My camera has a 'Color Accent' setting which looks like it will be fun to play with. Most post processing software allows you to do the same thing. The idea here is to take a 'black and white' photo with a single color selected to sand out. I'll surely be playing with this a lot more.

Obviously, I chose the red barn doors in one shot. I'm not sure what the target was in the second, but i think it was the snow or sky?????

Royal Crown Cola

A nice thing about living in rural VA is that no matter how many barns fall down, there will be plenty more to photograph. This little gem is just around the corner from me in Cunningham. I'll post a couple more pictures of it over the next couple days.

Snow Load

Picture of the Day seems to be turning into Picture of the Week. I am still taking pictures everyday, but haven't found the time to post them on a daily basis.

The snow storm that took out my power for two days also did a number on this barn. I was so disappointed to see the damage, but grateful that I had a few shots of it before it tumbled.

MmmmMmmm Good

Finally had time and resources to cook the steak and lobster tail that was planned for last Saturday. Man! That stuff is good. If tuna is chicken of the sea, then lobster is the steak.

Broken Fence

I knocked a board out of my fence gate trying to get it open after the recent snow/ice storm. Somewhat annoying, but Bentley has found the bright side of the situation utilizing the opportunity to get a better look at things in the front yard.

Snowed-in!

Need I say more???!

Snow Piling Up

I made a little time lapse of the recent snow storm which started Friday morning and didn't let up until late Saturday. I wish I had taken more pictures over night, but I was busy stoking the fire, finding my flash light and trying to stay warm.

Power Outage

I've been out of power and disconnected from this here interweb thing for the last three days. I will catch up with some photos as soon as I thaw out.

Busted!

I got busted by the Battery Bandit this morning. I was up early and had a little extra time to scout out a great PotD, but the camera didn't have enough juice for even one shot. Unfortunate too, as the sunrise and frosted landscape look fantastic this morning. Better luck next time.

Carter's Mtn

Not much to say about this. Schools been closed for three days and there aren't many hills around town without evidence of sled riders and snowball fights.

Merry Ground Hog Day!

If I can find a ground hog not seeing his/her shadow, I will take a picture of it and post it. Until then, I'll post this '6 more weeks of winter' themed picture of icicles. Cheers!

Jefferson Drive

I have not had much picture time the last couple of days. The snow has been great this winter. This is what my house looked like today.

Snow Day

Due to a power outage most of the day on Sunday, I was unable to post my PotD. Here it is a bit late. It is kind of fun to get snowed in and, you know your snowed in when the only traffic is a John Deere and four wheelers.

Snow Day

We got another big dump of snow today! I got out for a walk in the woods with the dog and took some pictures before it piled up over 12 inches. It was snowing so hard that it was difficult to keep the water drops off the lens but, I was able to get a couple nice shots. Let me know what ya think.

Graffitii

Graffitti is always cool. I'll be keeping my eye out for some more spectacular examples to photograph.

Weathered Barn

I stopped by the barn again. The textures and colors of the weathered wood and rusty tin roof are amazing.

Fluvanna Barn

Its been busy week! Not much photo time.

I pass this barn on my way to work everyday. The weathered wood sides and tin roof catch my eye in almost every light situation. There is no good place to stop, but I hiked along the road the other day and snapped this photo. I post processed it and applied the sepia tone effect.

Hopefully I will be able to get permission from the land owner to take more shots of this structure.

Farm Sign

I thought the colors in this photo were really cool. I like the contrast between the green moss on the sign, the brown fence boards and the orange leaves on the ground.

Pigs Love

I wish these guys were a little less friendly. As soon as I walked up they came over to the fence and wouldn't leave. I left to run errands and came back hoping to get a shot of them in the mud or at their trough, or napping, but the second I returned they came right back over to the fence.

So, minus having to shoot through the fence, I think this one came out pretty well. I will at least give myself high scores for composition and to the pigs for modeling! What a couple of hams...hehehe.

Tracks

I have always been fascinated with trains and tracks.

I'm looking forward to getting back to some of the places where I have taken pictures over the last month to 'redo' some of them. Every time I process a batch I think of things to do differently.

More to Come

I've been slackin' on the picture taking the last couple days. Hope to make up for it today by getting a couple good ones to keep in reserve for days when I don't get the shot off.

Cars

I didn't get a single shot off today, so here is one from the weekend.

Picture of a Picture

January Rose

I took a bunch of pictures today, some probably much better than this one, but I was taken back by a rose bud in January.

Logo

A cold and rainy, lazy Sunday with little motivation to take pictures. I am looking forward to the longer, warmer days of spring and the opportunity to photograph some sweet rides at the local crusin' night. Stay tuned.

Banjo Girl

The C'ville downtown mall is another great place for endless opportunities of picture taking. This young lady was nice enought to let me take a couple shots. She gets an A+ for costume and entertainment value. I give myself a B- for composition and execution.

Robert E Lee

Thanks to Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson, I had the day off. Lots of time to play with the camera. This stautue of the General is in Lee park near the C'ville downtown mall.

I was able to take lots of shots, adjusting the f-stop and shutter, zooming, and playing with the on board editing functions. Great day! In the end, I still didn't end up with anything spectacular, but I'm enjoying the ride up the learning curve.

Definately have to look into some post processing tools in the near future.

Sunset Lake Monticello

Another rather ordinary sunset shot. Im guessing there will be a lot more of them to come.

Note to self: When taking lanscape shots, increase the depth of field to increase the objects in focus, ie. crank down the aperature (bigger number ;) Maybe that will sink in.

http://digital-photography-school.com/11-surefire-tips-for-improving-your-landscape-photography

Woolen Mills

The old Woolen Mills factory presents endless opportunity for cool pictures if you time the light right. I caught a couple this morning at sunrise. The mill is half abandoned and half utilized by a moving company. In 1861 the Confederate government seized control of the factory to produce uniforms for their soldier. Lots of history there.

Hopefully I have redeemed myself for the crap I posted yesterday :)

Big Dipper

Not much success with the camera this evening. Dead battery to start things off and little inspiration from my immediate surroundings. Some moon light would have definitely helped the cause. Low scores for composition and execution, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the big dipper glaring back at me in this one.