House on Hillsboro

6th of the 6th

My sorely underpaid design consultant, Shannon, tagged me for the sixth of the sixth meme and after a brief investigation into what that picture might actually be I am delighted to participate.  Though I will admit, for whatever reason there are several newer picture folders in front of the earliest folders so I wasn't sure where I should start.  Starting from the oldest dated folder the sixth of the sixth was a picture of me nursing Ava - just the sort of thing I was scared of.  I was really good at nursing discreetly, but still.

No matter, the true sixth picture in the sixth folder was of Ava and a kitten.

 

One of these naughty kittens, in fact.   Please follow the link for the story.  I am still trying to forget.

The picture is not a true Polaroid.  It wasn't the best picture quality wise so I used the super fun Poladriod to spruce it up.  

Rules:  Go to your photo folders.  Post the sixth picture in the sixth folder.  Tell the story about the picture.  Tag six bloggers to do the same.  Remember, three out of four ain't bad.

I tag:

Porter House

Bowl of Plenty

Is that six?  Good.  Participate if you like!

Like Being Underwater.

Yesterday morning the sun rose (of course) but this time the light was...pink.  Not a little pink, a lot pink.  And I don't mean the sky or the clouds but the light itself and it was very odd.  And very beautiful.  And I don't think I will ever forget it. 

Here is the picture I took straight out of the camera and unedited. 

That very afternoon there were tornados 'round these parts.   Aren't the two sometimes connected or is that just an old wives' tale?

Resolution #2.

Learn more about photography/Take better Pictures.

So, I am LOVING my new camera.  LOVING it.  I LOVE it.

And I have been having a reoccurring daydream.

I walk outside one morning and a little patch of trees just South of us has been cleared.  Then the most perfect little house rises from it little by little until one morning, just before sunrise, I hear the faint sound of a moving truck over the voice of Mrs. Weaver. I set my crochet out of Frank's reach and go to the window, sliding my lemon tree aside.  I peek out.  First I spy two children, one about 5 and one recently three.  Behind them, their mother and father begin to carry boxes up the back stoop.

Several days later I catch them in their swing on the front porch.  I grab the basket by the front door that has been packed and waiting, straightening the jars home canned jelly and tucking in the hand-made oven mits just so.  I pluck a few lemons, some branch and green leaves still attached, and nestle them into one side.  Perfect.

Oh, they are lovely.  As Ava and Jack play with Ada and Jake (I know! What a coincidence.), we chit chat, laughing frequently.  Turns out she is a master photographer who sews and crochets and bakes and gardens in her spare time.  When she's not rock hunting.  Or watching Planet Earth dvds with her coffee each morning.   Sigh

BUT that might take months or even years to happen and I can't just sit around waiting.  So, I got myself some books and I am actually beginning to  s l o w l y  make some connections.  Things are beginning to come into focus.  Ha ha haaa ha ha haaaa ha

I also found a digital photography blog that is like THE BEST EVER.  It's called Digital Photography School  and I am showing up and taking notes.  They have a weekly assignment where they set a certain guideline for the photographs and then pick a winner.  Yesterday, they set next weeks criteria as Purple but I wasn't able to play because I had had my computer privileges taken away for the house being to dirty.  But TODAY  the house is all nice and clean and you could still enter!  So I did.  Isn't that CRAZY?  It was so exciting.  And at the same time embarrassing.  But for some strange reason I felt compelled to do it and it made me happy.  Here is my first photo contest entry, Assignment Purple.

I have decided to enter as many of these as time allows.  And I really think, if I continue to work really hard, I just might win one of these days.  My deadline is the year 2058.  If I haven't by then, I'm going to give up.

Being Good all Year Was So Worth It.

Because JD was not here to intervene, I opened my Christmas present yesterday.  I did manage to wait the twenty minutes it took me to drive home from UPS, which is now filed away as one of my proudest moments ever. 

JD, tis a absolute shame you weren't here to watch me open it.  Remember the picture you took of me in Peking the other day?  Yeah.  Just imagine exactly that, but a bit MORE excited and for much, much longer.

NIKON D40! 

Shut up.  So, you know I wanted something else, but before I could find just the right one, I happened along a side by side comparison of the Canon Digital Rebel XTI vs Nikon D40x and suddenly I was compelled to learn more about SLR's (single-lens reflex) cameras.  Turns out, their major advantages over point & shoot like I currently use, are NO SHUTTER LAG!, exchangeable lenses, better performance in low light situations (woohoo), and, of course, better image quality overall.   And I'll be darn if the first three aren't my complaints with my Canon PowerShot SD450.

First stop, Pioneer Woman (picture taker extraordinaire) who I vaguely recalled using a D80.  Yup.  Then off to price the D80.  Nope.  So, I worked my way down the line and eventually found the D40x.  Maybe.  But, something still didn't feel right.  But THEN, I found this, this, and THIS.  Yes! Yes! Yes!

And now it's here.  But, first I had to charge the battery and run to town to pick up a memory card, which was like no big deal because I'll 'run to town' on any ole whim like, oh, being out of toilet paper for two weeks. 

I joke.  Really, I picked one up on the way to get Ava from school and as I waited in the car pick up line, I assembled all my parts, skimmed through the manual, and.... took my very first picture.

That's embarrassing.  BUT LOOK HOW CRISP!  EVERY DROPLET OF JUICE, CLEAR AS A BELL!  AND THE COLORS, SO TRUE! 

On the way home, I wished I'd brought my zoom lens.

Then, once home I took this award winner,

in Auto mode with flash on.  And while the subject is odd, isn't the picture nice? 

Here is the same picture, taken with the same settings, but with my Canon point and shoot.

Why?  What is the difference, exactly?  I vow to learn.  And the pictures around here are going to get a lot better, too.  But, don't hold your breath.  I have so much to learn.

But first I have to take care of my end of the deal and get started on a certain 'photo shoot' I promised JD.

Kidding, Gramoo.

And thank you, JD.