Now, with more cropping!

I spent a while tonight organizing my picture folder.  I only deleted the entire folder once... or, I didn't delete it, it just went missing for a while?  I dunno what happened, but it was kind of panic-inducing.  I also started fiddling with PaintShopPro a bit.  I still have no idea how to use it, but I have figured out cropping...  So, a few photos that are now cropped!

4 Days Later...

I tried to keep the same basic composition, despite having to rotate the shot so I wasn't looking at the side of the flower.

Walkin' Around Berlin

Berlin, CT that is.  Too bad I'm not in Germany...

Took the camera out today while we were walking the dog.  Not the brightest of days, but got a few I liked.  Figured I'd throw a few up sans editing.

Spring Has Sprung!

While I was cooking dinner tonight, I looked out the window and was pleased to see that my favorite tree in the back yard has finally bloomed!  Only one branch, about 10 or 12 feet up, but it is in bloom all the same.  So I ran out back and perched precariously on the ladder to grab this shot before the sun went down.  Not really artsy, but that tree makes me so happy, I thought I'd share.  Happy springtime everyone!

(As usual, clicking on the picture will bring up a full sized image.)

I'm not crazy... this time...

I asked both Matt and Jess if they thought my banner looked blurry, and got negative responses from both...  I'm browsing through some photos, and, looking at the original, I'm positive the banner lost its focus in my editing.  (Clicking on them will bring up larger images, which shows the contrast better than the photos that fit to the page.)

Original:

Banner:

I'll work on replacing it soon.  In the meantime, another few photos I found tonight.  The first is one of Bowser that Matt wanted me to crop and post as my banner, though I'm not sure where a title would fit.  And the second is an entirely untouched photo from a journey to the beach last year. 

First Post!

Well, this is my first ever blog. I'm a math and physics geek, very much a numbers person. So, I've been working on exploring various crafts as a way to strengthen my creative side. I've picked up some paints, I am working on a cross-stitching project, I've got beads ready for a shot at a little jewelry-making, I have a fancy camera I'm trying to learn how to use, and eventually I'd like to try my hand at quilting.

My goal in this blog is to share my results with various friends and family who have an interest in seeing what I'm doing, as well as to get some feedback on my projects.

The first project for the blog was to make my banner. I'm not 100% totally in love with it, but it really gave me some practice, and extreme frustration, with using Paint Shop Pro. The photo is one of my own.

The second project actually came before the blog and sort of prompted it because of requests to see the finished project. My husband reads the site Gizmodo regularly, and they hold a weekly photo contest. Given my interest in photography, he prompted me to enter the challenge last week, which was to shoot any scene with the light of only one candle. My first thought was to get a cat to investigate a candle. That failed fairly quickly, based on the fact that the cats won't come anywhere near a candle, and when we tried with the dog, he stepped directly in it, spilling wax everywhere. My second thought was to try shooting the dispersion of Crystal Light in a glass of water, since I enjoy watching it anyways.

I overtook the guest bedroom one night, using sheets to block out the light the curtains couldn't, brought in our little table that sits next to the front door as a black stand for the water, and set up my camera on a tripod. I placed a tealight behind just a regular glass of water, and took a shot to see about the lighting. I was pretty pleased with the very first shot:

The final shot I ended up submitting did contain the dispersion effect:

While I didn't make it into the top photos, I felt pretty good about it after seeing the other results. A lot of people just took pictures of, well, candles. So, mine was among the unique ideas, though it certainly wasn't the best of those.