Lilla Rose Flexi Clip Giveaway!!

I am so excited about this! I found out about the Lilla Rose Giveaway at Feminine Farmgirl. I can't wait for the announcements! If you want to enter the giveaway or want more info go to Feminine Farmgirl.blogspot.com
I have been waiting for a Flexi Clip giveaway for some time now and now I've found one!!!!

I've really liked Flexi Clips for a long time.They are such beautiful hair clips! And one of my favorite things about them is the HORSE Flexi Clips!

Visit the Flexi Clip website to see all of the selections! I'm amazed by all of the different clips!

Two special pets minus one equals.....

A big amount of Heartbreak, right? A person gets sad when one of their pets passes on, don't they? I did. And today, at 2:39, one of my guinea pigs, Maya, passed away. This morning my sister went to feed Inca and Maya, our two guinea pigs, and found that Maya wasn't moving around. She was breathing but staying in one spot. We checked on her frequently and even called a Vet.
He came at 2:00 and looked at her. He said that it might have been Scurvy. Maya's front legs were hurting. He gave her a Vitamin C injection and something happened. She wasn't moving and her heart wasn't beating. Not once. The Vet said that he might have shocked her a bit. Poor girl.

Guinea pigs usually live 5-7 years. But God chose to take Maya into His arms. She's safe in Heaven. If animals do go to Heaven that is. But Maya was special to us. It's hard for me to grieve over a loved pet.

Once I had only one guinea pig.
When I got Inca at a pet shop I found out that she was in the cage with two male guinea pigs. I brought her home and one morning I heard a squeal from her. Sure, guinea pigs oink, squeal and all that but this was different. I saw two other figures in her little house. I called my dad and my family and I checked it out. They thought it might be mice but we saw two Adorable baby guinea pigs with new mama Inca.
One of them, a boy, we named Aztec. The other, a girl, we named Maya. Aztec was all black with a little white on the tip of his nose. Maya was black and white.

We used to clean the guinea pig cage and take the guinea pigs outside to eat some fresh grass. Well, I guess we left them out a little too long. Aztec's black fur attracted the sun's rays and eventually was too hot. Too hot to live anymore.
We buried him in a cardboard box in the backyard. Someday I hope to go back to that house and see his grave.

Now I only have one precious piggy. I thought of myself as a Mom and Grandma. Inca was my baby and Maya and Aztec were my grandpigs. Now my grandpigs are gone and I'm grieving for my newly lost one.

I made this my laptop's desktop photo.

Sweet little Maya.

Inca and Maya together. They were always 

so sweet and cute. Now only one. Sniff.

I'll miss little Maya dearly. My last grandpig and not here anymore. My exotic babies. My little cuddly piggies. Learn to go on with Life without forgetting a loved one. Even a family pet.

Camera cases with style

What is one of the most important thing to have as a photographer besides the camera? Most likely it's the camera case.
My camera case has saved my camera from breaking and I'm grateful for that! I don't know what I'd do without it.
If you don't have some sort of case for your camera, you're going to need one. Soon. You know that your camera cannot protect itself from concrete, wood, and other hard things so a case is like a knights armor.
A case sort of 'cushions' your camera.

If you don't have a case or you think yours is getting outdated or just a little too old you will most likely need a new one.
Sturdiness is probably first. You have to make sure that something is worth the price before you buy.
You would have to choose between style, old-fashioned, or in-between. Then the pattern. Plaid? Stripes? Animal 'fur'?
And of course, the budget. The price is where someone might get disappointed. Say that a person has been shopping online for a new camera case. Well, after a long search the item is found. Everything about the case is as perfect as it can be and just when the person is about to click Buy......$89.00?!
Ouch! And, yes, it's true. Pricey, huh?

Jill-e.com has some stylish and sturdy camera cases/bags ranging from about $30.00 to about $250.00.

Amazon.com also has some wonderful varieties of case. The one pictured below is one of my favorites. Maybe I should buy a new camera case like this one!
Note: Fits cameras 4 inches by 3 inches.



Of course, any sturdy camera case would do. It can be any kind you need. Just use your imagination.

A little visit from three little caterpillars

Three Monarch butterfly caterpillars
came to visit a few weeks ago. Of course, I had to grab my camera!
I really like caterpillars because
of their beautiful combination of colors!

I wonder what it would be like to have so many 

legs. Of course, the centipede is what I really 

wonder about.

Going up. Bending his back and scooting himself up.
Great exercise program, right?

Caterpillar legs are so interesting
but so weird at the same time. So small too.

God really gave these guys some tough
muscles! I think it would hurt if I
tried to bend like that all the time.
And all those legs to use.
 I think if creatures could play sports caterpillars would
choose soccer!

The State Fair

Thrilling rides, Screams, Cotton Candy, Tickets. Who wouldn't think of the Fair after hearing that description? Prize winning animals such as rabbits, chickens and cows. My favorite to look at is the rabbit building. All those cute little guys either sleeping or just staring at you with those adorable eyes that make a person (mostly children) want to bring them home.

      Of course, the rides are the biggest entertainment besides the 'You-get-lucky-and-you-win' games. Ferris wheels, Roller Coasters, 'Starship', 'The Rainbow', 'Round Up'.
The Rainbow. Seems like a pretty relaxing type of ride, doesn't it? Not really! Swinging side to side and, from the looks of it, I wouldn't be wanting someone screaming in my ear. I have never ridden it, of course, and unless I have a close friend or a relative of mine with me I probably never will. Oh well, I still have plenty of years ahead of me.

      Anyway......Since I am a photographer I should show some of the photos that I took, right?


The Petting Zoo.

I wouldn't really want to pet this animal. Would you?

 Isn't this little guy cute?

  I think this one is just as cute.

But this kid was my favorite!

This photo was my second favorite.

And my third favorite.

Every person who saw these two together were saying, "Oh, they are so cute!"

Three kids and one exasperated mama. Just look at her staring at me.

I'm the 'horsey' kind of person so this miniature horse was irresistible!

Some Of The Rides.

The Ferris Wheel is a ride with an awesome 

view of the Fair grounds beneath and beyond.

One of these days I'm going to take a photo like that.

And then there's the Ski Lift. My brother and I rode on it

and let's just say it had a nice view until you looked DOWN.

I do not know what this ride is called but I'm not the type to
ride on it without a close friend with me.

The Carousel was one of my favorite rides when I was a small

kid and it still is. The horses are what I ride every time :)

The Show Animals.

Well, I guess I should start with the cutest of the bunch.

How about rabbits?

And if you are just simply wondering. I did not open the cages. I just cropped
the photos that way!

Lionhead dwarf rabbits are my favorite!

I cropped this photo with the aid of Photoshop if anyone reading is wondering.

This rabbit caught my eye in some way.

I thought of him as very cute.

Doesn't this rabbit make you laugh?

This is one e..l..o..n..g..a..t..e..d. rabbit.

He is so adorable!

 Red eyes on rats are kind of scary to me 

but red eyes on rabbits are (this is what I think, anyway) a little less scary. I don't know why.

And then there are the chickens.

Chickens can be pretty funny at times. I think this chicken was surprised when I
took this photo of her. But that is just what I think.

This photo is kind of weird and kind of creative to me. But I'm
not a professional at photography. I just say what I think these

photos look like.

If anyone reading this is unfamiliar
with Photoshop I guess I should
show an example.
This chicken photo is blurry and not completely white
but when I fix it with Photoshop......

Doesn't the chicken look better?

That is just a small example of what Photoshop can do.

The Games.

I played 'Pick a lucky duck' once and, as I said at the beginning of this post, it is a 'You-get-lucky-and-you-win' sort of game as is every Fair game.

The only thing I was happy about is that I came home with one of the pink stuffed horses in the photo above. Pretty cheap, though.

The pink and purple monkey was so cute but the game looked like a rip-off.

And that is about all the Fair has to offer. Petting Zoos, Rides, Show animals, and Games.

Now doesn't that just sound like a fun way to end the day? Now the only thing people need at a Fair is a free golf cart!

Breckenridge, Colorado

Last July my family and I decided to visit Breckenridge, Colorado. While we were there we checked out two museums. It was amazing! We had so much fun. As usual, I took photos of everything we saw. The two photos below are from the Carter Museum. I liked the Great Dane statue except for the fact that a trash can was in the way. I was in too much of a hurry to take another photo from a different angle.

Photo #198, Photo #199,Photo #200.

A little tip for the future: Do Not take too many photos at one time. You could end up with numerous photos that look bad and only a few that appeal to your liking. So just take a few and if those don't turn out well (while you are still at the place) then delete them and take a few more- maybe on a different setting.

Here are a few ideas that could save you some precious time:

#1. Find out what kind of lighting (if indoors) is being used like florescent, incandescent, or just sunlight. Set your camera to the correct light setting and see how the photos turn out.

#2. Is the subject running, flying, etc? Change your camera's current setting to the 'Subject tracking' mode.

#3. And last but not least, Portrait mode. This was discussed in the earlier Post: 'Portrait, anyone?' and is very important for a close-up of one person or two people together. You can read the post 'Portrait, anyone?' anytime.

Ooh,A butterfly!

A few years ago a butterfly(I'm thinking it was a tiger swallowtail-correct me if I'm wrong) visited our humble home and it stayed for a while! I couldn't help but grab my camera and I ended up with some good ones! Here's just a few of the ones I took:

Ever seen this butterfly? He is considered 'six armed' and charged with 'pretty robbery!(;

Portrait, anyone?

What if you want to take a photo of your favorite friend, pet, or another thing but you just want the persons (or anything) face? Easy! Switch your camera to portrait mode. If you do this you'll get just what you wanted and maybe even a soft (blurry) background which is very beautiful. If you want a good background you can ask the person (if it is Fall) to lay down in a pile of leaves or (anytime) sit on a swing, against a tree, etc.

Try not to get any distracting objects in the way of your 'Photo' like a car, other person and other things. If this happens you will possibly end up with a bad photo. One solution is to leave some excess background above and beside the person for later cropping. Or you can shoot another photo somewhere else. Either one works!


Here is a funny idea you can do: take a photo of a person (or you), crop it down to just the face, open the photo in Photoshop or another photo fixer and leave it there while you draw a picture of someone you would like to be (a dancer, a scientist, a hunter, etc) or just a cartoon character you like. Then (make sure you left a big place in the head for your face) scan the drawing onto your computer, put it on Photoshop and drag your photo onto the drawing. Crop the area around the persons face and put it over the blank spot you left, then, when you have it just the way you want it, lay the drawing flat (you can do this on Photoshop) and print it out! My sister, brother and I did this and we ended up putting Santa Clause, an elf and a super hero on our Fridge! It can be hilarious or serious or a little of both.

Have fun with this artistic idea!Younger children will have fun drawing while you do the rest (It might be hard for you but it will be worth it when the child looks at it and says," Look at what I did!"). You can learn a lot of details with Photoshop (if you are a child you might -just in case- have a parent check the link before you do!) by checking out the link above or buy the book here..... Photoshop Elements for Dummies
Feel free to leave a comment if you like this post or if you have something to say that you would like to add.

Taking in God's creation with a camera

Have you ever been to Rifle Falls in Rifle, Colorado? Well, if you have or haven't it's a great place to take photos! When we made a trip there we hiked up the trail around the falls and we had a great time!

Here are some photos I took while we were there:

If you think these pictures were nice you should see the real thing!
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