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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