So Long, 2014

Here's to a happy, happy, happy new year!

Sunny Palomino

During our family trip to Colorado this Summer, we rented out a ranch cabin, and it was right next to the barn where they kept the horses.  In the afternoon, one of the owners left a pretty palomino in the barn, and (as usual) I got super excited and got my camera. 

He stood in the dark for a little while before walking out into the sun.  That amount of light added a new dimension to the shot, in addition to the darkness in the background.  Also, the horse's face is in direct line with the wooden beam, which isn't dead center in the photo.  It's a good rule of thirds, and the colors blend well.

Any ideas or opinions on this photo you would like to share?  Tell me in the comments below!  And don't forget to subscribe to the blog to receive post updates!

Moving

This past month has been a huge whirlwind of activity!  I finally got on to my site today, and I was so shocked when I saw that my last post was November 17!  Happy December.

It's been very different moving to the city after nine months in the middle of nowhere.  And the fact that our neighbors are extremely nice is, dare I say it, just a tad creepy.  I mean, I have never had such nice neighbors in years!  So when three different people rang my doorbell on the same day, I started to get nervous and happy at the same time.

We stayed in a hotel until we had unpacked a majority of the boxes, making it a livable place to stay!  It was kind of boring though, because the only thing we could do when we had time off was either eat at a restaurant (we didn't have all the kids with us, so it was less expensive), go back to the WIFI-less hotel and watch TV, or go to bed.  Basically, all I did in the hotel was watch CNN and Fox News while crunching ice.  I agree with you if you think that is weird.

 Now, we're all moved in (even though there are still millions of boxes...oh, if you could only see our garage!), and Kip, our dog, has a fenced-in backyard.  That's a lot better than a huge field without a fence.

Have a great December!

Red Clover

Sunset is coming earlier these days, and the weather is getting very chilly.  This flower, a red clover, is one of the last survivors in our yard.  Its vibrant color against the green and brown background is still there despite frost.

Dandelion and Orange Insect

I like the dark background in contrast with the bright yellow of the dandelion.  When I was really little, I called the pretty weeds "dandy-flowers."  A few times, my family went into our yard and picked a gazillion of them, fried them, and ate them for supper (Sounds weird, but trust me, it's really good!).

The bug has a orange color that blends nicely with the yellow.  He walked around the small flower near the smaller insect with a silly air of "I'm huge, fear me." 

The Messy Chocolate Bunny

Baby brother had found a big chocolate bunny somewhere, and he plopped onto the kitchen floor and promptly bit into it.  He knew such a messy block of candy wasn't for him, but he delighted in it anyway.

Unfortunately, I'm not one to stop him when it comes to something cute (and safe) to photograph.  Besides, if he had become messy, I would have done the laundry anyway. ;)
Baby brother was happy...until I took the chocolate away from him.  He got over it soon enough, and I came away with some cute photos.  Win-win, I guess.

Silky Webs

The majority of the photos in this series were taken on the same day in the same field.  I was doing a photoshoot with my brother, and the one thing that always happens (just ask my brother) is that I get distracted by interesting things.  Not that my brother isn't interesting, but I'm just digging myself deeper into a hole, aren't I? ;)

The photo above took my fancy, with the spikiness of both the plant and the web itself.  Since it was later in the morning (around 10 or 11 AM), the sun was getting higher, and I had to adjust my shutter speed so as not to overexpose the web.

A flower in the corner is more the subject than the string of web, but the web adds to the composition as a leading line.

I thought the spider above was actually just a piece of dirt...until I looked at the photo on my laptop screen!  There is also a fly caught in the web in the corner, which you might not have noticed.  I like the fact that the web lines are visible.

Dried-out and dead, these flowers (or whatever they once were) sat in my garden, since overgrown now that our plants are gone.  The lines of webbing encircle the plant, and the background is well-blurred.

Stuck against a twig, this web was very peculiar.  The funny-looking lines that are positioned away from the twig seemed like big block letters you might see on an advertisement.