More Than Meets the Eye

My Hero In Iraq

2008-10-23T23:23:00.001-05:00

Some of you who have followed my blog know that a very special person to me is serving in the United States Marines and is currently in Iraq. Kevin dated my daughter for almost 4 years and is so very special to our entire family. When my brother died, he flew all the way from California to honor my brother who served in the Army. Kevin and two other dear friends who are Marines conducted the Flag Folding Ceremony and presentation of the Flag to my parents and my niece.

I'm very lucky that I get to email quite frequently with Kevin. Today he sent me some pictures of him in Iraq. To say it made my day is putting it mildly! I hope you don't mind me sharing.. One of the pictures is so cool!

I'm going to be sending a box of cards to Kevin in the next couple of weeks. I'm working on some holiday cards to send him and his unit so they will have some cards to send home to their families and friends during the holidays. If you'd like to help and make a few cards.. I'd love it! Email me at riverviewstamper at gmail dot com and I will give you my address to send them too!

Thanks for serving our country Kevin and please know you are in my thoughts and prayers daily! I love you!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

My Boy And The Tractor

2008-01-05T21:45:00.000-05:00

ROTC Competition- Boca Raton, FL 12/08/07

2007-12-11T15:37:00.000-05:00

Me and My Daughter Kristina... 2nd Place Overall Trophy! Go Sharks

My Husband and My Daughter Kristina

Kristina reporting in to the Commanding Officer inspectin their batallion. They took 2nd place in Inspection :-)

My Baby Brother... Rest In Peace

2007-11-29T22:40:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted here on this blog. Life has thrown me several curve balls this year, but the worst was losing my only sibling on September 24th. I took this photo of Stephen and his daughter in May. It was such a happy day. Stephen adored Adele and she adored him.

We'll never know why he left us. I pray everyday for peace and understanding, especially for my parents. He was 36 years old. Too young. But, he felt the need to leave his life here on earth to go where he'd no longer suffer from his pain and depression that plagued him for years.

Life is so fragile and short. Hug those you love a little tighter and tell them how much you love them. You never know when life will throw you a curve ball.

My Dream Camera!!

2007-07-23T16:57:00.000-05:00

I rented the Canon 5D and 85mm 1.4 lens. OMG I am soooo in love! I shoot with a Nikon right now and let me tell you.. this camera is a dream! As soon as I save up I'm gonna own one of these bad boys! Here's a few I've taken this week...

2007-07-10T22:08:00.000-05:00

Just a few shots from our beach vacation!

Going On Vacation

2007-06-29T22:55:00.001-05:00

We're heading to our favorite vacation spot- New Smyrna Beach,FLorida... We vacation there every year during the week of the 4th of July. So excited! I really need the get away!

I took these two sunrise pictures in 2005. These were taken with my point and shoot camera before I got my DLSR. They are my favorite sunrise photos I've ever taken..

Hope to have lots of great pictures to share when I get back on the 8th of July!

Have a great Independence Day!

Fun Senior Session!!

2007-06-26T22:50:00.000-05:00

Took these photos of my daughter and her friend Haliegh last Friday. This is the latest fad in Senior Photography..

Playing with Textures

2007-06-15T19:11:00.000-05:00

Playing with textures...

2007-06-15T00:13:00.000-05:00

Surgery Update

2007-06-04T22:41:00.001-05:00

Today was the most gruelling day of my life. The emotional rollercoaster is beyond explaining, those of you who have been through this know what I mean.

Daddy went back for surgery at 12:15 and every hour they came out to update us on how things were going and what they were doing. During the second report, the Nurse who came out to update us told us that they had found extensive damage on the lower portion of Daddy's heart and the surgeon would also be doing a lazer operation after the bypasses were complete to help fix the bottom area of the heart. She told us to expect an additional hour of surgery.

At 4:45 the surgeon came out and said they had completed the bypasses and everything looked good. He said that during the surgery, Daddy had several heart attacks and they thought it best to not do the lazer portion of the surgery. He didn't want to take any chances and felt Daddy couldn't handle the additional surgery at this time. He told us to wait one hour in the waiting room and then we could go to Cardiac ICU to see him.

We waited an hour, went to ICU and I picked up the telephone you have to use to have the nurses let you in. I identified myself and told them we were there to see Daddy. She tells me he's not there yet, he's still in surgery. I explained that couldn't be right, the surgeon had come out to talk to us and told us to come see him in an hour.

The nurse then tells me that they had to take my dad back to surgery but she didn't have any details on why. We waited another agonizing hour and a half waiting to hear what was going on.

My Daddy's heart rate was dropping drastically low and the rythm was off kilter. They had to open him back up and insert a pacemaker to get his heart rythm stablized again.

So far, things are looking great. He's stable, and when I went in to see him at 10pm he was already off the ventilator, sitting up slightly or elevated in the bed and eating ice chips. :) :)

He's very hoarse, but he did talk to us and it was the BEST feeling in the world to see him alert and concious.

Hopefully he'll be out of ICU on Wednesday!

Update on Dad

2007-05-31T21:47:00.000-05:00

If your reading this long post...let me warn you... get a drink or cup of coffee and a snack.. it's going to be a long entry.

I'm going to start at the beginning. On Thursday, May 24, 2007, my dad went to a local water park called Adventure Island. If you know my dad, he's very much a kid at heart and LOVES adventure, rollercoasters, water rides and slides and is very active. Dad is 66 years old, will turn 67 on July 29th.

When he got to Adventure Island he wasn't feeling well. He said he sat down at a picnic table near the concession stand. He tried to get up and found he couldn't move his right leg. After a few minutes he was able to get up and decided to go home. He told my mother of his spell and that he still wasn't feeling well. He took it easy the rest of the night but he also noticed he was having a hard time writing.
My dad has impecible handwriting. When he tried to write, the words were very sloppy and some were illegible.

Friday morning he got up, came downstairs for breakfast and my mom noticed he wasn't acting normal. His speech was slurred. She called his doctor but they were closed for the holiday weekend so she left a message for the on call doctor to call her back. Dad leaves about 9am to drive to work. He gets to the parking lot and decides he's not feeling well enough to work, so he turns around and comes back home. He get's home about 10:30am. Mom has an appointment and has to leave but calls me at work and asks me to come over to the house and sit with dad until she gets back home. She's worried about him and is still waiting for the doctors office to call her back. I got off work at noon, and went straight to their house, which is about 8 minutes from my office. I pull into the driveway and Dad's car is not there. I immediately call my mom on her cell phone and tell her that Dad isn't home. She asks me to call him on his cell phone and find out where he is. I call him and when he answers he tells me that he's feeling better so he decided to drive back to work. Now mind you, he works in Clearwater, which is a 40 minute drive from his house, over a very very long bridge crossing Tampa Bay. As soon as Dad starts talking to me, I notice his speech is very slurred. He sounded drunk. He couldn't complete sentences in a normal timeframe, couldn't think of words he needed to say. I KNEW something was wrong and I asked him to please turn around and come back home. He immediately said " ok, I'll turn around and come back home". I immediately call my brother to tell him what's going on. He says he'll leave work and head over. When dad pulls into the driveway, I'm waiting at the front door for him. I watch him get out of the car and walk towards the house and he can't walk a straight line. His balance was off and he looked like he was struggling to lift his right leg when he walked.

We come inside and he sits down and I tell him to explain to me what's going on and when he started feeling bad. He told the story about adventure island and then said " Monica, I think I've had a stroke but I didn't say anything to your mom because I don't want to worry her". I tell Daddy we need to go to the Emergency Room right away. I call my mom and she said she's on her way home and will be there in about 10 minutes. She arrives home and we both tell Daddy we're taking him to the ER.
He says ok, with no fight and we get in the car and go. Called my brother, Stephen to tell him to meet us at the ER.

Friday he's admitted to the hospital after several hours in the ER. He is diagnosed as having a stroke.

Saturday, May 26th is my parent's 43rd Wedding Anniversary. Dad is in denial and thinks he's fine, wants to be released from the hospital so he can take my mom out to dinner. Dr says not happening. He stays and is released to go home on Sunday afternoon. The stroke was classified as a mild stroke and the Neurologist releases him to go back to work on Tuesday.

Monday is Memorial Day. Dad is home and again in denial that he's just been through a major health issue. He decided to go outside and start pulling weeds in the 90 degree heat! OMG I could just take him and shake him!

Tuesday morning, he wakes up and tells my mom he has really really severe integestion. He drives to work and as he's driving to work he starts having chest pains. He gets to work, doesn't even get out of the car, but instead turns around and comes back home. My mom is shocked to see him home. He only tells her that the integestion was so bad he came home. He doesn't say a word about the chest pains. Mom calls his doctor, again has to leave a message. At this point, my dad tells my mom he's fine and tells her to go to the office. If the doctor calls back, he can talk with him and tell him what's going on. Mom said that dad was basically forcing her out of the house. She left reluctantly, and came home about an hour later. When she pulls into the driveway, my dad is outside cutting down tree limbs. She tells him to stop immediately and come in the house. When he gets inside, he tells her that he's talked to his doctor and the doctor want's him to go the ER because he thinks he's had a heart attack. Mom calls me at 3:26pm and tells me she's taking him to the ER. I leave work and head straight to the hospital.

Stephen meets us there again and we waited 8 hours before they finally got Dad up to the CCU. All the preliminary tests show he's had a heart attack, but they aren't sure how strong or how much damage. They schedule him for a Cardiac Cathater for Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning, we arrive at the hospital and they take dad in for the Cath. The Heart surgeon comes out and tells us that dad's heart is severely diseased. He will need a triple if not a quadruple bypass as soon as possible. Daddy is diabetic, but keeps his blood sugar very well controlled and is insulin dependent. The diabetes is the cause of the heart disease. Of course we are devastated. Anyone who's been through this knows what a scary thing this is. Life is so fragile!!!

Dad is stable, but is very scared and depressed. After consulting with the Neurologist who treated dad over the weekend for the stroke, they decided that the bypass would take place on Monday, June 4. My dad has had an astronomical amount of blood thinners since he had the stroke and then the heart cath, so they have to wait a few days so that the medication can leave his system. They don't want to open him up and have him bleed to death.

So, that's where we are right now. Dad's still in the hospital, under close monitoring and will have his surgery on Monday afternoon. We appreciate any prayers and good thoughts that you can send his way.

I'll keep everyone posted on his status.

My Dad

2007-05-25T23:09:00.000-05:00

My Dad~ College Graduation Photo 1964

Me and My dad... 2005

This has been a very rough day. We took my Dad to the ER today around 1pm because he wasn't feeling well. If you know my dad, he's almost 67 years old and other than being diabetic, which he keeps under control very well, he's the picture of health. Well, yesterday he wasn't feeling well and today was even worse. He has suffered a stroke. We aren't sure how severe it was just yet, they are still running tests to determine the severity. He's in the hospital right now and probably won't be home for a day or two.

Tomorrow is my parent's 43rd wedding anniversary.

I love my dad.. I'm a daddy's girl.. and I'm worried sick about him.

Please say a prayer for my daddy!

Dress Blues...

2007-05-23T21:59:00.000-05:00

Friday May 18th

2007-05-19T17:24:00.000-05:00

Well, My son graduated from High School and what a big accomplishment! It was a struggle with him to get him to stay in school. Congratulations Eric! We are SOOOOOO proud of you!!

2007-05-12T21:46:00.000-05:00

My Son's Graduation Pictures

2007-05-05T00:08:00.000-05:00

I took these to send along with the graduation announcements.

2007-04-28T22:53:00.000-05:00

Military Ball- April 14th

2007-04-17T22:16:00.000-05:00

Easter Sunday

2007-04-10T23:50:00.000-05:00

This is my daughter and my mom. It's rare I get my mom to let me take a picture of her..but today she let me get several!

Blue Angels- Sunday April 1st

2007-04-05T22:00:00.000-05:00

Had a great time at the airshow on Sunday. One thing I definately need to do is clean my sensor! These shots of the planes in the beautiful blue sky really show the dust and need for cleaning my camera! UGH!

Sunset from Mom and Dad's Backyard

2007-04-05T21:49:00.000-05:00

The colors of the sky were breathtaking. This is SOOC.

Sunrise from my front yard

2007-04-05T21:47:00.000-05:00

I've been MIA. Sorry... life has been extremely busy.

Took this photo from my front yard. Love the color and the golden kiss of the sun.

Wedding 3/25/07

2007-03-29T00:32:00.000-05:00

March 23

2007-03-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

I rented an 85mm 1.4 lens for a wedding I'm shooting on Sunday. I talked my daughter into letting me practice with it today when I got home from work. These are SOOC. No editing done on them yet.

Pic #1 ISO 200 F1.4 SS 1/500
Pic #2 ISO 200 F3.2 SS 1/40 ( I know.. too slow of a SS!)
Pic #3 ISO 200 F5.6 SS 1/200

Thanks for looking...sorry I've been slacking lately!

March 15

2007-03-15T20:03:00.000-05:00

My daughter and my husband. Love how this turned out.. even though it's just a snapshot.

March 12

2007-03-12T21:22:00.000-05:00

Prom Pictures taken Saturday March 10. These are friends of my daughter. Her best friend is in the blue dress.. she looked gorgeous!

March 3rd-

2007-03-06T23:03:00.000-05:00

I'm a little behind. It's been crazy here!

This photo was taken on Saturday during the ROTC State competition. This is the Unarmed Exhibition Team that my daughter is on. She's on the bottom row, far right.

They did so well! They placed 5th overall out of 27 schools in the state. Not bad for a 4th year program!

I'll be back..

2007-03-01T22:40:00.000-05:00

It's been a rough week. Sorry I haven't posted. Life should slow down this weekend and I'll have some photos to post.

Don't give up on me!

Feb 24

2007-02-24T21:11:00.000-05:00

These are some photos were taken at the ROTC competition today.

The first photos is my daughter during personal inspection. The inspector actually brought out a ruler to make sure her ranks and pins were properly placed and aligned.

The 2nd photo is my daughter carrying the guide for the basic drill team.

The 3rd picture is my daughter during the unarmed exhibition routine.

Our school placed 1st overall out of 20 high school ROTC units from all over the state of Florida. I am sooooooo proud of them. Kristina( DD) has been in ROTC for 3 years and we are hoping she will be the commander of the entire battalion next year. She's worked very hard and is very dedicated to ROTC.

Feb 23

2007-02-24T21:05:00.000-05:00

Just a snapshot from last night. My daughter is in ROTC and we had a competition today. Every time we compete, we spend the night in the high school gym. Took this picture of my daughter.

Feb 21

2007-02-21T21:04:00.000-05:00

Feb 20

2007-02-20T23:09:00.000-05:00

Feb 19

2007-02-19T21:43:00.000-05:00

This is the Gasparilla Pirate Boat. Our city has a local celebration each February with a parade and pirate invasion. It's a lot of fun! This is the pirate ship that docks in downtown Tampa and lets all the pirates off to take over the city for a day.

you can read more information at http://www.gasparillapiratefest.com/

Feb 18

2007-02-19T21:39:00.000-05:00

Our Marine...

Came home for the weekend. It was so nice to get to spend time with him. I miss him so much.

Feb 17

2007-02-19T21:38:00.000-05:00

Feb 16

2007-02-19T21:34:00.000-05:00

Catching up.. I missed this weekend. First time since we started :(

Oh well.. I'm catching back up... Took these over the weekend. I did such a stupid thing. FORGOT TO CHECK MY ISO! It was a totally beautiful day and I forgot to change my ISO back to 200.. so all the photos I took on Saturday were at 1600! UGH UGH UGH!!
I had to run noiseware on all of them to fix them to atleast look half way decent.

No other processing done to these other than running noiseware.

Feb 15

2007-02-15T23:00:00.000-05:00

This week has been a rough one... I haven't had a chance yet to do the theme photo of the week. I just started a new full time job and I'm trying to acclimate myself to a new schedule and get used to working outside of the home for the first time in 3 years.

This photo is from a photo shoot I did last sunday. SOOC.. haven't had time to proof them all yet. I loved this little girls dress and the flowers.. all she wanted to do was pick and eat them!

Thanks for looking!

Feb 14

2007-02-14T22:31:00.001-05:00

Feb 13

2007-02-14T22:28:00.000-05:00

Feb 12

2007-02-13T00:32:00.000-05:00

This isn't following with the theme.. but hopefully I'll get to the theme tomorrow or Wednesday.

I took this at the downtown Marriot Hotel yesterday. I loved the huge palm trees that were in the lobby and the light coming in from the second level windows..

Feb 11

2007-02-11T22:46:00.000-05:00

Today I went to the University of South Florida's Botanical Gardens. They had this awesome Orchid Room. These are three different types of Orchids that I took pictures of while visiting.

Manual| ISO 200 | Ap 2.8 and 4.0 | SS 1/60 and 1/90

Feb 10

2007-02-10T23:15:00.000-05:00

This huge tree is in my parent's yard. I have no idea what kind it is..but it's got to be in the pine tree family. Does this count as a botanical??? LOL

Feb 9

2007-02-09T20:31:00.000-05:00

Today I set out to take some more photos of botanicals in my yard. The second photo is another azalea... I have so many different types of azaleas I can't keep track!

The first photo.. I have no idea what it's called.. I call it a holly berry tree. Reminds me of Christmas Holly. I'm sure that's not the actual name of this plant. Anyone know?

Feb 8

2007-02-08T22:13:00.000-05:00

I really liked the shadows in the pictures I took here.

Feb 7

2007-02-07T22:54:00.000-05:00

I had a photo shoot with two young ladies today that are trying out for a calendar contest at their place of employment. They had to turn in swimsuit shots.. Luckily we hit a high of 74 degrees today! So, they weren't tortured to do this shoot during cold weather! LOL

Feb 6th

2007-02-06T22:00:00.000-05:00

Botanicals... a flower from my parent's yard.

Had a really really rough day today. My dad had catarac surgery, my mom fell and really bumped her head causing a gash in her forehead. She' ok.. but I'm really worried about her. I knew one day the time would come when I'd start worrying about my parents getting older... that day came today.

Feb 5

2007-02-05T23:48:00.000-05:00

Azaleas are blooming in my yard... I love my azaleas and my gardenias but sadly the gardenias don't bloom until around April.

Bird Rescue

2007-02-04T22:39:00.000-05:00

Today we found a red tailed hawk hurt in our yard. His right eye was injured and he was having a hard time flying.
We called the local animal wildlife rescue and they came out to try to catch him so they could help him. The first photo was taken as the hawk sat on the roof of my house. You can see his injured eye best in this photo. He stayed there for over an hour. When the rescue volunteer arrived she had several long poles with nets on them to try to capture the hawk.

Well she missed the first try and the hawk tried to fly away into a huge oak tree in our backyard. He was having such a hard time, especially hanging on to limbs and was very dis-oriented. The second photo displays the bird hanging upside down, barely hanging on to a tree limb. My hubby and I helped her catch him finally and he was taken to the rescue shelter for rehab. It was really sad to see the hawk in this condition, but I'm very glad he was captured and will now get the attention he needs for a recovery.

Feb 3

2007-02-04T00:49:00.000-05:00

These photos are from the walk I took today. It's still very dreary here and absolutely no sun. Just dark cloud cover.
The first two photos were taken across the street where the port a john is.. the construction site. The second two pictures are leaves turning colors and some rocks in our backyard. Not too creative today..but never the less I got out and took photos.

All taken in Manual Mode..various aps and ss. I can look them up if you want.

See ya tomorrow!

Feb 2

2007-02-02T22:04:00.001-05:00

Today has been pretty dreary here in Florida. I'm sure most of you heard about the horrific tornadoes that swept though Florida last night. This picture wasn't taken today. I took this several months ago. I have a think for the clouds and the sky.
Don't even know what my settings are on this picture but I can look them up if needed. I really liked the dramatic feel of the sun coming from the behind this huge cloud.

Thanks for looking!

Feb 1st!

2007-02-01T22:48:00.000-05:00

Today's photo was not actually taken today. I took it two days ago with the swing photo. Just got around to editing them and wanted to share this one today. This is the crape myrtle tree in my front yard. I love when this tree is in full bloom.

Our weather today has been really odd. Very Very Windy and off and on rain today. So, I didn't get out with the camera.

Manual | ISO 800| AP F2.8 | SS 1/4000

Day 31!! Tonight's Sunset

2007-01-31T18:54:00.000-05:00

I just absolutely loved how the sky looked tonight. There were these bright white clouds and then some dark clouds that were hovering lower. Love how the darker clouds make a "frame" for the sunshine in the middle.

Manual | ISO 400 | AP F5.6 | SS 1/3000

Thanks for looking!

I've Been Tagged!

2007-01-30T22:53:00.000-05:00

Stacey tagged me.. so I have to list 6 weird things about myself... and tag six more..

1. I'm told that if I am listening to a deep intense story that someone is telling me, I lip what they are saying.. ( weird I know!)

2. I talk with my hands.. they always move when I'm telling a story.

3. My feet have to touch my husbands feet or I cannot go to sleep.

4. I love dipping my french fries in mayonaisse and ketchup

5. I love pickles by themselves.. but will NOT eat them on a sandwich or hamburger.

6. When I make my grocery list, I enter each item in order according to where it's located in the store.

Ok.. I'm tagging the following people: Alissa, Nicki, Christina, Jenny Waring, Cari and Betty.
Can't wait to read your answers! Thanks Stacey!

Day 30 Outside and Inside Photos

2007-01-30T17:13:00.000-05:00

Well it was another overcast cold day here. This morning we got down to 27 degrees. BRRRR! Not used to temperatures that cold.
I tried to get creative today and take some out of the ordinary shots.

The first picture is the rings on the swingset in my backyard. Now mind you, my kids are now 18 and 16, so this swingset hasn't been used in YEARS. ISO 1600( ouch-forgot to check!) Ap 3.3 SS 1/750

The second and last pictures were taken inside my family room right by the set of french doors that goes out to my lanai. I LOVE candles and decided to try for the flame shot!

Picture 2- ISO 800 F1.8 SS 1/90
Picture 3- ISO 800 F1.8 SS 1/20

What a Site- Day 29

2007-01-29T23:33:00.000-05:00

This is what I see everytime I look out my front window. Nice huh?? The land across the street from me is being developed into a new housing subdivision. I live on a nice quiet dead end road, where everyone has atleast once acre of land. The newly developed propery used to be a 15 acre orange grove. Now it's just a heap of dirt, bulldozers and a port a john!

Not a very nice site to look at I know.. but never the less it's there.

Great Day...

2007-01-29T00:08:00.000-05:00

Today my son brought his new girlfriend over to "Meet The Parents".. Since my son moved out to live with his grandparents when he turned 18, I don't see him everyday like I used to. I really really miss him. It's hard letting go, especially of your first born. Anyway, he came over today and I snapped this photo. It's just a snapshot but it still makes me smile!

My Brother's New Tattoo.

2007-01-27T23:37:00.000-05:00

Just a snapshot today.

Day 26

2007-01-26T23:27:00.000-05:00

Keeping with the water theme of the week.. this picture was taken in my parent's back yard. They live on the Hillsborough River in Tampa. I loved the color of the sky at sunset. I didn't take this today, but was going through some recent pictures I've taken and came across this one. I love the peacefulness of sitting at the dock at my parents and watching the boats go by or just a duck or two swimming down the river.

Day 25

2007-01-25T22:38:00.000-05:00

Well atleast it didn't rain today. We have a cold front coming through and it was rather chilly today for Florida. It didn't even reach 60 degrees today. Tonight we're in the upper 30's. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

I took both of these pictures today. I love this tree in my next door neighbors yard. It's pretty much dead as you can see, but it has character! I did the orton technique on it.

Next up is my dog, Max. He's my baby... love this dog so much! He's a rotty and he's as gentle as can be. I NEVER wanted a rotty, because of the " perception" of being a mean aggressive dog. But he's never ever shown aggression and he won't even bark at a stranger. ( some guard dog he is!)

Day 24

2007-01-24T21:11:00.000-05:00

I didn't take this photo today. I took it back in December when we were away for the weekend down in Boca Raton, Florida. I love lighthouses.. so we ventured off to see this one since it was in the area.

It rained all day long here today. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get out of the house to take some pictures..

Thanks for looking.

Water...Splash

2007-01-23T22:53:00.000-05:00

This was actually my daughter's idea. We experimented with several different ideas of photographing water and she wanted to drop an ice cube in a full glass of water so I could catch the splash. This is what we got...

F2.8 SS 1/60

Jan 22

2007-01-22T20:57:00.000-05:00

I'm sharing another photo from Saturday. It rained much of the day today, and when it wasn't I didn't have the opportunity to take pictures. So, here's another beauty.

I actually cloned out a concreate pole behind her head and as you can see did a crappy job! I'm still working on making it look better..

Thanks for looking.

Sunday 1/21/07

2007-01-21T22:42:00.000-05:00

Manual F2.8 SS125
#2 Manual F 2.8 SS 125

Here are two photos from the photo session I did yesterday. Sorry.. I cheated. Didn't take any photos today.. Yes, it's that grafitti wall again. My daughters friends loved the photos I took last week so they wanted to go there too.

The girls...

2007-01-21T00:27:00.000-05:00

I did another photo session on Saturday with my daughter and her 3 friends.. I've not yet finished going through them yet..but here's one I likes. ETA~ I haven't touched this photo.. it's SOOC. I'll be editing them and posting more later...

Friday..Trip to Mom and Dad's

2007-01-19T22:44:00.000-05:00

I went to visit my parents today. They live on the Hillsborough River in Tampa. Took my camera out to play.

Picture #1: Hibiscus flower. ISO 200 Manual F4 SS 1/750
Picture #2: Squirell in tree. ISO 200 Manual F5.6 SS 1/180
Picture #3: Neighbor's black cat: ISO 200 Manual F5.6 SS 1/20
Picture #4: Duck flying over river: ISO 200 Manual F5.6 SS 1/1000

In my Dining Room

2007-01-18T23:33:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite paintings hanging on my dining room wall. My husband and I fell in love with it after seeing the same print hang in his Aunt's house in Tennessee. We found the print in a small store in Elizabethton, TN. Several years later we found the accompanying print. Sorry this photos is so terrible tonight.. just a snapshot.. taken in auto mode.

My Hometown-Tampa, Florida

2007-01-17T17:41:00.000-05:00

I took a trip downtown today to photograph some of my favorite spots. I love where I live! There is everything and more to do here.. great weather, water, beaches, Busch Gardens.. just to name a few things. Even though I live on the outskirts of the city, I grew up living in the city and very close to downtown. I LOVE the Tampa Bay area. Come visit!!

Hope you enjoy a small glimpse of our little paradise!

Sun Shining Through The Trees

2007-01-16T18:57:00.000-05:00

This is the original photo....Below is the photo with the Orton Technique

Took this picture about 5pm today trying to catch the sunset through the trees. I used a color pop action and the Orton Technique to give it this look. Shot in Manual Mode, AP 5.6 SS 1/15- ISO 200.

Monday 1/15

2007-01-15T18:29:00.000-05:00

Went for a walk today in my neighborhood. This rose was hanging from my neighbors rose bush. She has one of those lattice things that the rose bush grows through and around. Not such a great photo.. but I did play around with my AP and ISO.

Settings are: Manual ISO 400 AP 4.8 and SS 1/45. I used Marie's Color Rock action and sharpened for web.

Thanks for looking,

Urban Fun!

2007-01-14T22:20:00.000-05:00

I'm really getting ticked with Blogger! I've tried 4 times to post these to my blog and everytime it get an error! UGH!

Anyway.. Here are a couple photos from my fun day with my daughter. We went to an old spanish historic district in Tampa called Ybor City. We found this graffitti wall in an alley between two buildings. Loved the colors and the texture!

Sorry if you're sick of seeing my daughter... she was my only willing participant this weekend!

Orton Technique

2007-01-14T01:07:00.000-05:00

I posted this same picture earlier this week. This was taken in my backyard. I tried the Orton technique on this and really like how it turned out!

Saturday-Photo Shoot With My Daughter

2007-01-13T20:26:00.000-05:00

My daughter was a trooper today and let me take lots of photos of her! I took almost 200 pictures! My focus was really off today. I'm gonna have to check my settings on my camera. These were all taken in AP mode varing from 2.8 to 5.6 and various SS as well. ISO was 200.

I welcome any CC!!! Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Little Mollie

2007-01-12T18:17:00.000-05:00

I have to admit, I didn't take this picture today. The weather here has been dark and cloudy and windy today so I didn't get out to take photos. Tomorrow's supposed to be a better day. This is a dear friend and his dog... Took this while shooting engagement photos a couple weeks ago. I love how Mollie( the dog) is licking his nose and I actually captured the lick!

This is SOOC. I think it's got pretty good brokeh too!

Nature Walk along the River

2007-01-11T19:31:00.000-05:00

I ventured out today and took some photos down my the river where I live.

My Azaleas

2007-01-10T22:01:00.000-05:00

I didn't feel very good today, so I didn't get to venture out of my yard as I had hoped. Tomorrow I'm going to get in the car and find a new place to take photos! So, here's my photo for today. I can't believe I didn't check my ISO before I took these. I had the camera set at 1600 ISO!! UGH!!!!

Thanks for looking... I promise something more exciting tomorrow!

Nothing Exciting...

2007-01-09T18:20:00.000-05:00

I took this photo from my back yard. This is part of my neighbors property and I really liked how the sun was shining through the trees.

AP Mode ISO 400 ( oops) F4.8 SS 1/160 Nikon D50

My Front Door

2007-01-08T14:18:00.000-05:00

Today it's really cloudy and windy outsite. I decided I wanted to open my lens wide open and try using the light coming through my front door. This was taken with my Nikon D50, AP mode;

F1.8 SS 1/2500. ISO 400.

Wedding Details..

2007-01-07T20:46:00.000-05:00

A dear friend of ours got married today... it was a small but beautiful wedding. Here's a few photos I took of the little details. The lighting was horrid! I didn't have the right equipment to even begin taking decent photos. These were shot in AP mode, ISO 800, AP ranging from F4 to F5.6

I really want to learn to shoot weddings. I gained alot of respect today for wedding photographers! WOW... mind boggling how the lighting variations differ so much.

Saturday's Walk with the Cows

2007-01-06T19:46:00.000-05:00

I took a walk in my neighborhood this evening with camera in tow. I stumbled across these cows and had to snap a few pictures of them. I don't often see cows when I take a walk.. usually horses.

There were taken in auto mode.

My Dear Daughter

2007-01-05T23:29:00.000-05:00

I have to admit.. I didn't take this today. I took this a couple of weeks ago and never got around to editing them until today. I took this at an old vacant barn at the end of my road. It was dusk and getting dark but her eyes just pop in this photo. I did nothing to enhance her eyes.

ISO 200, AP 4.0 SS 1/60

Post Processing in PS7- USM, Maries Color Love Action, used healing brush on blemishes on her forehead.

Thai Restaruant

2007-01-04T12:23:00.000-05:00

Took these photos at a Thai Restaruant..again another commercial shoot.

First Commercial Photo Shoot

2007-01-03T12:09:00.000-05:00

I did my first commercial photo shoot this morning at a brand new Nail Salon and Spa.

These will be used for a regional advertising magazine.

CC Welcome!

January 2

2007-01-02T13:50:00.000-05:00

Kevin and Kristina... saying goodbye again :-(
Kevin and his mom!

Taken at 5am this morning!! UGH... Taking Kevin to the airport. He looks so handsome in his uniform!!

January 1st!

2007-01-02T13:44:00.000-05:00

This is really just a snapshot, but I didn't have time for a creative photograph. This is my daughter and her boyfriend Kevin on the right and his best friend on the left. Kevin is a Marine and this picture was taken during our farewell dinner on Jan 1st. Kevin had to report back to active duty after having a month at home during the holidays after bootcamp. We really enjoyed our time with him.

Thanks for looking!

Welcome!!

2006-12-29T18:17:00.000-05:00

This is where I will post my photo a day challange from Two Peas...

Can't wait to see how this grows our creativity!!