Pretty lights continued...

More of the ferris wheel, and more playing with the "B" setting. Interesting effects depending on how long the shutter remains open.

And the fun continues...

... on the Zipper!!! Gotta love the upside down, fling you all around sort of rides. I know Sarah and I laughed and laughed when we rode this ride last year. I had fun this year making it a photo subject. I think I really liked the firey color of the lights.

B is for Bulb!

Not bulb as in the myriad of light bulbs on all the carnival rides, but bulb as in the the 'bulb' setting of my camera, which allows the manual control of the shutter. Meaning, press the button and the shutter stays open as long as the button in pressed. The term 'bulb' harkens back to the days when an air bulb was used to control the shutter speed.

I'm glad that my light bulb came on reminding me that my camera has this setting. Time exposure shots are great way to capture the movement of the carnival rides. These would have been even better had I used a tripod, although I thought they were pretty decent for long hand held exposures. Maybe next year I'll bring a tripod!

Sparkle Time!

Yeah, I really like the pretty lights!!!!





I can't decide which "starship" picture I like best. There were several more in the running, but I'll only post one more. (Decisions, decisions. LOL)

A night at the fair...

More on the "alone" thing...
I like to go to the state fair every year, but this year, with the kids both off at school, I found myself without a partner in crime. To make the best of it, I decided that would bring my camera as my date to the fair. I like to take pictures, and have often thought the fair would be a great place to seek out interesting colorful shots. Unfortunately, unless you are with fellow "camera people" (my kids are actually pretty good about this) playing around with the camera is not a great group activity. Too much stopping and waiting for the perfect shot, the right composition, the right lighting. So photography is a great "alone" activity, and I've decided that I shall use some of my alone time by working at my photography.

So photography assignment #1 is night shots at the fair. Night time photography is extra challenging, so I took lot and lots of pictures, trying different settings and exposures, hoping I'd capture a few exciting pixels. I was pleased with quite a few pictures, now if only I remembered which settings I used for which pictures!

So "welcome to fun", let's start with the ferris wheel!

The alone life...

Life as an empty nester continues. Luckily, I have lots of interests and hobbies and friends, so it's not so bad. This week was a good one... I've been taking a pottery class so I go in to practice during open studio. Monday tends to be "ladies night" (with an occasional guy) at the pottery studio and is always a nice time. Hump day was at the comedy club with the singles group, where one of the guys in the group actually tried his hand during open mic. I went to the state fair Friday night, I took my camera as my date, and we had fun together (more on this later). Saturday night was the "Shot Glass Social" with the pottery people. I joined in the shot glass exchange, was thrilled that mine were not the last glasses picked and was glad they let us newbies play. Today Daisy and I headed up the canyon for a nice 4 mile hike (with ~2000 ft of elevation gain!). My motto - It's always a good day when you've worn out the dog. So being alone really isn't so bad.

Becoming single 3 years ago after 23 years of marriage certainly gave me a new perspective on being alone, it has been a learning experience. Links to this video about being alone have been making the internet rounds, and I think it is one worth sharing. I can sure relate to this video. I find it interesting how many of the "alone" things in the video I have done in the last three years. I sure hope this means I'm on the right path. I've certainly learned to enjoy doing many things by myself. I suspect that even if you are not "alone" you'll like this video.

Yup, I do still make beads....

I decided to do some gardening in glass....
Flowers! You can never have too many flowers!

Horoscope again...

I am always so amused when I get a perfect horoscope. Here's mine for the 14th. It is correct, in that I have been thinking it would be nice to earn a little money on the side. After all, I want to take Sarah to visit Matt in France, and my salary doesn't exactly have room for that kind of expense. And sure enough, I would prefer to do something fun. Coincidentally, I got an email from ebay the day before, advertising a listing sale; $0.10 listings on Sept 14-16. Coincidentally again, I've made a bunch of new beads lately. Throw those coincidences together, and I think I am supposed to list some beads. Because sales had gotten sooooo slow, I have not listed beads in almost a year, perhaps it is time I give it a try again. So I broke out the camera, took some pictures, and voila, listed a bunch of beads on ebay before tonight's dead line. Of course if some of my beads sell, I may have to actually become a true believer in astrology!

Pictures worth a thousand words.....

Some pictures from my deck tonight. Yeah, I am really, really, lucky to be able to enjoy this on regular basis! I love the way the clouds began to disperse in the second shot....

And so it begins...

Today begins my life as an empty nester! I dropped Matt off at the airport this morning, and as I type this he's on a plane enroute to Paris, France, where he'll be spending the next 2 semesters doing a study abroad at the Catholic University in Paris. I'm really excited for him, I think he is going to enjoy this grand adventure!

More from California...

A little more from our trip. Since Sarah so quickly initiated herself into college life, and didn't seem to really need her brother's or my support, we decided to leave a day early and spend a night in San Francisco. We headed south down the Redwood Highway, and it was amazing. It really is hard to imagine how immense those trees are, how old they are, and the botanist in me is curious about how the root system supports a tree so tall and how water is transported clear to the top. Lots of interesting questions there for sure.

At some point we had to stop the car and walk through the woods to wander amongst the giants. It was interesting how very dark the redwood forest was. The forest floor was carpeted with oxalis (shamrocks) which appeared to be about the only thing that would grow in the dim light. I would have loved to take better pictures, but it was just too dark.