Gatekeeper

thematic-photographic-116-still-life   follow the link to see more still life examples.

This is a big step outside of the box for me.  I don't DO "studio" or even indoors as a general rule.  Nature and natural lighting, that's where my heart is at.  But I do experiment occasionally and this is one such shot.  I might be tempted to try a few more but I'm having computer issues that I'm going to have to address here immediately, so I may not get back to post till later in the week.

In other news my favorite karaoke deejays got a new gig last week.  So Friday I had to go check it out.  Stuck with songs that were easy on my vocal chords.  Little redneck joint with BIG heart.  The owner is the sweetest little lady and says HEY! to absolutely everyone that walks through that door.  A big loud WHOMPING hey! that will startle the bejeebers out of you if you're not expecting it.

I saw THE. BEST. POOL. PLAYER. EVAH.  I don't say that lightly.  Nobody could beat this guy, he was awesome.  I told him so, too and he made a date with my hat for the next night.  I went back last night too, just like I said I would, but my hat got stood up.  No big surprise there, I swear these South Carolina fellas just have no taste.  Still had a good time, though it was a much quieter night than Friday.  Shot pool myself and found I'm really rusty, but it was fun all the same.

And now I'm going to have to wrestle with my computer.  See you sooner or later depending on who wins.

It's Alive

Fall has arrived and I'm human again, well at least as close to human as this old crow gets these days LOL.

I swear, I can't even tell you how long its been since a cold kicked my butt that badly.  It felt exactly like a bad case of bronchitis except I didn't bark like a seal.  Still can't breathe too deeply without going into coughing spasms BUT I can think for short periods of time, okay, very short but what's so unusual about that huh?

I got to catch up on my blog reading but posting isn't going as well.  This stupid image uploader still isn't working right.  My computer isn't either for that matter.  I have pictures on my camera I wanted to share but they will have to wait.  Soon I will have to reformat this turkey and I'm not looking forward to that at all.

Sorry about the short post.  I just wanted to let y'all know I am still alive and kickin'.  I be back with substance soon.

Along the St. John River

Okay, yeah … I’ve been lax about posting.  While getting my vacation pictures ready for this blog I got all caught up in the processing portion of photography.  You see, I like to take pictures, LOTS of pictures, but I’m not so good about actually processing them.  I have hundreds … perhaps even thousands … of photographs stored in my computer (and ONLY in my computer).

The thing is, I need to reformat said computer.  Before I can do that however, I have to sort, file, process and BACK UP those photographs. Yes, I know I should have been doing that all along but (I think I mentioned this before) I tend to procrastinate,  AND I’m easily distrac … oh look, a squirrel!

Uh huh, yeah, it’s like that.  So how about I quit boring you with excuses and just show you the pictures eh?

The last day of vacation my Dad took us out in his boat along the St. John river for some wildlife shots of things I normally don’t have the opportunity to capture.  It rained off and on, but just lightly and was interspersed with bright sunny skies.  Mostly we saw birds, but there was one notable exception you’ll find down thread.

Egrets fascinate me, all white and pure and graceful.  I don’t generally have much luck photographing them because all that white flashes out in the bright sunlight. 

Osprey aka Fish Hawk.  They crack me up with their bug eyes to the front “I’m looking at YOU” face.

I think this is an Ahinga.  Dad says they don’t have the oils in their feathers like ducks and geese.  They dive deep for fish and when they finish hunting they are waterlogged and have to dry their feathers before they can fly.

Look what was hiding in the Lily pads when we came around a bend.  He was well camouflaged and a bit bashful about getting his picture taken.  Although we have ‘gators here in South Carolina, I’ve only once found a baby in the wild to capture a shot of.

And finally …

Herons!  I’ve never gotten close enough to any of the many species of heron to get a shot.  Not even close enough to know if that’s what I was seeing, so this was a treat for me.

And that concludes our river tour for today.  Please make sure your tray is in the upright position and remain seated until we come to a complete stop, and thank you for reading Functional Kaos. We will now return to your regularly scheduled program.

Peace,
Sally