What else do I do?

Yesterday I went with my girlfriend to her cabin. Its a great place to hang out on the water's edge. It also is a very short drive as far as going to the lake goes...not even a 45 minute drive. Hard to believe it is April, 80 degrees and we went boating. I know it won't last but it sure was good to get a taste of summer so early.
On the way there I seen so many cool barns that I could have used for last week's theme. I'll be driving up there again this summer alone and I see I will be making a few stops to get the shots.
So, hanging out on water: a lake, a pool, a river or my favorite, the ocean, is one of my favorite things to do besides photography. And yes, typically, I have the camera with me.
Tweeked and cropped in pse5.0

Perspective.

This is a shot from inside the Children's Theater lobby looking up.
It isn't necessarily old but I thought it was cool. And that is why I am enjoying POTD so much.
Before POTD, I would never have snapped this but now I am looking for those cool captures. I pretty much stuck with people shots with the rare exception of a sign, a landscape, etc. that would enhance a scrapbook page. Now I am searching for a photo op and I love that.
Some days I am intimidated by the talent here but more so am trying to use it to enhance my own shots.
TFL - 100% SOOC

Another shot out the window...

Had I not taken a wrong turn I would never had made this left turn where I found this very cool quote on the Walker Art Center. This intrigued me and was glad I had a red light.
And for those that left comments and believe I see this all the time...NOT! I am a rural suburbanite and one has to really search for photo ops. I had driven to the southern edge of downtown Mpls. which is a very lively place and there were photo ops galore. It would seem to be so easy to go back and shoot some shots, but somehow life gets in the way.
Thanks for all the how to comments. Not sure how to do a lot of what you suggested but when I have a bit more time I am going to look further into it. I did find a straighten/crop tool that I used on this. I had followed the street which was going downhill - don't know how it works but it sure looks much straighter.

All those missed opportunities...

I had to make an impromptu trip to Mpls. today to pick up one of our workers. I ended up taking a wrong turn which is how I got this shot. This is the Catholic Cathedral which is an awesome building. This is what I got from the stoplight. When I first looked at it I was happy with the results. Now that I have it on my computer I see that there is definitely some shake on the steeple. I cropped slightly in pse5.0 to take out the street. I also played with the color - not sure what I am doing, but I was able to bring out the green in the steeple and the green roofs but also might have added that same tone to the sky. What do you think? What is one of the first things you do with a photo as far as enhancing it?
I was so pumped because there were so many photo opportunities everywhere I looked. It was like a photographer's candy store. But being on a mission, I went and got our worker but had the bright idea to let him drive so I could snap away. Well, he made it right out to the freeway without even a bit of a pause. Once there, the traffic was heavy and I was watching the road as he maneuvered around. I've become such a Nervous Nelly! I should ahve gone with my original thought which was to have him drive around the block so I could have gotten a brownstone.
TFL

Mpls. Art Museum

This is from the field trip on Friday. I was thinking ahead of this week's theme and thought this would work. Now I know the composition isn't the best. I snapped it amongst all the kids and didn't look for a better vantage point. I was going to try and get some pics for one of the teachers with dead batteries but not real comfortable taking pictures of this age group randomly.

Scared

This is my son's interpretation of scared. Do you see it?
tweeked and cropped in pse5.0

Junior High Emotions

What emotion would this be? Belonging? Wanting to belong [the boys], happy, connected, etc?
Lucky me got to chaperone a field trip to the Children's Theater to see The Lost Boys of Sudan.
It was a good trip and a fairly good play but hard to understand the dialog at times.
Was hoping to get some great shots but ended up with only a few.
Tweeked/cropped in pse5.0

Hate

I think this picture speaks for itself. Who would do this? It must have been hate for someone to set someone's car on fire. This is on the road to the main highway so I pass it on a regular basis. Its been here since this fall. Some days I notice it and other days I don't.
And this wasn't all. They didn't stop here. Notice the house in the upper left hand corner of the top photo. There is a pole barn there with the house.This had the arson poster as well but has been missing for awhile. I live fairly close to here but have never heard what the deal was. I do hope that they remove the car soon because it is an eye sore.
My DD and I had fun capturing these because we were right on the main drag to the big highway.
TFL
cropped in pse5.0. 70-300mm lens

Sadness

Sadness! Very much so. With yesterday's massacre there is lot more sadness around the nation as it mourns another school shooting. I picked up my DD from soccer and in that town, not very big, all the flags were flying at full staff so on the way home we went by our "town". [We really don't have a town but a few businesses here and there.] All the flags here were flying at half staff. The colors in the flag were pretty dark, so, my DD took over the keyboard and used the marquis [sp?] tool to add color. It kind of works, but she messed up around the bottom of the pole - oh well.
tweeked in pse5.0
70-300mm lens...no flash...manuel program mode

Content

Content, what a perfect place to be. I captured my DD this week in a very content frame of mind. Had some trouble with shadows so decided to play a bit in PSE5.0 using CK's Computer Tricks. [Sepia tone and Gradiant tool]
TFL.

Caught the sunset

I was determined to get this sunset tonight after missing it the last few nights. Because yes, the sun came back over the weekend and it has been delightful. I have missed the last 2 nights. So, right in the middle of one of my favorite shows, Amazing Race, I shot this off the deck. It was more colorful in person. This was taken with the kit lens...which got me thinking what would my big zoom be able to do so I made a very quick switch....the sun was dropping fast.
And came out with this.
What a difference a lens can make. This is my 70-300mm. So, I am excited that for once I am on theme, rushed as it was with the dropping sun and my favorite show on.
The sunsets we see out our back on a regular basis is one of my favorite parts of our home. Its also interesting to see where the sun actually sets from season to season.
TFS-CC

Sunny Days Are Here Again

The sun made a pretty strong appearance today and the temps have risen to 50's.
Captured DD in the late afternoon sun.

1st Digi Layout!

Here it is! My first digi layout! I know its nothing fancy but I did it! Oh happy day! As much as the digital photography has challenged me so has the digital scrapbooking. I still have a long ways to go. But I am on my way!
All week I have missed out on photo ops! I should have gotten some beautiful shots with the heavy 2" of snow that we got, hanging in the tree branches, but I was out the door w/ out the camera. Well, here it is Friday and the temps are going up and the snow is almost gone so let's hope that that is a sign that spring is making a reappearance.
I had to rack my brain for finding sun pictures and I couldn't come up with anything to shoot that represented sun within my house. Next week's theme looks very doable!

Sunshine

This is my take on this week's theme: the sun. With snow in the forecast for this evening as well as later in the week we might not be seeing a whole lot of the sun after today. Seeing it was warm enough to play, just a mere 42 degrees, DD wanted to try out her new box of 52 chalks.

Sooc. Manuel program mode with kit lens. CC anytime.

Big Kids Can Hunt, Too!

This one of my teenager DD makes me chuckle! Never too old for an egg hunt. Nothing spectacular. One of the coldest Easters I remember...highs didn't even hit 40 degrees.

Rainy Day Revisited

My daughter is a lot more talented when it comes to all this digital stuff. I bought the new CK Computer Tricks and she used it to journal on a photo. [This photo is from a week ago.]
I really like what she did.
CC appreciated!

Mall of America

I would have thought I might have gotten a 'great' picture at the Mall of America, but that didn't happen. So many people!
This is looking over the 3rd floor into the amusement park area.
I was able to bring my camera into the camera shop and learn a few things.

Scrabble

I am off topic again. Slimy? I don't know. Maybe something will come to mind later.
Scrabble is one of my favorite games to play. Problem is no one in my family really likes to play but I finally talked a few into it. This boy here had never played...not sure he will be playing again anytime soon...dang!

*1st pic cropped and tweeked in PSE5.0. 2nd one is sooc.
CC appreciated.

Looks like rain...

DH and DD went golfing this morning, never mind that is only about 45 degrees. Brrr. This is what they brought home for DD [bag]. Pretty, isn't it? She also got new golf shoes and a glove. All in getting ready for the high school league.
I think all this wet weather has caught up with me and I am feeling it. [Under the weather] I had hoped to get out and shoot today, maybe later.

Still Raining!

Another wet day - rain and more rain. It will help to green things up but enough is enough! The golf course is already showing signs of green. This is looking out our deck over the 12th hole.
*After yesterday's shots I really see I am off on my horizon lines as I am here, too.
**I played around w/the shot from last night with not much luck. A tighter crop seemed to lose the effect and the crookedness of it if that makes sense. Still not sure how to achieve the silhouette.
tfl

Another Rainy Day

Another day of rain all day. It is the first night of spring break! So, 1st stop was Dairy Queen and our 1st photo shoot...the golf tunnel.

Rain Day

Oops! Forgot to post yesterday's.
Rained all day...wet and cold. One of those days you would rather curl up with a good book then venture outside.
My DD and I were being silly while waiting to go to Youth Group.

Digital Kid

Our young generation has been termed the "digital kids" and with 2 of my own I can see why. Computers are a big part of their lives.
This is my son on AIM and MySpace.

oops! forgot to get settings again. manual program mode w/flash and sooc.

Summer Like Day

I finally shook the dust off my camera and got some shots tonight! Yea! After golf and soccer practice and then a 3 mile jog, my favorite photo subject didn't want me to get too close. So, this is what we came up with.
I'm still frustrated with my camera. I guess the best way to get over that is to start using it again and learn what is going on.

sooc - manual

BLIZZARD!!

A March 1st blizzard on the heels of a weekend snow blast brings another foot or more.
Maybe more because it just
keeps falling and falling.
The 1st picture is looking out the patio doorway. The 2nd picture is looking out my front door.
A few hours later I captured our deck, 3rd picture, piled high. [I know there is a bad shadow]
Nothing fancy just capturing the big news of the day. Looks like this will go down as one of the top 10 snows in the history of our state.
Watch for more snow shots tomorrow and then the next day...well, you know. Its all about the snow right now as almost everything is closed.
I have a bunch of pics from the last 2 weeks I will have to add.
TFL
1st 2 shots taken w/70-300 lens
3rd shot w/18-55 lens.

My Valentine Babes!

I was going to take a picture of my DS's oversized chocolate kiss. He has gotten one the last 3 years. Each one from a different girl. So sweet at this age.
Not having a lot of time or know how on product close ups I decided to take advantage of the late afternoon sun and went with what I know. My kids. Couldn't decide on which of my DD so went with both.
Hoping you have a Happy Valentine's Day!

[Valentine's Eve]

My son, such a romantic, making his girlfriend a card for Valentine's Day. He wrote a very sweet poem along with some fun quotes with pre-algebra terminology.

Belgium Horses

The Belgium horses were beautiful as they pulled the sleigh.


Didn't get too fancy being it was colder then the dickens!

Not sure how much I will be on this week's assignment being
I am having a hard time with one photo let alone 5...lol.
A bit of cropping in PSE5.0
CC always welcome.

Up North in the Cold

I've fallen away from the challenge with the bitter cold we have had here. I need to start finding things to shoot inside.
I was anticipating some great shots this weekend at our retreat but it was still so cold that I found it pretty hard to get excited about shooting much outside.
We had came here on Sat., the main lodge, where we were able to play broom ball, go sleighing, swim in the pool or hang out in the arcade. I mostly hung in the arcade...brrr!

Ice cream - A Cure All!

Ice cream always helps heal a broken heart.
Busy Friday night w/teenagers but wanted to get back in the groove w/potd!
TFL/CC welcome.

I'm Back~!

I am back~! Finally! My blog's user acct wasn't working and I couldn't sign in...grrr. But I tried it again and it seems to be working again w/a reset user name that I believe blogger reset.
This pic is the last one I took when we were on water last week.
I think I would like it better if the water tower wasn't so dirty.
I've missed looking at everyone's blogs. I'll have to jump back in and see what the theme is this week.
I am so happy to have my blog back = ]