Mr. Winks Wednesday

This is Mr. Wink's alter ego...

Elfie McElferson!!!!!  This was taken on his first birthday, Christmas day.  Man do I love this little guy      :  )

Love Always,

Meg

Blur, Blur, Blur: Photo Project week 2, day 5

Ok, so this week has officially been a bust.  I am going to redo blur blur blur next week, because I am just having a ton of trouble with this project.  I have effectively used blur to show motion, especially with Mr. Winks, but it has always been using the auto mode.  I am hell bent on using the shutter priority mode to complete this challenge.  So on week two of this challenge I am going to change things up.

Instead of best and worst Thursday, I am going to use Thursday and next week to continue capturing motion.  Also, starting this Friday I am beginning the 365 day challenge.  Not including a daily picture is not helping me. Everyday I take new pictures and if I don't include the best of everyday....even if they aren't up to my obsessive standard...then I am not truly documenting my journey.

So, if anyone is out there thank you for bearing with me.  I have never blogged before, I created this site on a lark...and I am kind of winging this.  I'll probably laugh at these silly posts in six months, but for right now I am stressing a little bit to find a rhythm for these posts.

I took these pictures over the summer, unfortunately the pupster was not in the mood to run around today but I'm sure over the next week I should be able to bribe him to co-operate.  :  )

Meg

Fells Point, February 27th, 2012

So today felt like spring!!!!!  I wore a light skirt and a short sleeved shirt.  I just hope that this weather keeps up.  My father went with me to take pictures, and we walked all over fells point.

Fell point again.  I do love fells point, but I would be lying if I said that I keep going back there for any other reason then I know the parking situation really well  :  )   Parking anywhere down town near the water can be difficult and quite expensive.  Typically I can find a free parking space easily...and it's pretty.

The birds were out in full force.  Of course I was cursing them ten minutes into my trip as I tried to take blurry pictures of them flying around, but I have to admitt, for pidgins they were pretty fun to photograph.

I love these corner buildings, which taper into like five feet.  I lightened the picture with hard light, and then used the screen tool to lighten a few spaces, and I like the depth it created.  

I love this doc, I don't love the pictures I took today, but I love the doc.  I am going to have to go back and take some more pictures, probably on a cloudy day.  I edited this picture a little bit, but it still is over exposed...I really need to capture the character of this dock.

The Natty Boh tree.  National Bohemian is a beer that was originally brewed right here in Baltimore, MD.  it's kind of infamous in Maryland.  The tree on the left has cut up Natty Boh cans hang through out, like a Christmas tree.  It really reminded me of the movie twister, where they cut up all the aluminum cans and add them to the tornado detector devices.  I guess I just love the dark bark against a vivid blue sky.

I love the hard light tool when it's used on rust.

Ok, so here are some of the pictures that I took today...that I don't hate  :  )  Hopefully tomorrow I will have a more successful, blurry day.

Love Always,

Meg

Blur, Blur, Blur: Photo Project week 2, day 4

Well, blur, blur, blur is a bust, bust, bust.  I am actually contemplating making this a two-week project.

This is just a taste of the completely over exposed blurry pictures I have been taking.  I am going to read a little more from my photography books and check out the internet....and hopefully I can get some better pics tomorrow.  If not, then I am going to give blur, blur, blur another try.

I am going to do another post of pictures that I've taken today at Fells point, I have been taking pictures I just haven't been taking the best blurry pics.

Meg

Serene Sunday

This Sunday I am marveling at the fact that it has been four years since my trip to Italy...it feels like yesterday...

I was going to the Trevi fountain, and throwing in my pennies.  One coin means that I will go back to Rome one day, the secound is for finding true love.

I sit here today, and cannot remember what this building was.  For some reason I am leaning towards it being a government building, but I can't be sure.  Both these pictures are from the same building, you can almost see the gold leaf behind the gate in the first picture.

One of my favorite parts of Italy was the fresh thin crust pizza that you can buy just about anywhere.  I remember sitting in the middle of the square with two of my friends and being soooo happy.  Gazing at the Pantheon, the crowd of people walking about, and eating the freshest pizza I have ever had.  

Pompeii!!!  As a child I was obsessed with history books.  World War II, the holocaust, the Titanic, and Pompeii were my favorite subjects.  I was so excited to get to go there.  

The day was cloudy, but there were moments where the clouds would pass and you could see Mt Vesuvius very clearly.

It's hard to believe that all of this was buried.  You can still see the red paint, Pompeii red, and the texture of the walls.  I was surprised by how massive Pompeii is, it went on and on and on.

I would go back again in a second, and even if I spend a whole day there, I don't think I will see everything that there is to see.

And this is my favorite picture that I have ever taken.  I don't know why it speaks to me so much, but I have this photo framed in my room.

Well tomorrow I will have a brand new blur picture, come hell or high water.

Love Always,

Meg

Blur, Blur, Blur: Photo Project week 2, day 2

Here I am, day two with another recycled picture.  I'm definitely struggling with this blur project.  I went out today, in the bright sun and found it very difficult to get a good blur.  Here are two pictures that I took a few months ago, which sort of fit the bill.  I'm definitely going on a limb here.

In reality these pictures are just distortions.  But I really love these gold fish, and you can feel the motion of the water.

I guess I'm getting off to a rocky start, but I'm going to start again tomorrow.  Maybe at the end of this project, I will redo the topics that I had the most trouble with.

Love Always,

Meg

Blur, Blur, Blur: Photo Project week 2, day 1

Today I have to admit I am recycling pictures from last week.  I was taking some pictures of Mr. Winks I caught a cute moment that I had to share.

"I whip my hair back and forth, I whip my hair back and forth..." - Willow Smith

I can't look at this picture without-

 A) Laughing hysterically

 B) Humming the now famous Whip my Hair song

 C) Imagining how much money Mr. Winks and I could make if they made doggie shampoo commercials.

 D) Laughing hysterically

Here are a few out takes- 

My favorite part was how for like 1/5 of a second he was completely off balance.  He kind of looks like he is coughing up a hairball doesn't he? Hahahah.

The weather should be much better for the rest of the week, hopefully I'll be able to capture some great action shots.

Love Always,

Meg

Architecture- Photography Project Week 1, Day 7

This has been a pretty fun week, I saw a bunch of new places and took about a thousand pictures.  All in all, a pretty good week.

This happens to be my favorite picture from the week. I love the pattern in the sky, and the landscape across the water.  The whole scene feels very whimsical to me.

This is my least favorite picture of the week.  You can tell how uninspired I felt.  Simply changing my point of view, getting lower to the ground could have made this a more dynamic picture.

This week I just wanted to get outside and take pictures, I did not concentrate heavily on the rule of thirds, I didn't heavily edit any pictures in elements (maybe five minutes per picture at most), and I minimally went outside of my comfort zone in manual mode.  Next week I am going to try to go outside of my comfort zone more.

Thank you to all who are following my journey; please feel free to leave constructive comments.  Feedback can only help me grow  :  )

Til tomorrow,

Meg

Mr Winks Wednesday

Periwinkle, or Mr. Winks as we tend to call him, is my little buddy.   This is our first picture together  :  )  Mr. Winks was three months old to the day, and soooo small.  His favorite place to sit was on my shoulders like a little parrot.

He absolutely hates the cold, so when we are outside he always tries to stand or sit on my shoes.

This is him playing with my brother's dog, Kaylee.  They are sooo silly running around the yard like they do.

These pictures make me giggle as well.  I love how Kaylee, the worlds sweetest, most good-natured dog looks crazed.  Then Mr. Winks looks like a little baby bird.  Both sweet as can be, but Kaylee just has bigger teeth  :  )

Mr. Winks is a little dog, with a huge personality.  He loves to cuddle, and hates to be alone.  I tend to take tons of pictures of him, hopefully Wednesdays will give me the push to edit these pictures and pick out the good ones.

Love Always,

Meg

Architecture- Photography Project Week 1, Day 5

Hello Hello!!!

Today I decided to take a quick ride to Chesapeake City, and photography the Bethel Bridge lighthouse, and then on my way home I stopped in Have De Grace and saw the Concord lighthouse.  I have lived in Maryland for almost 20 years, man I'm feeling old, and this is the first time I have really explored what MD has to offer.  I'm going to try to visit a new and exiting place at least twice a month in the future.

I have fallen head over heels in love with Chesapeake City, and since it is only a little of an hour from where I live, I have no excuse not to go back.  The historic streets really spoke to me.

As you can see, we are having another beautiful day in MD, a little on the chilly side, but the sun was out and the skies were blue.  The lighthouse was a little difficult to find, I wandered around for maybe a half-hour before finding it...as you can tell I didn't mind.  

This was a small lighthouse, much smaller then I was expecting.  It was maybe a story and a half tall.  I loved the small stone garden surrounding it, and just everything worked with the photo.  

Havre De Grace is seriously a half hour from me, why I have never been here before is beyond me.  The town is just sooo peaceful.

I don't know why I love lighthouses so much.

Maybe it is because they are typically bleached white or vivid red.
Maybe it is the meaning behind them, how they have lead people home or away from danger for hundreds of years.
Maybe I'm just quirky :  )

What ever the reason, I could have sat and stared at these two lighthouses for hours.

Tomorrow is Mr. Winks Wednesday; I can't wait for you all to meet the love of my life, my puppy Periwinkle.  Yes, I named my dog Periwinkle... just wait til you meet him, I think the name really fits him.  He happens to be quite sassy.

Love Always,

Meg

Serene Sunday

For my first Serene Sunday, I am going to begin looking back at previous trips I have been on.  On my first trip to Europe, I used my film camera, so I don't have any of those pictures on my computer.

So I am going to begin with my second trip to Europe, which began in Rome, Italy.  This was a school trip that I took my senior year of College, and I was able to go with a few very good school friends.

This was the first picture that I took in Italy, and it turned out to be one of my favorites from the trip.  It is an archway right next to the Colosseum.  I love how the light hit the Arch of Constantine.

I loved the Colosseum, it was huge and colossal and over whelming.  I can't imagine what it must be like to live in the same city as some of these amazing pieces of history.

The next day we were off to Vatican City.

One of my favorite things to visit when I am in other countries are the guards.  I love how colorful and ornate this uniform is.

My favorite part of Vatican City was St. Peters Basilica.  We were able to go inside and see the actual church.  On the floor they have markings showing how big other enormous churches are in comparison to St. Peters.  We were also able to go up onto the roof for amazing views, and we went down to the caticombs beneath.

These two pictures were taken on top of the Basilica, it is the main roof, and from here we were able to climb up into the dome.

The stairs up to the top of the dome start out with the walls perpendicular to the stairs.  As you climb higher and higher, the walls start to curve in with the dome.  I was surprised by how many stair cases there were, everyone was a little bit winded by the time we got to the top.

And this was the gorgeous view of Rome from the Dome.  There was a good bit of cloud cover, but I still love the look of the square.


Each Sunday I am going to either post past vacation pictures, or I may re-edit pictures that I didn't have time to perfect.  I got lazy when it came to documenting my trips, so this will give me a chance to write down all that I can remember.

Til next time,

Meg