ellie

You can go to the first link in the list to the right if you'd like to see more of Ellie. She certainly is a beautiful dog...

Once again, come Monday, I'll be heading back to school full time, so my posts will be few and far between. I'll try to get another one in over the weekend, but in case I don't, I didn't want to just leave you all hanging. I'll do my best to make weekly rounds and see how all of you are doing.

In the meantime, I hope all of you along the east coast are staying safe. Wisconsin's weather has been so absolutely prefect for weeks now, that I almost feel guilty about it.

Almost.

That said, the dogs and I are off to take a walk. We may even run into Ellie.

Later, tators...

magoo, before and after

I shared this tutorial over on G+, and thought I'd include the info here for anyone interested. This tut is using Photoshop. If any of the steps are unclear, just ask!  :o)

here are some simple, beginner corrections to make a shot frame worthy! this shot of magoo was ok, but needed a little help...

1. a light sharpening on his face (i go the duplicate layer, high pass route, masking away what i don't want included. set that layer to overlay or soft light.)
2. dodge the dark areas of his face. (5%, highlight or midtones. start small)
3. clone some green grass into the brown spots (watch for obvious repetition!)
4. a light burning to the edges of an image usually helps the center to pop out! (again, start small, 5% midtones/shadows)
5. i then cropped out his rear leg. just didn't like my eye going to his knee. (as shown with dark border.)
6. a little general curve rarely hurts.

that's it! simple! hope i've offered some info you can use to help a problem image. :o)

fresh on the market!

open floor plan

sunny porch

ample seating

central air

Contact Blight Realty for a personal tour of this property today!

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A few folks, Tricia included, have recommended I link up to Barn Charm this week! Although this post features the house on the property, please be sure to check out my last posts for the area in and around the barn. And thanks to everyone for all the kudos this location has received.  :o)

homestead

a rustic beauty

childhood, key lost

ajar

approaching the house...

forgotten

We've driven by this abandoned property that sits just outside of town, a thousand times. Right now, at the height of summer, you can't even see the buildings due to all the trees and brush. I still look that way even though currently, there's nothing to see.

On this day, I was returning home, had my camera, and two gentlemen stood talking in the garage of the house across the street. I pulled over and asked if they owned the property, and whether they cared if I shot it. They didn't. So, I spent the next 45 minutes roaming through waist high brush (thorny ones too) shooting all this beautiful decay. This was my first look in the barn.

Now, of course, I want to go back and do some night shots. But the terrain was so full of branches, old fencing, and metal I'd probably break an ankle and become breakfast for coyote.

Maybe when the snow returns. Then you'll see me from the road.

Linking to Tammy's—

  

hello shmo! whatdaya know?

More of Shmo (Schmo?) and his "sister" Itty over at Who Shot Your Dog?

ladies: naked & dressed

My resurrection lilies have exploded from the earth! I'm amazed each year as they appear to come from no where with little warning. We have three different clusters of these beauties in our yard, and I had no idea what they were when we moved in more than ten years ago now. My neighbor referred to them as "naked ladies" which offers a very different  type of search in google, so be sure to add "flowers".

For all the plants my Great-gramma Hippy grew in her garden, this one was new to me. But then I was small and was probably more interested in her garden swing. I do recall her hollyhocks towering over me. There's a plant you don't see much anymore.

About her name...Great-gramma got stuck with the nickname "Hippy" because Great-grampa was known as "Hip" or "Hipper". I have no idea how this originated. That's a question for Gramma when I see her.  They did however, acquire these labels before the words hip or hippy were part of common vocabulary. They could've gotten stuck with much worse, I suppose.

Bone and Boney. Skipper and Skippy. Jerk and Jerky...

finale

Ha! Fooled you! I said to miss a day if you were sick of seeing cars, then I go and skip a day! Sucker...

This is the last of the car pix! Yay!! I've found that if you upload too many of the same thing on flickr you don't get many hits. One nice car? Hey, looks great! Forty-seven nice cars? Holycrapenoughalready.

I decided to feature a Ford Galaxy (pic 2) 'cuz it's one that my uncle Donnie owned, and the Ford Econoline (pic 3) 'cuz this was my Grampa's work truck which he drove into the ground. I remember in the later years, you could see the road whizzing past you through the rusty floorboards. This one was considerably better shape.

I had one photo shoot this morning and another this evening, so hopefully I can catch up with each of you late tonight or tomorrow. Hope you're having the same gorgeous weather that we are here in Wisconsin! :o)

cars cars cars cars cars...

My Dad had a white T-bird just like the third car here when I was a kid. He sold it before I was old enough to drive. I don't why he hated me so.

The dog's name (last photo) is Bronson. He was a little freaked out because a car had backfired. The child is not related. And in my way frankly, because I only wanted a shot of Bronson. (I'm such a jerk.)

Ain't gonna lie to you. There are more cars coming yet. Skip a day if you like.

varooooooom!!

I have a love/hate relationship with vintage car shows. It's best that I stick to the small town ones to keep from filling two 4gig cards.

This set will grow as the week progresses.

dolly

ISN'T SHE ADORABLE?!

Yes, Dolly is worthy of caps lock. You can see the whole set here.

fennel. better to photograph than to eat

It certainly looks pretty, doesn't it? I like the braided appearance. Not to say it tasted awful. The balsamic vinegar and orange juice reduction meant to go on the top, was much better served on the chicken, and was even a big hit on strawberries for dessert!

As for fennel? Meh.

friendship

Isaac giving Kensi some sugar.

Remember the other day, when I said my brother and nephew were passing though on their way to Chicago? Um, yeah, about that...Monday's game was rained out and rescheduled for Thursday, so they asked if they could stay until then. At this point, I've already seen more of the Disney channel then I would have hoped humanly possible. At least they didn't bring a gaming system with them this time.

After three days, I'm really missing public radio. Sadly, I'm jonesing for falling stock market reports and London riot updates. Ah, good times...

jungle cat

Models can be such prima donnas sometimes.

More of Vinnie's "session" here.

Oh, almost forgot! Scott Kelby is sponsoring another worldwide photowalk the weekend of October 1st! Go here to find a host city near you, that register before all the spots are filled. It costs nodda and you get to spend a couple hours with like-mind obsessive photogs. I'm already signed up for the Madison shoot. Maybe I'll meet ya there!

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This photo was entered into the I Heart Faces photo challenge—
I Heart Faces
(for some reason, my "insert image" button is ignoring me.)

colors, shades & tones

I thought it'd be better to composite the day's flower shots into one, so as not to overwhelm anyone. Instead, I overwhelmed myself with color and wondered what it would look like in b/w. Not sure which one I prefer.

Don't bother asking me what all of these are. I could maybe name five. The bottom image, second column looks to me like queen anne's lace but in purplish-red. I didn't even know that Mother Nature had made this an option. I love the red, weepy thing on the top of column three.

midwest greenery

Gotta wonder how many more pix I'd have taken if the bridge that went over the river here, wasn't closed to traffic. The farm shown yesterday was reached by foot.

More yet to explore on another day, I suppose.

Today I spent indoors, cleaning and organizing. My brother and nephew are coming to spend the night, before heading into the city to catch a Cubs game tomorrow and transform themselves into sweaty, hot dog-eating, bleacher bums.

Hey, hey, whadd'ya say!

Do any one you have a particular summer activity (like a baseball game) that you try not to miss each year?

rustic red

A few more captures from one particularly lovely farm along Rustic Road #20. As I was standing along the road with my camera, the owner pulled out of his driveway and waved, so I'm probably not the first barn nerd he's encountered.

If you click the first photo, I've included a look at this shot on flickr, straight out of camera (sooc). I thought the power lines were a little distracting here, and removed them.

The last shot is from a nature trail that cuts along the side of their farm, so you're looking into their backyard. I had to shoot over my head for this as the wildflowers were so tall, they are all I could see. :o)

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Late entry to Barn Charm Click to see others!

state of wisconsin, state of mind

I find it difficult to drive past one of our rustic roads without going down it. Especially when I've got a camera with me. Some day, when (if) I grow up, I'm gonna live on one. This is R20, off Hwy 51 between Stoughton and McFarland.

You'll be seeing more pix of this particular road when I get around to processing them all. (Of course, there are quite a few. You know me.) Meanwhile, if you have any WRR images to share, please add them to the flickr group! :o)

a wonderful bird is the pelican...

a wonderful bird is the pelican
his beak holds more than his belican
he can hold in his beak
enough food for a week
and i'm damned if i know how the helican

Actually, I'm even more confused as to why they're here in Wisconsin. The neighbor gave me a heads up that these guys were hanging out in some wetlands about a mile out of town. Considering the rainy summer we've had compared to much of the rest of the country, I suppose we were looking mighty fine from 100 feet up. These are the only three shots I got because as I was getting out of the car, a semi truck came barreling towards me, and frightened them all farther out into the marsh. I suppose I should be thanking him for the actions shots.

Classes are finished so I can once again commit myself to wasting precious time blogging! Until fall classes start, that is. I've been shooting this whole time so I currently have 8 gigs of images that need processing (which I will never find time for). Someone will simply have to share them posthumously. I'm sure their value will double by then. (As in 0x2=0.)

This weekend we headed to the north woods and spent time with Gramma who turned 89! She had baked "better than sex cake" to serve up to anyone who came by to wish her a happy birthday. The cake was delicious, but my husband begged to differ over the title.

My blog quietly celebrated it's fifth anniversary in July. I was too busy to plan any formal celebration in it's honor. I'm sure it will find some way of rebelling when it reaches it's teenage years, or put me in some low-grade nursing home when the time comes.

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Joined in on Tammy's "behind the camera" group this week. (I always seem to think of these groups after already posting. I'll catch on one day...)