Friday Photo

This week I chose to post pictures of some of my wind chimes. I like wind chimes but I'm picky about what I will hang. I've had the three pictured here for several years. All of these were taken with the new 70-300 lens and again, they aren't necessarily great photos by any stretch of the imagination but I'm still learning the camera and playing with the lens.

I am mostly shooting on auto but do sometimes switch to manual and adjust the settings. I need to practice more but it is so hot and I committed to participating in an exercise / movement group this month and by the time I finish with that, I'm tired and it is scorching hot. The motto in that group is no excuses and I guess I need to make that same commitment to shooting pictures. I need to get up earlier and find some good locations to catch the early morning sun. There are several really neat places and older houses in this area that I could photograph. I just need to get out and do it.

I like the bokeh effect on each of the first two pictures. It comes from the lens. 

This chime gives off a soft, joyful metallic tone. 

 I love the colors of this chime. It has a delicate, tinkling sound when the butterfly isn't stuck inside the bell.

I guess I need to set it free!

 

Although this isn't a beautiful wind chime, I love the woody tones it gives off when the breeze catches it just right and causes it to sway back and forth. Each of the different sizes of hollowed out wood gives off a different tone and I find it soothing to listen to. I don't like loud, clanging chimes so this one is perfect for me!

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Friday Photo

I can't believe I've already purchased another new lens. I got a 70-300 Telephoto lens that I've been playing with a bit. I got a really good deal on the price at Amazon and with a credit from a gift card I had there it just seemed like the thing to do. I'm posting a couple of shots I took the day I got the lens, nothing special as I didn't even leave my yard that day.

The first picture is of a house across the street from where I live that I've always loved. I like the style, the color, the landscaping... there's not much about it that I don't like. It's hard to believe how close the house looks in the photo, knowing where I stood to take it. I can't wait to get a chance to use this lens at one of the bayous or at the Wildlife Refuge. I would love to get a shot of a gator that looks close up without actually having to be close up!

This picture is of a little figure that sits near my front door. While this isn't really a great photo by any stretch of the imagination, I like the bokeh the lens produced here. It gives me hope that I might capture some really good shots with this lens if I just keep trying. 

Friday Photo

Ginger and I made a trip to our local Wildlife and Refuge Center at Black Bayou this week. It's one of my favorite places to go. It's hot out there right now and trying to get there when the light is right for taking pictures is hard for me. It's not that far away, but nothing is a straight route in Louisiana. Most roads wind and meander around rivers, bayous and creeks. Very little is laid out in neat squares like you see in the Midwest, where I originally hail from.

My friend Margaret and I used to eat lunch there when we were still working and before she passed away from cancer. It was the most peaceful place to be and we saw lots of wildlife and plenty of the natural, swampy snake and gator infested waters of our area. We also stopped at a couple of other locations along Bayou Desiard for some shots. Not surprisingly, I chose pictures from that outing to post for today's Friday Photo.

 

This first picture is of Ginger sitting on one of the benches on the pier where Margaret and I used to have lunch. We saw several boaters and some fishermen (and women) while we walked the pier. I encouraged her to jump up so I could get pictures of her and liked this one where she is reacting to the sun in her eyes.

 

This is a picture of the arboretum, which sits near the Learning and Welcome Centers. I just think it is a neat structure. There are so many talented photographers in our area who take pictures here that I feel what I'm posting doesn't do justice to what's there.

 

This picture was taken on Bayou Desiard behind the CenturyLink building where I used to work before I retired at the end of 2003. It was CenturyTel back then. I used to walk this road back to the Wildlife and Fisheries buildings on the other side of the bayou for exercise or as a getaway from office routine. 

This young man, along with some other people who I assume were family members or friends, told me he was fishing for whatever he could catch. He said the only thing he had caught up to that point was a turtle, which he released. There were always lots of turtles in the water and sunning on the stones that braced the embankment for this small bridge when I walked down this road a few years ago. 

It's not uncommon to see fishermen (and women) along the roadsides here, fishing in the bayous or even seining the ditches for crawfish when they are in season. I've had some wonderful conversations with a few of those people, most of whom were very pleasant and interesting. I certainly enjoyed talking with this gentleman and his group today.

Friday Photo

I chose this photo that I took with my iPhone for this week's Friday Photo. One of my neighbors actually grows this pretty little garden on the outside of his fence near the road. I assume he does that since his back yard is quite shady most of the day and this location would get a lot more sun, necessary for growth. I've tried my hand at gardening a few times, but never achieved anything close to this. I think I'll ask Mutt for advice next year.

Friday Photo

I chose the following pictures from my annual Memorial Day trip with my mother to visit the grave sites of our family. Over the years, the trip has taken on a much slower pace with mom often sitting in the car while I walk to the markers of family members to place flowers and take pictures. I leave Louisiana and head to Muncie, Indiana, where I grew up and we visit cemeteries there to decorate my dad's grave, my step-father's grave, my Dad's parents grave site, and the sites where her two sisters are buried. The Friday before Memorial Day, mom and I load the car and head south to Tennessee where she grew up and many of her ancestors and family members are buried. We visit several cemeteries there. The two pictures I chose are from that trip. The first one was taken at the cemetery where her parents, four of her adult siblings and two siblings that died early, one at a young age from illness, the other at childbirth along with my grandmother are all buried.

I swallowed hard as I took a series of pictures of mom walking the row where most of her family members are buried as she is the last remaining member of her generation. I wondered what she was thinking and how hard it must be to be the one left behind.

This picture has meaning to me as the woman pictured with my mother, the widow of one of my cousins, had a really bad stroke a couple of years ago and suffered serious damage as a result. She and mom were close years ago and always liked to visit when they got together later on. Rae always recognizes mom and finds a way to communicate, by nodding or pointing until we are able to determine what she is trying to tell us. Rae's son brought her to the cemetery on Sunday, but this picture was taken when we visited Rae at the nursing home on Monday. She had us take her outside where she and mom carried on a long "conversation".

This trip means a lot to me but I'm not sure whether we'll be able to make it again. It's hard for mom and very tiring but she manages well despite the infirmities of her age and likes visiting the family still in the area.