31 December, 2011

On the thirtieth, I decided a great picture to finish out the year would be one of the sunset. So, whilst carving away at my walking stick, I monitored the setting sun to get an idea of when I would need to get all set up to capture some shots.

And thus, on the afternoon of the thirty-first, LH and I headed out for a scenic overlook off of the interstate to photograph the Peak at sunset.

The cold, strong winds that blew all day long kept the sky clear of clouds, making the sunset rather void of the bright oranges and pinks that the end of the day is so infamous for; however, a small rim of yellowish-orange hung around the very edges of the mountains.

Our little tripod and my mom's ever helpful camera were such useful tools in this project and turned out some shots that I'm very much satisfied with.

I highly recommend a larger size.


A panoramic of two of my favorite mountains side-by-side. Even if you don't ever bother to view my photos in big size, please do so this time--this one just can't be enjoyed in a small size. (Larger size)

30 December, 2011

Only one more day in 2011! I figured my dog would make an easy subject for one of December's final days. She was quite cooperative--even when the camera copped some 'tude with me.

29 December, 2011

Something of an abstract shot. A water bottle with droplets clinging to the sides, illuminated by the setting sun.

28 December, 2011

I can't say I'm particularly happy that they've cut the two giant cottonwoods across our street down. In fact, I'm rather ticked. However, since there was nothing I could do to stop the trees from being chopped down, I decided to get some pieces of them.

The guys that had been hired to remove the trees were nice enough to let me dig through the branches and nab a few walking stick sized pieces.

The variety of colors in just the bark amazed me. God's such an artist.

27 December, 2011

Several weeks ago, my sisters and I speculated about the appearance of a spider's shadow. At that time, I resolved to get some photos of one sometime.

I spotted a spider skittering about on LH's car this afternoon. And it just so happened that the sun was casting its shadow perfectly. Getting the little fellow to hold still proved impossible once I pulled the camera out (as seems to be the case with all animals), but I did manage to get a few photos. If you're not squeamish about spiders, I would recommend viewing the pictures in a larger size using the links below.

Larger size

The little fellow paused on one of the mirrors, making for a really neat photo opportunity. (Larger size)

26 December, 2011 - Christmas Day, continued

Though the twenty-fifth was Christmas according to the calendar, our second leg of Christmas started (and ended) on the twenty-sixth. Boom's fever broke on Christmas night and proved to be truly gone the next day. As such, the plans for Christmas proceeded... a day late.

"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow." --Philippians 2:10

25 December, 2011 - Christmas Day

My youngest sister unfortunately came down with a case of the 24-hour stomach flu last night, causing us to call off the typical Christmas routine (visit to my grandparents', large meal, etc.). Instead, we just stayed at home and relaxed.

Between the six of us, we got four new games as gifts; this inspired me to pull out a variety of game pieces and set them all up together. This is actually only a portion of the scene I put together, as managing to fit the entire set into the frame proved difficult.

Can you name the games?

24 December, 2011 - Christmas Eve

One of the paper snowflakes Boom cut out and hung around one of our lights. I thought it looked neat.

23 December, 2011

Some of the ornaments on our tree. Taken with both my camera and my mom's. The color difference was pretty amazing.



This was something of an experiment. I rather liked the way it turned out.

22 December, 2011

We had our first fire for a long, long while on the first day of winter. The warmth was pleasant and the photo opportunities were plenty of fun.

21 December, 2011

CB put Joy's Christmas collar on her today, so it was again time for Christmas photos. As I've had a bit more experience photographing dogs this year, it went far more smoothly.

This was an experimental angle. I tried to also get the reverse (Wisdom in the foreground with Joy in the back), but the latter wasn't nearly as positionable as my dog. I think I'll have to play around with this one a bit more in the future, see if I can't perfect it.

Miss Joy-Ful.

My favorite model in the world. Working with Wis is so easy at this point that I do believe I could do it in my sleep.

20 December, 2011

We got a nice, deep layer of snow in the night. It made for some lovely photos first thing in the morning.


It's always amusing to see what wildlife visitors you've had in the night. The bunnies particularly enjoy all of the rather tall weeds growing in our landlord's yard.

19 December, 2011

Another light photo. I figure that being in the week leading up to Christmas gives me the right to spam you all with decoration photos.

18 December, 2011

I decided it was time to play with photographing some of our pretty outdoor lights.

17 December, 2011

My third dog-related daily photos in a row. I thought it would be cute to get a shot of Wisdom peeking through one of our broken fence slats.


I took this one whilst waiting for the dog to become convinced that she should wander down to the fence and see what I was up to.

16 December, 2011

I do believe my action shots are improving.

15 December, 2011

I actually got this idea by following a link on my favorite dog photography blog, BZ Training. If you haven't visited that blog, I definitely recommend that you take a look at the antics of the incredibly adorable and talented Golden Retrievers that star in the daily photographs.

Anyhow, BZ Training participates in a Flickr group called "Daily Dog Challenge," which happens to be a replacement for the now departed Daily Shoot. One of their first assignments was to get a shot of your dog's tags.

This particular tag is actually part of a necklace--my necklace, to be precise. This necklace has starred on my blog once before, back in September of last year. The front part is the pawprint seen here and in the other picture, while the back side is actually a "W". The "W" does, in fact, stand for Wisdom. So, since I got the necklace because of her, I thought it would be neat to get a shot of her wearing it.

14 December, 2011

Christmas cards actually make a rather lovely photo when patched together in a collage.

13 December, 2011

The shadow of our little maple against the side of our neighbor's house. I don't often do abstract shots, but I thought this one was neat.


Random note: I've added a new gadget, as you can probably see. I know I had some fans of the fish gadget that I had in the same spot previously and though I was also fond of them, I've decided to mix it up for a little while with this new fellow. I've named him Wiseguy. And he's adorable. And since I don't want to bog down y'all's internet connection, we're doing just him with no other pets. I suspect the fish will make another appearance at some point. ;) For now, I hope you can fiddle around with Wiseguy and find him just as enjoyable as the fishies.

P.S. He really likes to fetch. A lot.

12 December, 2011

Took another trip to the duck pond, this time with LH.


For some reason, this duck's posture reminds me of a penguin. The ice doesn't help to dispel that particular impression.


This isn't a duck.

11 December, 2011

I got these crooked playing cards from LH yesterday. They're pretty dang awesome.

10 December, 2011

Whilst out running errands with LH, we spotted some of these little spiky plants in one of those many empty fields we have here. I'm not positive, but pretty dang sure that they're dead, dried prairie sunflowers. Whatever the case may be, I find them rather cute and photogenic.

9 December, 2011

I decided it was time for a portrait photo of my mom's Nikon, since I've used it for so many of my daily shots now. Isn't she a beauty?

8 December, 2011

Boom and I got the rest of our outdoor Christmas decor up this afternoon. It looks rather good, if I say so myself.

7 December, 2011

Took this shot at the gym whilst waiting for other members of the family to finish with their workouts.

6 December, 2011

I caught sight of this gorgeous view as I was walking LH out to her car this afternoon. The brightly illuminated branches were framing the rather visible moon quite nicely. God truly is an amazing artist--being a photographer really reaffirms that knowledge.

(Do yourself a favor and view this one in a larger size.)

5 December, 2011

I cannot deny that I feel this particular shot could have been done better (mostly in the way of composition). However, I'm justifying its state based on the fact that I could hardly see the screen of my camera and had lost the feeling in my hands shortly after wandering out into the cold.

It's been quite lovely to have so much snow. Hopefully we continue to get precipitation over the course of the winter.

4 December, 2011

We've all been contributing to the Christmas decorations in our own ways this year. For the most part, my sisters have been the masterminds and I've just been the wielder of the tools that get it done.

This particular bulb belongs to the garland and light strand that are now adorning the railing just inside our front door. CoolBreeze did a lovely job of setting up that particular portion of our decor.

3 December, 2011

Because Miss Joy-Ful rarely gets air time on my blog and it was a nice snowy day, I decided to take her outside and attempt to get some portrait shots. I especially adore snow for pictures of Joy-Ful, since it gives me a nice blank background that makes for some lovely high contrast shots.

Sadly, Joy is not the easiest model to work with, as diversity is not her thing. She hasn't undergone nearly as much training as Wisdom (largely due to the fact that neither she nor her owner enjoy it as much as Wis and I do), so her way of getting treats is putting on her most adorable face. Admittedly, it's a gorgeous expression, but it makes it so that I have to get really creative to keep all photos of her from looking identical.

My favorite photo of the shoot.

A redo of last year's shake post. My photography skills have improved and the use of my mom's camera means the equipment has been upgraded as well.

LH and I agreed that this one just had to be posted--all due to Wisdom's expression. Sometimes she looks so sophisticated and other times... well, she looks like this.

2 December, 2011

When LH and I headed to our favorite park, I was thinking about scenery photos. Nature. Snow. However, when we ran across a man and his rather energetic lab--neither of which minded the attention of my camera--I wound up spending a good bit of time photographing the dog's playtime. Although I did get some nice scenery shots, LH and I both agreed that my canine pictures were my strong point for the day.

I feel this one is easier to appreciate in a larger size.

He was so cute.

Rehydrating during a brief break. Again, better to appreciate in a larger size.

My final shot of the day, and a fitting one, too. Larger size.