Christmas is upon us and I'm not nearly ready...am admonishing myself for waiting so long to do the things I know must be done...finally, gifts are wrapped and treats are baked. Only the tins to fill for family and friends.

Awoke to a downpour this morning...temps are above freezing so I won't have to deal with ice on my last round of errands this morning. Back to work 1/2 day tomorrow before spending Christmas with my family.

Spent an evening near downtown last weekend shooting the lights. Like this one a lot. It's a zoomed city skyline after dark.

Look closely, you can see the pedestrian bridge and street in the lower part of the photo.

I wish you all a joyful Christmas spent with family and/or friends.

Happy Monday. A last 40 degree day before winter sets in again...but then today's the first day of winter, isn't it? My week will be filled with last-minute errands preparing for Christmas. The promise of snow for late Thursday and Friday excites me... I love white Christmases...

Here's my artzy version of Christmas lights, thanks for my neighbors for their display.

Two short weeks ago it was 70 degrees here in the Plains. Today we had an all-day rain that will turn the roads into skating surfaces in the next couple of hours....tomorrow promises single digit temps and a 35-40 mph wind.... that makes the wind chill about -20 degrees. oh, the joys of living in Kansas in the winter!! Feels more like Montana to me.

The blog's not loading photos tonight. I'll try again tomorrow.

Blessed today with sunny, 70 degree weather. Just what my psyche needed!!! Went out shooting all afternoon. Nothing specific in mind, just pointed the truck West and drove until some place interesting presented itself.

The tree is in a nearby park, the hawk was also near the lake in the same park, the shadow is my truck scooting down a two lane road near dusk.

Snowy surprise

Awoke this morning to a fresh skiff on snow on my world. A nice respite from the pouring rain of the past couple of days. I threw on sweats, grabbed my camera and went outside for a look at the fading colors of fall. Found a few leaves hanging on to their 'personalities' despite the snow.
Enjoyed an afternoon visit from a photographer friend. Recounting good times in Missoula helps to take the dreary day blues away.

Birthday fun

Yesterday was as perfect a day as I could imagine.
I spent the afternoon in two different local parks taking photographs and soaking up some gorgeous weather. The wildlife was frisky, the colors still okay and I was in the mood to just take in whatever was happening around me.

At the first park, the ducks and geese were absorbed in bathing.

At the second park, I spotted the perfect picnic spot.

I didn't have an agenda, nor time constraints. I captured a few dozen photos. Got in a nice long walk and came away refreshed and revived. A great way to spend a birthday.

Indian Summer

We're being blessed with a few gorgeous 'Indian summer' days, so I took full advantage of one today. Met with some friends from my photography club and went
scavenger hunt shooting... We took a list of ten words like 'tacky', 'out of place', 'childhood' and 'annoying' and went in search of a photo that would represent the word. 3 hours later we met back at a member's house, had pizza and reviewed photos. A great way to spend a beautiful day.
These are two of the nearly 500 photos I shot throughout the course of the day.

Enjoyed a beautiful fall day shooting family photos with some friends of mine.
Fall's colors are waning, but it was a glorious 60 degree day nonetheless.
This is little Kaylen..she really enjoyed the park.
The barn is part of the park.

Another beautiful fall day in Kansas. It started out sunny and breezy and turned
to thunderstormy, but still warm for fall - about 60 degrees. After the rain, the
air smelled so fresh and clean. I love raindrops on a tin roof and big bowls of hot soup for dinner.

Two weeks since my last post...enjoying the beautiful fall colors here in the Midwest. Having lots of rain. A challenge when it comes to photography and electronic equipment.

Going to a Visual Arts group meeting tonight to see if it's something I want to join. Joined a photography club..lots of nice people who also love to shoot and love outings to do so.

This photos was taken in the National Cemetary at Leavenworth Kansas. It was breathtakingly beautiful yesterday.

The day started out dreary, but by afternoon the sun was shining brightly.
It's still cold.
Received a catalog and a magazine in the mail today. I had photos published in both.
Wahoo!!! Now I'm an award winning and published photographer.
Now all I have to do is work on motivation and inspiration.
The cats now run when I pick up my camera!

Fall is quickly turning to almost winter...temperatures here more than 20 degrees BELOW normal. Torrential rain yesterday...got soaked more than once doing errands.
Today is overcast, windy and in the 40's. I'm looking for inspiration. Instead of hybernating like I'm prone to do, I need to find some excitement. My classmates from
RMSP are about to enter their final week of Advanced Studies. Do wish I'd spent the last 6 weeks with them in Missoula.

The photo is of a Locust tree (don't you love the thorns!) that grow in my neck of the woods. The fall colored leaves are impaled on the thorns.

Continued fall weather here...very cool days (60's) and 40 degree nights. I'll have to bring my patio plants in soon. Am in a rut as far as shooting goes. A couple of nice sunsets and a few trips to the Arboretum. I need to break out of the box. It's supposed to rain tomorrow. Maybe I'll get inspired..

Went to one of my favorite local parks today to shoot fall colors. Wasn't expecting much, but found Russian thistles, milkweed, sunflowers, locust trees and other native plants going into their fall colors and textures. Going out again tonight. Expecting storms tomorrow morning, so I'm hoping the sunset through the incoming clouds will be worth a trip out. Photos to follow.

A gorgeous, cool, breezy fall day here in the midwest. The trees are beginning to turn their lovely fall colors. I'm going out for a walk with my camera. Can't bear to be indoors when things are changing so rapidly around me.

The Overland Park Arboretum has been a great place to photograph this week.
This photo is of bear grass taken in Lolo, Montana during the summer.

I also joined a local photography club, Digital Dimensions. Kevin Sink, KC photographer spoke and showed his work. He likes to rent a bucket truck and take photos of the KC skyline from high in the bucket.

Still looking for a job.

Spent time photographing at the arboretum tonight. Lots of beautiful dahlias still blooming. Ordered my new business cards today. They should be awesome..can't wait to see them.
I just heard that one of my favorite photographers passed away...I'm bummed. He was something special. Take a look at www.wetstinkydog.com to see his stuff.

I've been home for 5 days now and haven't missed a day of shooting yet. I do need to get a little more serious about my subjects. I shot a football game played by 7, 8, and 9 year olds, a parade, flowers at the local Arboretum and plants in my backyard.
Photos are photos. Still need to download them.

Home at last! Arrived late night before last. Feel like I'm in a twilight zone episode. My house seems like it belongs to someone else. Can't remember where anything is.

Feeling sad about leaving all my friends in Missoula and for the ones who've gone back home. Haven't missed a day photographing since I left Missoula on the Sept 1. The challenge is to see my home town with new eyes.

I love reflections. This is one from Fort Missoula, Montana.

Made it to Billings in good shape...20 minutes before my honey's flight arrived. The drive was good. Beautiful weather. Little traffic. Slowly making my way back into 'civilization'. Haven't seen any news to speak of for 3 months, so it will be interesting to see what's going on. I loved the cocoon of photographers I lived amongst in Missoula...hopefully I'll find a few like-minded souls in Kansas.

Aug 31 - packing up to leave Missoula. Heading out tomorrow morning early. Will meet my better half in Billings. My heart is full of emotions today -- wanna leave, don't wanna leave.

So many good, kind people have been a part of my Missoula experience. Wish I could take them all home with me.

I pick up my life again in Kansas on Sept. 7. Looking forward to what God has planned for me next.

I'm in a documentary photography workshop this week. Met a great guy - Jerry - today and shot some photos of him.

Summer's almost over -- way too soon.

I met Amy, a really nice lady selling bouquets at the local Farmers Market. She offered to let me shoot her flower garden, so I took her up on it. She grows the most gorgeous dahlias and lillies, sells bouquets at the Farmers Market and will be competing at the Western Montana Fair this week with her flowers.





Here is an example of her amazing flowers.



Thanks, Amy, for opening your garden to me.

This photo is of Caleb, an amazing 15 year old banjo player with the Black Mountain Boys bluegrass band. He's one to keep an eye on. I predict in a few short years he'll be a major force in the music business.

Last week of photo school...bummed about leaving friends who love photography as much as I do. But, I do miss my family and home and town...

Went to Garnet ghost town yesterday and to the free symphony concert last night. It was great for people watching.

Finishing up class work, spending time with friends and planning a trip to the Pulitzer Prize winnng photograph exibit at the University this week.

It's Monday. Day 1 of Week 10. 9 more days of Summer Intensive left. Graduation is on Friday, Aug. 14th. The summer has just flown by!

My final project is at the printers. I will spend the weekend getting it ready for its debut on Wed., Aug 12.

Can't wait to see my classmates' work. Everyone here is so talented. And, so willing to lend a hand or ear if you have a problem.

I'm already starting to think about the things I will miss when I leave Missoula -- Doc's cookies (made fresh everyday by John), Eric's famous hot chocolate, the quarry, hanging out on the bank steps before class, Forest and Forest helping out in lab and studio, my classmates, the instructors - especially Neil!, the time to be totally immersed in something I love without many other real-life responsibilities like cleaning house, grocery shopping, etc., the beautiful mountain scenery that's 360 degrees all around me here in Missoula.

It's time to start thinking about what comes next for me. I'm thinking of an assistant's job or maybe a job in a frame shop. I need to have a little income while I ramp up my photo business. I'm excited and at the same time hesitant to take that first step off on my own without my built-in support network here in Missoula. I know I'll be fine and successful, it's just getting that first step/job under my belt.

Here's a photo taken at last weekend's Farmer's Market.

Week 10 begins on Monday here at RMSP...summer intensive has been just that, intense! I'm working on my final project - 5 images 11x14 of working hands. I'm stressing...I've only gotten 2 printed so far and have one more print class. 4 hours to print 4 images while sharing the printer with another student. I took a CD of images to the University print shop and let out a sigh of relief...until they called yesterday and said there was a problem. Ughhh....I have to go over there first thing Monday and find out what can be done.

In the meantime, I put together my slideshow images for graduation. I edited a few images and I'm listening to an Eric Clapton CD. I love Clapton...I sing along (badly) so it's a good thing I'm home alone right now...my singing would make dogs howl...

A friend and I are going to Phillipsburg tomorrow...the Sweet Shoppe is sweet and we're going to check out the Montana sapphires..hope I can afford one! We may take the long way home and go by Skalkoho falls...it's a long way on a single lane dirt road but the wild flowers, bear grass and water fall is well worth it.

Here's an image from yesterday's trip to Flathead Lake.

Woke up to a brewing thunderstorm here in Missoula. Thunderstorms seem to be rare occurances here, but I'm told we need the rain.

Spent yesterday evening printing small proof photos of the ones I will use for my final project -- a minimum of 5 photos printed, matted and framed or otherwise presented for showing the class and hanging during our graduation ceremony.

It's so exciting to print an image, hold it in your hands and determine how you could have made it better. That's what this summer is all about...making my photography better. Though it was a challenge to decide what theme to use for the project, the pressure is really on now to capture the images I need, tweak them in Lightroom or Photoshop, then print the best possible version.

Graduation is a mere 3 weeks away. The summer has flown by, filled with classes, assignments, projects, and meeting new people and seeing new places. It has been truly a personal growth time for me.

The photo is one of my proof shots from last night.

Enjoying a rare morning off...playing with my extension tubes to photograph flowers.

Saturday...day off. Farmer's Market, bookstore...a Sunny 16 day. Here's a photo from a wedding I shot last weekend.

Friday night - end of another whirlwind week. Slideshow project finished. Shooting a wedding tomorrow.

July 9, 2009

Sunny day. Hard drive with photos revived from comatose.