Carolina Colors

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a pic or even a blog post at all.  Mainly I’ve been buried in work, which is a good thing (and not).  It’s been hard for me to get out and feel even a spark of creativity when I’m working under any sort of a deadline.  Today, however, I ditched work to go meet two friends for a mid-day pedicure and wine party (how decadent).  It was pouring rain and foggy pretty much all day, but I find those days some of the most interesting to be out in sometimes, at least photo-wise.  So I’ve got my trusty Nikon with me, but it’s in the trunk (and I’m driving).  I’m noticing all the flowers budding on the trees even though we’re more than 1/2 a month away from spring, it’s been warm and we’ve had lots of rain.  Eco-confusion ensues.  One day the birds are eating flower buds, the next day a winter vortex hits us and kills everything in its path (including, I hear, most of the stink bug populations – yay!).  Anyway … you may know how I love to do what I call “drive-by shootings” (the only kind that should exists) where I basically point my camera towards the window while driving (I have a feeling this post is going to wind up kicking me in the ass one day – but honestly I don’t take my eyes off the road) and click.  Actually looking at what I was shooting would one, be a very bad idea; and two, it would ruin the randomness of taking drive-bys.  Half the fun of taking them is seeing what you get when you get home and pop that memory card into the ol’ laptop and open ‘er up.  It’s like being a kid at Christmas.

So back to the camera.  I had enough room in my purse for my trusty Cannon AS4000 – I love that little camera.  No DSLR snobbery around here – some of my best photos came from common cameras (like my Kodaks!).  Only thing is, I discovered the camera was set to “macro.”  That would be great if I were shooting a flower, but it should have been set on “infinity” for a landscape shot.  But guess what?  I like the effects even better.  It came out sort of like a painting.

So this particular drive-by doesn’t seem to have the blurry motion effect around the edges like most of my DBs have, but it does pick up on some detail that I love – aside from the popping colors, you can see how the moss on the center tree sticks out.  And if you look to the left a bit on the fence, I think I caught a glimpse of one of South Carolina’s tiniest, red-ist and super-elusive cardinals.  They’re hard to get on camera here.  They’re tiny and they’re quick.

Well, enough of my escapades; here’s the photo.  Oh and of course I had to cut the trees short – a peeve of mine is getting objects like telephone wires in my shots – so I cut them out.  Here’s “Carolina Colors.”

Smudging

The Burning Bowl

World of Web

I’m not a big fan of spiders, but I do love the art they produce when they weave their wonderful webs.  They’re like lacy mandalas.  Add a few drops of fresh rain for accent and it becomes a stunner.

Why I Take Photos of Old Things

You can read “Why I Take Photos of Old Things” here.

Hide and Seek

Perfect Perspective

The Waiting

“The waiting is the hardest part.”    ~Tom Petty

Antique Store Oxymoron

I think this is the first antique shop that I’ve ever seen that was an actual antique itself.   Well, maybe that’s not completely true because I’ve been in some old antique shops, but somehow when they’re open for business and still full of … antiques, they don’t seem quite as old as this antique.  I have a reverence for days gone by and a complete fascination with things that were, especially nowadays with so much construction going on.  It seems that what was yesterday could be something completely different tomorrow.  I guess that’s why whenever I see a quaint old antique building I just have to shoot it.  Still, there are three signs on this building that indicate that they’re still in business.  As one of the signs puts it, “by chance or by appointment.”  I love that.  It’s such a laid back southern way of saying, “call me, and if I’m not out on the lake or busy barbecuing, maybe we can do business.”

Branching Out and Blending In

Chilling out on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  A sparrow, and a mockingbird.

Welcome to the Jungle

The Stray Cat Strut

While cleaning up this weekend, I came across some SD cards from various cameras I’ve used over the years along with two throw-away cameras that are full of pictures of … (I’ve yet to find out).  It’s kind of fun looking through them, not knowing what treasures you might find. This particular picture is of my former neighbor in New Jersey.  I have never been much of a cat person, mostly because I’m allergic to them, but this little wild kitty held his own in a vast outdoor jungle full of wilder cats that were much larger than he was.