Amber

Took this photo of a little cutie in Concord on Patriots day. 

Edited, and changed to a sepia tone.  Added a layer and ended up with beautiful red hair which made me think of my dear friend Joanne and her oldest daughter Amber.  Played a little more with editing to make this look like an old photo.

 The name Amber is of course perfect for a female with amber hair♥  Love you Jo, Amber and Meg !!

Experimenting with shutter speed

The Wayside Inn Grist Mill features a waterfall which was the perfect subject to use in my practice to learn more about shutter speed.

F-stop:             f 5.6

exposure time:  1/100 sec.

ISO speed:       ISO-200

F-stop:             f /4

exposure time:  1/160 sec.

ISO speed:       ISO-200

F-stop:             f 6.3

exposure time:  1/30 sec.

ISO speed:       ISO-200

F-stop:             f 14

exposure time:  1/6 sec.

ISO speed:       ISO-200

The slower the shutter speed the more blurred the water will look.

I guess it is a matter of personal preference.  I think it's a neat effect.  My Mother didn't really like it at all.

I've been taking part in a class given by Elisha Snow called Mastering Manual Mode.  It has really forced me to get out of my comfort zone and get to know my camera a lot better. 



weekend reflection - Martha Mary Chapel

A last minute link up with Weekend Reflections.  This week James posted a very interesting reflection of a fabulous building in Florence Italy reflected in the window of an ambulance.  It is really interesting to look at all of the reflections posted here.  It helps you to look at things in a new way, and you find yourself often on the loookout for reflections.

I took this photo yesterday afternoon.  We went to Longfellow's Wayside Inn because there is an old grist mill there with a waterfall, and I wanted to experiment with changing shutter speeds.  I took a lot of photos of the waterfall and inside of the grist mill and look forward to posting these photos as well. I love visiting there because it is so typically "New England". 
I was peeking in the window of the "Mary Had A Little Lamb" schoolhouse when I took this photo.  If you look carefully you can see the little desks with chalkboards sitting on them.  That's me on the left, with the Martha Mary Chapel reflected in the window.  The white line on the right is part of the window pane.  A scene from the movie 'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" was filmed here.  Scenes from an older movie "House Sitter" were also filmed at The Wayside Inn.

Happy Weekend!

Photo Art Friday is "the bees knees"

This week Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photo Art suggested the Photo Art Friday theme to feature a macro photo.  I chose two photos taken last June In Ogunquit, ME.  The flowers are located in a garden at the start of the Marginal Way, a gorgeous trail situated along the rocky shore of the Atlantic coastline. 

The phrase "the bee's knees" (meaning the height of excellence) became popular in the U.S. in the 1920's along with the "cat's pajamas".  For all you young'uns out there.  And speaking of young'uns I had to explain "The Bump" to my kids the other day...remember that dance???

Ok, back to Photo Art Friday..  I cropped and edited these photo's and then placed Bonnie's textures on top.    (Thank you Bonnie)

      
Happy Friday to all and thank you for reading my post ♥

Lake Cochituate and fishing

I've been looking and looking, going back and forth with my photos looking for that heart connection.  I think I must have spring fever!!  This is a bit of a stretch but I am going with this post as my connection - more of a heart reminder that the grass isn't always greener somewhere else and that it is good sometimes to just "bloom where you are planted".

Thank you Kat for creating and hosting The Photo Heart Connection.  It is such a pleasure to meet so many creative and kind people through our little piece of blogland.

 clikc here for the  Photo-Heart Connection March:

Often when I think about going on a photography adventure, I think about going someplace other than where I already am.....the ocean, the city, a garden...etc.

I accompanied my husband while he went fishing in our home town, at Lake Cochituate (cuw-chit-chew-it).  I spent plenty of time fishing when I was a little girl, but it isn't something I would do on my own now.  It seemed like fishing was a lot more exciting then.  My husband cast out the lines (one person is allowed to use two poles) and set them up on the holders he made.  "Aren't you going to cast a few times?" I inquired.
"You call this fishing?" I teased him, "you aren't even holding the poles!"   
                     
Maybe he was happy to see me go off with my camera - lol.

Nice hot coffee makes the time spent more agreeable.

Somebody forgot their goggles... I can't imagine going into that cold water!!

It's nice to remember that you don't have to go somewhere "special" to have fun exploring with a camera.  And to find contentment cozy and comfy at home, lost in the activity of photo editing.  A simple heart connection.