A day of play

My husband says I should grow up.

Yesterday I got a phone call from the young neighbor lady at the top of the hill. She has two adorable daughters that are 2 and 5 years old.

The girls wanted to know if I could come up and play.

[A few weeks ago, while my hubby was trying to jump start her van on a very cold day, I played with the girls inside to keep them out of everyone's way...]

I said -- of course!
...and off I went. A dozen fresh eggs in hand to give as a gift of friendship.
Hardly did I know that the eggs would excite both daughters and mom! You would have thought that I'd handed them gold.

Mom and I talked, girl stuff. Then as the youngest girl fell asleep, the older one asked if I'd brought my 'snow suit'. I replied that I had my coveralls.
Did I have boots, gloves, and a warm hat?

Indeed I did.

We went out to go sledding.
We took a walk.
We played with their dog, Dutch and taught him how to 'shake hands'. [I think he already knew this]

Then when we got cold we went in and played with the doll house.

I had the best time sitting on the floor and playing with the girls, Ambrose and Clover.
They made sad faces when I had to go back down the hill.

Mom and the girls asked if I could come and play again next week.

Indeed, I can.

...and my husband laughs, saying *finally, there is someone on the ridge that is of my age level*!

Bottom line?
I had a blast.

I can't wait for the next phone call to see~~~

If I can come out to play.

First Try and Fantasy Editing

I used stock images from the following:
Background:
Deviant Art by Liburnica

Horse by:
Deviant Art by LRP Photography

I use my own sky and then read a few tutorials for doing this kind of art.
Fantasy Tutorials

My job was a bit more difficult without Photoshop 7, I used Elements 5, but was able to come up with some work arounds to the layers that I don't have access to in Elements.

Now I AM thinking that doing something like this with a mule or donkey would be fun. I learned how to alternate lighting in PS and more uses for brushes which I've never investigated before.

I was really tempted to put some Angel wings on this horse and make him into a magical Pegasus.

So I think you can guess what happens when I get cabin fever and don't feel like going outside. I can get lost for a long time in my little world of creativity and editing.
I feel like a kid with the coolest coloring book in the world.

Winter color

Winter tends to become somewhat colorless ... whites, browns, gray skies. It is a great time if you dabble in photography to test yourself.

What can you come up with?

Should you make a photo black and white?


Should you edit it?


Do you hunger for colors? [I do all the time but love the challenge that winter brings]

Yesterday while out on my daily hike, I walked through our creek bottom. Sometimes each day can bring a new surprise.

Overnight the coyotes had revisited their deer remains. All that is left now are bones and the hide.
The skeleton is red tinted and very eerie looking. From a distance it looks pinkish against the backdrop of snow and footprints.

I found some open running water by one of our springs and knelt down over it to listen to the music of the creek.
Viola!
I found colors!
Blues and golds~a splash of color.

And I was pleased.

Nature, Death, Coyotes, Beauty

All those words actually go together you know. Death occurs in nature. I'm not the sort of person to wonder why.
I know it occurs and accept it for what it is.

I was rather surprised though today to find a very fresh kill on my normal hiking route. A deer had been chased down and caught in the creek bottom. The photo of the skull has been toned down a bit in color, but what struck me was the bright red carcass against the stark white snow.

What I found amazing is that the coyotes had literally stripped the hide off in nearly one piece. It was fascinating to say the least. I'm not including photos of the carcass for obvious reasons.

But the tale was told in the bottom of the creek. I felt a bit strange, as though Morris and I were being watched while I looked around.
Morris was tied to a branch near me so he wouldn't wander out of my sight.
Note...
Scarves come in very handy.
Along side him is my camera 'hiking' bag [with trail mix!] and my varmint rifle. I had my pistol on my side.

I saw where the coyotes had left their trail dragging 'parts' with them. I decided our hike would take a separate direction this time out.

Yesterday, the deer carcass was not there. So the site is a very fresh one.

We continued downstream and Morris visibly relaxed but stayed very close to me. He kept turning and smelling the air.

I'm sure he is aware of coyote scent.
I won't be taking him with me tomorrow, it is mating season and small dogs...any dogs that get in their territory are 'coyote bait' so to speak.

The rest of our hike was uneventful. We rested on a rock and listened to the creek waters rush by.
A cardinal sang in and flew from tree to tree...bright red.
Morris and I shared trail mix.
Another reason he sticks by me I suppose. I'm a good source of certain yummy things.

An Easterly wind picked up and drove snow hard down into the valley. We decided to head towards home.
Both of us happy.

He is sound asleep as I type this and go through the photos from today.

Nature sure is interesting. Every day can bring some sort of adventure, death and beauty.

The Big Snow Adventure

Today was the day.

Morris indicated to me that he felt like going out in the cold and damp to do a photo-shoot. He was extremely happy to bring his toys along.

Curious though that he doesn't really have any interest in his 'house' toys while outdoors.

This made some of the shots much easier...no Jack Russell tearing the toys away and running off with them.

The stuffed toys were a HUGE hit with the Donkey gals.
I'll have to make sure they are included in *The Big Snow Adventure*.

The premise of *The Big Snow Adventure* is that Morris goes out with his good friends Harry and Crazy to show them what Snow is like.

They meet up with a rather confused animal that is convinced that he is a Snow Leopard.
Morris and his friends try to convince their new friend that leopards have spots and he has stripes.

That is about all that I can give away right now.

I must say though, that Morris was the perfect gentleman for this.

He did what was needed for me to get my 'shots' ... without cookies!

I think he wants to be the 'star' in yet another *Adventure* book.

Kudos Morris!... and thank you.

Topaz Detail v2

I opened my email last night and received an update notification from Topaz Labs regarding an update to Topaz Detail v2.

I'd just recently downloaded Topaz Detail v1 which was a great improvement on the speed of the orginal Topaz Detail version I'd downloaded and purchased in November.

I found this slick piece of software while browsing some contacts' works on Flickr.com. Curious, I decided to see if Flickr had a Topaz Group. To my surprise they did. I decided to look and once I downloaded the Topaz Detail, I was hooked. I also added Topaz Adjust last month to my arsenal of editing software.

What can you do with Topaz Detail?

Here is a sample of a before and after Topaz Detail Photo:
Before:

After:


The new interface is quite nice. One of the most important details that was added ~~ in my opinion ~~ is the undo and redo buttons!
So many times I've edited something and just pushed a little bit too hard and then wished I could go back to what I'd done.
Great idea!

The new *I feel lucky* button is fun and can give you some odd mixes that may please you, but at least you have the option *undo*.
How does the new interface look?

New Interface:



Old Interface workspace:
The new one is more pleasing and user friendly! Not only that it is lightening fast compared to the previous versions.
A couple of more samples...


Original:


Desaturated Blush [new preset]:


Original:


Topaz Detail:

All one has to do is get this software plug in and let their imaginations run wild.
You can do as much or as little as you want.

Topaz Detail v2 is a free upgrade for existing customers and retails for $39.99 [I think that is a steal!]
Visit Topaz Labs for more information and a free trial download.

Jeeze, did I just write those few lines?

I sound like a commercial for Topaz Labs.
Okay, perhaps a testimonial!
I love the new creativity it has given me, I have no idea how I've survived this long without it.

When winter gives you the blues...

We all understand the 'winter blues' also known as 'cabin fever'.
In fact there is a whole new politically correct word for it.

Seasonal Affective Disorder [SAD]

I find I get it and suffer from *it* when I can't get out and 'play' in the woods!
You guessed it. Three days of 'day shift' work [and 2 nights of fill ins for call offs] then the blues hit. Yikes.

I hate them, the winter doldrums. I guess that is a strong word but I seriously dislike those days of winter where I am lost in the world of grays and listlessness.

I just need a bump of creativity and a day out with the snow shoes and Morris!