of cinder block proportions....

i have writer's block. 

not like those cute little building blocks that toddlers play with, writer's block. 

no. that'd be too easy. 

instead my writer's block lives in the gravel yard with cinder blocks and bricks and huge natural stones that men wearing tight jeans and driving bobcats fill your backyard with as they do your landscaping.

~

what. men in tight jeans.

is it just me or does everyone get as distracted as i do when they start writing.

let's see. i'll try a different angle.

like how "my cup runneth over" from all the well wishes and wonderful thoughts that you're still sending my way from my surgery last week and how this photo above looks like a cup of sorts. 

use your imagine. a cup that mother nature made. in her first pottery class.

these photos are all sooc and that makes me really happy.

but now that i think about it, i don't think i ever told you that i got my new camera and i love it. 

instead of changing completely and going the nikon route, which is where i was headed, 

i stayed with pentax and bought the k-5. 

there's a great little site i use when comparing cameras. it's called snapsort and in the upper lefthand corner, click on "compare" and put in the cameras you're thinking about. it's quite addictive and has some really good information. 

just yesterday i ran across an amazing blog and his photos were out of this world. well he uses a nikon D3X which i hadn't even heard of. so i went over to snapsort and compared my camera with his. 

mine won. 

and his camera is 7000 dollars more expensive then mine. i'm not kidding. 7000 dollars more. who would spend 8000 dollars on a camera anyhow. and once again, it just goes to show you that's it not about the equipment. it's really all about your creative and artistic eye.

to keep the camera jargon going....i've been playing around with my very old 70-200 lens and i'm kind of falling in love with it. all of these photos were taken with it and what i think i really want is a 85mm 1.4 lens. so i'm trying to keep my 70-200 at 85 as i shoot. just to practice. but the big difference is that my 70-200 is a 4.7/5.6 so it's not really comparing apple to apples. but i do think it's totally eating up all the love i've been giving it. 

oh and one more thing regarding photography. the yellow leaf above was being bathed in sunlight as i approached it and with my first shot, it was completely washed out. 

so i lowered my iso and UNDEREXPOSED it on purpose and wha-la. 

a beautiful yellow leaf with a dark background and an sooc photo.

overexposing and underexposing my photos is something i do all the time. if you don't do this. try it.

too many times, i find that iso, aperture, shutter speed and anything else you want to throw into the mix just isn't the answer. but exposure is.

*

at a loss for words...

but

feel free to add some for me

~

i know most of you are witty enough to add captions to at least one of these photos

a few weeks ago i was at the zoo and throughout the area of the park i was in, you could hear this low

moaning noise. it was similar to the sound that bears make, so i didn't really pay much attention to it.

after all, i was at the zoo. 

but all of a sudden, people started gathering around the tortoises. of course, with me being the curious thing i am, i had to walk over and see what was happening.

this is what was happening.

~

i'm guessing by spring we'll have baby tortoises. just a guess.

*

thank you everyone, for the amazing well wishes and prayers and good thoughts and happy ju ju you sent my way. it worked. i'm actually feeling pretty darn good.

to say you're all the best is an understatement. you're more then the best

and

i can't thank you enough for "being there" for me

*

what. two days in a row.....

i can do this. i can really do this. if i set my mind to it i can keep from editing my photos.

granted. it's painful and similar to when i was ten and my mom made me stop biting my fingernails.

but i can do this. 

speaking of TEN. this is my niece and she's ten TODAY.

we celebrated her birthday on sunday. and of course i made her jump for me.

and speaking of fingernails.....

after we finished eating cake we set off on a long walk around my sister's amazing and gorgeous property. acres and acres of it.

her property has old fencing everywhere

and

i couldn't get enough of it

and

the old fence posts were scrumptious 

when we finished our walk i told my niece how i really needed a great photo

representing her turning ten. she wasn't too thrilled about the idea.

but entertained me anyway

sydney was her adorable loving self and i couldn't help but shoot her, too

and

as my parents were leaving. click. i got them, too.

i'm not sure if you can read "eye language" or not

but this says

"enough aunt beth. you're driving me crazy"

*

happy birthday sweet girl. you are loved and adored.

living and breathing...

at our weekend cottage
this time of year
everything comes alive right before our eyes
and
yesterday as we pulled up
there was a faint blanket of purple covering the hillside
behind us
~~~
tiny violets everywhere
~~~
and
as

I danced through the woods
where the ground snapped beneath my feet

with each step I took

all I could do was smile back at at the violets looking at me
and
I did my best to be caught up
~completely~
in the moment
of just breathing