Sunset Tonight

I made it outside again this evening & this time I witnessed & photographed a fantastic sunset! I did some messing around with settings on the camera, mostly between the sunset setting & landscape setting. The sunset setting makes a brilliant colored shot that is in it's own way is lovely. The colors are very intense & sometimes kinda eerie looking (although I'm sure they have a place in the world of imaging). The landscape shots are softer & lighter, but still show wonderful colors. These shots are more attractive to me. I am posting a sample of each & one of the world that I see outside my window daily. Enjoy.

Sunset

After today's beautiful skies I decided to get my chair, tripod, & camera, sit in the neighboring field & enjoy the sunset. To my initial disappointment the sun was mostly lost behind a big dark cloud. I stayed out anyhow, took some shots, & ended up with some pleasant surprises. The giant puffy clouds make me smile, I often tell Trinity I would like to sit on one, they look so soft & comfy. Her usual answer is "Granny, you will fall through". Typical 7 year old tell it like it is! But, I'd take the chance those clouds look so comfortable!

Mady Again

I worked on this shot of Mady last evening in an attempt to rescue a really bad shot. I like the softness of the final image.

More Youth Field Day

I took today off from work to just hang out & relax. Thought about taking the camera for a ride, but it's pretty windy which means my favorite subjects are likely blowing all over the place! Though about the mall, but am not motivated enough & lack funding. Sooo...will do some post processing, read, & nap. Sounds like a plan! Meanwhile here are a few more shots from Youth Field Day 2008.

In the first shot the Fulton County WCO keeps everyone on the lawful side, number 2 shows the lunch ladies & gentleman, gracious volunteers from the Fulton County Pistol & Rifle Club, & and finally a young man being pulled to safety following a "boating accident"

Youth Field Day & a New Camera

Andy acts as coordinator for Fulton County Youth Field Day, a spin off from the PA Game Commission youth programs. The youth, ages 8 - 16 are introduced to & participate in a variety of outdoor activities, including water safety, muzzle loaders, clay pigeons, 22's, ATV safety, & wild turkey hunting. Programs can change from year to year, but the above listed are the core. A variety of conservation officers & volunteers provide instruction. About 25 kids enjoyed the day. Fundraising is done provide a lunch & door prizes, this year hamburgers, hot dogs, homemade french fries, baked beans & brownies fed the kids, instructors & parents. For safety, a parent is asked to accompany each participant. Each participant goes home with a T-shirt & a door prize; parents & instructors are given a hat. The kids really seemed to enjoy the day & I am betting more than one clay pigeon shooter has a sore shoulder!

Now for the good part. I presented myself a new Fujifilm S8100 with 18x zoom & 10 mega pixels earlier in the week. Pretty neat!! Over the years I have had good luck with Fuji products & plan to stick with them - beside less new stuff to learn. I can sit way back here & take a picture way up there! There is enough mega pixel that I can do some nice crops too. Andy ask if I wanted to take some shots today, of course I did, about 180 of them (although I weeded out bad ones to about 160). I am totally impressed! Nice shots, especially outdoors. And yes, I plan to share today & in the future.

Nasty Suprise

My son returned from work to the parking lot where he meets his shared riders and found that someone had rearranged the metal, actually moved the truck several feet. Mady & Trinity were here, so we all rode in town to await the state police. Thankfully the guy that hit the truck left contact information. As you see in the snaps Mady was quite busy checking the damage and Trinity, just like her granny, finds a good book always the perfect way to wait.

Finally!!

Well, just about every spare minute has gone into post processing & learning Elements 6's magic extractor & practicing on the motorcycle shot. After 25 or 30 tries I think I finally have a version I can live with! There is a noticeable mistake, but it will have to stay at thsi point. Thru my computer & "surfing years" I have learned to trust About.com for many things. They have wonderful cooking information, a delightful & informative photo blog & forum. I discovered the graphics & software blog with a number of tutorials including a video on using the magic extractor. Since visual is my favored learning mode this was perfect. My plan is to study the remaining tutorials & hopefully have lots of work (play?) to share. Until then (trumpet sound) the motorcycle.

Photoshop Elements 6

For my recent birthday I purchased myself Photoshop Elements 6 & to help me along the Photoshop Elements for Dummies guide. One of the goals for my vacation was to learn how to use this program. I have read part of the book & played around with the program. I return to work tomarrow (feet dragging)! So far I have been trying to remove a shot of Andy's nephew's motorcycle from an undesireable background to a desireable one using the magic extractor. After a several tries, coloring between the lines has become easier, although if motorcycles came with out a kickstand, hand controls, & mirrors the job would be much easier. I am going to share the before shot with the crowded background & my latest attempt, which I think is pretty good if you don't mind part of the back tire missing. Then it's back to the "drawing board" I'll get this yet!!

Yesterday vs Today

After giving some thought about what to post today I decided to take a look at two previous posts. In yesterday's post I showed the image of a reconstructed barn in Gettysburg & how the original stood on that field & served as a hospital during the Civil War. I mentioned one could not imagine the deplorable conditions in which those medical professionals (if they were professionals) worked. In contrast I noted in the first post about Codorus State Park that a fiery crash had occurred not too many minutes prior to our arrival. Within minutes ambulances & firetrucks were screaming around us. I would estimate within 15 minutes a helicopter landed on the highway to transport one of the injured for immediate care at a trauma center. Follow up in the newspaper the next day indicated two others were taken from the scene via ambulance to local hospitals. First responders had pulled the driver from the burning pick up truck, flight paramedics moved in within minutes to aid in transporting him to the nearest trauma center. All involved in this accident lived. If this accident had occurred even 10 years ago would the all the victims lived, I wonder. A husband or boyfriend, a son, & perhaps a father may have been lost that day. To take this to a more personal level, about 19 months ago we were preparing for Levi's arrival into the world in about two more months. Things went wrong & Kimberly was flown to Harrisburg to get more advanced medical care, Levi was born that night, weighing just over 3#, he had quit breathing @ birth. Without today's medical miracles it is very likely the unbearable thought is we may have lost both.

The images posted are of the accident flames & of the helicopter leaving the scene. The accident was shot through our windshield, the other was taken from the lake.

Stop Off in Gettysburg

My long awaited 2 week vacation is quickly coming to an end. Three more day, the weekend, & then it's Monday. This has been a busy time & I am probably more tired than if I had been working. Attempted some heavy household chores & definitely have more sore muscles than my job causes & my allergies are a wreck thanks to the dust. Enough complaining. On our drive home from camping we made a quick stop in Gettysburg to take some shots. The plan is to return there to spend a day taking pictures of history. I will be the first to admit I am not a history buff, but it seems to me I can actually feel the grief, the stillness in the battlefield area, how horrible it must have been to fight your own countrymen, even as some accounts record, your brother. One of the monuments we seen was dedicated to a group from Maine - how long must it have taken just to get there! My best image of the day was of a cannon, I am now sorry I did not take a few minutes to read it's journey on the historical marker that was erected beside it to have it's story to share. Another favorite shot shows a reconstruction of the hospital, actually a barn. One can only imagine what horrors must have occurred as medical professional of that day practiced their trade.

My Birthday

My family made my birthday special this year. They organized a suprise party for me on Saturday. All my children, my grandchildren, a daughter-in-law, (one daughter-in-law had to work - darn), a son-in-law, my husband, one fo my stepdaughter's, my mother-in-law & father-in-law were around to help me celebrate a day I thought they all forgot! We enjoyed a lovely outdoor picnic supper, I was presented with a BIG, YUMMY, new york strip steak grilled just the way I like it. Three cake choices & ice cream finished off the meal. The babies ran around, even a few adults ran around. Kimberly demonstated some cheerleading moves, that she has not done for awhile, for Trinity. I would imagine a Tylenol or 2 were needed when she got home. Mady appointed herself boss baby, but 'til the end of the evening she actually allowed Nolan to touch her hair, even give her a kiss & hug. I can't believe I was so much involved in the festivites that I forgot to take many pictures! I am going to share two that I thought turned out pretty good. I will introduce you to my oldest son, Joe & my youngest son, Caleb discussing "serious matters". Of course thru these words & pictures you have already met Levi. Notice how he has grown!! Thanks for the specail day everyone.