Dawn of A New Day

Not this morning's sunrise, because we are due for some rain, ice and snow. Probably some wind, too!



To think, a mere two weeks ago, I was watching this sunset:


Come on Spring.... Come on Spring.....

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Atlantis - All the Fishies Under The Sea

Can you tell I'm still reliving my short trip to the Bahamas? Fellow blogger Jeanne will be going there in a couple of weeks, so I'm getting her psyched for her trip by posting more of the photos I took while there.

I am fortunate to have good friends who have a timeshare the Atlantis property - Lisa invites several girl friends to stay with her the first part of the week. Later on in the week, her husband and kids join her. Atlantis is a beautiful vacation resort with numerous hotels, pools, water slides, aquariums, beaches, casinos, nightclubs, restaurants and shops. My family previously visited for a half day for a Dolphin encounter at the property's Dolphin Cay.

But we didn't have time to explore the numerous aquariums - and they are pretty amazing, as I found out last week:

Like birds that fly in formation, schools of fish do the same.


Can you hear the roar?


These guys below reminded me of ghosts:


The jellyfish almost hypnotized me with their movement:


The fish over head as I walked through the under water tunnel:


Photos from Atlantis - The Dig Ruins

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Hard At Work - Downtown Nassau

I'm always trying to improve at "street photography". I find it really hard to do well, and opportunities for practice are somewhat limited since I live in a mostly rural area.

But I had a unique opportunity just a week ago, on vacation in the warm, friendly Bahamas - in the touristy downtown area of Nassau, close to the cruise ship dock, Senor Frogs and the Straw Market.











I used my Oly OM-D E-M5 camera for these photos. The smaller size of the camera makes me less conscious of taking photos of strangers on the street. But after I downloaded the photos from the memory card, I immediately wished I had taken more photos. That's something I'll keep in mind the next time I venture out (not that I'll be in the Bahamas any time soon - that would be wishful thinking....)

Linked to Sweet Shot Tuesday with Kent Weakley.

Finally, I want to thank Nancy at A Rural Journal for her Valentine's Day Boost Your Blog Party. If you are visiting from that link up, thank you!

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Butterflies, Lilies and Flames in the Naples Botanical Garden

A Trio of Butterflies:

I think they look like flying zebras....

Water lily:


Huge Lily pads:


My idea of flames:


All from the Naples Botanical Gardens. The facility is a mere three years old, but chock full of beautiful plants, stunning world themed gardens - Brazilian, Asian, Caribbean and an interactive Children's garden (interactive for both child and adult).

From the Brazilian Garden - the centerpiece waterfall:


If you are visiting southwest Florida, the gardens are a great place to visit.

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Barns Off the Beaten Path

We were treated to a quintessential fall day last Saturday - bright sun, a bit of wind and downright crisp temperatures. It is Fall, after all [I know, after 80degF on Thursday, 50 degF feels a bit chilly, especially with that northerly wind].

I dropped off my daughter at the horse barn, was listening to the college football game on the radio and decided to venture off my normal route, onto the untraveled (by me, anyways) country roads.

The country roads here are numbered - County Road 1400 North, County Road 1250 East, for example. When these roads cross into the city limits, they are renamed to something more "personable", like Main Street or Washington Ave. Since we live in the city limits, we know the roads from their city names, not their generic county road designation. Not that it really matters - everything is arranged in a grid heading north-south or east-west. So I knew I wouldn't get lost in a cornfield in the middle of nowhere as I turned off my normal route...

And what did I pass by? Some cool barns - barns I've admired from a distance ('cause on the prairie, you can see forever) and barns I'd never seen before. I even ran across a cemetery, but I'm saving that for Halloween....

This barn had a Historic Farm sign at the foot of the driveway. I didn't stop long enough to read it thoroughly, but I think this farm has been in operation for over 100 years.





Growing up, I thought all barns were red. Now I know better - white seems to be the most common around here.


Of course, there is that classic white and red, too:


I'm glad I took that little diversion - a mere 10 minutes on a perfect fall day.

Linked to Barn Charm, of course!

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Orange and White

Kind of like a Creamsicle...



But prettier .....


And not as fattening...


Wait, I think this color is more creamsicle than pure orange or white....


Have a great Sunday evening!

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Exploring Close to Home

I didn't realize the horse stable was close to a large lake and forest preserve. Last Saturday, I performed a search on my iPhone Maps (no, I haven't upgraded to the newest version, so my iPhone is still using Google maps!) and set out after dropping off the girl.

Who knew, in the middle of the prairie, there would be a large lake surrounded by all these trees?



It was a beautiful Indian summer day - not too warm, not cool at all, with a bit of a breeze, and plenty of sunshine. Walking down one of the paths instantly calmed my frazzled mind.






1. Secluded, 2. At My Feet, 3. Wandering, 4. For the Birds

I must come back when I have more time to explore. And if you live close to a forest preserve or nature area, be sure to check out the hidden treasures close to home.

Linked to Mosaic Monday

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Green Snowballs

I wonder why my neighbor's hydrangea blooms turn green. Mine start cream with a hint of pink. I know you can get blue blooms by altering the soil (I forget if it is acid or alkaline that makes them blue), but green?



A mystery for now. I'm too tired to research it.

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Right Here Right Now - August's Self Portraits

It's the last Friday of the month and time to share this month's self portraits with Urban Muser and {In the Picture}.

This month's optional theme was my life, right now - a great theme to capture the present environment or daily happenings in my life:

Enjoying the last weeks of summer:


Because fall baseball season has just started and I'm waiting on the bleachers:


And I bought myself a new toy:




Took a short business trip to the birthplace of the Heath bar and ended up with an inadvertent selfie:


The days have shortened and I'm now waiting in the car in the dark.


As always, it's not too late to start taking self portraits. You can check out the other participants in this challenge in the flickr group.

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New Toy: Olympus OM-D E-M5 First Shots

I've been considering the Olympus OMD EM-5 Micro Four Thirds camera ever since it was announced in early February. February was the month I was injured with a torn ACL which meant I had more time to surf the 'net, play with Pinterest, browse things on Ebay..... In fact, I think it was the month I purchased a lot of stuff through Amazon [things that make you go 'hmmmmm....'].

Source: dpreview.com via Shirley on Pinterest

I pinned an image of that cute, retro-styled camera to my Pinterest Photography Gear Dreams Board... Then I had my ACL reconstructed, started physical therapy to rehab my knee, went back to work, the spring soccer season started, baseball season started and I basically forgot about the camera.

Well, things calmed down once summer hit and I started getting that "new gear itch" [I was looking through my Amazon recommendations around my birthday - darn those smart marketing programs!]. The black version of the camera was just starting to ship to customers and the performance reviews were highly positive. But no sign on the horizon for the retro silver model. I put the camera out of my mind.

I got diverted when word of a new Full Frame Nikon DSLR burst onto the rumor scene. The purported D600 might be priced under $2,000 and I was convinced that would be my next gear purchase.

Since then, I (obviously) changed my mind. Some of the reasons - I thought about how a Full Frame camera would fit into my current gear line up. I have invested in full frame lenses, so no problem there. But how would a Full Frame camera fit into my shooting habits and what would I gain from it? Maybe better low light performance. Maybe better images. A lot of maybes in a big camera body. I was still seriously considering the D600 when I started hearing grumblings from the Nikon community of focus problems with the new D800 and how terribly Nikon has handled the problem. I started thinking again about what I wanted to shoot, where I'd like to grow and what were some of the barriers to getting there.

I decided that the smaller camera would be the best for me - I want to do more "street shooting" and a smaller camera definitely helps in that area. I like the longer reach I get with my cropped sensor DSLR and I don't want another big camera to carry around. If I had two DSLR cameras, I would have to decide which DSLR to bring to an event - or bring them both with a full compliment of lenses! My knee and back would not like that!

OK, enough of my ramblings - here are some photos!
My actual camera.... with a kit lens - the 12-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II R ... and I love the retro styling...


Just learning how to use the camera:




Trying for shallow DOF:




Shooting at the local farmer's market:






Looking for bokeh:

Probably not as good as my Nikon with a 50mm f1.8 lens. But not too bad, either. I'm sure I could get better bokeh if I purchased a faster prime lens (which, of course, is available).

My initial impressions - it's a fun, lightweight camera that can produce excellent images. Maneuvering around to change settings takes getting used to - it's different from what I'm used to with my Nikon, but it is certainly better than the high end compacts I've played around with (like the Canon G1X, which really sucks - things embedded in menus - yuck). I will definitely use this camera when I'm out around town, when I don't want to draw attention to myself. What I won't use it for - my kids' sports action shots. That's what the DSLR with my long zoom lens is for!

So it fits into my camera line up perfectly - I couldn't be happier about that!

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