P365+1 Week 5 - Progress

It was a week of progress - my knee has healed more, so I discontinued the use of crutches and my mobility has improved immensely.

On Saturday, Jill brought over some get well gifts - a card signed my the members of my soccer team, a bottle of red wine (she definitely knows my love of red wine!) and a beautiful bouquet of flowers. They really brightened my day, because I was feeling a little down:

On Sunday, I attended church and spent the rest of the day cooking. I made Chinese dumplings, something I only do once or twice a year, since the process is time consuming. But I couldn't go anywhere, and it kept me busy, active and kept my mind off my knee. The end result was delicious, too!

Monday evening - playing around with the Camera+ app and its self timer feature. I'm downloading photos I took of Saturday's flowers.

Tuesday afternoon, before my violin lesson - I arrived early, so headed to the local park and tested out the Fisheye lens of the Olloclip.

Wednesday morning - a major milestone - I made a trip to the grocery store by myself. It was my first visit to the grocery store since I tore my ACL, two weeks ago. I went early in the morning when the parking lot is empty to increase my chances of getting a parking spot close to the entrance.

As a bonus, most of the items I needed were on display together, making the trip easier on my knee. Some days it's the little things that make a big difference.

Thursday - I met with an orthopedic surgeon concerning the next steps with my knee.

When I first received the news that I had torn my ACL, the health care group that we use referred me to one of their orthopedic doctors. But the next available appointment was four weeks away and I didn't want to wait that long. I found another orthopedic doctor that is within our insurance policy's network and was given an appointment immediately. This doctor came recommended from one of my co-workers, and I feel very comfortable with him. After doing some research on him, I learned we share a bit of similar backgrounds - we both attended MIT as undergraduates. The doctor explained the details around my injury, the options for treatment (surgical and non surgical) and when I told him I wanted surgery to have my ACL reconstructed, he walked me through the entire procedure. I don't think I've ever spent so much time with a doctor before - over 30 minutes. While I don't wish surgery on anyone, for me, this is what I want. My surgery is scheduled in two weeks.

Friday afternoon -

I was practicing violin when my son got out his saxophone, plopped down his jazz band music and asked me to play with him. I know this sounds like fun, but the problem is the saxophone is a E-Flat based instrument, while the violin is a A major based instrument. This means when he plays an 'A', I would have to play a 'C' to get the same pitch. I can't transpose music quickly enough in my head, so we played a couple of the easier pieces together and still had fun.

Bonus photos (because I tend to take more than one photo on any given day) - the weather all week long has been spring like - highs in the 60s, and cool in the evenings, which means fog in the morning:

This morning, I spotted an asterisk in the sky - formed by plane contrails:


That was the week! I am bound and determined to get out for a little photo walk around the 'hood this weekend. I think my knee is up for it.
I hope you had a wonderful week and a great weekend.

Read more...

It's All in the Details: iPhone vs DSLR?

Macro shots of my violin, taken with my Nikon and my iPhone:















Can you tell which were taken with the iPhone? I used the Olloclip macro lens, which I love. But it does require a good light and a steady hand. You have to get really close to the item to get it in focus. But talk about shallow DOF - something I didn't think I could get out of my iPhone....

Edited to add - the 2nd and 6th photos in the collection were taken with the iPhone - the others were taken with my D300.

Read more...

The Beautiful Prairie

There are days when the wind howls and blows across this flat land, the endless gray skies and treeless prairie strain the eyes.

Then we have mornings like this one, which started out foggy but burned off to a sky of spun silk and golden sun.


Instead of taking the main road to work, I headed down a back road which took me past this cool shed / barn.


Both photos were taken with my iPhone4s and adjusted slightly using Photogene2.
Linked to This and That Thursday and Rural Thursday

Read more...

February Calendar - Desktop Wallpaper

It's the start of a new month and a month with a bonus day this leap year. January flew by in a flash and I expect the same will happen with February.

With the start of the new month, I am offering a February Calendar for your computer's desktop wallpaper:

Click on the link to download from box.com: February Calendar.

Here's to a great February!

Read more...

Transformed

Playing around with a photo I took tonight.

The original:

Wowza, that's quite magenta.... In reality, the flower is a deep purple, which is probably the most difficult color for a digital camera to render well. I just liked the spikey center.

So, playing around in Lightroom, I applied the Bleach Bypass preset:

I prefer the pink and shades of brown to the bright magenta.

Finally, for Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday, I added her simplicity texture, multiply blending mode at 75% opacity:



Which version do you like the best?

Read more...

Bits and Pieces of Me

It's the end of January which means it's time for the {in the picture} link up with Christy, aka Urban Muser.

I've taken at least one selfie each week in January:






It's not too late to join in - just go here on Urban Muser's blog for the details.

Read more...

Something Old, Something New to Scavenge

Just when I thought I didn't have the photos for this week's photo scavenger hunt, I got a little creative and I dug into my archive.

Here's a doughy smile:

I made Chinese Dumplings today and arranged a rope of wrapper dough into a smile.

Stand Alone:

Caesar, our horse, standing in the cross ties at the stable.

Rusty or Something Old:

The scroll of my violin - it is an antique French violin, made by Amati Mangenot around 1930.

Artificial:

I went into my archives for this one - some silk flowers I have in my office at work.

Repeating Pattern:

A belated good luck symbol for Chinese New Year. Taken with the Fisheye attachment of the Olloclip on my iPhone. Chinese New Year was about a week ago, but we're still celebrating a little here with traditional Chinese food.

I had a fun time finding this week's items - next week's items: Strike a Pose, Footwear, Hobby, Shiny and Color Me Green.

I hope you have a fabulous Sunday evening!

Read more...