As usual, I was a late-comer…still trying to juggle a dozen things at one time on a Saturday morning. I FINALLY get there and get ready to shoot my first shot and realize I don’t have a CF card in the camera…they’re all at home sitting on top of my laptop. Thank GAWD I set my camera to NOT shoot withOUT a CF card. Otherwise, I might have spent all day in the rain and ended up with NOTHING at all to show for it.

Because of all my running around during the earliest part of the rodeo, I missed some of the best events and without a doubt, the best weather for shooting action shots with my slow lens. I’ve got a good range, good quality lens that zooms from 70-300mm, BUT, it’s a sloooow 4-5.6 aperture range…just 5.6 at 300mm. I haven’t gotten famous enough yet to justify an expenditure of $4,000+ for a FAST 300mm lens. I might have better luck holding out for that lottery win I’ve got coming my way.

Soooo, all that said, once the sky turned quite dark and drab and the rain started coming down, my film speed of 800, shutter speed of 500 (which was as high as I could go because I have a SLOOOOW lens) and f5.6 aperture just wasn’t cutting it for good stop-action shots. I can set my film speed anywhere from 100-3200 but the catch to that is noise from HELL, even with the noise reduction function turned on. I did somehow manage to get 1 or 2 reasonably acceptable action shots in the rain (though not quite sure how that happened). Truth is, it’s hard to tell if my slow lens was to blame, or whether SOME of the crappy shots might have been due the fact that I still get so excited about getting a shot at times, that I jerk the camera when I shoot…I’d rather just blame the lens.

Tomorrow is another day. Weather reports promise rain will be gone by the time the rodeo starts tomorrow. At least it won’t be DUSTY like it was today before the rain. (That’s right, I just CAN’T BE PLEASED!) The action shots I got BEFORE the rain looked like they were shot in a fog because of the dust. (As you might have noticed, the bad shot is NEVER my fault.)

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Try as I might, I could not figure out how to get to that boat without violating the trespass signs, so I drove back up to the highway, parked on the side of the road, and ran back down the exit ramp to the place where I’d first glimpsed this find and shot with my zoom through the trees.

I got several peculiar stares, but I did, after all, have on my photographer’s vest, so perhaps between that and a big zoom lens, that made me look professional enough for them to dismiss my bizarre behavior as some crazed paparazzi, or maybe they thought I was a private detective. (My ex-husband once said I had quite a knack for detective work…he should know…such said talents played a big part in why he is my EX-husband…) Whatever the passers-by thought, I got my UNIQUE shot without being flattened into a road pancake by a semi. After all, how often is it that you see a boat afloat in a field of wild flowers?!

I deduce that having reached a stage in my pursuit of images, that I’m willing to risk life and limb…and PRIDE…to get “the shot,” I now declare myself a PRO.

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It’s snowing in South Carolina! I haven’t felt well this weekend but HAD to take the camera out to seek out a shot or two of this uncommon southern rarity before it disappears. Shooting this outhouse during the snow gave me pause to be eternally grateful for modern indoor plumbing!

Another thought…is always a good idea to have someone watch the door for you when you use a public facility…

This is an old antique tractor that sits on display in a neighbor’s field. The background of the original setting was not horrible, but neither was it very interesting. So I start plundering through my collection for some background images that needed a little something extra to make THEM more interesting.

An old shot of another neighbor’s donkeys seemed a PERFECT fit for this old tractor. I had actually put the tractor on 3 other backgrounds too…all of which I like, and may post later…this one just turned out to be my favorite. It’s almost as if the donkeys are checking out the tractor as the “new guy” in the field…”So he thinks he’s a hot shot…sitting over there with his big rubber tires and loud motor…PFFT.”

NOW we KNOW what Santa does in the off season…

Rising costs have affected us all. Apparently, even the North Pole is not exempt from the financial hardships of modern times. It was once speculated that Santa spent the off season basking in the warm Caribbean sun, but who can afford leisure and recreation in such perilous times as these?

I met this jolly old gentleman at a roadside produce stand tucked away on a winding mountain road on our way to Caesar’s Head State Park back in the fall. He kindly posed for several shots of himself and his goods – various and assorted homemade ciders, pickled goods and homegrown canned goods. The prices were a bit steep but who wouldn’t figure a donation to the Santa Claus enterprise to be a worthy cause? And if THIS ain’t Santa Claus, then Virginia…there really AIN’T no Santa Claus!

(Click on the preview above to pull up a FULL VIEW of the picture.)

I have a thing for old antique trucks. I discovered this particular treasure in the spring of 2009 on a trip from South Carolina to Indiana with a good friend. We had stopped at a Quick Mart in North Carolina for a fill-up, a bathroom stop and some travel snacks and I spotted this truck parked in an abandoned parking lot across the road. Because of it’s positioning and proximity to the highway, I had difficulty getting every angle I would have liked, but I shot as many as I could.

After returning home and browsing through my shots from the trip, I wanted to do something nice with one of the several I got of Karen’s favorite overlook on Skyline Drive in her hometown of Seymore, Indiana. Only a couple were even acceptably good, but the best of those were still in the ‘snapshot’ category…nothing really noteworthy.

Contemplating ways I might improve upon the mediocre scenic shots and somehow make at least ONE of them ‘special,’ I started playing around with positioning some cuts of the NC truck (a FABULOUS subject trapped in the horrible background of an abandoned parking lot) and came up with the perfect picture. This turned out to be one of those pics that you can almost see yourself in…smell the grass, feel the summer breeze in your hair, hear the birds, FEEL the history in the presence of the old truck and the past it bears witness to.

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Sometimes, things just don’t work the way they’re supposed to.

I shot this scene in the garden of an acquaintance. It seemed worthy of recording, since you don’t come across too many scarecrows with a beer in hand. But then, if all you had to do day in and day out was stand in a field in all manner of weather and scare away birds, I guess an altered state of consciousness COULD be somewhat useful.

I confess to having added the crow. Bob told me that the scarecrow was mostly for looks, as he had, on numerous occasion seen crows and other assorted fowl perch upon this novelty. Even though I was not fortunate enough to witness said hilarity, I am NOT without my own means to create my OWN Kodak moment.

I had a great image of one of the MANY crows that live near my own small farm, but the setting was quite uninteresting. I had this interesting shot of Bob’s garden scarecrow…quite unique in itself, but it too, still lacking SOMEthing. Hmmmm…

In the original shot of the scarecrow, I had failed to use an effective depth of field that would make the focal point (the scarecrow) stand out, so the busy background was distracting. I used a number of layer techniques, filters and effects to try to bring a more effective focal point back to the scarecrow and her pet. Here’s the final result. Won’t likely win any contests, but I thought it rather cute in depicting one of the many ironies of life.

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I’ve been wanting to work on this piece ever since I shot it but haven’t been able to find the spare time to do so. I captured this old antique car on a recent excursion to the mountains with friends to see some autumn color. We had actually stopped for a car accident that we happened upon, while one of our party assisted the victims until the rescue teams got there. The accident happened in front of a couple of old country stores in a stretch of road called Echo Valley, so I got out with my camera and started exploring. This old car was parked out by a shed behind the stores in a fenced lot that hosted an interesting array of ducks, geese, ostrich and other assorted critters. I had to shoot through a hole in the chain link fence, and was limited in the angles I was able to try because of the fence and the layout of the scene. In the original photo, there was a tangle of chain link directly in front of the car, and an old metal bar round pen in front of a lean-to off to the left of the car. My exposure wasn’t great and neither was the background scenery, sooooo, I CHANGED it up with some elements from some other photos in my collection. The shed behind the car seemed dull somehow, even after all the editing and effects, so I added an old weathered coke sign to it. Ahhh, yeah…just right! Too bad the ugly things in LIFE aren’t so easy to change and improve.

Disclaimer: By the time you get to the end of this post, you may be wondering what on earth a rural roadside fire hydrant has to do with the subject of this post. Absolutely NOTHING. I just could not for the life of me think of anything creative or clever to post on the subject of a rural roadside fire hydrant, or why I find it to be such an appealing subject for a picture. I just do, okay?

Now, with THAT question out of the way…does anyone remember that old song by ZZ Top (does anyone even remember that BAND?!) called something like “You Got Me Under Pressure!”?

So I’ve got a website up and actually functioning now…putting into practice (while still learning) tactics I’ve learned about networking and SEO stuff and marketing and all that gibberish. The uncomfortable thing about all this is that as my audience grows…if I don’t come up with something palatable to DELIVER, if I don’t pay attention to spelling and grammar, and all those other irritatingly significant details…I could very well LOSE them. So now, I’m under pressure.

Pressure is a peculiar thing. It seldom FEELS good to the one it’s being applied to. But then, if intimidating demands are never made, would we ever grow, improve, learn, stretch ourselves and sometimes even discover that we can go BEYOND what we thought we could do?

Everyone has their strong points and their weak points. Me? I have a tendency to start many things but follow through with few. I blame it on attention deficit disorder seasoned with a touch of obsessive compulsive disorder. I have many interests in many things and so tend to be shamefully easily distracted. When intensely focused on one thing, I lean toward neglecting other needful things. Perhaps DISORDERS is a wrong way to look at such personal ‘issues’…I propose that it may be better to view such things as CHALLENGES, designed specifically for our uniquely individual personalities to bring out the best in us, when we dare to face them and with diligence, learn to not only master our weaknesses but learn to USE them, much as the body builder uses resistance to reshape his body.

Seven years ago, I joined a blogging community called Mindsay. It was here that I discovered a surprisingly unexpected ability to share the mundane events of my everyday life in words and pictures in such a way as to bring immense entertainment to others…to share joy and contentment and stir fond memories. I gained a following of some most incredible people. Sadly, the pressures and demands of everyday life began to overwhelm me and I spent less and less time nurturing my gift. For those who cared enough to miss my absence, forgive me. I now recognize this as my niche, a gift and an endeavor for which I was meant to pursue. I want to reactivate it, nurture it, develop it, and even more importantly, share it with whoever may be hungry for it.

Sojo is back. My gift is no longer a play thing or experiment, it’s a commitment. It’s what I’m meant to do. BUT…it’s got me under pressure.

(Click on the preview above to pull up a full view of the picture.)

I got this shot while on one of my photo expeditions (affectionately called ‘photo hunts’) with my friend, Karen Osborne. We had just left a tour of the Poinsette Bridge and took a wrong turn, but a wrong turn with some fantastic country views. We eventually reluctantly turned back for fear we might end up in the middle of NOwhere without sufficient gas to find SOMEwhere, but not before stopping on the side of the road to get some shots of this country farmstead on the side of the road. It was a great shot without much editing, but I was in a playful mood. I started making adjustments, applying filters…quite honestly I lost track of what I was doing…I was just sort of going with the flow. Ended up with the great picture with loads of atmosphere, and even a bit of an infrared effect. Another one of my famous ‘accidental’ strokes of genius.

I’ve looked for this farm in the same vicinity on several subsequent trips to the bridge but have yet to find it. Maybe it was all in our imagination…

(Click on the preview above to pull up a full view of the picture.)