Purple

Vegas Night

This was a good night. Me and the hubby decided to go out and do the town. I had been waiting to take pictures at the Bellagio all week, and on the way, waiting in traffic, I caught this shot:

I wanted to get some pictures of the water display in the Bellagio hotel botanical gardens but the lighting just wasn't doing it for me.

I also got some of the ceiling in the hotel lobby which was interesting.

I like this one from a crop that I did a lot better than the ceiling shot above.

We decided it would be more interesting to go see the dancing waters outside. It was really cool. I wish I could have taken better pictures of it, but I'm no good with night photography. I just don't know what settings to use. Daytime is easy because you can just point and shoot if you're feeling lazy. We played around taking pictures in the dark (with flash).

Then, I decided that it was light enough with the ambient light from all of the neon to take a pic of the strip. It's not a great shot, but I'm pretty proud of it!

Day Trip

Well, the kids are in Las Vegas with the grandparents so the Hubby and I got to hang out together today in Sugar Pine Point State Park. The scenery was wonderful and there was lots to look at. A nice crowd was at the beach to take advantage of the wonderful weather.

We ran into some squirrels that were adorable. We named one "Cheeks" because of the way he would keep adding food (crackers, chips and m&ms) even though his cheeks were full. It was funny how he watched us while he stashed the food!

Happy Father's Day

It's Father's Day and I am so happy to have many fathers in my life. These are my natural father, spiritual fathers and the fathers of my friends who have adopted me as their own. To those dads, (My own dad, John William Key, Sr., Lovell Turner, Pastor Charles Warner, Pastor John Hammond, Gilbert Dodson, Richard Dodson, Raymond Martin & Rosie Holman, I say I love you and I wish you a happy Father's Day.

For some, this day is a day of sadness and heartache. Their fathers are not here to celebrate another year. I lost my uncle recently and he had children my age and younger who miss him so much today. It is especially hard since their mom also died a few years prior to their dad. I was going through some pictures from the funeral and came across these. I wish for them the peace of God that passeth all understanding. It's hard, but I hope it gets easier as time passes. I can't tell people how to feel because I am not in the same boat. I am thankful that today I got to hear my dad's voice and hear his laughter. They weren't able to do the same. In tribute to my uncle, the father of my cousins, I remember him with these pictures. I love you guys. We are family and I hope we stay close and don't drift too far apart.

Page Neglect

Ok, no use in denying it. This page has gone onto the back burner. I recently joined Meetup.com and connected with some other photographers in Sacramento. We are all from many different stages in photography, from amateur to very seasoned professional. I love it because I can access so much photo knowledge. I also post my stuff to Flickr.com so this kind of slipped. I imagine that I will probably go back and forth between updating this page with new pictures to letting it slide because I've gotten so busy with other stuff. I wonder if other people do the same thing? They must because I see other blogs with the last update over a year ago!

My husband has a blog and he updates it regularly (every day!) with very witty stuff. He's super intelligent, so it's continually surprising that we're not rich. I'm very smart too, but I guess I'm also very lazy. Not a good combination if you want to get rich!

I have got to learn this photo thing more. I really wouldn't mind making some money with it, but I have to start getting money shots. I'm hypercritial of my own work, but I am also well aware of other work that sells, and my stuff doesn't quite make the grade. I have noticed that a nice mat can make all the difference in the world to how someone perceives your work. Put a print in front of them and they say, "Ah, that's nice." You put a print that has been mounted or dare I say, mounted and framed, and they look at it differently. I don't know why, it's just what I've noticed.

Some pics taken with my new camera

I love the way this water looks. Very hard and fluid at the same time.

A beautiful car on display at the State Capitol.

A gorgeous reflection.

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My favorite building....so different at different times of the day or season.

On the boardwalk.....outside of Joe's Crabshack in Old Sacramento.

The Passage of Time!

Oh wow! I have been really busy and I haven't been keeping up with this at all. That is a shame and I have to make some time and do a LOT better.

Well, a lot has happened in the last month. I FINALLY GOT MY DSLR!! I chose to stick with the Pentax brand and start with the beginner DSLR. I got the K100D and I've only had it for about 36 hours and I already have about 50 pics on it. I've got to read the manual because it seems that the saturation default is a bit high, so I need to figure out how to turn it down. I am SO excited about having it though.




My dad and I had a disagreement about the number of megapixels. The K100D has 6mp and he seemed disappointed that I didn't go for 10mp. I tried to defend myself with the reviews that compared a 6mp DSLR with an 8mp Point & Shoot (my Olympus FE-280). He wouldn't hear of it. 'More pixels mean better pictures,' he argued. But dad, a six story hotel (23.5x15.7mm CCD sensor) with six rooms on each floor has more space in each room than a four story hotel (1/2.3" CCD sensor) with ten rooms on each floor! He doesn't agree (or maybe he didn't understand my cock-eyed analogy!! LOL!!). More pixels = better pictures. Period. That's what he thinks is right, so I tried not to argue with him. He takes wonderful pics and maybe his megapixel steps up made a significant enough difference in his pics that he really believes that. Oh well, I'll have to show him some of my stuff with the new camera! I can't wait to read the manual front to back. YAY!!!

Hanging On

I've got some catching up to do!!!

Winter in Sacramento

Took a walk during the lunch hour and got this shot. I was on the pedestrian walkway and leaned out into the road and snapped. I didn't realize that there were birds overhead until I heard a little splat nearby. Needless to say, I got away from there ASAP!!!

For some reason, I like the way it looks in black and white better. I like the color shot also, but the black and white seems to capture the feel of the day. The color one looks so sunny and warm and it wasn't warm at all that day! What gives it away are the bare trees.

Here is the original shot. Maybe you can see what I mean.

Reflected Sunset

The Hall

This picture was inspired by one taken by Phil Ruokis. His was taken at the SFMoMA. I saw my opportunity in Las Vegas at the Red Rock Hotel & Casino. I see lots of stuff in this pic. The lines first and foremost. I also see whimsy. An upside down curvy xylophone (how many times do you get to use "xylophone" in a sentence!!), for instance. There is also geometry and a sense of movement that I love.

Fun with Crochet!

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