Doing our Part

to stimulate the economy :) My husband has been eyeing flat-screen hd tvs for a while now, so we have been shopping around for a while. The tv we had was one we bought right before we got married, which this month will be 10 years ago. I wasn't all that interested, I figured a tv is a tv, right? WRONG!! LOL, our old tv has been good...we've had to fix it once. With my internet research skillz and my husband's proficiency with a soldering iron, we were able to do it ourselves. But THAT state-of-the-art-circa-1998 TV doesn't hold a candle to this new one...


52 inches of hi-def, looks like you could walk right into the picture!
So at the same time, we upgraded to a 7.1 surround system. Got it at Circuit city for a great price, couldn't pass it up. I'm glad HE knows what to do with all those wires, I'm lost!
He also picked up a blueray player. Another item I was completely ignorant about. I feel like I JUST caught up with DVD's instead of VHS! That's what they do to you though, you have this nifty new hi-def tv, naturally they have developed all the hi-def components to put with it.

My favorite feature of this new sound system is the ipod dock, just plug it in, and you have tunes! Fabulous :)
Of course, while we were browsing the carcass that was Circuit City, we had to check on the camera situation :D Another "deal we couldn't refuse"...well, I couldn't anyway...they had the Canon 50D for 30% off. It wasn't out, I asked if they had any left and they had ONE...it was supposed to be the display model, but they hadn't ever put it out. It just sat behind the counter and was never even plugged in and turned on. I had her plug in the battery and charge it enough to see it was working, and she rounded up all the accessories for me and I was on my way! It was crazy, there were 3 or 4 people hovering behind me, waiting to see if I was going to get it. You can believe, once I had it in my hands, I did NOT put it down! LOL

So, we are finally caught up with the new technology...until tomorrow when the next big thing comes out!
But remember, we ONLY did this for the good of our country, cuz that's how we roll! ;oP If you're selfless do-gooders like we are, you'll get out there and spend all your money too!

Forest for the Trees

Or in this case, the hawk for the crystal! I was pulling in the driveway after dropping Melinda off at work, and I was loving the way the sun was lighting up this crystal I have hanging from my rear-view mirror. I pulled half-way into the driveway (where the light was right) and was taking some pics of it before I pulled in the garage. Suddenly I felt like I was being watched...

I looked up, and this hawk was sitting on my garage, just looking down at me :) Of course, as soon as I aimed the camera at him, he took off.
Wonder what else I may have missed while taking other pics? Oh well, you can't win 'em all!

Gainesville Field Trip

On Saturday, I went on another Jacksonville Field Trips photography outing. This time we went to the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire in Gainesville. I had never been to one of these before. It was very interesting, lots to see, but I have to say my MOST favorite part was the jousting.




Of course, we had the King and Queen, making new little Knights all over the place...
Acrobats, trick riders, jugglers, all kinds of entertainment...

After that, we went to Grandy's for lunch, and then on to the Devil's Millhopper. The Devil's Millhopper is a huge sinkhole in Gainesville, 500 ft across and 120 ft deep. There are 236 steps down into it. It's a pretty cool place. Usually there are all kinds of different flowers and plants, but at this time of year it's rather bare. The plus side to that is you can see all the waterfalls...Another great field trip for photographers, by photographers, where no one makes fun of you for taking pictures of your lunch :)

Friday, January 30th

Met my friend Carol at Dames Point park for some sunset shots last Friday evening. It's a cool place, right under the Dames Point bridge...

2 years ago today

the obsession began in earnest :) I got my DSLR exactly 2 years ago today, almost to the very minute of this posting. I picked it up at circuit city, came back home and took it out of the box, and then headed straight to our favorite park for the sunset. It happened to be, in my opinion, one of the top 10 most gorgeous sunsets of all time. A lot has gone on since then, I have come a long way from shooting everything in manual and at ISO 1600! I am still enjoying it, still somewhat obsessed, and looking forward to seeing (and photographing) many more beautiful sunsets.

I have taken over 35,000 pictures since that day. They weren't all keepers, but they were all teaching me something.

Moonrise

Rainbow Stripes

Childhood Memories

I did one of those questionnaires on facebook the other day, and one of the questions was "What was your favorite childhood toy?". Mine were undoubtedly my breyer horses :) I still have them in my curio cabinet, so I brought them out for a photo shoot.

This is a Royal Lipizzaner Stallion. He was given to me by a (then) young couple at our church who sort of "adopted" me, before they had children of their own. They would take me home with them for the day, took me to the circus, to the fair, and on one occasion took me to see the Lipizzans. It was near my birthday, so they gave me this one to commemorate the event :)


Of course, no collection is complete without a Clydesdale, all ready for the show ring...
This one is Kelso, a thoroughbred racehorse, #4 out of the top thoroughbred champions of the 20th century.
This one is the very first breyer horse I ever got, for my 7th birthday. Palomino American Quarter Horse :)
One of my favorites, galloping Stallion...

this is the most special of all. This was my Granny's, "Old Gray Nag" and I always played with it when I went to visit her, either in Indiana or then when she moved to Tennessee. My cousin Tony and I always fought over it when we were there. He would beg for it, and I would beg for it, and she would secretly promise it to both of us. One year, after I was grown and was visiting, she brought it to me and told me to take it home with me. Tony, if you see this... NEENER NEENER!! ;oP

Oh my Achin' head

Started feeling a little scratchy throat Saturday night, by last night it was full blown. Hoping all this otc stuff works and I don't have another sinus infection. Ugh.

Purty as a speckled pup

Daytona

Took a little road-trip today down to Daytona. My Granny was having some surgery this morning (having a pacemaker put in) so I went down to visit for a while. She did great and will hopefully go home tomorrow. As I was leaving late this afternoon, I took some pictures of the hospital she's in. It's Halifax Medical Center, and the building dates back to 1928. It has quite a history and they've preserved it well. They are currently adding on in a big way, but you can tell they are making a big effort to stay true to the original design.




Of course, being that I went alone, I looked for photographic opportunities on the way home. I stopped off for gas and saw the sign for Bulow Plantation. Sounded good, so I headed the 3 miles down the road to check it out. I drove down the long, winding, wash-boarded by heavy rains dirt road...to find the gates already locked. Oh well, there will always be another day! :)

Resolved

I have never been one for new year's resolutions, but I have made one of a sort this year. I am resolved to visit this place (neighborhood gym) at minimum 3 days a week. I have been doing good so far, and I feel good just having made the effort to start going. I had started losing weight before the holidays, and during had gained about 4 lbs back. With the combination of cardio and weight training, I have hope the rest will drop off fairly quickly! No pain, no gain, isn't that what they say? ;oP I finally decided I needed to become a gym rat, because I like food too much to starve!!
On the way home from my workout this morning, I saw a large bird on the side of the road in my neighborhood. He was larger than I was used to seeing in that area, too large for a robin or a mocker. I slowed to get a closer look and saw it was a hawk! When I slowed, that alarmed him a bit and he flew up to a small pine right by the side of the road. :)


After my wildlife shoot, I had to run to the store. I'm having a "Tastefully Simple" party tonight, and I had to go pick up the keg...
LOL, those that know me are laughing, and those that don't, I'm a good Baptist teetotaler, this is for the beer bread :)

Welcome to sunny FL

Welcome to sunny FL
Originally uploaded by Sharon Pire

That might not be cold to some of you, but that's mighty cold for THIS FL girl!! Not complaining though...I love it!!

Scenes from St Augustine

Went to St Augustine to meet a couple of photographer friends today. It was a perfect day, nice and cool and very un-crowded for a tourist area.


FC, I had no idea you had a restaurant! ;oP




It was a good day with Jay from London and Jill from Ontario :)