Hi,

I was inspired to post photos of my own art and the cropped close up of my cat. Along with a photo of Boots with a snow man ornament.

Here is some of my work.

Yes I made the ring and drew the rose The first ring I made from brass metal in my Jewerly class.  Bootsie bear with the snow man ornament. Not her favorite photo shoot.  This is a closely cropped shot of Boots. 

Patience is a good virtue!!

Amelia S.

Went to the lake today. A very unusual day for January in Pennsylvania. 50 degrees and windy, a beautiful day.

 Clouds_1 

 Clouds_2 

 On The Wing 

 Oyster Shell Fungus 

My dad woke me up early one morning and said my mom had called about a great sunset only it wasn't as great when we got there but none the less I was bored so i played with the filters on my camera. I really liked a grainy black and white filter that I used to snap a photo of tall grass and then the regular pop art filter used to snap man made vs. not man made  A photo of tall grass, grainy filter!  Mountain in front of back of traffic light. Man made and no man made  

Here is a tufted Titmouse and Chickadee on a house feeder me and my dad built together!Titmouse on House feeder with company on the opposite side. 

My Kicky (Cat) Boots under a coffee table my dad made and also next to a one of my photos in a frame.  Boots my female feline buddy 

White Breasted Nuthatch with little concern.  White Breasted Nuthatch Surveying its surroundings 

Nervous Downy Woodpecker and Jolly Chickadee  Nervous nellie Downy Woodpecker  Jolly Black Capped Chickadee 

Another Chickadee  Chickadee checking on the feeder 

built a new indoor range here in town. Went there today to try it out. Was a lot of fun. Was also a first for me at an indoor range

 ir125121  ir125122  ir125123 

found some more spring wildflowers. Tiny little ones

 rf123121  rf123122   rf123123   rf123124 

the area of the desert where these were found  rf123125 

... and now you get-->pics of my cats (oh goody you say)

 Popoki and  Ahi 

The lens is a Nikkor Micro AF-S 105mm 1:2.8 G with VR (vibration control) and it is great!  These were taken indoors with available light, camera handheld ISO 1600, f/3.2, 1/3s.

BTW-the cats are lynx point Siamese, names are Hawaiian ('cause we just been there on vacation when we got them).  Ahi is firey, Popoki is cat and both are abandoned cats we adopted from a rescue association so they're a bit odd.  Ahi looks adorable but don't try petting her or picking her up.  Popoki is the cat equivalent of a dumb blonde (sorry for the stereotype).

In past weekends between studying and school work I've captured the following images!!

My midterms were over friday but I was busy working on a project bascially all day Saturday.

Enjoy!!

  Jaw dropping colors  blazing color  Happy fishing guys 

 Chilly day! Great match for nuthatch  Bird friendly entertainment.  Snowy white with a Mourning Dove 
 Welcome to the water front   Stunning 

 Amelia Sunset

I seen an  evergreen branch iceolated against the winter snow.  One of the tasks of winter is shoveling the accumulation of snow off the  roof. 

Winter sometimes leaves its  design and leaves the critters stranded and they holler "get  me out of this mess" but we are warm and cozy by the  heat harvested by local hardworking souls and not contributing to the wealth of some gas or oil conglomerate :>). Then we ring our snow crested  wind chimes with glee and tip our glass of iced  orange slice wine in celebration of winter.

Mack

well it looks like it's official for our area at the lower elevations. The spring wildflowers have arrived (bloomed)

sand verbena  sv119121  sv119122 

brittlebush  sv119123 

this also know as a spring wildflower, but it is a parasite that kills it's host plant. Dodder  sv119124  see how it twines around it's branches.

How cold?  you ask.

Cold enough to freeze a star out of the sky.

(Thumbnail, I couldn't decide if I liked a light or dark star.)

The wife hauled me off on a shopping venture that turned into a photo op. I think she told me to bring my camera along so that I could meander about while she shopped in peace, so I did.

The place? Baytowne Wharf, Sandestin, Florida. There was nobody sitting in these chairs, so I made them into a picture.

I liked the reflections here, and the squared off area is for the wee tugboats. Notice the lighthouse, Mac.

And then this giant duck-like thing came along and sat on the back of a tugboat to pose for a picture. I hope he doesn't have to go potty any time soon. BTW, he said to say hi, MrQ.

I even captured a still-life mermaid with margarita for the challenge.

This church has been on this location since the 1700's. There are people buried in the cemetary who fought in the revolutionary war. A lot of history here.

 Wildasin's Church_1 

 Wildasin's Church_2 

 Wildasin's Church_3 

Howdy!  We got a little snow up here in Seattle.  Went on a walk with the wife and took these:

 18% Gray  Outdoor Light 

 Do Not Enter  Charming 

 Picture in Picture  Transformer Vault 

 Shannon  Bellevue & Mercer Street 

Back on February 7 2010, my Malibu was cheesed.

Just the other day, I was Googleing my son Matt Hoge's name and found this article , about a singer Will Hoge. The image above with the hash marks is his current album .. Then I remembered the car's markings. 

Coincidence?....

EDIT.... Will Hoge's current album 7 was released Septmeber 27, 2011... so the kids who "cheesed" the car in 2010 with those markings knew nothing about the album.

Coincidence wins.

Remember the good old days, when planning a trip meant poring over books of destinations, brochures of attractions, maps showing routes on how to get there?  Well thanks to technology, at least part of of the planning is getting simpler.

Mapping Evolution

Hey guys its been a while so I thought I would drop in and post a few.....

 i do 

 babydayton 

 redhat 

enjoy!!!!

I went for a 7 mile walk to town from our house and shot these pics on the way. Ive been wanting to get shots of these for a while as I drive by.  

 Old Implement 

 Chevrolet 

 Took a walk around old Sacramento the other day, and this is what I found. Also found a barrel.

Per the request of Mr Quackers, Redo on THIS 

THIS :

Camera          Canon EOS 20D
Exposure        0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture        f/5.6
Focal Length  49 mm
ISO Speed     400

BARREL :

Exposure         0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture         f/5.6
Focal Length   43 mm
ISO Speed      400

Hunting has been a big part of my life up until a couple years ago. Spent many hours in the woods hunting Deer, Turkey, Small Game. Turkey hunting was one of my favorites. In 1994 I had the fortune to harvest the 5th largest Tom Turkey in Michigan scored by the CBM. They are delicious eating I might add.  I got out some my hunting paraphanalia and set up a still life for the challenge.  Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for looking.

Mack

 Turkey Hunting Still 

Here is one a  little more processed.

 For Mr.Q  copy it and blow it up and you can see the processing better.