wordless wednesday

...or mostly wordless, anyway.

{i'm still working on the new florida photos. in the mean time, i decided to take a look back through the looking-back glass at some old florida photos that i never got around to posting back then. on our trip a few years ago {{and every trip previous to it}}, we never made a point to go kayaking on the bay. so i took pictures of a kayaker instead. on this last trip, we finally went out for a long row. but no cameras came with. i'd like to think this is how i looked while we were out there {{all aglow in the morning sun}}, but we were out in the middle of the day, so i know it's not. that's okay. it's sort of nice to be on this side of things... just observing how serene it is.}

link up by clicking this...

"i've always liked the time before dawn because there's no one around to remind me who i'm supposed to be, so it's easier to remember who i am." ~story people

snapping serendipitously + a lesson in "it's all in how you look at things"

i've been perusing through all my florida shots as time permits, and enjoying it immensely. of course, looking through photos is always a thing of enjoyment for me. but with my recent florida pics, there are additional reasons why. one, i am able to view them much faster on my new mac because the video card is worlds apart from the card on my last two macs... and i have better software to view them on, too. it makes figuring out which your best photos are a much more pleasurable experience.

reason two... i left florida feeling like i did not have a chance to attempt to take the sort of creative photos that i usually like to take while there. i normally roam around seeking different ways to photograph my surroundings... or unusual things to photograph, period. but on this trip, roaming with a camera was put on the back burner, as i had rather large bundle named isaac to tote around.

so i really only expected to have mostly people pictures that i was pleased {or disappointed} with. to my surprise, i'm finding that as i dig into all the folders of photos, i was able to take a lot more non-people pics than i thought, and there were some that turned out better than i thought. {does that happen to you?... where you get home and are surprised to find that your photos seem to look better than they did on your camera's lcd screen? i love when that happens... and hate it when the opposite is true!}

anyway, one of the things i most like to do when visiting my parents-in-law is to watch the sun set every night after dinner... we all walk across the street to the beach together to see it. if i ever live in florida {which i very much hope to some day}, i will definitely want to live on the gulf side. i'm a sunset girl. i like a good sunrise, too. but sunsets are my energizing calm.

well, the bad thing about sunsets and photography is that it's easy to get bored with them. when i watch sunsets, i don't have anything close to a "you've seen one, you've seen them all" mindset. but when it comes to photographing them, i sort of do. after a while, i think, "how could i possibly take a picture of this sunset and have it stand out from the other hundred i took on this trip... or hundreds i've taken over the years?"

to my surprise, i found a way... and quite accidentally. it was our last evening there. the rest of the group stayed up at the beach house while i ventured on ahead in the sand toward the waves. i snapped and snapped and snapped some more, and every single picture i saw seemed rather boring... only because they all looked the same and none looked much different than the shots i took every night prior. so i walked back to the beach house in slight disgust at myself... sort of giving up. "why can't you take a creative shot of the sunset?... why can't you think like others and not yourself for once?" those were the subtle sort of critical thoughts running through my mind.

so i wandered off to a corner of the landing at the beach house away from the "crowd" to sulk. {okay, not really, but i did have a discouraged attitude about my photography.} i begrudgingly looked ahead toward the sun and almost missed it!... focusing on the sun, i did not even notice the beautiful, tall beach grass that was flowing in the wind right in front of me. it was partly because the grass was lower than me, as i was up one level from it. but mostly because i had photography blinders on. i was thinking, "well, i'm at the beach to watch {and photograph} a sunset, and beaches have sand and waves, so that's the perspective i should take my photo from right?"

maybe.

sometimes.

at this point, though, i realized that's not the only way to see a florida beach sunset. had i not wandered over to that grass to wallow, i might not have realized it. that's when it hit me... i'm missing a golden opportunity to photograph this sun that is only seconds away from burrowing into the gulf.

so i bent my knees and crouched down toward the grass. and then i snapped. not figuratively, of course... though that might have happened if i kept beating myself up with critical negativity.

no... i literally snapped, with my camera, shots of the sun through the ethereal grass. i didn't even have time to set up the aperture or shutter speed to an ideal setting. i just clicked and prayed it would be right. judging by what i saw on the lcd screen, i thought it was just that... okay.

but today, when i looked at the photo on my large monitor, i was so surprised and delighted to find something more than what i thought i'd see. "i got a shot of the sunset that isn't my same old, same old! and i'm not bored with it. in fact, i rather like it!"

okay... so i'm seeing in all of this that it's okay to judge our own work and get down on ourselves sometimes. but to live there?... or even stay a while? not so much. of course, we have to do what we have to do, and sometimes going through an uninspired, self-critical spell is okay. but i learned there that i don't want to do so too much for too long. i might miss a unique opportunity if i do.

what actually happened is, i walked away from my comfort zone. i didn't do so with positive results in mind {which i recommend doing over walking away the way i did... in frustration}. but i say, "hey, whatever gets ya there!"

who knew i could write so much about one photo? i guess i'm not really writing about one photo though... rather, what taking that one picture represents in my photography growth. this worked out well, too. while looking through my large crop of vacation photos to pick out which ones i will keep and use, i decided i'd like to pick just one to post tonight. {i get impatient and don't want to wait until i've selected and processed them all before i start doing things with them.} 

so, when mr. b. said this to me just a couple hours ago... "it was exactly one week ago at this time that we were looking at our last sunset before we'd have to leave."... all i could think of was, "wow! i can't believe we've been back a week already!" {i guess time flies when you're sick and caring for your equally ill son.}

anyway, i came in to the office to post a photo {just one... not intending to write much at all... hahaha}, and i figured there was no better shot to choose than the one i took about this time last week.

i love this quote i've added... i just had to include it, because up here where i live, people don't just go and watch the sun set, at least not purposefully or daily. and we certainly don't talk about sunsets. {i think i'd get some strange looks if i just started talking about them to friends and family or random strangers.} watching the sun set is the kind of thing you really have to be intentional about. and i imagine that even if i lived in florida, i still wouldn't make a point to watch them regularly the way we do when we are vacationing. i think vacationers and retired folks have the time and the desire. but i sort of want to be a sunset watcher even at forty while not on vacation. actually, i really want to be one. now i just have to work on moving to a more picturesque location to do so. {hint hint, mr. b!}

i'm not sure what the context of this quote by wilde is. but i like it none-the-less, and thought it was fitting for my photo.

speaking of "it's all how you choose to look at things"... i used to have a monitor that was about half of the size of my new monitor. so, when i updated my blog layout to a wider one-column format a while back, i thought my photos looked so much larger... and somehow, better that way, too. but i was viewing them in windows that were not much wider than the column. now, my windows can be opened up nearly twice as wide, and it makes my photos look so lost in a sea of white.

you'll think i'm crazy, but it almost makes me want to go back to my dinky little monitor. that sort of hit me. here i'd been complaining for so long about my slow, small and outdated mac computer and monitor, and now that i've got souped up versions, i'm unhappy that things don't look the same! i guess unhappy is too strong a word. but you know what i mean. sometimes what seems better is not necessarily so in every way.

that said, i feel like my photo is little and lost. {i think perhaps the resolution of my new screen is effecting the actual size i see it at, too... something i'll have to look into} so, if it looks little and lost to you, too... or if the quote is difficult to read, you can see the photo better in flickr by clicking here. it's also on a black background there... which often makes a photo pop more.

well gosh... i've been writing some ridiculously long posts lately! i know. and if most people are like me, they will skip right over them. that's okay. writing is sort of a therapy for me these days, so i write regardless. {thank God for my faithful audience of one in mr. b! i know at least he's reading... or is he? *wink*} if you've read this, you're a gem and i appreciate it. you get a medal. *smile*

happy weekend!

moving {beach waves and big bird that i don't know the name of} picture monday

i had hoped to get these done by this morning, but both catching up after vacation and getting a new computer yesterday put me behind for getting moving on my moving pictures. and on top of that, none of us have slept well here since we got home. we must be missing florida more than i realized.


anyway, if you were planning to participate with a moving picture, i apologize for the lateness of my post. i do always leave the link-up open all week, so there is always still time.

i should know the name of the bird you see above {do you?}, seeing as every time i go to the gulf, i see these big birds roaming the beach in search of fish to dive-bomb in the shallow waves. they are tall and awkward, but i think they are so cute. i just love their long legs and long necks... giving them so much character and whimsy to their walk. and that little flap of feathers on the back of their heads always gets me... the way it's always flapping around in the wind. too cute.

since the theme for this week is officially shapes {though, you are welcome to post any moving picture with any theme}, i thought i would add this moving picture in addition today...

our first night and first full day there, it rained. but by early evening of the first day, the rain stopped and gave way to a beautiful, dramatic cloud-filled sky. it was now nice enough to take a stroll on the beach and get some photos {though still quite cool}.


i could sit and watch waves wash ashore on the ocean all day long... i love the different shapes that the waves make as they tide in and out, leaving a trail of foam behind. it's interesting to watch how the shapes of each one interplay with each other.


i'm not in love with my photography for either animated gif this week. but i did take these outside at times when i could not see the lcd screen on my camera very well, so i had no idea if the photos were turning out right. {that's my excuse, and i'm stickin' to it! *wink*}

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have you a moving picture today that you would like to link up with? just follow the steps below. i would love to see what you've done if you made one for this week... shapes or no shapes!

first, grab the button below{by copying and pasting the code that is in the box below the flying birds gif}and add it to the html of your moving picture postso that you can link back to the party here from your blog.
<center><a href="http://itsjusthowiseethings.blogspot.com/search/label/moving%20pictures%20link-up"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvF0xyJyhyphenhyphenVUMDHMy46d7YMcdYeAz1iyDGReI-DbtV-D47LrmzT__0_vJ-m729TX7Ln722GWySkClmZldqQpWjxezDi0R1dsPuc5LL6xheOZ0c3e1p4dBUdUcQqRLpC7Zs79KYGRQYKf4/s1600/moving-pictures-button_f.gif" /></a></center>
then link up to your post here, by adding your link at the end of this post in inlinkz.
and finally, have fun!
{never made and animated gif and wanna know how?go here for a photoshop tutorial.or go here for an elements tutorial.}
{{NOTE for first-time participants: after you submit your entry and inlinkz takes you to the page where you can grab an image from your post for the thumbnail link, it will let you choose your gif image {and crop it, if you want}, but it will not actually show up, because it does not recognize gifs, so inlinkz uses the little blue cartoon face for the link instead. i'd rather have an image that reflects my blog for my link, so i just choose my profile picture instead.}}

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the moving picture theme for next monday is food. so many possibilities to get creative with there! i'll see you with my next moving picture link-up in a week... and hopefully even sooner with a submission from you this week!

have a great week!

home and happy to be so {s.o.o.c. sunday}

i've not done a s.o.o.c. sunday in ages. {that stands for straight out of camera {{no edits}}, for those of you who are not photography geeks *wink* and are not familiar with that acronym.}

we are back from our trip to florida. we were more exhausted arriving home than we were when we left for the gulf. but we are feeling blessed and full of gratitude for parents {in-laws, in my case} that fly us down to stay with them every couple of years. it's something we would not otherwise be able to do... at least not frequently. so, though we are tired and feel like we are just now picking ourselves up from a long week, we are so thankful to have spent time with family and to have had true fellowship mixed with some play. 

when we arrived home, little isaac sat on the carpet in the living room and looked around for several seconds before moving in any direction. he reached out to feel the carpet slowly, almost as if to test it. it was the funniest thing. it was like he was re-orienting himself to his old surroundings after having spent a week sitting, standing and cruising on sand, sidewalks or the shiny terra-cotta-colored tiles of my in-laws' condo. he scanned the room, and when it was all alright in his mind again, he was off to play with his old toys... toys that must have seemed like distant memories to one so small after being away that long.

speaking of home... it's unspeakably nice to be back. in many ways, things are so much better where we just came from. the weather is better. the pace of the people is better. the scenic views are better. my mother-in-law's gorgeous decorating is better {she used to be an interior designer}. the food was better. the amount of time to spend with those particular relatives was better {in that it existed, where here it does not}.

but even with all that, there's nothing like home... and familiarity... and the comfort of your own day-to-day space.

so i am happy to be back. missing them {more on "them" later}. but happy to be home.

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well, this will very likely be my last post published on this blog from this computer. we are leaving now to go purchase a new one. if you have been reading here for a while, you will know how much having prehistoric used or hand-me-down macs {with ancient versions of software} has been a source of frustration for me... for years! it placed several limitations on me creatively, especially from the standpoint of starting any kind of real design or photography business. {that's not an excuse... just the truth.}

i wish i could say that i was always patient when waiting for the opportunity to buy my first-ever brand-spankin'-new computer. i wasn't. but i can say this... it has taught me patience and contentment on a level that i would never have learned otherwise {with the exception of patiently waiting to conceive and give birth to children, but that is so different, because i lost hope where that was concerned... and babies are... well, in a whole different league than computers}.

but words can't describe the feeling i have inside when i think about finally buying a computer and how many doors it might open for me, as it is a resource i have longed for and needed for a very long time.

it's why i chose this photo for today. i took it on the beach in florida. you can't quite see the end of the ledge, but you can see it's there. similarly, i did not know when i would get one, but i knew {sometimes in patience and sometimes not} that i would get a good computer some day. before last week, this day was not clearly seen looking ahead. but it's here now. and i couldn't see it in better detail if i tried! *broad smile* 

no material thing in life can make you happy or bring you joy if you can't know happiness and joy without it. but it sure can make you more joyful when you do get it! i'm one who believes we should have some of the things we long for if they are good things, even if they are purely material. so, i am excited and thankful to no end for this blessing! it did not come without sacrifice as well as generosity. and for that, i am all the more grateful!

when the type of job i need that would suit our family situation is not available, i have no choice but to resort to trying my hand at being self-employed. but that is a difficult thing to start up without the necessary things to start. this new computer is one of those things... the most important thing. so i am not just happy. i am relieved!

when i return here to post again {hopefully with my florida pics}, it will be from a new computer... Lord willing.

me and my boys... cast away

 

day one. 

too late, too windy and too chilly to check out the beach. but that's okay. hangin' out on the lanai at tree-top level is just as much fun. especially when you are listening to some good tunes... from ennio moricone's film scores played by yo yo ma to the kingston trio to led zeplin and everything good in between. especially when ocean breezes play the palm leaves like an instrument, sending sweet sounds through the screens into our terra-cotta space. especially when there's good food, good drinks and good company to enjoy all of it with.

especially when your little guy is having fun and has handled the traveling like a trooper. especially when your heart is there, because home is where the heart is... so, though far from home, still very much at home.

long, long, long day! a good night's sleep with the alarm switched off was in order. rest would be needed for our exciting day ahead.

 

day two.

off to the beach!... isaac's first beach experience. and what a fine place to begin his beach-going days! 

i was thinking... it has to be so wild for a ten-month-old to see such vastness having never seen anything remotely like it before. the sounds. the wind. the openness. i could see it in his face... pure wonder and utter delight.

it was a short visit to the beach... just to see the sun set. but the sunset was not to be seen... rather clouds covering what was probably a fiery display. rain prevented us from spending the day in the sand. so that adventure would have to be our day three.

 

day three.

cloudy again. and very, very windy. can you tell by the waves? having not yet played in the sand by day three is just wrong, though. so to the beach we went anyway... with backs to the wind so as not to get sand in our eyes {except for when i needed to get some photos, that is... and then, instead of eyes getting blasted, it was my camera lens}.

 

isaac did like the sand... i will say that. but here is where i have to be honest and point out that vacationing by the beach with a ten-month-old is not at all what we envisioned... not the glamorous, picture-perfect time we thought we'd have. it is fun in some ways. but it's difficult and taxing, too. he's just not at an age where he appreciates the excitement of it all. he seems either quite overwhelmed or very underwhelmed. beaches and pools and airplanes and grandparents' condo are all just so new to him... beyond his comprehension.

so, what might appear to be ideal in pictures {'cause that's what we do, right?... we post the best photos} is really just a very tiring production and is nothing like the relaxing, sweet, fun time one thinks they are in for... unless you are the ten-month-old and you are floating in a little boat in the pool, being toted around by your dad. then, life is good! *wink* 

{mr. b. thought he looks like a little cast-away washed up on shore here.
it was very sweet to watch him drift off...
which took all of three minutes once we got him in there.}

don't get me wrong. isaac is having a wonderful time. i think it's pretty obvious in the photos above. he's happy, sleeping well in an unfamiliar environment, enjoying his grand-dada and grand-mama, eating like a rock star as usual, and taking it all in with a fine disposition. i think the part that seems more unglamorous than anything else is my outlook. i've never taken a vacay with him before... or with any children. it seems selfish to say, but vacationing with a little one who is very active and gets into everything {my in-laws have SOOOO many knick-knacks around} is not really a vacation at all. it's just doing what i do normally, but in a slightly sunnier and for-the-most-part warmer place. but at least i have those things... the sun and the warmth {for which i am grateful!}. and at least we're doing it all with the ones we love... the ones we rarely get to see.

still, i have to admit. i'm P.O.O.P.E.D!

i did not expect to blog while vacationing. i did not know how much access i would have to a computer. and i really didn't think i could do anything with my photos, because my father-in-law's laptop does not have photoshop. but i decided to give pic monkey a try while my baby boy is napping {in the pack-n-play, not the pool *wink*}. that would be the reason for the hodge-podge look of my photos... i had to try all the different processing tricks up their sleeves over at pic monkey. it's a pretty cool site! if you don't have photoshop, you should try it... especially now that picnik is a thing of the past.

anyway, this post is turning into a long one, and i truly only intended to pop in and post a few pics. i guess i'm finding blogging to be my little vacation from vacation. and on a day where it's too cold to swim at the pool or the ocean, that works out well.

it is supposed to warm up by tuesday, so i'm sure i will be back to vacationing... from home and blogging. and perhaps by then we will be much more in a groove of familiarity that will make things feel a little more restful and relaxed.

so here we are...

day four.

i'm grateful that the little guy is not so out of sorts that it would keep him from eating or sleeping as well he does at home. i've got slightly pink shoulders from my short time in the sun. i'm wrapping up this post. i'm looking forward to a dinner of tilapia, potatoes and green beans. i'm signing out to take a little snooze before the little squirt wakes up.

...and last, but not least, i'm hoping your week is off to a great start!

sea you

in a few hours, we're off to see the sea.
it will be isaac's first time seeing the ocean... or any large body of water, for that matter.
i can't tell you how excited i am!
i'll be doing what i always do when we go...
letting the salty, humid air and sound of the waves
seep deeply in
and quiet me to where i will listen
to where God wants me
again.


haven't had much time for taking pictures,
but re-using older shots from past posts {like this one} these past few days has worked out nicely.
you can be sure i'll take photos when we are away.
and this time, they will be with a newer camera and a newer lens.

this sea oats photo was taken one of the last times we were there... almost three years ago to the day...
using my old canon power shot in macro setting.

sea oats abound where we are going.

maybe i'll try this again to see how it will work with the new equipment.

or maybe i'll just sit and relax for a change.

oh, who am i kidding?

i'm gonna take a heck of a lot of pictures!!!

looking forward to getting back and posting some... especially the ones of isaac's first beach experience.

see you.


{hey, look at that!! i do know how to write a short post.}
*giggle*

through the looking-back glass

{c. s. lewis}

i've decided that during these busy days when i can't get around to venturing out and taking new photos or writing new posts, i'll search back through the archives and grab an old photo or two to post... maybe sprucing them up a bit, seeing as back when i first started this blog, some of my photos were quite bland. i had a much less fancy camera then, and i never bothered to learn manual shooting or creative processing in photoshop to enhance those bland shots.

but even with that being the case, i find that i took some photos that i still find interesting... even inviting. the above shot is one such photo. {originally posted here}

speaking of looking back... i've lately been devoting any free time i have to doing something that is a bit painstaking, but very worth it to me. i've been going back through my blog archives and updating my posts to fit my latest blog layout/format. {painstaking, because it is a lot of work. but very enjoyable, too, as i get to walk down memory lane and see some things i had completely forgotten about.}

i used to have a more narrow post/text column {dictated by the blog layout i chose}, thus my photos were more narrow as well. when i updated to this latest format, the text columns in all my old posts automatically became wider per the new layout. but the photo sizes remained the same. so i had tiny photos with big, wide text blocks... a not-very-visually-pleasing look, in my opinion.

perhaps this would not bother most people, but i guess it just got under the skin of the graphic designer in me. even though i am sure most will never see those old posts again, i do look at them from time to time. they are a part of me... a part of my story. and there will be a day when i will want my son to go back and look at them, too.

also, i happen to know from my blog stats that there are times when someone will click on one of my older posts after entering something in a search engine. for instance, when someone searches for info about se juan teneo {a coastal town in mexico that i hope to visit one day... which i was made aware of via a favorite movie... shawshank redemption}, the search results bring up two old blog posts of mine {this one and this one} that many end up clicking on. so if there is anyone out there that happens upon my blog via a search, i would want the look of all my older posts to reflect this latest look i have settled upon... especially since my blog is as much about the visual as it is about the written {or verbal, if you will}.

i don't know... even if no one ever sees those old posts again... even i never again returned to look at them again... it was driving me crazy to know they were that way {a bit the of o.c.d. in me??}, and i wanted to unify the look throughout. it is somewhat of a portfolio, after all. so i think there should be some amount of a common thread in the midst of my progression and growth as a blogger, photographer and writer.

of course, i can't unify the subjects or the quality from the first post to the most recent. my photography and my writing have grown over the past few years. so have i as a person. i would hope i am more mature now. {having a kid will do that very quickly for a person... mature them.} and to be honest, there are a few posts i would be okay with going back and deleting. {over the course of updating the layout of my archived posts, i'll see one and think, "oh, my! what was i thinking when i took that photo... and decided to post it?" or "why was i so transparent when i wrote that?"}. but i choose to leave those posts in, because the are just reflections of me {good or bad} from periods of my life that made me who i am today.

and though i can look back and honestly say i am so much different now from who i was when i started my blog on september 19, 2008, the changes of my life {other than having a son and losing the career i had known for almost twenty years} were so gradual and small, that it didn't seem like life was changing at all. that's why i love this c. s. lewis quote!

anyway, since i often love to make my photos round, i figured i'll do these look-back posts as if i was looking back through a looking glass... which is an effect this round crop sort of creates, no? i started with this water scene, because it reminds me of what i am talking about... big picture, the sea looks pretty much the same every time you look at it from the same vantage point. but if you look closely at each individual wave that comes and goes, you see that none is like the other, but more notably, you would see micro-change. and if you were to look from above, you'd probably even see a gradual, but significant change in the coastline over time.

this is one reason i treasure my blog. whether i choose to be personal and transparent here or change to a more guarded and veiled side, it is always a picture of where i am in life. it makes me wish i had started blogging sooner. whether fascinating or not-at-all-interesting, it's a bit like a lingering auto-biography or diary of my days. perhaps that is why i have been so enjoying going back through the archives {though i still have quite a bit of updating to do... i'm only half-way through 2009}...

because it is a look back at more than just pictures and words. it is a look back at life.

and i think that is one reason there are so many blogs of this nature, don't you?

why my camera is worth its wait in gold

if it can give me pictures like this,

it's worth more than it's weight in gold.

if it can capture memories like that of peaceful mornings with isaac,

over coffee with my sister and a friend,

then it doesn't matter that it's not the best camera money can buy

or that i don't yet know how to use it to its full potential.

if it can capture my sister holding isaac at the lake

on one of the most beautiful days of the year...

this is what matters.

just the pictures.

{entire album here}

shine your light

her name is claire.

{many of you know of her.}

her name means light.

i met her last sunday.

in person.

let me tell you.

she is her name.

{{the above is a re-post of an old post from almost a year ago. i had thought i might re-post it at the end of september when i, once again, meet claire {originally from south africa, but visiting from her new home in ireland}. but i decided to post today, instead {but this time with a newer processed, color version of the photo}.

the reason for that is because of today's shutter sisters post called shine your light. kristin "gives us permission" to stand in our light... to not be shy about our photography or any other gifts, but to let them be seen. to be brave and confident about our talents or pursuit of them. i like that! sometimes i feel inadequate when it comes to photography and writing... especially when i compare mine to the work of others. but every once in a while, i do something i am proud of, and i like to shout it out... especially if i surprised myself with what i did.

anyway, this photo is one such case. {ironically, as stated above, the name of the person in this photo means "light".} it is my favorite photo of mine as far as an attempt to be artistic and creative with my photography goes. and it feels good to say i have a favorite photo of all time. it makes me feel like i achieved a level i didn't think i could, which gives me a little burst of pride or boost of confidence. i have yet to take another photo that turns out like this one or excites me the way this one did. maybe i never will... but i hope so.

and though i will see claire again this coming september, i don't expect "lightening to strike twice". but you never know. regardless, i'm sure i will take more photos of her.

speaking of comparing... she is among three bloggers i will be meeting and spending time with at the end of september. when she visits {which will be our second time meeting}, we will be joined by beth {which will make three times meeting her}. and, as i mentioned several posts back, i will get to meet stacey {for the first time}... another blogger i met online via the photography/blogging community. all three of these ladies are incredible photographers. and they all are gifted with their writing. if they were not all three such sweet and down-to-earth women, i might be very intimidated by them!

but i'm not... in fact, the way i see them all is that they each could teach me so much... and they do! but until i reach their level of craft, i like to think i can do a "knock it out of the park" thing or two myself every once in a while... and let it SHINE when i do!

thanks, kristin!}}




{{{p.s.... do go check out these ladies' lovely blogs! you will see what i'm talking about!}}}