hope . dream . believe

i don't know about you, but i love these three words. two of them remind me of several bible verses that are promises i cling to... hope and believe. dream is just a nice word, especially when used as a synonym to hope and believe. i've been going through some peaks and valleys lately, and it's in those valleys that i need images and reminders like this.

so in case you could use them too, consider yourself reminded... to have hope, to dream and to believe.

{these are all three taken from my dining room window at different times on different days. other than the added type and crop, they are straight out of camera. the view out that window is not particularly good, but when i zoom the camera to get the sky between or above the buildings, i usually get some interesting shots -- especially in the morning or early evening.}

time to breathe in and rest

well, i finally broke down and went to an immediate care clinic today to have this cough looked at. i didn't want to, but after the way i felt last night and this morning, i knew it was time. they said i don't have a cold or the flu or anything. i could have told them that... that much i knew. i just did not understand why this nagging dry cough was hanging on for two weeks. the doc said it could be asthmatic. i've never been checked for asthma... never thought i needed to. i have bad allergies, but i never felt asthmatic. they did say it could be just a one-time, isolated thing... not necessarily chronic. so he prescribed an inhaler that relaxes the spasming lung muscles that should help relieve the cough. so far, it's not really working. we'll see. i still don't understand why i feel generally weak and ill if it's just asthma. but that might be from having two nights in a row with very little sleep. they said to go back and see a doctor if it still persists after giving the inhaler a try.

i've just rested {and still am resting} inside today despite the sunny, warmer temps outside. going to my sister's house yesterday for brunch and an ornament exchange party was pushing it. i went and had a very nice time, but felt pretty crummy the whole time. and now tonight, i am missing my mom's solo vocal performance at church. the rest of my family is attending, and i wish i could be there.

so... my snap-happy ways were put on the back burner this weekend. i did manage to get a shot i liked of one of my sister's vintage chairs while i was there. and it happens to be next to the same window that is in my blog banner shot. this chair is so 70s hip to me, that the photo seemed to beg to be "vintagized", so below are a couple polaroid conversions i made. {the original up top is straight out of camera for s.o.o.c. sunday.}


'kay... i'm off to rest. i hope you had a good weekend! toodles.

evening falls

i took these all yesterday when the sun was about as high as it was going to be. the reason they look more like early evening moonlit photos is actually a happy accident. i forgot to change the setting on my camera that accommodates the type of lighting that is present. i still had it on tungsten instead of sunlight. but when i got the shots home and looked at them on the computer, i was so glad it happened that way. i love the color of these! even the hubby was oohing and ahhing about them, and he rarely does that about my photography. {not to say he does not like my pictures, but he rarely chimes in.} anyway, other than the crop, these are all straight-out-of-camera.

sooc sunday

we had another gorgeous fall day here. i spent some of it by myself taking pictures. i spent some more of it with my friend, mary... taking more pictures. now i'm home and it's time to make dinner. hope you all had a great weekend!

{oh, and just so you know... fall is my favorite season, so there are going to be a lot of fall leaves pictures around here for a while. you might be a little sick of them by the time winter arrives. i'll try to throw in some other things now and again so you don't get autumned out.}

sooc sunday

wow! where did this sunday go? i just barely made this shot in on time to call it sooc sunday. but i did it. i took it on the way home from work on friday. the sky was so cool while i was driving, i could not help but click away. i know this is dangerous. i feel quite guilty when i do it. but you'll be happy to know i've scaled way back on taking shots while i drive.

anyway, i'm glad i got it. i loved how it turned out. and it made me smile when i discovered this photo yesterday by one of my favorite photographers--if not my favorite. her shot sort of reminded me of this one, and i like that she likes this kind of photo. i do too!

if you click on the image, you'll see it better and get a much better sense of what it is in this photo that appeals to me. {by the way, does anyone know how to widen the posting area so that the photos can be bigger? i'd kind of like to do that, but don't know how.}

anyway, i'm hoping you had a good weekend. i'll share some nature day pics this week.

sooc sunday and a thank you to shutter sisters

{click on image for larger view}

"sooc sunday" came early this week... even though it's saturday night, i couldn't wait to post my sooc sunday shot. i had written my post for tomorrow earlier {last night}, but when i found out that my shot was today's featured photo on the o.w.p. page at shutter sisters, i was too excited to wait until tomorrow to post it.

below is the original post i had prepared and saved last night as a draft for tomorrow.

~ ~ ~

the new word for october's "one word project" on shutter sisters is illuminate. i had taken this shot from my window--the window i look out of while sitting at my computer. it was taken one morning a couple weeks back, and the sky was amazing. so i reached for my camera to get it before the crazy-gorgeous light went away due to complete cloud cover.

i was surprised my camera captured it so well. the photo looked almost exactly as the sky did in person. and i was so happy with how it turned out, that there was no color/lighting correction or editing or procssing needed. other than adding the type and the white border, this shot is straight out of camera {s.o.o.c.}.

i loved how the clouds were illuminated by the sun, so i submitted it to the o.w.p flickr pool.

~ ~ ~

go here to see the rest of the photos that have been uploaded {so far} to the s.s. flickr pool for october's "one word project". there are some really neat photos of illumination by several talented photographers!

thank you, shutter sisters, for once again boosting my confidence by featuring my photo.

sooc sunday

these are some more shots from that sunset that i have posted pictures of in the past two posts. they are all s.o.o.c except for the last two {the black and white and the sepia}. it was truly one of the coolest skies i have ever seen!

sooc sunday

this is a straight-out-of-camera shot taken a week ago, and cameras don't lie—sure looks like autumn to me! the rest of these s.o.o.c. shots are here.

i'm off to my brother's house. he e-mailed the family on august 31st {the three year mark of my dad passing} to invite us all over to make dinner and watch my dad's favorite comedies. one of the films we'll be watching is the great race {with natalie wood, tony curtis and jack lemmon}. it's such a funny movie, and it will be a joy to watch as we remember all of my dad's favorite parts. i've seen it at least a dozen times. {if you've never seen it, i recommend it!} perhaps we will also watch the bears first season game, too. can't wait—it should be a lot of fun!

we are going to make two big batches of paella. {the recipe is about five posts below this.} i hope it turns out as good as my first attempt at making it and does not disappoint.

it's a gorgeous fall-has-the-bluest-sky day here {even though it is not technically fall yet}. but the temps feel more like summer, and so they should, since there is still a week of summer left! it will be a great day for the hour drive to the city with the classical music station on.

happy sooc sunday. i'm hoping it's as beautiful of a day there as it is right here.

sooc sunday {labor day edition}

you thought i'd forget, didn't you? well, here it is—my s.o.o.c. post for this sunday. since it's labor day weekend, and labor day is an american holiday, i guess that calls for some patriotic photos. not only are these photos intensely red {though an orangey red}, white and blue. they are also appropriate for the labor day holiday, as the subject in the photos is an old chicago work yard.

i'm not sure if it is actually still in use, and if so, i'm not sure what it is or was used for. but it is in a really neat and very old, run-down industrial area of chicago. i was there when i went on the photoshoot with my two photographer friends a few months ago. if it is still in use, it did not seem that way, as we were there on a sunday, and it seemed desolate and abandoned. the sun was starting to go down, and it was lighting up this red {almost orange} building in the most incredible way! no color enhancement needed on these photos. so i thought that they were perfect for straight-out-of-camera sunday—especially on this labor day weekend.

and if industrial is not your cup of tea, but frilly flowers are, here is another red {more pinkish red}, white and blue s.o.o.c. shot for you.

i took this one last wednesday just down the street from where i live. there is a little garden that occupies a triangular space created by the intersection of three streets. it's a tiny little "lot", and would not be large enough for a structure of any kind. so there is a little garden society that plants flowers there every year. i had so much fun walking down and photographing the flowers and the hundreds of bumble bees that were pollinating them. i knelt down and pointed the camera up with my super macro setting on for this shot.

i hope everyone is having a fabulous labor day weekend, unless you do not live in the united states. in that case, then i hope you are having just a fabulous weekend.

sooc sunday

here is this week's straight-out-of-camera shot.
happy sunday.

sooc sunday

i have not done macro monday for a while, but i still would like to get back to that in the near future, as i really love to take macro photography.

but i decided to start another little day-of-the-week series. this time it's sooc sunday {or s.o.o.c. sunday}. for those of you who don't know what s.o.o.c. stands for, it is the acronym for "straight out of camera"—a type of photo that is... well, just that—straight from the camera to my blog. this one i did open in photoshop just so i could add the type—another thing i LOVE to do. but i did not enhance the color or contrast or brightness in any way. nor did i do any other fancy photoshop tricks to it.

it just so happens that the last time i posted an s.o.o.c. shot was two weeks ago on a sunday. so i thought i would just make it a day-of-the-week thing.

every once in a while i get shots that don't need enhancement—miraculously. well, perhaps this one could use it. but i loved it just the way it is. i took it at night in a park after having taken several sunset pictures. i loved how the shot picked up some of the blue that was barely left in the sky after the sun had been down for a while. the bright greens highlighted by the street light against that deep blue had me swooning over this photo. and the blur, as well.

i'm sure i won't post for sooc sunday every week. but when i do, i'll label/tag it, and it will become part of my sooc sunday button in the side column--which i still have yet to create. feel free to join me on sundays with one of your soocs. i'd love to see it! leave me a comment and/or link if you do.

{with that, i hope you had a wonderful end to your week. tomorrow is my "get ready for the big interview" day. than tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m. is the interview. all prayers about that are more than welcome. in fact they are coveted. have a great week ahead!}

a pretty sight and some other stuff

i found this to be a stunning, beautiful sight as i drove home from my mother's house on thursday evening. i pulled the car off to the side of the road to get it on camera. other than the white border added, this is a s.o.o.c. shot. it's funny how the perfect lighting of a setting sun will make a picture just right—no adjustments needed.

i have many more from this drive. and none of them are blurry for a change, because i actually stopped and got out. i'll trickle them in here and there. but i really need to get back to my florida pictures, too. it's been such a long time since i posted some of those.

it's a hot summer day here. finally. i've heard from my internet provider {who shall remain nameless for now}. they waited a week to call me just to say that their network team was still looking into my slow speeds and frequent disconncetions. oh, thanks! that helps. i'm growing quite frustrated. it has been a month since i first inquired about it. two weeks since i put my foot down and said i want them to look into it.

and if you've been wondering about the job prospect, i spoke to someone who said my resume will be reviewed in the second round of reviews and that i would get feedback either way. so, i will cross my fingers and hold my breath and wait.

well, hopefully you are surviving the heat if it's hot where you are, too. have a grand sunday.