Slaying Dragons

I swear I did pick up my camera last week but the better part of my free time was spent editing unfinished photos with new techniques I am learning. Problem is every time I learn something new, I have this urge to go back over all my old photos looking for ways to improve them or present them differently.

I love this saying and  texture called "KK_Cherished" from Kim Klassen. I think it gives a dreamy effect to my special little friend Kismet. 

Next week's photos might be exciting if only it were to snow here! On Saturday, I am off to a Dog Sled Race! Half of me is not so sure about the sport of dog sledding. I do admit though, the other half of me is a bit excited to have this opportunity. Right now we do not have enough snow and it is very cold, so hopefully things improve by the weekend.

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Participating in: Texture Tuesday

Seeing the Light

Natural light is hard to come by in our house. After so many missed opportunities last year, this year I am trying to lighten up my "A" personality and just learn to grab the camera when the sun chooses to make a rare appearance - yup lots of Vitamin D deficient people in our house. Got to love cold, dark Canadian winters.

One of my photography goals for 2013 is to learn to work with my lack of light since Canadian winters are long. I hope to find time to experiment with ambient light and fill flash, reflectors and off camera flash too.This post at "Click It Up a Notch" gives me hope I can learn to work better with my lighting situation. 

Becky always the poser. Cavaliers tend to relish those cold days if it means a good snuggle and a sunbath.



Cold days also mean less walks so the living room doubles up as an indoor space for fetch. Not the best of photos, but it really shows how my home can be a challenge to find light. I love how the sun here is beaming like a spotlight on Kodee as she steps into the light.
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Participating in:
Camera Critters, Click It Up A Notch 52 Weeks & Paint the Moon - Let's Do 52; Wk 2 - "Imperfection"

Started With A Bang!

“Darkness reigns at the foot of the lighthouse" ~ Japanese Proverb

I am just going to take the positive route here and say my poor start to 2013, was simply because all my bad luck felt like gushing out at once! Here's hoping the rest of 2013 is clear sailing! New Year's Eve was spent driving over an hour to my Vet for an antibiotic for Kodee. Ya... snow has it's advantages when a dog has a UTI developing. After that unexpected adventure, I was looking forward to my New Year's Day ritual. This is the day I hunker down to a good (few) cups of coffee, sport a comfy track suit and get down to the business of updating my virus protection program and archiving my photos from the previous year. Too bad my computer had other plans and in the midst of updating, my keyboard function just vanished. When you bang your head for a few hours, it comes time to accept a reformat is the best route. Odd thing is, I am really happy disaster struck! My computer is running so fast now and I was forced to take a good look at  all my photographs for 2012. It was really cleansing to keep hitting delete on some really bad photography! In the end my first week of January was kind of special. I got to relive some great moments of 2012!

Poor Port Dover photographs long forgotten now dusted off and processed!

This summer on the spur of the moment we planned a 2 day mini vacation to Port Dover. So spur of the moment, no one thought to check the weather. As we got on the highway the skies opened up - yup it rained for the whole 4 hours we drove there. On the bright side the sky and water beamed with the most glorious green-blue color when the storm passed.

Did you think my dogs always look neat and groomed as perfect little lap dog Princesses? Hardly! At the end of the day, Cavaliers are still very much Spaniels and these two don't mind one bit hunting down dead fish to roll in. We were lucky and came across a pet store so we could grab a bottle of shampoo. Which was a much needed necessity, because these two insist on sleeping on my bed.

It was such a beautiful area, loaded with antique shops and so much to explore, I think these photos have inspired me to head back to Port Dover this summer - minus the rain this time!

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I do not do well with the 365 Day or 52 Weeks type projects. Such an undisciplined soul I am. So instead I have created a  "Photo Bucket List". It's just a check list of all the different types of photography I'd like to work on but with no set deadline or order. I will be crossing off what is done and adding new challenges as I find them.