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Flying into England on a clear day is quite beautiful.  And, I can tell you from experience, it’s also somewhat unusual as that beautiful patchwork of lush greens results from a lot of rain.  A lot.

The first time I came to England, I sat next to a man who asked me where I was from.  I said New Jersey.  “Ah, American,” he said.  He went on to tell me how “usual” Americans are, the amusing things we ask and say while on a plane.  He pulled out a notebook with pages of handwritten scribble.  He told me that he writes down all types of things he hears Americans saying with the intention on writing a book about it.  Knowing my ability to put my foot in my mouth, I thought it would be best to keep it shut or his notebook would be overflowing.  Each time he’d ask me a question, I’d politely smile and nod my head yes or no.  For those questions requiring more, my answers were very nondescript — a shrug of the shoulders, an “I’m not sure,” or other colorless responses.  When we started to get closer, I keep seeing the white dots.  You can see some on the lower left of the above picture.

I was so tempted to ask, “What are all of those white dots on the ground?” But there was no way I’d ask as I knew he’d fling open his notebook and jot down my question.  As we got closer and closer, there were more and more of the white dots.  It took a lot of effort for me to keep my trap shut.

Eventually, as we were nearly on top of them, I realized what they were: Sheep!  I am so glad I didn’t ask that question!  Now, every time I fly into England and see sheep, I always smile.  I photograph them all of the time and buy little stuffed ones to take home with me!

Just about landed in Birminham Airport and heading to Festival of Quilts on Saturday.

I learned of an Irvine, California company called scanmyphotos.com while reading an article called  “Your Photos, Off the Shelf at Last,” by  David Pogue in the August 13th edition of The New York Times.  This company sounds too good to be true - but apparently they are and it is.  I suspect if others react to what this company offers as I did, the company is going to be flooded with work.

Here’s what they offer:  Scanning 1,000 photos, burning them to a DVD, and charing you $50 for it!  Is that the deal of the year?  The decade?   There are requirements — things like the images need to be between 3×3 to 11×14, bundled together in like sizes, cannot scan from a photo album, and so on.   They also scan slides, negatives, VHS to DVD (ooh … that comes in handy).

Is it just me?  Or are you now adding another item to the “to do” list

What do you do when the evil dark shade of the dreaded kernel panic descends down your monitor? When upon restarting you get various symbols from question marks to warning circles? When utility programs don’t work? Lateral thinking is a flop? When even Derry says “hmmm .. not good”? You get out the box from the rafters in the garage, pack up the less than one-year old computer, bungie cord it onto a trolley, and head over to the nearest Apple store.

Never had a kernel panic? Consider yourself lucky. I’ve had them in the past, but generally a restart and a run through of a utility program saved the day. This was the first time it didn’t work. In fact, this is the first time in some 18 years that I had to box up and return a Macintosh. What is a kernel panic, you wonder? It’s a punch-you-in-the-gut Macintosh operating system crash (well, Unix) — kind of like the blue screen of death — that generally indicates a fatal internal error. Nice, huh?

Not two months ago one external 500 gig back up died. Now this. Sad, sad, sad. Luckily, I did have many important things backed up. But, unluckily, not all. I was planning to. Really. Because I work from more than one computer, I tend to back up stuff from one computer to another and then eventually put things onto DVD and remove them from one place or the other. Lesson learned? It’s time to stop making backups of various important things by dragging them from one computer to another and instead just start using Time Machine. Once I return from England, I will begin using it. Heck, as soon as I pick up my computer from the Apple store, hopefully before I leave, I’ll buy a Terabye drive. Promise.

But, today is a new day. While I should be finishing my Quilt National entry (which will be rejected as it always is), it was another absolutely glorious day. The type where I keep exclaiming, “What a beautiful day.” Rather than dwelling on the time I spent at the Apple store listening to my very well-trained and polite Apple genius tell me that my drive died (as in no kidding), me nearly fainting when I realized what client artwork on that machine wasn’t yet delivered, it seemed better to go look for butterflies. Sure, I’ll use any excuse. But, it was a beautiful day.

I received a package from the American Quilter’s Society today.  Wow — cool surprise!  My quilt, Blushing Triangles 3, which won the Best Wall Quilt award at this year’s show, is the 2009 March pinup!

A couple years back, I did have a quilt in their weekly calendar.  I sent the quilt to them to photograph, and I was surprised out dark it was (I am a fuss pot).  I am very pleased with this calendar.  Wow!

The ad for my new book, Digital Essentials, the quilt maker’s must-have guide to images, file, and more, has been in a couple magazines, most recently the August/September issue of Quilting Arts magazine.  I’m told the advance copies of the book are arriving and that the book should be shipping in mid-September.  Once the book is available, I’ll post here.  I’ll be selling it directly from my site, too!

I also plan on answering questions, posting helpful URLs, and expanding some of the tutorials or adding new ones.

Hopefully I’ll be posting a PDF of a chapter so you can get a taste of the book.

Part two of the Principles of Digital Design article that I wrote for Quilting Arts is now out in their August/September issue.  The issue also has an article by my friend Rayna Gillman called Deconstructing the Screen.  Rayna also has out a new book with C&T Publishing called Create Your Own Hand Printed Cloth.  I have the book, it’s a must-have, and I’ll do a write-up about it soon.  Claire Fenton, an artist that we created a website for, also has an article in it called The Test of Time – good stuff, on rusting fabric.  And Robbi Joy Eklow, another artist we did a website for, has in it her regular column The Goddess of the Last Minute.  The magazine is a gem, and I’m happy to be part of it.

As I was sitting in my office, promising myself that I would get some work done,  I started looking out the window at the very blue skies.  I drifted into thinking about those two pretty Swallowtails from earlier in the day. Next I’m noticing the late-afternoon angle of light which I know from experience will bounce off the pond and back light the butterflies, should they be there.  Before you know it, I started flirting with the idea of returning.  The voices  in my head started shouting: Go, the lighting is great and they might still be there.  Stay, you have work to do.  You were already there today.  Get a jump on Monday’s work.  Go.  Look at the lighting.  No!  Stay.  You have things to do.

While my brain was mulling over these things, I hopped onto video with Derry, telling him my dilemma of  do I stay or do I go. And, here’s one of the many reasons why he is the best partner:  He says, “Go!”

I returned to my favorite spot, and nothing.  I waited, and nothing.  I walked around to a few other spots, and nothing. I returned to my favorite spot, sat on the grass for a while when finally one Swallowtail swooped in.  But that’s all I needed.  Once again I was climbing around some rocks, trying not to fall into the water, just so I could photograph the bugger.  There are a couple low bushes that I am always mentally willing butterflies to land on (like they’ll listen).  In that area, the light reflects off of the nearby pond which tends to make interesting backgrounds.   It’s a hard place to photograph as I don’t want to trample on any part of the bushes to get the angle I want. I patiently waited as my butterfly was fluttering from one flower to the next and then taking off into the sky to make its huge loop before returning.  He didn’t stay in my preferred area long, and I was only able to get 6 shots there.  In total, I only took about 40 pictures  before he took off and didn’t return.  While I like the ones from earlier better, they aren’t bad.    And, tomorrow, work!

What can I say, I’m always looking for butterflies!  Today’s weather is gorgeous, and I couldn’t resist visiting a nearby garden to see if there were any butterflies about.  I spotted an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, a Monarch, and a Spicebush Swallowtail.  These are a few of my favorites of the day.

A couple weeks ago, Rich and I went to Longwood Gardens located in Brandywine Valley, Pennsylvania. With over 1,000 acres of gardens, meadows, and woods, there was a lot to see.  The Gardens are also knows for its Festival of Foundations waterworks.  Being it was one of those 95 degree plus days with high humidity, it was a small wonder people weren’t jumping into those fountains!

My favorite place was the conservatory, a huge 4+ acre greenhouse with thousands of plants.  My favorite area within the conservatory was the water gardens.

These are just a few of the photos I’ve taken that day.

One of the water gardens.

We were very tempted to jump into that water to get some relief from the heat.

The waterlily pictures were taken inside of the conservatory’s watergarden.

Also taken inside of the conservatory

I love these types of stone buildings.  Inside is a very photogenic spiral staircase which I took several pictures of.

It’s me near the fountains.

On Saturday, Rich and I went to the Lakota Wolf Preserve in upstate New Jersey.  They offer serious photographers the opportunity to walk within two sets of wire fences.  There are panels  cut through the interior fence allowing photographers to get an unobstructed view of the wolves.  However, the fee for the privilege is several hundred dollars.  While I’m all for the money going to the preserve to help care for the wolves while giving the ability to take some nice photos (and maybe one day I will), there were other factors that swayed us away for the higher price tag:   We simply wanted a couple decent  photos to remember the experience, and there was only one camera between us.  Thus, we took the far less expensive $15 tour that kept us on the outside of the two fences.  It didn’t take long for me to realize that it meant photographing through two sets of fences.  After some experimenting with settings and watching the angle of the light, I was able to take some photos that look as though there was no fence, or, at worse, a pale shadow of the fence.

When my husband saw the pictures, he asked “How did you do that?”

I also received some email asking how I was able to blur out the background of the butterfly pictures.  The very short answer to both questions:  Watching the light and adjusting the aperture.   Watching the light simply means seeing where the angle the light is coming from, its intensity, and how it may affect the subject of the photograph.  Some photographic terms for defining how that light interacts with your camera are:

Aperture:  It defines the diameter of the lens opening and how much light comes into the camera.  The size of the aperture is defined by the f-stop.  The “f”  stands for fraction of a focal length.  Focal length is also referred to as depth of field.
Shutter Speed: how long the light is allowed into the camera.
ISO (or ASA) defines how sensitive the sensor (or film) is to light.

How you use the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO is a sea-sawing balancing act to get the end result that you desire.  Luckily, when using a digital camera, you can immediately see your results and make changes as required.

Shutter speed makes sense:  The longer the camera shutter is open, the more light that hits the sensor (or film). If you’ve used film, you probably remember buying 100 ASA film, 400 ASA film, and even faster films.  Most people generally used 100 because it gave very good results in most lighting situations.  While not exactly, ISO is like the digital equivalent of ASA.  Generally the camera defaults to 100, and sometimes people increase this number as the lighting decreases.  Like with film, the higher the number, the greater the risk of having a grainy image.  Both shutter speed and ISO are relatively clear.  It’s f-stops, however, that can get tricky.

If you’ve used a 35mm camera , you probably remember the series of numbers on the lens. Those numbers are the f-stops — for example,  f/2 to f/32.  There is a mathematical explanation between the progression of f-stops.  Each successive f-stop allows in half of the incoming light.  In other words, the f/4 setting allows in half of the light as the f/2.8 setting.  The f/2.8 setting uses half of the light as the f/2 setting.  The term “stopping down” means allowing in half of the light. You don’t need to know this math unless you want to.  What is helpful to understand, however, is the following:

The smaller the f-stop (F2), the larger the aperture and also the wider the stream of light coming into the camera.  The larger that aperture, the less the overall image is in focus and the smaller the depth of field.  A  small f-stop is ideal for photographing a butterfly.  It keeps the focus on the butterfly and blurs out everything else.  A smaller f-stop can work nicely when photographing a person.

• Small f-stop = large aperture or wide light beam = smaller focus area
  (small depth of field)

The higher the f-stop (F22), the smaller the aperture, meaning the more narrow the stream of light that comes into the camera.  The small the aperture, the more in focus, and greater the depth of field.  A high f-stop is ideal for photographing a landscape.

• High f-stop= smaller aperture or less wide light beam = greater focus of wide area
  (large depth of field)

It seems counter intuitive, as it would seem that the larger number would indicate the more light coming in.  But, not so.  Think of quilting needles — the higher the quilting needle size, the smaller the eye of the needle.  With f-stops, the higher the number the more depth of field because of the smaller aperture opening.

I really do get dyslexic with this stuff, and when I’m shooting I often think: small f-stop, small focus; high f-stop, wide focus.

This image has a medium high f-stop.  The higher f-stop means more of the image is in focus.  This is why the fence, especially around the area of the wolf’s head, is in focus. However, you can also see how the depth of field is graduating from somewhat out of focus to in focus.

This is taken from the same location, but this time I widened the aperture, meaning I used  a smaller f-stop which results in the focus being on the subject itself.  This means that the fence in front of the wolf is a bit blurred, and the area behind the wolf is a bit blurred.  Neither is very blurred because the wolf was relatively close to the fence.  Even so, I like this image better than the one above it.  Editing away the fence in this image would be far easier than in the image above it.

Here’s another example.  In this case, the fence is still visible, but not as distracting as it would otherwise be had I used a higher f-stop and the focus is still on the wolf.

Many cameras come with pre-programmed settings such as a close-up, a landscape setting, a person in the foreground and focus in the background, and so on.  In those cases, the camera is controlling the aperture and shutter speed for you (based on the ISO setting you’re using).  If you have aperture priority, that means you can set the f-stop and let the camera figure out the faster shutter speed it can use.  Shutter priority means you define how fast you want the shutter speed and it balances out the aperture.  Understanding these principals allows you to know when you may want to override your camera’s programmed settings.

In this example, the focus is on the head of the wolf and the nearby greenery.

Here’s another way to think of aperture and f-stops.   Think of a large circle, that circle can represent an f/2 aperture.  Then think of a series of progressively smaller circles, all within the large circle.  Each of the  progressively smaller circles have a progressively higher f-stop number and each smaller circle lets in less light.   It’s the large circle that is the constant.  The aperture can close smaller, but it can never open larger than the largest aperture of the lens.   And this is a prime reason why a “fast” 200mm lens can cost far more money than a much “slower” 200mm lens.  The wider aperture can allow in more light, meaning you can use it in a low light situation, but it can always be stopped down to let in less light.  However, a lens with a small aperture to begin with can only allow in so much light at its widest setting.  Thus, in the same lighting situation, one lens could require a tripod or flash, while another may allow in enough light so that neither a tripod or flash is needed.  But, again, it’s all a balancing act between aperture, shutter speed, ISO, available light, and even your subject (is it moving like in a sporting event or stable like in a landscape).

Here are a few more images using a smaller f-stop.

In this image, the fence is hardly visible at all.

While the fence is a bit visible in certain areas, it also looks like sunlight reflecting off of something like tree leaves.

When I was fooling with settings and looking at the results (I was using a digital camera), I realized that the placement of the wolf’s eyes affected the quality of the image.  When possible, I tried lining up the eyes within the space between the wire of the fences.  Otherwise, the eyes appeared less in focus because the wire of the fence was blurred in front of the eye.

None of these images are incredible (although I am partial to a couple of them),  and they are a bit “soft” because of having a blurred fence in front of the subject, but they all are better than they would have been if the fence was prominent.

So, to answer the question of how I photographed the wolves and the butterflies: I used a fairly decent lens with its lowest  f-stop,  I watched the angle of the light, and I focused on the eyes of the wolf or the head of the butterfly.

I mentioned in an earlier post that some years back my husband and I happened upon a park that had a zillion butterflies, that I didn’t have my camera, and I nearly cried. Yesterday evening, we took another long ride in search of butterflies.  We stumbled upon a park, and there they were.  It was like monarch city, and I had my camera with me.  I took several hundred pictures.  Okay.  Really more.  But, what the heck.  It’s fun.  It’s easy.  It’s digital.  If you have the cards and the battery juice, and there’s sometime good to photograph, I snap away!  Ahhh … now it feels like summer!

Rich found a bench and drifted off to sleep.  It said it was amazingly comfortable, the air was fresh and clean, and he had a nice nap!  I kept hoping a butterfly would land on him.

By the way, I really am working on my quilt for entry to Quilt National.  I’ve yet to get accepted to that show, and have tried for more than a decade.  Even so, I continue trying and now consider my entry fee as a  contribution to the organization (otherwise I’d feel like a total loser).

As you can see below, I’ve been on my annual hunt to find butterflies to photograph.  In the last batch, I grabbed a media card and went off photographing.  The day prior, however, was my mom’s birthday.  A couple siblings, my husband, and I took mom out for dinner and then a small party at her home.  I took some pictures of mom blowing out her candles, and so on.  What does that have to do with my butterfly pictures, you wonder?  It was the card with mom’s pictures that I inadvertently grabbed, and I reformatted that card before I took the party pictures off!  Oh boy.  I’d never hear the end of this one!

Then  my brain kicked in.  I remembered that a couple of MacWorlds ago, I bought a photo recovery program  called “Picture Rescure, Digital Picture Recovery,” by Prosoft Engineering, Inc.  I installed the program  (yes, I bought it a couple of years ago and haven’t installed it until now).  I inserted my media card.  A screen appeared showing the card.  I clicked the start button.  Slowly the bar along the bottom started making its way from one side to the other.  As it did, a grid started filling with thumbnail images. And, there they were: the photos of mom!  Wow.  It worked!  I only had to select those images and click a recover button.

My partner informed me that of course it would work, that reformatting doesn’t actually erase the card but instead resets the directory information.  Since I didn’t fill the card with mom’s images, and since I didn’t fill the card with butterfly pictures (something I would have done had there been more to photograph), the images of mom were still there.  In theory it all sounds fine, but seeing the reality of it actually working was great.

Lesson learned:  If you reformat your media card and then realize that you didn’t yet get photos off of it, stop using the card.  Then do a search on “photo recovery software.”  While the program I used is no longer being sold, Prosoft is selling a new program called Klix (which I suspect is even better than what I was using).  Hopefully you’ll never need such a program.  But at $30, it’s a small price to pay for peace of mind when photos are inadvertently deleted.  It works with both Mac and PC platforms.  http://www.joesoft.com/products/klix.php.

Yesterday I went to three of my favorite places to find and photograph butterflies –  Sayen Gardens,  Davidson Pond, and Farrington Lake — in Mercer and Middlesex Counties.  I was extremely surprised that I didn’t find one monarch.  It was the strangest thing.  One year there were literally hundreds of monarch butterflies at Davidson Pond, but I didn’t have my camera with me (yes, I nearly cried).  In years past, at the very least there were six to ten.  This year, nothing.  Maybe it’s the extreme heat and humidity.  It certainly looks prime, with many butterflies bushes in full bloom, blue skies, sunny.

This morning I got up earlier and went out again.  This time I found one, just one, Eastern swallowtail butterfly.  I was able to snap off some pictures, but not many.

There were several of these little guys.

And many of these moths.

But this was the lone “star.”.

I did speak with a woman who was also stunned by the lack of butterflies.

She seemed to think it was a ominous sign.  I hope not!

I waited, sitting under a large pine tree to keep out of the direct sun.

Click the link to the right to see the rest of the photos … Read the rest of this entry »

Every year I search for butterflies to photograph.

I have quite a collection.  Hundreds.

These four are not my best, but they are my latest.

Now that the weather is hot, and the skies are blue,
I’ll be on the hunt for more.

I take them purely for the enjoyment.  Plus, I get a kick out
of recognizing some of the patterns butterflies fly in.
I do a fairly good job at guesstimating where they may land.

I have other items that I am anxious to write about — making a panoramic image, cleaning my Janome sewing machine, photos from Longwood Gardens.  But, for now, it’s just some butterflies.

“A Visual Artist’s Guide to Estate Planning is a comprehensive handbook designed to assist artists in planning their estates.”  The free 183-page PDF book is based on a conference co-sponsored by The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation and The Judith Rothschild Foundation.  The book covers such topics as Why do I need a Will?  What should be done with my art work?  What is important to save? How can I make sure my work continues to be seen?

I am not an attorney, but years ago I worked in a law firm and was involved in estate planning.  I am impressed and grateful for the helpful information supplied in this book, including a sample will, health care proxy, power of attorney, and so on.  It’s a good foundation for thought and planning, and it reminds me to get my papers in order.

Get the book here, and be sure to also download the 2008 supplements.

It was 1991. It was my first International Quilt Show in Houston, Texas. My closest friend and I were having a fabulous time while spending some major money buying fabric, gadgets, and everything that looked remotely like something we just had to have.  While at the show, there was a cartoon artist drawing caricatures of anyone interested. While he worked on each, the results were projected for all to see. My friend and I waited in line. He asked us various questions — where we were from, what we thought of the cowboys, and so on. She went first. We watched as her image evolved into one with a huge, crazy smile, wild curly hair, legs in mid-run, zillions of shopping bag handles dangling from her arms holding overstuffed bags of goods, money flying from her fingers, credit cards hurling through the air, unraveling bolts of fabric left in her dust. It was great! Then it was my turn. As my drawing developed, my friend laughed and laughed, as my eyes widened. What? He put me on the beach??  That’s it?  On the beach?  Where’s all of my quilting stuff?  The beach?   My friend thought it was absolutely hysterical! Thanks a lot, dear friend!

While going through various binders filled with memorabilia, I came across this cartoon. Now, 17 years later, I smile. Yeah, that was me. New Jersey beach girl.  So what that I don’t remember the last time I went down the shore, slathered on tanning lotion, and lounged on the beach sand.  That was me.  This cartoon is looking better and better to my eyes!   So what that I now wear reading glasses, albeit rose-tinted ones when looking at my past.   I like this cartoon.  I’m on the beach!   Yeah, I’m on the beach!  Ahhh … those were the days!