A few of the water lily pictures I took while in Central Park with Louis Kettle, Derry’s nephew from London who is currently visiting the US. I have lots of pictures of our adventure, some that I’ll be posting soon.
There is something about photographing butterflies that I find incredibly soothing. At times it’s a waiting game, or disappointing when none are around, but year after year I find myself looking forward to it. I was so glad when I spotted this guy yesterday. He’s a colorful beauty.
My sister and I signed up for the Adobe Photoshop CS6 for Photographers with Photoshop Wizard and NAPP President Scott Kelby that was held at the Philadelphia Convention Center yesterday. Amazingly, there were no traffic problems!
The extraordinary Scott Kelby and moi.
At lunch time we walked over to City Hall to take some pictures. The lighting kept changing, and it was extremely humid. There were wicked t-storms the night prior, and there was a threat of more storms, but luckily as the day went on the weather cleared.
We then went to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch. Oh, I love that place! There are so many good things to eat, including way too much stuff like excellent baked goods, pretzels, Philly cheese steaks, and more. I had to make a stop at The Famous 4th Street Cookie Company for a sugar cookie. Yummy!
After the excellent class, we had diner at the Hard Rock and then strolled around taking more pictures at City Hall and the surrounding area.
We then made our way to Logan Square (or Logan Circle) to take some pictures of Swann Fountain.
My sister MaryAnn.
Finally, the butterflies are flying! I took these pictures this past Friday.
Summer started yesterday, and today in central NJ was another day of very hot, sunny weather. I love it.
To celebrate, I took a little time to visit a nearby garden. While there were no butterflies, there was plenty of open blooms, gorgeous color, and blue skies.
I needed to visit the hospital complex again today for various matters regarding my mother-in-law and her ongoing medical issues. I took along my camera just in case I spotted anything interesting to photograph. A nice surprise was finding another area with poppies in bloom! Yipee!!
Yesterday evening I returned to the hospital grounds to take more poppy pictures. I thought I’d have plenty of time to take more pictures as it appeared there were many unopened blooms. However, the bulk of them were gone! So many of the unopened blooms were drooped over and look finished. It was quite a surprise and another lesson in the “do it while you can” category of life.
This time last year I was in England with my mom showing her the sights with Derry. The decision to take her then was a good one as one year later things have certainly changed. First, I highly doubt I could have done a fraction of the travel I did last year because of my back problems and, most sadly, Derry’s dad is no longer alive (the though of which continues to deeply sadden me). In short, when opportunity presents itself, and if you have the means and motive, go for it. It something I need to tell myself regularly as, tick tick tick, life changes fast, and regrets can pile up.
On a good note, I’m almost finished with my 12 x 12 inch piece for the 8 That Create group. The theme for an upcoming show is fashion, and my piece is based on the pages of a past Vogue magazine. I have a few more rows of french knots to add, and then I should be squaring off and finishing it. All in all, a good weekend, despite the back woes!
After visiting my mother-in-law at a hospital facility in Princeton-Plainsboro today, I decided to take some photographs of poppies on the nearby grounds. The flowers looked beautiful in the sunlight, and I found it very soothing. However, someone called the police on me! Luckily, all went well — although it was sort of funny when he thought I said I was photographing puppies rather than poppies (at least I said “photographing” rather than “shooting”). I might use some of the photos as a basis for some watercolor paintings.
Rich and I spend an afternoon walking around some areas of the NJ Pine Barrens. I took these photos in historic Batso Village and some surrounding areas.
Prior to having some routine blood work done, I used my iPhone to take a picture of this flower which outside of the doctor’s office. I then made the adjustments to it using a couple different apps. What fun!
These are from the butterfly picture I took the other day.
I took this photo out of the car window while Rich drove.
The first butterfly and the first flower I photographed in NJ this season. Hopefully it’s the start of many more to come.
My self-imposed goal of painting Budz on a regular basis was completed. It’s primarily watercolor paints.
