Photography Tip- Check the Background.

Photography Tip- Check the Background.

Like a lot of people these days when I take photos I just whip out my little pocket camera , turn it on and snap away not really composing the shot as I might do if I was trying to take a “beautiful” or “artistic” photograph.

I am sure if I had a cell phone that took photos I be even more”snap happy” than I am.

Often you see photos that people have taken on facebook or on the web and you can see they were “snap happy” as well. Some turn out to be hilarious because of the weird composition or added item that should not be there.

What I mean is, the scene comes into view, you take a photo and sometimes this can happen.

Fortunately for me I usually take a couple of quick snaps and my second one was MUCH better.

Tip : Check the background carefully to avoid these kind of mistakes or the meaning and or feeling is quite changed!!

Changing the clocks

Changing the clocks  

Twice a year because years ago someone thought this was a good idea certain places decided to put the clocks either back or forward an hour.

Now depending entirely on where you live this still happens .In the Spring or Fall we go through the routine of changing the clocks.

I really think it is a bit silly. Do you want dark mornings or dark evenings? It depends on your lifestyle. If you like dark mornings why not leave the clocks set on Summertime. If you like the dark evenings set it on standard time. Have a vote and I can almost guarantee it will come out 50/50.

So now we go on from year to year.

The most sensible clock in our house

We have many more clocks these days and some are very difficult to reset. I'm glad I don't have to do it as I am sure I'd leave most of them the same way and just remember that those clocks run an hour late or fast. Maybe I'd only have one clock except for the one on the computer which seems to reset itself. Wonderful!!

I know twice a year my poor dogs and cats think I am definitely not going to feed them today as the time comes and I don't get their food ready. They hover and meow until the correct hour for feeding finally comes and they can relax. This goes on for quite a few days until their interior clocks get reset .

Now is this really fair to the poor pets??

Lily on the pond

my not very successful painting

This month's painting challenge on http://paintanddrawtogether.blogspot.com/  was a photograph of a beautiful water lily on a pond. It looked simply enough until I tried it.
I thought I would have a change and do an oil painting on a larger canvas but didn't reckon on the oil paints having dried out considerably during the hot summer months when I had been painting with mostly water colors. I had left the oil paints out on the side and in my hot studio room with only occasional air conditioning ,some of the paints must have become so hot the tops came right off and the tubes went hard. I didn't think an oil paint would do that. Also my linseed oil had gone into a jelly like mass so even though I started the painting I gave up pretty quickly with it.
So I went back to the water colors and really just didn't like the results I was getting. The reflection on the water was difficult to do and no way could I find the correct pink/mauve color for the lily. 

Original challenge photo

So this is not one of the painting I like very much.
There's always next month's challenge to look forward to.

Washington -on -the Brazos

Mike entering the museum

Last weekend on our way to COTA( Circuit of the Americas) we stopped off to visit the place where the Texas Declaration of independence was signed in 1836 when it became a republic ,breaking away from Mexico.

It is in a lovely area close to Brenham in a rolling area of pastoral fields and hills just a short way south east of Austin.

Early settlers in Texas

It was well worth the trip. It is set in the State park and we spent most of our time in the beautiful Museum there. It is in a lovely building and is one of the best museums I have been in because it has gathered the main artifacts of the time, historical and social and put it together so that it is interesting and very informative with out being boring or overloading the senses with too much information and exhibits.

Theme exhibits

 It is set up as a time-line so it it easy to follow the course of history. There is a short video, which is well done to give you an overview of the time in case you didn't know it ( we didn't) . There is a special area for the kiddos if they come so that they will have things that interest them. I gather from the pleasant volunteers we talked with that this is a place many children visit in the summer when their families stay at the park.

If you are down this way at all it is well worth the visit.

The main part of the Declaration of Independence

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld  

A very interesting novel inspired by the life of an American first lady. It's a very clever fictional novel because it brings to life certain past Presidents , their wives and administration into focus without the reader realizing. I started to see it about third of the way into the book. No president is named but it gets to be pretty obvious which wife is being reflected in this book in a small way.

It starts with a simple teenage girl of a lower to middle class family who grows up to marry into a politically upwardly rich family. The story covers the rise of her life until she is the President's wife. I found it very interesting to read and not at all dull because it is told from her point of view and the opinions she holds dear and her knowledge of her growing self.

A little ponderous in places but very readable.

Ghosts, Pumpkins, Skeletons and Graves. Oh My!!

Ghosts, Pumpkins, Skeletons and Graves, Oh My!!

I read somewhere that decorating for Halloween now is far more popular that decorating for Christmas. 

In my area , mostly rural and with few younger children  there is only the occasional decoration to be seen for either holiday. That's a shame.

We have friends that live in a more suburban area and you just know Halloween is by far their favorite holiday because people will come from far to see their yard and house decorations. I asked how this came about as their kids now have kids of their own and live far away. It seems the family always decorated when their kids were young and there were lots of other small children living in the area. Every year they just kept on buying more decorations and decorating every year and now the young kids that used to come visit,have grown up and bring their kids to get a treat and to see the flying ghosts and skeletons and gravestones cropping up in the yard.It's like a Halloween reunion.

I especially liked the epitaphs on the gravestones when I went past to pay a visit.

The Halloween Meeting of the British Ladies

The Halloween Meeting of the British Ladies  

It's ME

As Halloween rolls around each year the ladies of the British Connection group in Grapevine meet for a Halloween meeting /party. We usually have it at the same house each year as one of the ladies' husband does an excellent job of decorating for Halloween and it just seems to be the best place ever.

Pirate Shirley

Usually we are given a theme for our costumes but all the ladies try to dress up in something special to make it a festive occasion .It is a chance to have a good laugh at seeing our usually serene and classy ladies in all kinds of funny clothes.

Witchy Shirley

I didn't feel I could put their photos on this blog but I don't mind putting mine. Here are some from past years.

Sister Shirley