The first snow of the season is always exciting…even if it’s only an inch of snow. After the sun came up, I was outside in my house slippers to capture a bit of the magic!
It seems odd for green or red bushes and trees to be covered with snow…
Category Archives: Photography/Art
Sunset from the Carew Tower
Experiencing the sunset from the Carew Tower in Cincinnati, Ohio is a must-do if you ever visit or especially if you live here. I like being a “Tourist in my City” and take advantage of things to do in my own hometown! One of the camera club meetups that I belong to hosted an event at the top of the Carew Tower last night. From the time construction was completed in 1930 and up until 2010, the Carew Tower was the tallest building in Cincinnati and at a cost of $33 million, a very expensive one also! I arrived early to take some photos of Fountain Square and the Art deco inside the Carew Tower. I’m learning a lot in my weekly camera class and would have stayed longer to practice taking some additional night shots, but it got really cold.
Using my Nikon D5100, in manual mode I set my aperture at 8 and metered for my shutter speed away from the sun. With my camera on a tripod, I had my ISO set at 100 and white balance on Cloudy. A couple of the attendees said the color is more vibrant if it’s set on Cloudy. I had forgotten and left the image stabilization on which can cause photos to not be as clear if they are on a tripod. Luckily, one of the members reminded me, so I was able to get a few more photos with it off. I don’t have a remote trigger yet, so I used the self-timer for some of the shots.
My photos are shown backwards…from the end of the evening to the beginning. The Ohio River is meandering down below…
Collecting Barns
I love barns and whenever I come across an interesting one, I take a photograph…so I guess you could say I’m collecting barns! I’d like to share them with you!
This one was taken in Hillsboro, Ohio…
Camp Springs Winery in Kentucky is home to this one…
What to do in Ripley, Ohio…go to Meranda-Nixon Winery
Wineries are so much fun and Meranda-Nixon Winery in Ripley, Ohio is no exception! Although summer is gone…the vineyards are still beautiful. My friends and I drove out there yesterday. Located about 40 minutes from the east side of Cincinnati, it’s not too far of a drive. Because it was a Friday, there were only a few other patrons there. The owners are Seth and his wife Maura. We joked that we wanted some “Maura wine”. Anyway, Maura did the wine tasting for us and gave us some background about their lives. Both she and her husband are widowers and when they met recently…they only dated for one month before getting married!
I asked her how many employees they have and she replied, “Her husband and four children! While we were there, two of the boys came in to help wash glasses. The 11-year-old took me for a ride on their “gator”! I asked him how fast it would go and he said 21 mph, so I asked him to floor it! He probably thought I was crazy when I asked him to do donuts in the front yard!
99 Beers on the Wall at Hops House
Last night my husband and I were treated to dinner at Hollywood Casino‘s newest restaurant, Hops House 99. It was their Grand Opening! As we approached the entrance I took a photo…
With 36 HD TV‘s and 99 beers to pass around…you can definitely stay entertained here! After being seated, we had the difficult task of choosing one of the 99 beers. We both chose the Bourbon Ale and loved it! It has over 8% alcohol…so we didn’t have a second.
Unexpected Treasures at Sunrise
Before heading out to jog the other morning, I wanted to capture some sunrise photographs. I drove a few minutes along the country roads, found a place to pull off and began shooting the sunrise. I had a similar experience the day before trying to shoot the sunset. None of the photographs turned out…but I loved these looking the opposite way from the sunrise of someone’s fence and small pond. The fence reflection is pretty cool! And the pink sky is lovely.
Perhaps this can be a metaphor for life…if the direction you’re heading in isn’t working out…try a different way.
Life is Like a Box of Chocolates
Looking out of my kitchen window while preparing dinner a few days ago, I realized the sun was going to set soon, so I stopped what I was doing, grabbed my gear…Nikon D5100 and tripod…and drove a few minutes away to capture it. Our yard is surrounded by trees, so you can’t see the sunset from our home.
I parked in someone’s driveway, with a view of the top of their home in the distance, beyond a large field of corn. The corn and sky had a nice hue from the setting sun…
The reason for my title “Life is Like a Box of Chocolates” is that I went out with the intention of capturing the sunset, but none of those photographs turned out well. Instead, I returned with corn field photographs and the others shown below. So…you just never know what you’re going to get in life!
Autumn at Long Branch Farm
Long Branch Farm is a Cincinnati Nature Center property, located in Goshen, Ohio with 632 acres and 5 miles of hiking. I live very near here and trail jog five or six times a week with my dog…Jake. Many days while I’m jogging, I’ll wish I had brought my camera because everything is so beautiful, but when you have a dog like Jake with you…that’s not an option. So I laced up my shoes, while Jake was prancing around thinking he was going, and left without him to take photographs. I usually jog about 4 miles and cross the creek about 3 times. This is an area where you jog along the trail bordering the creek.
There’s a moss covered pond that looks quite pretty in the early morning sunlight…
Senior Graduation Photos for Sam
Sam was my third Senior Graduation Photo shoot and what a handsome guy! His mother and I were waiting for a nice weather day and for the leaves to change some. She called me a couple of hours before I did the shoot to see if I was available. We only had an 1 1/2 hours of daylight so I worked fast. I really like this one. It’s near the end of the shoot. The light is falling on his face, but not in his eyes and didn’t cause him to squint.
I love barns and he looks relaxed here…like he’s reaching up for just a moment.
Autumn has arrived at Indiana’s oldest and largest winery…Oliver Winery
Oliver Winery in Bloomington, Indiana has stunning scenery…stone landscaping, sculptures, beautiful flowers, and tranquil seating areas. For my annual girls’ weekend this year, five of us visited the winery this past Saturday. It’s one of eight wineries on the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail. The day before, a few of us went to the Butler Winery, which is also on the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail, and really enjoyed our time there. They are very different from each other. Butler Winery is much smaller, has a more homey feel and natural beauty, and only a handful of people were there. As you’ll see from these photos…Oliver Winery was very crowded, but beautiful!
Dee is taking our photo here…
Hiking the Rock Shelter Loop Trail
I love hiking and so do my girlfriends, so on our recent girls’ weekend, we went hiking on the Rock Shelter Loop Trail in Morgan Monroe State Forest, Indiana. I had researched hiking trails in the area, and this trail seemed to be a good choice. The trail was only supposed to be 20 minutes away from our Vacation Rental by Owner (VRBO), but getting lost on those back country roads made it seem much farther. We couldn’t find the trail head once we were in the State Forest, but luckily I had the phone number for Morgan Monroe State Forest with me, so we called its location. We weren’t going crazy…there was no sign for it. The large sign said Low Gap Trail and then once you park and start that trail, there is a small sign (see below) indicating that the Rock Shelter Loop Trail is part of that trail.
Anyway, it was supposed to be a three-mile hike, but ended up being four miles. I took a photograph of this leaf that was on a slick rocky portion of the trail. The sunlight was illuminating it…
Girls Gone Wild
OK…so we’re not really girls anymore…more like ladies…but we did get a little wild! Here are some photos from the 24 hours we spent together (excluding sleeping time).
Dee (the Chiropractor…the 2nd photo down on the right) gave us a partial Pilates class Saturday morning, so Cindy put on an outfit she had bought recently that makes her look like I Dream of Jeannie.
I can’t divulge what story Gina (in the middle) was telling us, but it was obviously very funny! Cindy (on the left) was also a bit appalled!
Hiking at Elm House
For my annual girls’ weekend, I found a Vacation Rental by Owner in Bloomington, Indiana (aka Elm House) that had everything we were looking for—a home located on 100 acres with hiking trails, three bedrooms for five of us, two bathrooms (a must), a hot tub, and two wineries located within five miles! If you read yesterday’s post, you’ll recall our first stop was a winery located five minutes from the property. From there we found the house, unpacked the car and took a quick tour of the house. Elm House has three short maintained hiking trails on the grounds, so we laced our hiking boots and headed for the longest trail…a one-miler. There were only three of us at this point. Two of the ladies weren’t arriving until around 6:00pm.
Here’s a beautiful view from the house looking down at the sawmill that is located on the property.
First Stop on the Girls’ Weekend…Butler Winery
When I prepared the itinerary for my annual girls’ weekend this year, I included a stop at two of Indiana’s beautiful wineries.
After driving three hours from Cincinnati and getting lost a few times on the back country roads, we were ready for a glass of wine! I had Google map directions and my friends had smart phones, but some of the streets didn’t have signs and we lost signal with the phones. Butler Winery, located just five minutes from the Vacation Rental By Owner, was a convenient and fun stop! They offer six complimentary tastings.
Notice the reflected vineyards in the window…
Pets are good for you
I love animals and like most people have pets.
A dog named Jake and a new addition to the family…a cat named Kate or Katie. If you’ve read my blog in the past, you probably have seen photos of Jake, so I thought I’d let you meet Katie. She’s very sweet, loves to eat and definitely has put Jake in his place.
She’s the Queen and here she is on her throne…
She has some favorite places to lay around…on a padded bar stool in the great room and on a pillow on my desk. A friend had her for a short time…long enough to realize she wasn’t getting along with her other cat…so I agreed to take her. I wasn’t sure how the dog and cat would get along, but after a shaky start, within the first week they now walk by each other without any clawing or hissing from Katie. Jake is a big sweetie and would never hurt her…but I can see her point of view. When you’re as tiny as her and there’s a big dog wanting to play, I think I’d be a bit worried too!
Jake hates to see me give her attention…Oh, why mommie, why?
You’ve probably heard about the studies that show how our blood pressure drops when we pet dogs or cats. I actually get sleepy when I pet Katie…now Jake is another story. He’s so playful and hyper most of the time…mine probably goes up with him!
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