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.

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High School Graduation Photo Shoot

High School Graduation photo shoots are a much-anticipated event for seniors across the United States!  I was excited when my second cousin…Maddie asked me to be her photographer!  As you can see, she’s a beautiful young lady!  She’s intelligent, athletic, and knows what she likes.  After taking photographs Tuesday evening, we arranged for her to come by my house on Wednesday and look through the 300 photographs and decide which were her favorites.  She brought her friend Ellie along, who is also beautiful, bright and a delight to be around!  Ellie recently had her photos taken by a photographer and spent over 10 times the amount Maddie is spending with me and didn’t like a couple of them very well.  She feels that if she had been able to look through the photographs and pick out the ones that she liked her expression in, she would have been more pleased.  Sometimes, just a subtle difference in the shape of the mouth, the look in the eyes, or the angle of the body can change their feeling of the photograph.  I think Maddie really enjoyed being able to have a bigger role in picking out the photographs.  As a bonus…we were able to spend some quality time together…I made dinner…they shot guns for the first time with my husband at our backyard shooting range and even took a tractor ride!

I liked all of the photos, but she had some favorites that weren’t mine and vice versa.  This one we both liked…

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The Party Place

Yesterday’s post was about my Aunt Colleen’s 70th birthday and I promised I would put up photos from the house it was held at in Cincinnati, Ohio (aka “The Party Place”).  It’s such an eclectic house, I just had to share it!

Here’s a portion of the kitchen and their fake butler…

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The living room has a comfy retro decor with bright colors.  Notice the Siamese cat on the sofa…

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The entry way butler is serving a cat on a platter to you.  This butler looks a bit snooty…

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Discover Treasures While Hiking

Hiking is such a great way to get exercise, enjoy the great outdoors, and if you’re a photographer, discover treasures along the way!  I’m fortunate to live five minutes away from a 500 acre nature preserve filled with burbling creeks, tons of wildlife, wildflowers, 4 miles of hiking trails and if timed correctly, I can usually have it all to myself.  Tuesday evening my husband, my dog and I took a 3 mile hike and here are some of my discoveries…

Not sure what these are called, but I like…

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Drive by Harley Shooting

Drive by Harley shooting takes on a whole new meaning when you snap photos while traveling 30-40 mph on the back of a Harley!  The other night was perfect for a short Harley ride to pick up some cheap sunglasses (since I keep scratching and losing mine) at the dollar store and some frozen yogurt at orange leaf.  Before anyone says anything…I know we should be wearing helmets.

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Exercise Can be Fun!

Playing sand volleyball is a great way to get exercise, socialize with friends and have tons of fun!  I invited about 100 people to play volleyball at Hahana Beach, a restaurant/bar with outdoor sand volleyball courts, in Cincinnati, Ohio and about 13 showed up yesterday.  It was a perfect day for it…with temps in the mid-70’s, low humidity and a beautiful sky with puffy clouds.  One of the ladies didn’t want to play so she took a few photos with my camera.  She got this great action shot of me jumping for the ball…

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I only play volleyball sporadically…on average about once every few years…but after yesterday’s fun I’m definitely playing more often.  I like this photo of Cindy after she hit the ball…

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Friendship Park

Summertime and parks just go together!  Just this year a friend told me about a park in Cincinnati that I hadn’t heard of named the  Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park.  I visited in the Spring with that friend and took photos.  You can read about that here.  Anyway, on Wednesday I met my friend Sherry there to walk and have a picnic dinner before heading over to Party in the Park.  This beautiful young lady, named Marie, was there with her skateboard and let me take a few photos.  Her mother was with her and informed me that she is a model.

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Stanley’s Pub Blues and BBQ

One of my favorite things to do in the summer is to sit on a patio, listening to great music, talking with friends, having a drink and last night at Stanley’s Pub I got to do all of them!  Four bands played the blues beginning with the Leo Clarke Band.  We missed them but loved Band #2 — Chuck Brisbin and the Tuna Project.  Odd name but they were great.

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Loved this belt my friend Laura had on…

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You’re Never Too Old for Pony Tails

Last night Randy and I rode the Harley to hear one of our favorite bands at a Harley shop, where they set up outdoors and have vendors selling BBQ and beer.  Some strong storms had moved through the area an hour or two before we left, but the radar was clear, so off we went.  Upon arrival, we discovered they had cancelled due to the threat of bad weather.  I’ll tell you about Plan B in a minute.

Anyway, I’ve been trying to think of a way to keep my hair from getting too tangled without putting it in a pony tail and braiding it and came up with this.  I felt like Pippi Longstocking…

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We pulled over on the Harley so I could take a pic of the sunset…

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Plan B…we met my friend Shari (some other friends arrived later) at the Silver Spring House, a local restaurant/bar and had a drink and some laughs.

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Tatoos and Hot Sauce

Over the weekend, it was perfect weather for being in a pool and that’s where I was on Saturday, at the Four Seasons Marina pool.  It was lively and crowded because boat owners weren’t taking their boats out due to high water on the Ohio River.  There were seven of us women and I had my old camera (Olympus PEN) with me.  We were having fun talking to a group of twenty-somethings and I took some photos of their tatoos.

I like how this one looks in black and white.  It almost looks like he’s melting…

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So colorful and creative…

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April rode her motorcycle to the marina from a yoga class…such a fun pic!

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New Photography Business and Website

Just wanted to let you know I’ve started a new business and website for photography!  Yeah!  The website is here.  Also, don’t forget I have a facebook page for this blog (look at the bottom of this page).  I’ll follow yours if you follow mine!  I feel like a kid saying that…fun..fun!

Lovin’ Loveland Bike Trail

Last night was perfect for a 12 mile bicycle ride on the Loveland Bike Trail which is located only 10 minutes from my home!  The 70 mile paved trail follows an old railroad line and the Little Miami River.  As I was taking a photo of the Loveland office, where I began, this gentleman called out wanting me to take his photo…so I had to quickly snap.

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A bit farther up the trail this guy and his beautiful dog were willing subjects.  Look at the blue eyes of the doggie…gorgeous!  I’ll bet that’s a great way to meet women!

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What do you think of my beach cruiser bicycle…purchased on Craigslist for $60 and it looks brand new!  I love the little basket!

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Four Seasons Marina

After attending Summerfair 2013 at Coney Island, my friend Kelley and I headed over to the Four Seasons Marina to have a late lunch at their restaurant…Pirates Cove.  I couldn’t help but notice how pretty the clouds reflected in the water.  They were probably noticing their own reflection…

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Dirty Girl Mud Run

Today I worked a one day assignment checking attendees in at a Dirty Girl Mud Run near my home in Ohio.  I found the Brand Ambassador position with Go Dirty Girls on Craigslist and basically sat at a booth along with a few others, each equipped with a pink I-Pad to check the ladies in and issue them their running number for the 5k breast cancer fund-raising challenge.  Approximately 90% of the 1,200 women/girls over the age of 14 years old checked in.

It was actually quite fun and of course I brought my camera to capture some of their smiles and enthusiasm!

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