Spring is Here!

Posted in Adventures at Home, Challenges by Annie T

I’m pretty sure that the universe really wants me to post some photos of flowers today. Why, you ask? Three reasons, primarily. First, Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge is FLOWERS. Second, the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is SPRING. And third (and most importantly of all), my yard is in full bloom!!! Look at the beautiful spectacle I was greeted with upon arriving home from work today. Spring is really here!!!

In addition to the blossoming pink cherry trees that line the street in front of our house we also have weeping cherry, pear, and crabapple trees that are all blooming. Combine those with my daffodils, viburnum, vinca, and potted dahlias and that makes for a pretty amazing Spring scene!

Pink Dahlia

Vinca

Cherry Blossoms

Pear Blossoms

Crazy Daffodil

Red Dahlias (potted annuals)

Weeping Cherry Blossoms

Crabapple Blossoms

Unfortunately the deer have also realized that Spring has arrived and they are doing their best to gobble up the tasty tulips and azaleas as quickly as they can grow. This was never a problem in the past because Bailey patrolled the yard like it was her job, but it has now become clear that the deer have learned that their german shorthaired nemesis is no longer around to harass them.

Here’s an example of deer destruction in my tulip bed. Photo 1 is from last summer, 2 is what the baby tulips looked like in late March before we went to California, and 3 is what they look like now. Ack!! I have since pushed several pointy sticks into the flower bed (photo 4) to try to prevent the deer from wedging their heads in to snack… it’s not pretty but so far it has worked!

1: Tulips Last Year

2: Tulips in March

4: Deer-Proof Tulip Bed?

3: Deer-Ravaged Tulips

All deer issues aside, after the long, cold winter we had it is really wonderful to finally experience Spring. I’m going to try to spend as much time as possible outside enjoying the weather this weekend, starting off with a 5K trail race tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

22Mar2014

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflection

Posted in Challenges by Annie T

This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is reflection:

I captured this photo of a Canadian Goose and his reflection on February 5th during the damaging ice storm that caused hundreds of thousands of power outages in our area. I was wandering around my mom’s icy backyard on snowshoes with my Nikon D90 when I spotted this goose standing at the edge of the pond. Hershey the chocolate lab saw the goose too and took off across the yard towards it. Luckily I had my camera up and ready and was able to snap a few shots as the goose flapped its wings and flew across the ice!

24Oct2013

Bailey

Posted in Bailey by Annie T

It’s been a while since I posted about Bailey so I thought a nice picture-filled update would be fun! Here are some photos that I took earlier this week. I love this dog!

The above photo is classic Bailey. She looks very serious because I’m holding her frisbee in my hand and trying to get her to make a nice expression for the camera. She’s like “come on, just throw it already!” This is what happened when I finally threw the frisbee…

The weather is too cold for dock diving now but Bailey is keeping herself busy patrolling the yard for squirrels, lounging in the afternoon sun, and burrowing as deep as possible into her doggie sleeping bag when it’s time for bed. Bailey has also been taking K9 Nosework classes for several months. Last night she finally graduated from searching for treats to hunting for “birch” odor, woohoo! I’m biased, of course, but I think she has a very good nose, don’t you? 🙂

As I write this Bailey is curled up between Matt and me on the couch. She is not normally allowed on the furniture but when it gets cold out we let her snuggle with us. If we snuggle too much she gets hot and hops off the couch to cool off though…. which just happened. Now she’s headed up to bed. Good night, Bailey!

22Apr2013

Weekly Photo Challenge: Up

Posted in Bailey, Challenges by Annie T

This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is “Up.” As you may have noticed, I love to use photos of Bailey whenever possible in these challenges and it just so happens that jumping UP is one of her favorite things to do!

The first photo shows Bailey competing in Big Air at the Dock Daze event in May 2012 and the second photo was taken during the Extreme Vertical competition at the 2010 Delmarva Doggone Fun event. Bailey ended up winning with a height of 7 feet!

11Apr2013

Weekly Photo Challenge: Color

Posted in Adventures at Home, Challenges by Annie T

I haven’t been very good about doing the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenges every week, but I like this week’s topic so I thought I would jump back in and participate! Here’s my red-hued take on Color:

Red-Headed Woodpecker (February 2013)

Red-tailed Dragonfly (2011)

Red Dahlia with a grasshopper (Summer 2012)

Bailey with her Red Wubba (June 2011)

Red Jalapeno Pepper (Summer 2012)

Ladybug! (2012)

Red Zinnia (2012)

Red Tomatoes (2012)

Looking at all of those beautiful red veggies and flowers is really making me want to plant my vegetable garden! 🙂 Just a few weeks to go…

13Jan2013

Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination

Posted in Challenges by Annie T

OK, I know that I skipped last week’s “Resolved” photo challenge, but, photo or no photo, I am proud to share that I am going strong on Day 53 of my “Streaking” resolution. “Streaking” was my December challenge to run/elliptical at least a mile a day between Thanksgiving and New Year’s but when January 1st came around I decided to keep the streak going until June 8, 2013 (which happens to be our wedding day). We actually kicked off 2013 with a 2.4 mile RUN — the farthest I’ve run since college — but that’s a story for a different post. 🙂

This week’s Weekly Photo Challenge is Illumination:

Illumination is a topic near and dear to me because Matt and I actually manufacture and sell these lights for a living!

Also related to the week’s challenge topic is the city that we’re traveling to this week:

Nope, not Paris… we’re going to Vegas! We go once a year for a big trade show so we’ll be working hard but I’m pretty sure that we’ll be able to find time to eat plenty of yummy food and take lots of photos. 🙂 Have a good week everyone!

7Dec2012

Weekly Photo Challenge: Changing Seasons

Posted in Challenges by Annie T

This week’s WordPress Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge is “Changing Seasons.” I recently decided that my favorite time of year is in fact the transition period between seasons so I think this topic is fantastic!

Matt and I have lived in our house for nearly two years now and I often find myself taking photos of the view from the north-facing edge of our tiny deck. I have amassed quite a collection of photos throughout the changing seasons so I’ll use this Photo Challenge as an excuse to share some of them!

Do you have any favorite photos that illustrate “Changing Seasons” ? Please feel free to link to them below or link to your blog if you are also participating in the Weekly Photo Challenge!

8Aug2012

(i)Phoneography: Using the camera you never leave home without

Posted in Uncategorized by Annie T

I love my Nikon D90 camera. Since getting it in 2009 I’ve taken more than 39,000 photos and it’s the camera behind 99.9% of the flying dogs, colorful flowers, and tasty foods you’ll see on this blog. That being said, my Nikon is HUGE and screams “photographer” (or, worse yet, “steal me!”) so it just isn’t practical to bring it with me everywhere I go.

Enter the iPhone camera: tiny, lightweight, unobtrusive, and – most importantly – already with me at all times! The iPhone obviously won’t yield the same results as the Nikon D90 but it is a fantastic substitute when the perfect photo opp presents itself and I don’t happen to have the big camera with me. Here are some photos that I took with my iPhone:

These are some tips that I try to keep in mind while taking photos with my phone:

It’s all about the light. Avoid grainy, blurry phone photos by choosing shots where your camera will excel. Look for people or objects facing into the sun (or a sunny window) or choose a well lit indoor location.
Use another phone as an “off camera flash.” If you do need to take a photo in a dark room, borrow a friend’s phone set to “flashlight” mode to light up your subject. This will give you much better results than your own phone’s on board flash.
Make your point with a clear subject. Minimize clutter by removing unnecessary items from the frame or getting closer to your subject so it’s clear what the focus of the photo is. This will help later if your photo is going to be viewed on a tiny phone screen or shared in thumbnail size on social media sites like Facebook.
Post-processing is OK! My iPhone photos are often fairly flat and uninspiring but I have had a lot of fun using Apps like Instagram and BeFunky to jazz them up a bit. Don’t be afraid to play around… they’re just photos, after all! 🙂

I’d love to see YOUR favorite camera phone shots! Please feel free to post links to them and/or leave your own ‘phoneography’ tips in the comments.