All You Need Is Love

I don't know about you.  But there is something wonderful about being with the person that you love, on the land that you love while doing something that you both love doing.  Mr. Weingartner has grown so accustomed to the camera that now he rarely bothers to scowl at me.  He has accepted that it's just coming along as an extension of me.   

Milestones

Jordan and Haper | Newborn Photography Session | New Wilmington, PA

I always feel honored when asked to photograph a significant moment of someones life.  The opportunity to ask through my lens..."Who are you?" and "Where are you going?".  The chance to capture the most authentic aspects of a relationship.

The above image is the epitome of the relationship between Jordan and his newborn sister Harper.  A soft tender moment between siblings that will forever stand as a testament of Jordan's love for Harper.  Of how happy he is to have her in his life.

I hope that I have many more opportunities to photograph this little girl as she grows.  But I think that this image will always mark a major milestone in my creative journey.  That sometimes.. when something is at it's most challenging.  That God intervenes and things come together.  That the opportunity to capture a truly beautiful portrait will come.  The subject will show you his heart.  Hard work and the anxiety will bear fruit.  Your vision will manifest into something greater than you anticipated and your client will have an image that will portray some of the miracle of life.  And that some part of themselves that is hidden from the rest of the world will be revealed.

I believe that great images come from somewhere else...somewhere outside of artist.  Gabrielle Boiselle who I had the great honor of shooting with last June said that "great images come not from the artist....but from God".  I have to believe that as well.

Blue Skies Forever

Fishing on the bass pond.

I love water shots.  They are great opportunities to let your eye roam around and see the image within the image.  Thanks to Skywatch Friday

Spooky Bodie Island Lighthouse

Stormy Sky - Bodie Island Lighthouse - Outer Banks, NC

As promised...here is the 'slightly spooky' photo of the Lighthouse on Bodie Island.  I'm hard pressed to decide which photo I like better.  I think my Muse likes this one though.  Looks like something straight out of a Scooby-Doo episode.  Can't you just see the Mystery Machine pulling up?!?  Or Nancy Drew...she would have gotten herself enmeshed in something or other here.

The Tractor Shed

The Tractor Shed at Kemland Farm, Volant, PA

What A Difference A Year Makes

I can not believe that it has been over 10 months since I last blogged.  I feel like someone should send me to bed without dinner.  I have no excuse for myself other than I was busy...just like everyone else I know.  So no excuses.  I'm going to start making up for lost time....much writing and photograph posting to commence.  I hope to see you here in a couple of days.

Motion Blur Shot of Glenn Watterson Sr., Darlington Polo Club

The Darlington Polo Club schedule for this season is posted.  As always I'm so excited for the opportunity to catch up with friends and to spend some time behind the lens photographing these magnificently athletic horses.

Heaven Is A Bass Pond

Skywatch Friday


Can you picture the Large Mouth Bass jumpin' and the Barn Swallow's diving?

The sun going down and the mist starting to roll in here on a little slice of heaven in New Wilmington, PA that I call home. Come on out and join me sometime for picture taking, Bass fishing or a glass of wine and a quiet chat....I would love to have you!

The Measurement of Time

Pre-School Graduation today for my Nephew!

10 Ways Which Time Has Been Measured This Week

10. My Nephew is 5 and is graduating from Pre-School. Huh wha...you were just a little baby like yesterday right. I attended your birth. You can't be 5 and having your first Graduation ceremony...it's just not possible.

9. I broke my ankle 7 weeks ago...I thought the pain was never going to go away. Last night I managed 20 minutes and .55 miles on the treadmill. I'm so thankful for fast healing bones. But why can't I heal up faster?

8. We replaced the barn roof over the weekend.....it was put on 30 years ago. This fact just smacked me in the face. I remember them building the barn...how is it 30 years old already?

7. The scale. You know that thing you weigh yourself on. Ummmm yeah. It's going in the wrong direction like every year. I'm going to have to start paying strict attention to that one.

6. Thursday lunches w/my Grandpa. This is a revelation to me. I remember when HE used to pick ME up for dates. Now it's the opposite. The circle of life.

5. When my Mum was my age.....I was Graduating from High School. Ummm hello! I still don't think that I'm mature enough to raise a child and my Mum did so successfully by my age. Thanks Mum!

4. Last night I was going through some pictures that I have taken over the last 4 years. And wow they have got progressively better. I can not wait to see how my photography is going to change in the upcoming year.

3. Yesterday on the 4 Wheeler .... I was cruising the nursery checking out trees. And I thought ... Wow this field is about cleared out. How is that possible. I remember very clearly planting it on a Saturday morning. I was late for week and still a bit tipsy from the night before. (lol) The realization hit me then....that was 14 Springs ago.

2. Polo starts next Friday night....it seems like forever since I've been to a match. But it's only been 8 months.

1. The last 12 months with my husband have been AMAZING! The way I gauge happiness has been forever changed and I'm just amazed and thankful daily for my fabulous life. Thanks honey...I love you more now than I ever have.

What about you? How have you measured time this week?

Grateful

Magnolia soulangiana

First the photo...this is a lovely old Magnolia at my fathers house. It really has no comparison, not that I've seen anyway. I can not remember a time that it wasn't this huge friend waiting in the side yard. It was my favorite hiding spot to read as a kid, a great climbing tree, and a solid friend to whisper secrets to when things weren't going good.

I'm very disappointed in the photo though...a bad in camera crop. And due to the ankle injury I neglected to back up and use that wide angle lens to get a shot of the whole tree. Oh well hopefully next year I can get a shot of the whole tree in all it's glory.

Second. The ankle injury has really made me take the time to really think about what I want out of life. In other words....having to slow down has been a good thing. A time to reflect on where I'm at. Where I want to be. And how to get there from here.

Bottom line...I want to spend more time doing the things that excite me and that I'm passionate about. I want more time to spend with people I love and the people that are positive and living life to the fullest.

Again...the question how to get there from here?

What excites you? What are you passionate about? And what are you doing to bring these things/people to the forefront of your life?

Waitin' on Work

Bobcat 863 with a 28 Caretree Spade and Grouser Tracks Waiting For Work.

The spring digging season is super short this year. For some trees the window to dig closed last week. For most of the rest we will be lucky to make it though the week.

Not that's it's overly important this year. The tree market is totally in the tank. We have friends in the nursery industry that are bull dozing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of trees. Unfortunately there is no way to stop production of trees. It takes years to grow them and the row spacing is set to sell them off in a certain number of years.

We have a few fields that will be seeing a chainsaw to every other tree in the row in order to save half of them. But for the most part our spacing is good. Hopefully the fall season will spell redemption.

Flyin' High

Westminster College Brittain Lake Hill ... A sledding tradition for the sleepy little town of New Wilmington PA

Companionship

Bruce's horses Samson and Meg...long time companions.

Winter Poo

Life in Pennsylvania sure is interesting.

Today for your viewing pleasure I'm presenting two photos. The first is a weeds. That's right folks....weeds.

And the second, well I'll let you see for yourself....

Poo! Or more correctly some type of animal scat. But we're gonna call it poo.

Now I'm sure that you want to know why in the world I took the time to take these pictures (and I'm sure more than a couple of you are wanting to know why I got so close to poo).

I'm test driving a new lens. How exciting, right! And I wanted to see what it could do and shoot stuff with the old and the new and compare. Especially sharpness which I thought was a problem on my old lens (and it is).

Fine your thinking....so go ahead and test drive (shoot)....but why poo (and for that matter...weeds)?

Well (and I can't believe that I'm going to admit this)......I'm genuinely interested in the poo. I didn't set out to be. But once I saw it I was curious as to whether it was Red Fox or Coyote scat. And it was as good a place as any to experiment how close I can get with the lens.

And the weeds. I was working on Depth of Field...and how sharp I could get the individual blades of grass to be. And seperating moving grass in the forground from the moving grass in the background. And yowser can the 70-200 2.8 focus fast. Like scary fast. Like I have to get a grip....fast! Needless to say....I can't wait for polo season to start. It's a whole need world with this lens.

The weeds....really it's some sort of grass....I'd like to know if it's native and what kind it is. Now that I took the picture and have been looking at it....it would be nice to have a name for it.

Oh and the poo.....I have no idea what kind of animal left it. I'm going to submit it to the poo picture place run by Cornell and find out. It's a free service. They keep the photo (they are more than welcome to it) and we dear bloggers get to find out what critter is living on the back 50!

Snow Angel

Snow Angel's are fun to make.... apparently horses agree!

It's hard work though....

I've seen this look before.....on my husbands face! Looks like all the 'men' in my life and not so happy to have their pictures taken these days.

Saucy Redhead

The Saucy Redhead!

This is Ms. Meg aka Nut Meg. She is one of my winter charges. I have a friend who works in Florida in the winter and his two horses come and stay with us. They are a welcome addition to the herd. Her personality is fantastic. And she is always up for a display of attitude. If memory serves me she is in her early 20's.

Pullin' My Heart Strings

My entry for Sunday Stills.

Otis

Sitting in the morning sun

I'll be sitting when the evening comes....

Hay you

ATTENTION:

I am the proudest little picture taker EVER!

My photo titled 'The Old Bank Barn' won 2nd place in a photography contest. I have to thank everyone who comments on this blog for your lovely remarks about that particular shot...as it gave me the courage to enter it. You can view the picture with it's shiny gold star at Learn to Take Photos, which is a online photography school where I've purchased a couple of tutorials (one of which is helping me get over my 'photoshop disability') and taken two online classes. The school is run by two fantastic photographers, Laura Cotterman and Christina Handley. Check the school out and be sure to click on the Photography Tips tab. There is a bunch of easy to understand information about photography.

Anyway....back to me...... Thank you blog readers.... your critiques and comments are so helpful. And I so enjoy our interaction here and at your blogs.

Day 30 - A Walk In The Woods

My first attempt at zooming while exposing. Have you ever tried this before? Any tips?

I'm thinking that I need to set the camera on something stationery and maybe slow the shutter speed down a little more. The little squiggles of light are funny looking. Not really sure what to do.

It was very fun to come back and look at these attempts on the computer though. I Can not wait to get out there and try it again.

P.S. Sorry I have not been by your blogs. I have a wretched cold and the computer screen just makes my head and eyes throb. I'll be by soon. I miss everyone!

Days 25 - 26 - 27 Twitter Pictures Via Twit Pic

Another Picture From Last Saturday...not part of Project 365. But I wanted to share it!

To see the photos for Days 25, 26, and 27 your going to have to go to my Twitter page. These three photos were taken with my camera phone. And I'm not sure how to download those to my computer. I'll work on that.

Anyway if your not familiar with Twitter. It's okay. It's easy. Just click on my twitter update box over in the sidebar. It will take you to my Twitter page. You can then either sign up for Twitter OR you can just click on my Tweet and you will be able to open the link with the picture.

If you want to leave feed for me just start the sentence with: @pawildwoman Then leave your comment and your message will show up on my page.

It's easy.

I hope you enjoy the next three pictures. And Day 27 will include a little bonus!