July 18th is Scott Kelby's second annual Worldwide PhotoWalk......come find a group and join the fun!!!
Hubby and I will be joining the man himself, Scott Kelby, for a morning Ybor City walk then a sunset walk at Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks with the one and only Jeff Donald!!!
Should be a great time.....any day in Ybor is destined to be an adventure!!
And the sun setting over the gulf can be one of the most gorgeous skies!
http://worldwidephotowalk.com/

My youngest, Lea and Alex are having a little baby boy!!!! Due September 18th.
A little Virgo baby! How cool is that?
This will be my first grandbaby and Karl's third!!!! :)
It's so hard sometimes to believe Lea is old enough to be a mommie......was it really that long ago? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..............
To view 4D video please Click here

Our most favorite place to eat......the Zen Forrest has won our heart and taste buds with the most incredible tastes we have ever experienced......

An elegant and cozy place snugly hidden in New Port Richey, the Zen Forrest has been serving the Tampa bay area for over five years now. Happy to be the culinary doorway to China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, as well a fusion of international and American flavors.

Chef Victor Wang has had over 20 years of restaurant industry experience. A family with generations in the restaurant industry, his entry into the restaurant world was that of a very young age.

Victor has traveled throughout Asia, and the States picking up recipes and ideas everywhere he went learning from chefs of various cuisines.
Chef Wang is an avid believer in the benefits of balanced nutrition and the philosophy of “Food as Medicine.” Studies have shown that many human ailments are caused by a lack of or excess of certain nutrients.
Also, many foods have been proven to help prevent many human illnesses. Chef Wang has read studies regarding these foods and combines these findings with his own cooking style.

Zen Forrest Rolls with Hot and Spicy Lemon Mustard Sauce


Absolutely the BEST....and I do mean the BEST... Tuna Tataki on earth!!

The most delicious General Tao's Chicken ever ever ever........with Wasabi Mashed potatoes and cooked Veggie Bean Sprouts
You have to try this dish....it is like no other General Tao's anywhere......
Fresh hormone-free chicken breast cooked to perfection.....absolutely scrumptious......My favorite dish of all time!



Incredible homemade desserts.........this is their mouthwatering Raspberry Cheese Cake....simply the best!

Food so yummy nary a morsel left........


Still not convinced?????

Where was the last place you went that made you behave like this......:)


If you are ever in the area, or even remotely close, or in the mood to travel cross country or fly overseas........this place will definitely make your trip worth while.....you will not be disappointed!
Guaranteed to tantalize your taste buds and leave you wanting more......!!!!

My first night pic to come out half way decent!
Taken for a photography class assignment.

This is our Electric Company Substation in town. My hope was to try for a cityscape, but living in a small town, this was about as city as I was going to get for the night.

Aside from all the mind blowing things to tweek for a perfect photo, aperture, lighting, speed, ISO, white balance, composition, yaada yadda yadda, my thoughts kept going back to what passerbyer's (hmmmm....is that a real word!?) might be thinking as I patiently sit waiting for that "golden moment" when the lighting is just, you know, perfect!
In this day an age of terrorism and suspicion, one never really knows the thoughts or intentions of another.
So with that lovely thought in mind I tried to be more obvious in my activity as to not appear suspect with a ready excuse of blaming my photography teacher should an explanation be necessary!

Oh, and for the record, I know I know, I really blew the "rule of thirds" on this one, but, geeeeeeezzzz, there's just so much a brain can handle at one time! LOL!

Today I'm uploading photo files to their new home......my trusty EHD what would I do without you!?
And so I come across this little guy I nearly forgot about.
Created just barely a month ago and marking one of Florida's coldest night of the season.
Meet the Florida snowman......ok.....so he's but only 4 inches tall...nonetheless.......he is authentic in his making.........and a rare site for these neck of the woods.
Is he not just the cutest 'lil thing??
Shortly after sunrise, the mornings heat melted Mr Snowman's round belly and off he went, skiing down the roof of the car, sliding down the windshield, and speeding off the hood and air borne onto the warm driveway.

Along comes Trissy, our number 2 Rat Terrier and quickly gobbles up Mr Snowman..........twig eyes and all...........................

Oh, Mr Snowman....how short your life.....but what smiles you brought to your owners as we carefully affixed your scruffy little arms and beady little stick eyes........you fell apart so many times.........by the time we had you built to perfection you were nearly half the size you started out to be.......we laughed so hard.......!

Big ***TOOTS*** to Ree Drummond for taking top prize at the 2009 Weblog Awards for her site
http://thepioneerwoman.com/confessions/

Ree won Best Photography, Best-Designed Weblog and Weblog of the Year.

As an admitted stalker of Ree's site I look forward to her wonderful sense of humor as she shares her daily life of photography, gardening tips, Do-it-Yourself ideas, and scrumptious recipes!

Here's to you girl..........Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!

Couple of pix created playing around with masks and brushes........

Had fun this morning playing with some textures by Textures by Paul Grand Click here
Check out his site if you get a chance....please remember to leave some luv!!!
You can also find a huge variety of super cool textures at
http://mayang.com/textures/index.htm
...............have fun!!!!!
Off to take the pups to the park.....another gorgeous day in Florida!!! :)

Found time to play a bit today........this is Miss Kitty....this day unlike most she was quite cooperative for our little photo shoot........isn't she just the cutest?

This quote by Dorothea Lange is the basis of this weeks creative assignment. To explore our hometown with new eyes. To see what we have never stopped to see before.
In the busyness of our daily lives we too often forget to stop and "smell the flowers". To stop and take notice of the small things, sometimes the important things. Sometimes the big things.
Today I spent some time visiting our local Humane Society. A place I pass by almost daily, never giving thought to the needs that might exist there. What I saw was quite sombering...but also encouraging....as the volunteers who dedicate their time to making the world a better place for these precious animals are a testament to what wonderful works can be accomplished when it comes from the heart.
Being the owner of 4 amazing dogs.......and loving them dearly.......it was heartbreaking to see the eyes of these creatures longing for a loving pat on the head.......a buddy to play ball with, a warm blanket to cuddle to, the joy of having a happy and loving "real home".
They ask for so little and give so much.
The Humane Society's purpose is to eliminate animal suffering and provide pet adoption education and counseling to the public. Their goal is to engage the hearts, hands and minds of the community to help all animals.
The Humane Society is a private non-profit organization and depend on the goodwill of others.
Please consider adoption, becoming a foster family, volunteering, or donating to your local chapter.

Today's my birthday! Yaaay....happy birthday to me!!!
Hubby and I spent the day at Epcot. :)
P.S. Free admission on your birthday.......another Yaaay!!!
Loving all the photo opportunities and completed Lesson 1 for my photography class with Candice Stringham at http://www.jessicasprague.com/

This week’s technical assignment was to take two photographs of someone or something in motion using the TV mode on my camera.
One shot at a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion and one at a slow shutter speed to show the blur of the motion.
Here are my results.
The more pictures I took, the more I studied my results, paying attention to all the settings, the more it started to make sense! Like....aaahaaaa......I get it!! :)

For those into Digital Scrapbooking, Kubivet offers beautifully creative digital kits for free....
Please remember to leave some luv if you download! :)
http://kubivet.blogspot.com/

I found this story on the news this morning quite incredible.....

Now it's been a long time since my children were in school......and I do remember the days of requests for funds to help defray the cost of daily supplies for the children.....but isn't this just a bit much.........

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090108/SCHOOLS/901080424

So the much anticipated day arrived....... I was super excited about the Gasparilla 5K race....hubby spent 2 days trying to conjure up ways to get out of it! But being the great sport that he is we headed to Tampa at 6 in the morning yesterday!
Our first stop....(and I only mention this because I was quite amazed at what we discovered) was MCDonalds for a quickie "energy" boost...lol...nothing like greasy deep fried hash browns to get the body rev'd up!
And though it's been a long time since I've been inside a Mikey D's, this one was quite impressive.
The place was immaculate. The floors were covered in beautiful faux wood tiles, stylish green covered booths, comfy sitting chair areas like you see in popular coffee shops, classy looking light fixtures, and rich brick lining the walls which displayed beautiful rain forest photographs. And the bathroom.......beautiful granite counters and lovely amenities of silky lotion soaps and wonderfully smelling hand cream.
The staff were decked out in professional looking suit type attire all crisp and styling.
And as much as I wanted to, I think I would have really been pushing my luck with hubby if I had gone as far as to photograph them too.......As it were I think he was trying to look like he wasn't my other half as I walked around snapping pictures of all the cool additions to this little "hamburger joint"

A yearly event, the Gasparilla Distance Classic, raises funds to provide the necessary athletic equipment and support required for people with disabilities to stay active and involved through participation in sports.
This was our second time participating in this event and I proudly say my run time excelled that of 2006......OK........so only by 17 seconds.......but hey......at nearly 52 years old and counting, it sure seemed BIG to me!

100 Things I’ve Learned About Photography

Since I found photography two and a half years ago I have learned different things which I would like to share with you today. These lessons have made me richer and I hope that you will find them refreshing and inspiring on your journey with the camera, too.

1. Never do photography to become a rock-star.
2. Enjoy what you are shooting.
3. Prepare well for your shooting, realizing that if your battery isn’t charged when you’re setting up for that sunrise shoot it's too late!
4. Always take one warm garment more than you actually need with you
5. Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions while you are shooting
6. Set goals you can achieve
7. Write tips about photography, because writing is also learning
8. Never go shooting without a tripod
9. Be pleased with the little prosperities
10. Build relationships with potential photo buddies
11. Watch the place you want to shoot first with your heart then with the camera
12. Always stay calm
13. Know that you tend to overestimate yourself
14. Perspective is the killer
15. Dedicate yourself to photography, but never browbeat yourself too much
16. Take part in a photography community
17. Keep your camera clean
18. Never compare yourself to others in a better or worse context
19. Find your own style of photography
20. Try to compose more and to hit the shutter less
21. Seek out and learn to accept critique on your images
22. Do something different to recover creativity
23. Get inspiration from the work of other photographers
24. Criticize honestly but respectfully
25. Get feedback from your significant other
26. Don’t copy other photographer’s style
27. Be bold
28. Take care of the golden ratio
29. 10mm rocks!
30. Take self portraits
31. Read books about photography
32. To give a landscape photograph the extra boost, integrate a person (maybe yourself)
33. Every shooting situation is different than you expect
34. Pay attention to s-curves and lines
35. Always shoot in RAW
36. Keep your sensor clean, so you can save some work cleaning your image in post production
37. Discover the things you think are beautiful
38. It takes time to become a good photographer
39. The best equipment is that what you have now
40. You can’t take photographs of everything
41. Break the rules of photography knowingly, but not your camera ;)
42. Pay attention to the different way that light falls on different parts of your scene
43. The eye moves to the point of contrast
44. Clouds increase the atmosphere of a landscape
45. Start a photoblog
46. Accept praise and say “thank you”
47. ‘Nice Shot’ is not a very useful comment to write
48. ‘Amazing!’ isn’t useful either. Try to describe specifically what you like or don’t like about an image.
49. You are not your camera
50. Ask a question at the end of your comment on a photo to get a ping-pong conversation with the photographer
51. Do a review of your archives on a regular basis, the longer you photograph - the more diamonds are hidden there
52. Always clarify what the eyecatcher (focal point) will be in your image
53. No image is better than a bad one
54. Everyone has to start little
55. Your opinion about photography is important!
56. Leave a funny but thoughtful comment
57. Speak about your experiences with your photo buddies
58. Limit your photograph to the substance
59. Participate in Photocontests
60. Post processing = Optimizing your image to the best result
61. Shoot exposure latitudes as often as possible
62. Use photomatix as seldom as possible, HDR’s always have a synthetic flavor
63. Always remember what brought you to photography
64. Never shoot a person who doesn’t want to be photographed
65. Always turn arround, sometimes the better image is behind you
66. It’s who’s behind the camera, not the camera
67. Mistakes are allowed! The more mistakes you make, the more you learn!
68. If you have an idea and immediately you think : No, this is not going to work - Do it anyway. When in doubt - always shoot.
69. Understand and look to your histogramm while shooting. It delivers very important information about your image
70. Know your camera, because searching the menu button in the night is time you don’t want to waste
71. Shoot as often as possible
72. Believe in yourself
73. Don’t be afraid of getting dirty
74. Pay attention to qualitiy in your image
75. Your photographs are a personal map of your psyche
76. Re-check your ISO-Settings. It’s aweful to detect the wrong settings on your screen.
77. Be thankful for long and thoughtful comments on your images
78. Never trust your LCD. Normally it is brighter and sharper than the original image.
79. Provide for enough disc space, because it’s cheap and you will need it.
80. Learn to enjoy beautful moments when you don’t have a camera with you.
81. Always arrive at least half an hour earlier before sunrise / sundown, composing in a hurry is a bad thing.
82. Try to amplify your mental and physical limits. Takes some extra shots when you think “it’s enough”
83. Pay attention to structures in the sky and wait until they fit into structures in the foreground
84. Visit the same place as often as possible. Light never shows the same mountain.
85. Print your images in big size. You will love it.
86. Calibrate your monitor. Working with a monitor that is not accurate is like being together with someone you can’t trust. It always ends badly.
87. Don’t think about what others may say about your image. If you like it, it’s worth publishing.
88. Never address reproaches to yourself. Learn from your mistakes and look forward, not backward.
89. Fight your laziness ! Creativitiy comes after discipline.
90. Ask yourself : What do you want to express in your images ?
91. Always try to think outside the box, collect new ideas about photographs you could do and ask yourself : Why not?
92. Search for a mentor.
93. Photography is never a waste of time.
94. Every community has it’s downsides. Don’t leave it out of an emotional response.
95. There will always be people who will not like what you are doing.
96. Henri Cartier-Bresson was right when he said that “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”
97. A better camera doesn’t guarantee better images.
98. Always have printing in mind when you postprocess your images.
99. Photography is fair : You gain publicity with the quality of your images. Unless the images are stolen, there is no way of cheating yourself higher.
100. Write a 100 things list

Mine added to the list....
101. Have a BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!