Caught this guy napping yesterday and took photos with both my camera and my phone. Only took the time to mess with the phone version in Snapseed.
Off on another cruise tomorrow, back in a week!
Postcard From Nalcrest, Florida
Postcard from Brilliance of the Seas
Kathy & I are currently aboard Brilliance of the Seas on a 5-night cruise out of Tampa, Florida. This was taken in the early morning during our arrival in Grand Cayman. We’re in Cozumel, Mexico today and return to Tampa on Thursday, where the adventure will continue!
Postcard From Citra, Florida
This is a little roadside stand along Highway 301 in Citra, Florida. Orange you glad we stopped? 
Postcard From Warner Robins, Georgia
Itchy Feet
We’ve been home long enough. It’s getting cold here (by NC standards – sorry Monte and Jeff!) so we’re preparing to depart for warmer climes for a few weeks of “cruise ship hopping” and exploring the Everglades. I hope to post periodic “postcards” from our travels. Stay warm!
Timing Is Everything
Good Quote
He said, “Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” Roald Dahl
I came across this quote several years ago in a shop in Bryson City, NC. It might even be the same shop where I found the frog, I don’t remember.
The Frog
After recently commenting on Monte’s post, Monte asked me to show him my frog. I’ve given him a corny name, but most folks who read my blog will get it.
I found Frog at a shop in Bryson City, NC this past fall. I had previously photographed one of his cousins in Columbiana, OH. It is his cousin’s photo that I’ve been using as my avatar, but I may need to change it now that I have my own.
Frog lives on our front porch. He has a solar panel on the back of his head that will make his eyes light up at night. I haven’t turned it on yet. I’m waiting for someone to move into the house across the street.
Power To The People
I’ve been working lately on having a camera with me on my morning walks. It’s interesting what I see when I have a camera with me (duh!). 
Transmission towers aren’t exactly a glamorous subject (unless you’re into such things), but they do have some interesting lines and shapes. This one is a regular subject, mostly because it’s always there, looks different in changing light and weather, and gives me a reason to trudge to the top of the hill.
It’s also a good camera test – to check focus and sharpness!
Now You See Them…Now You Don’t
I’ve been going back through old image folders looking for unprocessed photos that are worth spending time with. I recently came across some photos from a visit to Chincoteague, Virginia in 2010.
The ocean was particularly angry one morning, and I remember standing on the beach shooting the surf while trying to keep myself and the camera dry from the salt spray. In order to slow the shutter speed down enough to show the motion, I had stopped my lens down to – according to the metadata – f40. I didn’t remember having a lens that stopped down that much, but sho-nuff the old Canon 100-400 did!
Of course, at f40 every dust spot on the sensor is going to be visible, and on some of these photos there were dozens, perhaps a hundred or more. It’s a pretty safe guess that the reason these photos hadn’t been processed was because of all the spots. I’ve never been meticulous about cleaning my sensor, and it shows. But one of the advances in Lightroom that I am now able to take advantage of is the Spot Removal tool. The technology has improved dramatically over the last 10 years, to the point where I was able to salvage this photos. It involved a lot of clicking and a certain amount of adjusting, but a lot less futzing than I would have had to do back then!
