Cade's Cove

On our last day in Gatlinburg we decided we should hop in the car and go see some of the surrounding area. We didn't really know where we were going...just started driving.  We ended up in Cade's Cove.  This is where Jayke went over the summer with his dad.  They went horseback riding while there.  We did not.  We didn't have time since we got there close to dusk and the park closes at dusk.  

We made it in before it closed and got lucky.  Dusk is a really good time to go for wild life viewing.  

Waterfall on the way to Cade's Cove

This little grey fox ran right up to our car.  We saw a bunch of deer playing and wild turkeys too.  No bears though.  We ended up being stuck in the woods in the park for a long time.  The traffic was not moving and it got dark while we were there.  Kind of creepy and it didn't help that Bobby wanted to discuss zombies, vampires, and werewolves while we were stuck in there.  The wind picked up and rain was moving in as well.  We finally made it out and narrowly missed having a very large dead tree branch crash down on the car while driving back.  Seemed like we had been in there forever and we were all starving by the time we got out.  That little jaunt probably should have been better planned but we enjoyed it regardless.

My budding photographers

Macro Shots

I'm not really sure I'm doing this right.  Seems like they should be sharper.  I think the problem is my shaky hand.  I may get a tripod to see if I can get better shots.  This was a dead cicada on my dad's back deck.  The only way I can get a good picture of a bug with the macro is if it is DEAD!

Thirsty?

The Drama...

My muse...as in my aMUSEment!  Never seen a statue quite like this!

Also a shot of one of the gardens at Minnetrista.  If I use the correct lens you can't even tell that we are in the middle of a drought.  Makes everything look green and lush when really it is brown and barely alive!

The Olloclip...Adding a New Dimension to my Obsession

Bobby got me a present the other day The Olloclip! It is a 3 in 1 lens for the iPhone. It has a fisheye lens, a wide angle lens, and a Macro lens all in one! I love it! I've been wanting it since last winter but was afraid it wouldn't work well and would let me down. I was wrong. It is great! I haven't had much time to mess with it yet and I really need the tripod to be able to use the macro properly (he is getting me that next)but I was able to play with it in the front yard a little bit the other day. I found a weed that was about to explode and was able to catch it before and during the process.

Once I have the tripod I will be able to hold the camera still better and the photos will be less blurry. All I will have to do then is find some bugs that will hold still long enough to photograph! That, and figure out how to get used to having a boyfriend who buys me gifts ALL THE TIME. Lucky!

The Macro Macro lens applies roughly a 10X multiplier and allows you to focus the iPhone within 12-15mm of the subject. The Macro lens is cleverly concealed within the olloclip and can be accessed by unscrewing the Wide-Angle lens that is normally attached to it. Fisheye lens The Fisheye lens captures approximately a 180 Degree field-of-view and produces some striking images. Wide-Angle lens The Wide-Angle lens is great for when you need that extra field of view, approximately double that of the normal iPhone.

Yea...It is Amazing

That I took this caliber picture in downtown Muncie, of all places.  I really love this one...totally frame-able.

As I was posting this I was thinking of all the stuff my mom misses that I post on all of the social media outlets.  I KNOW she would want to see everything so I am adding some links.  Over there---> on the right I've added a link to my Instagram photos.  You can click on the link to go to my Statigram account and see all of the photos I post to Instagram without having to create your own account.  Instagram is ONLY an app so this would be difficult for you technology challenged older folk.  I made it easy for ya cause I know you don't want to miss a single thing we do!! :)

I may get a link on here to my Pinterest account as well.  If I do, it will be over there in the list.  I'm SURE you are dying to see what I post to my Pinterest boards.  I went back and looked at one tonight (haven't looked at them in months) and was shocked at what great taste I have!  Think I should probably share!

Instagram Profile

Digits

Some Things Never Change

Jayke and I went to see Grammy in the hospital Friday. The last few times I have gone to see her she hasn't had much to say so I expected the same thing this time. I was afraid she was going to be in really bad shape too. Boy was I wrong! She was having a breathing treatment when we first got there so she wasn't able to say much but when it was over...someone had opened the flood gates! She talked and talked! She told everyone who came in the room that I have no job, no husband, and need a haircut! It has been a while since I've heard this critique of my life from her so it didn't really bother me this time. It was actually kind of funny to me....I mean, it's all true! Even the haircut part!

She was particularly funny when her poor male nurse came in for the first time. She demanded to know who he was and WHAT HE THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO DO IN THERE! I'm glad these nurses are used to dealing with this. He just laughed and answered all her questions...and believe me, there were a lot! I thought he was going to make it out unscathed but she nailed him in the end...it came out in their conversation that he was married and she immediately asked him, "Do you think that is going to last?" That was my cue to leave because I knew where this conversation was heading. She was about to try to fix this poor man up with me. We had to get while the gettin was good! Fortunately, they were going to take her down for some test so there was a subject change and an exit strategy. I think before I go up this week I will call ahead and make sure all the nurses on duty are female!


On the way home I whipped into a parking lot and had The Boy get out so I could get some pics to play with later. A left over drainage tile was the perfect spot! It's hard to come with interesting subject matter in MUNCIE!

Apples and Indians

We went on a field trip last Thursday with Jayke's class. They are studying Indians and Johnny Appleseed right now since Thanksgiving is approaching so we went to Minnetrista which provides a tour and lecture on both subjects.

First up...apples! We went into their mini orchard to inspect some apple trees and taste some different kinds of apples. Their orchard leaves a lot to be desired and it was probably a little late in the season for this particular lesson. There weren't any apples left to investigate...basically they turned the class loose to look at leafless trees. Something second graders couldn't care less about. They did enjoy the eating part at least.

Next up...cider! This was a much more interesting lesson since the kids got to juice the apples themselves. Below is Jayke taking his turn...

They got to drink the cider once made. I think eating the apples and drinking the cider was the highlight of this outing for sure!

If you are sensing a lack of enthusiasm on my part regarding this field trip you are correct. Not only did I feel like it was a very dull experience but it was also FREEZING! It may have been the coldest day we have had so far this fall. I thouht this was an indoor field trip so Jayke and I were not dressed appropriately for the weather either. Since no note came home regarding wearing outdoor clothing I assumed it was indoors. Found out later that Jayke was supposed to tell me they were to dress warm and wear old shoes...neither of which we did. Luckily I had some gloves and a hat in the car for him. Many of the kids were underdressed so this must have been a common assumption.

We had lunch inside and were able to get warm before heading back out. I noticed one little girl who sat at our lunch table paid an extra amount of attention to Jaykeb. Her name is Katie and I've heard him talk about her before. he seemed fine with the attention from her too. Maybe he has a little crush..I'm pretty sure she does! LOL


The Indian part of the trip was the part I found the dullest. The kids seemed like they liked it somewhat. This was also the part that was the coldest. I was never so happy for a field trip to end! I checked my phone while we were out there and the temp was 41 degrees with a wind chill of 32 degrees. I know they don't allow them to go out for recess if it is below 40 so I was a little disappointed that they didn't reschedule or find a different location on a different day for their field trip. All of the moms were in agreement.

While out there I took the opportunity to take some pictures to edit. If it weren't so darn cold I would have stayed after the kids got back on the bus and taken some more!

Editing Process

I become more and more obsessed with my photography apps every day. So many ways to edit one photo and come up with different end results. Thought I would post the process this photo went through. This first picture is the final edit. I usually don't do more than one filter on a photo. I do end up cropping more than once on some pics. I may let this picture stand like this for a while then eventually I may end up trying a different filter on it just to see what else I can come up with.

The next picture was the first crop I did. I like being able to see the steps leading up to the door but I didn't like how narrow it ended up being. Also, Instagram doesn't let you post a vertical photo. The final edit, above, was the crop that had to be done to post to instagram.

And finally...the orginal untouched photo as I took it. Beechgrove Cemetery has several of these huge mausoleums. I took this photo not even knowing if I would be able to do anything with it. Now that I see the results I want to go back and photograph some of the others! Jayke was with me and he had his Nintendo DS which has a camera. He now thinks he is a mini photographer. He took as many pictures, if not more, as I did. I should take a look at them and see what he came up with.

Just A Photo

I love when I'm going through my camera roll and find something I missed before. I found this picture I took a few weeks ago. Just an old abandoned building on the south side of town.

Golden Glow

This is one of my favorite pictures that I have taken this fall. This is a big old tree in the cemetery where I took the Werewolf/grave pictures. It had gotten really windy and Jayke was ready to go but I saw this tree and had to take a picture. Unfortunately the sun had gone behind a cloud and it wouldn't work the way I wanted to take it without the sun. I made Jayke hide behind a huge headstone from the wind until the sun came back out so I could get this shot. I'm glad I waited!