Photo Challenge # 19 ~ Art of Portraiture

This weeks photo challenge was the "Art of Portraiture"!

As most of you know people are NOT my strong point. For one I don't have any models that will cooperate with me and the camera that are human, lol...below is the best I could do...

I couldn't help myself but had to throw in a few animals...Sorry! LOL...

I sure wish I wouldn't have had the telephoto lens on the camera as this photo might have come out a little better but we were actually in the middle of watching planes land at the airport and taking photos of them...

I have been reading my books on taking portraits and honestly portrait photos do NOT have to lean toward human subjects...yes I am making excuses!! But they are so easy to photograph, specially when they are stuffed (LOL) like the North American Bison above!

If you would love to check out the fantastic work of the other photographers and their awesome portrait photos click here and then check out the list of participants on the right of the blog....

In the mean time back to the camera and working on having fun!

Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo 2008

This weekend we went to Austin for the annual TPWD outdoor Expo. We had a BLAST!!

There is no charge and it is geared towards Families and getting everyone outside to enjoy life!!

Below is just few of the activities we enjoyed!

Michael was able to play fireman...with a real fire hose too!

He built a wooden truck with help from Daddy!

Was able to sit in the pilots seat of a helicopter and pretend he was flying, YEA!!

His first time climbing a wall...he did fairly well once he realized he wasn't going to fall and the rope and harness would hold him up when he let go...He told us "That was hard!"

We even did a little Kayaking...

We saw the birds of prey show and I got some great photos. I was able to do some skeet shooting and loved it. Michael got to fire an air-riffle and did pretty good. He fished for catfish. Was able to look at different types of animals (domestic and wild) and pet a few. We watched bird dog trials. And looked at hundreds of booths of vendors and received lots of free items, t-shirts, balloons, rulers, pens, etc...Our Hotel room was next to the Austin airport and we had so much fun watching the HUGE jets take off and land...all in all it was a GREAT weekend! So much So that Michael had a bit of a problem going to school this morning...he so wanted to come back home...I can't say as I blame him!

You can check out more photos on my flickr site, click here.

Pontiac Lake, Michigan

While Michael and I were in Michigan we went to one of my favorite places I used to hang out at as a teenager, Pontiac Lake. We thought Grammie could use some quiet time, Michael time to get outside and explore, and Momma photo therapy...Below are some of my favorite photos and if you would like to see more you can check out my flickr site...

Gazing out at the Lake...

My Karate Kid, lol...actually I am not really sure what he is doing but it reminded me of a scene from the movie "Karate Kid"....

Fungi...(aka. Toadstool)

I asked him to pose and this is what I got....sheesh!! Silly boy!

Scarlett and Fred's Chair Saga Continues ~

Okay so y'all saw the photo of Scarlett in Fred's chair wrapped around the old cowboy hat. The cowboy hat was there to keep her out of his chair...it doesn't work anymore as we saw...Well we went to extreme measures...We now keep a good sized box in the chair...Well this afternoon I walked into the living room and this is what I found...hmmm....

Queen Scarlett squeezed in between the box and pillow as comfy as you please, sheesh!!

She is persistant isn't she? Now how can you not laugh at her...she's so darn cute!!

Michael had to give her a smooch just to let her know she's loved!! Gotta love those crossed legs...she's really rather comfortable wouldn't you say...Good thing Fred wasn't home, lol...

Aww a little pat on the head "Good O'le Scarlett...he is so sweet...NOT!!!!

As he grabs her ears and poor Scarlett the look she is giving him..."Pleeeease not the ears you little whipper-snapper!"....

Me telling Michael "leave her be"....and I get this pose..."Who me?"....and Scarlett resumes the position....Sigh!! The box is definitely NOT working!!

Stay tuned for the next addition of "Scarlett and Fred's chair"....

Photo Challenge ~ Bridges

This weeks photo challenge is "Bridges" posted by Amy! You really need to go check out her bridge photos as I can see why she chose this photo subject. Her photos are fantastic!

Amy's blog

Below are my photos for the challenge.

The first one I took while we were up in Michigan. It's not just one bridge but 3 little ones that were at a nearby Market that had a pond.

The photo below I dug out of the files and is from July 4th. It is a photo of the Corpus Christi Bay Bridge at sunset.

Thank you for stopping by and taking a look :o)

We're Back...

Michael and I arrived back Saturday afternoon and I am finally getting a chance to sit down and blog. I have plenty of photos, just not sure which ones I want to post and share. It was a rough week for everyone. Everyone had their moments. It was really strange to be at the house and not see John. He wasn't much of a talker but his presence was always felt. It was really good to spend time with my family. I miss my Mom. She is a strong person and will get through this but I know it will not be easy for her. So keep her in your prayers :o)