Statue of Liberty

Two very different views of Sioux Falls' miniature Statue of Liberty

Car Show Reflections

Last night I took two of the grand-kids to Automania, where I got these two cool reflections.

I can't decide which is my favorite. I love the clarity in the window reflection but love the multiple reflections on the wheel. If you would like to see more of photos of the car show I put a few on my other blog here.Linking up with Jame's weekend reflections. Hop on over and check out some really awesome reflections.

Whitemarked Tussock Moth Caterpillar

While photographing flowers and a rock sculpture in one of our local parks my daughter found this little guy crawling around and picked him up. I couldn't resist trying to get a few shots of him.

Above photo is my submission for Macro Friday

Of course she wanted to know what it was and all I could tell her was a caterpillar. Once we got home though we did a bit of research and discovered it was the caterpillar for a Whitemarked Tussock Moth.

 We also learned that the hairs on some caterpillars are like stingers and some caterpillars are even poisonous. From now on we wont be picking them up.

Linking up with

I love flowers!

Weekend Reflection

I saw many reflections this week but for the most part they were all very ordinary. Until that is I came across this one, I hope you like it.

If you like reflective photos hop on over to Jame's Weekend Reflections 

and follow the links.

Lines, Lines and More Lines

Yesterday while I was on the observation tower taking photos of could formations, I looked down at the tops of the buildings and the pathways and decided it was a good time to practice playing with lines in my photography. I really loved the way these ones turned out.

If you like storm photography hop over and check out Ever Changing Skies. One day I would love to go up in a hot air balloon or small airplane to take photographs. So if anyone wants to take me up, just let me know.

Spur of the Moment Photo Opportunity

Had a lovely afternoon working with Crystal on a photo shoot then we decided to take a bit of a nature walk and play with our camera's. It turned out to be a terrific opportunity for some really sweet shots, here are a few of my favorite.

Crystal and her children are so photogenic I can't resist a chance to photograph them, whether it is a planned photo session like the one we did last month or just a spur of the moment opportunity like today. Of course with the interesting lines of the bridge and river I couldn't resist some non human shots.

At Jack's recommendation I  did the landscape crop on the forth photo.

Here it is.  Thanks Jack it does look a lot nicer than the portrait crop I originally thought of doing.

What's Outside the Window

For a couple of weeks now I have been enjoying entries in the 52 Photos Project and have decided to join in with the fun and get inspired by the challenges.  I took this photo last week with my cell phone and although I shared it on Artistic Composition it is perfect for this challenge.

This is from the inside of our local library.

To peak out more windows just hop over here.

M & K - Father's Day Photo Session

Yesterday I had the honor of photographing these two lovely children. Their mom is planning a very special Father's Day present for their father which will include photos from the session.
 







Three locations were chosen for our session. First we headed to Falls Park to take a few fishing shots and some fun photos on the rocks and near the falls.

Next it was off to the library. I learned a very important lesson at the library....always have your tripod with you! I had left the tripod in the car because when I spoke to the librarian a few days ago to make sure it would be alright to do a photo session inside the library she seemed reluctant until I said I would not be bringing a lot of extra equipment, just me the kids and one camera. At times I have a mild tremor in my hands and of course this turned out to be one of those times. Due to this most of the library shots are a bit on the blurry side. I am so glad this was not their main location or we would be shooting this all over again.

blurry shot w/brush effect added click for better view

Then we were off to Tut Hill for a shot or two the the flowers and trees. One thing about this time of year is the over abundance of gnats. Little K was not very happy with all the gnats near the flowers so we were not able to convince her to get too close.  We did finally find a few flowers that were not swarming with gnats and got some flower shots.

This last shot with the halo effect is one of my favorites. I only wish there had not been so many gnats around the trees as I would have loved to get a shot of K in this same location.