Good Photos Challenge Day 23 - Animal

30 Day Good Photos Challenge, Day 23 Subject - Animal

Meet Bear Decatur, owner and chief instructor at the Core Pilates Studio in Norton Commons, Louisville. He's smarter than the average bear, in my opinion, for offering pilates lessons to young and old. I've been taking weekly classes at Core Pilates for over five years and appreciate the benefits in strength, balance and coordination as I age. Some day I hope to be able to do a downward dog (pilate's cousin yoga) as well as Willie!

I didn't zoom in on Bear in this photo out of respect for his client's privacy. Almost no one looks good lying on her back on a reformer with legs up in the air. Nice ankle tattoos, though!

Good Photos Challenge Day 22 - Hands

30 Day Good Photos Challenge, Day 22 Subject - Hands

Back at Sister's Tea Room in Buckner getting a lesson in tea drinking etiquette from my two little pals. On the right, how to pour. On the left, how to stir. Previously, they had a manners class at the tea room.

Good Photos Challenge Day 21 - Faceless Self Portrait

30 Day Good Photos Challenge, Day 21 Subject - Faceless Self Portrait

Remember the "Where's Waldo?" kid's game? If you look closely you may be able to find the photographer--where's Faye?--in this photo.

This painting by Jeanne Filler Scott, a Kentucky animal artist, is called "The Veteran". She saw this working Eskimo husky in Canada on the shores of Hudson Bay. Said it was obvious that he had survived some rough times and harsh winters.

Good Photos Challenge Day 20 - Something Orange

30 Day Good Photos Challenge Day 20 Subject - Something Orange

How about a Dairy Queen vanilla orange bar? Has only 60 calories and you can burn that off in a 15-minute walk. That's what DQ promises on the box. Very good in a dreamsicle kind of way.

Good Photos Challenge Day 19 - Little People

30 Day Good Photos Challenge, Day 19 Subject - Little People

Meet Walter. He hardly had time to stop for this photo. He was in charge of Cheetos quality testing and general networking at his Big Mom's 76th birthday bash this past Sunday.

Walter asked me to tell you that he has very nice hair and that he wishes the photographer had gotten his entire head so you could see for yourself. He thinks it's kind of Cheetos colored, which is a good thing in his opinion.

First of the Month & Good Photos Challenge Day 18 - Sun Flare

30 Day Good Photos Challenge, Day 18 Subject - Sun Flare

I achieved this sun flare effect by shooting directly into the sun (not recommended by your opthomologist-seriously!) at 8:30 a.m. on August 1 when the temperature climbed to 96 degrees. It has been a long time since we've had any rain so the camera was able to pick up those lovely magenta colors in addition to the starbust. I saw nothing but the blazing sun through the trees. All this color was just waiting for the lens to pick up--magic!

First of the Month Photography Meme - Kentucky Skies

Decided that this photo could do double work for the good photos challenge and first of the month meme. All year long I've been scanning Kentucky skies, camera in hand, in order to participate in a monthly photography meme that attracts aspiring photographers from all over. The idea is that we look at our surroundings and record the changes from month to month. The host for this meme is Jan at Murrieta 365 . Here's how it works: "The goal is to capture one thing repeatedly on the first day of each month. It can be a landscape, a person, an animal, a project; whatever your focus is fine. It can be a record of where you are each first day of the month." I decided to photograph Kentucky skies.

Good Photos Challenge Day 17 - Technology

Not only am I a novice photographer, I also know very little about improving original shots using Photoshop Elements. Sure, I can do an "auto fix" or crop a photo for better composition, but that's about it. However, this weekend I played around with the "special effects" function in Photoshop, mostly "watercolor". Here are two different results:

Bold berries-
















Subtle lichen-covered stick-