Drive

Shortly after buying the Canon DSLR, Brian took me out for a drive to test it out and take some photos. After taking a few photos at 60+MPH, I turned the camera over to his window and snapped this one. This one turned out to be one of my favorite photos of the day.

During this drive, we saw cows, water towers, windmills and fences for miles. We stopped once or twice to take a photo or two of the landscape. The sun began to set and before we knew it, it was too dark to take anymore photos.

What I enjoyed most was just the drive....It was just the two of us, we didn't say much, but words aren't always needed.

Weekend Adventures

This past weekend we traveled to Corpus Christi! The entire time the weather was overcast and the reports were threatening rain....But, we didn't see a single rain drop! ha!

We visited the Texas State Aquarium, the sandy beach and toured the USS Lexington.

The Texas State Aquarium was pretty cool. The underwater view of the dolphins as they swim by effortlessly was easily my favorite spot.

The time we spent on the beach was great! We enjoyed the never-ending waves on the sandy beach. And, the search for sand dollars could have went on for miles. It was fun watching the sandpipers run away from the incoming waves. Best of all...We didn't get the SUV trapped in the sand, either. Whew! 'Cause we borrowed it from my parents!

Since the USS Lexington was right next to the Texas State Aquarium, we decided to give it a full day's worth of attention and went the following day.

If you ever visit this place, bring your walking shoes! We walked up, down, across, in and out of this aircraft carrier. Without realizing it, we spent at least 4 hours exploring the ship, reading about the ship, war planes, battles and people.

It is an awesome place to visit. It makes history a reality. It's not just dates to memorize, it's making that connection to those people and the equipment they utilized, experiencing history first hand.

Flight of the Birds

Birds.
They don't know that the area above our cars are no-fly zones.

I took this photo back in March, during one of my lunch breaks. I was trying out a used lens that I purchased a month or two before. I was changing out the lens at a picnic table when I noticed this flock of pigeons scooting about the ground. After securing both lenses, one on the camera and the other in the bag, I took a photo of them while they were grounded.

Then I stood up and startled the birds into a short take-off. I realized that would make a more interesting photo than one of just birds on the ground. So, I quickly sat down again. That seemed to placate them. They stopped their take-off to land back on the ground.

Agitating the birds once again, I stood up with my camera all set to snap a photo. This time, they did not return. But I got my picture with my trusty Canon Rebel SLR.

Pretty 'N Pink

Back in March '09, before the incident on March 20th, I had packed my Canon SLR film camera in the car before heading out to work. I thought that after a few hours on the job, I would need to let my creative side take over the analytical side of my brain.


So, during my lunch break, I drove to Prince Solms Park to take a few photos before the summer frenzy begins. During the summer months, this place is lined with cars, since people travel from all over to go tubin' on the Guadalupe River.


While I was there, I took a few photos of the blooming crepe myrtle trees, using different settings on the camera. From this angle, I noticed just how solitary it felt at a place that's usually busy. I lined up the shot to make the crepe myrtle the focus of this photo. The edge of the curb leads your eye towards the center of the photo.


In color, this is an OK photo. I knew it could be more than just an OK photo.

So, I took it into Picasa and used the Focal B&W setting, making the color of the crepe myrtle come alive. In the B&W version, the vibrant colors of the trees aren't clamoring for your eye's attention. The focus is centered on the blooming flowers of one tree....and of course it doesn't hurt to have a nice clean Mustang GT in the photo either.


The car doesn't mind not being the center of attention every once in awhile. :)

Ford, Cookin' Rice Since 1965

When I first met my husband online, we decided to meet in person at a car wash. Appropriate? Maybe not for most people….but for us, it worked.
A year and a half later, we have the three of them parked in the driveway.

Now, if we go anywhere together in our separate cars, we tend to attract a lot of attention. That can be really good, or it can be just the opposite, especially since you can hear us before you see us.

The header of my blog is a photo of my husband’s 2000 Ford Mustang GT.
I chose that photo to be the header since it shows the forward movement of life, that the road of life is open and that we are the drivers of our own destiny.

On either side of his car, are my black Mustangs, a 1987 5.0 GT and a 2002 GT.
From my previous post, the 2002 is in an undetermined state at the moment.
I’m using the ’87 as my daily driver - it’s not just a grocery-getter anymore. Usually, this car sat on the sidelines, waiting for a nice enough day to be driven.

Someday, I’d like to own a classic Mustang, 1965-69, or be able to get a new Shelby GT500 for my husband. Heck, the way we’re going….maybe we’ll wind up with both!
LOL – “Fat chance”, he says. Well, it’s true… it’s not easy maintaining the trio, since they’re just as demanding and expensive as anyone can be.

The best part about owning three Mustangs is that we encounter a lot of people who love the cars, who have owned or wanted one at some point in their lives, and want to share their stories with us.

If you'd like to share your story, we'd love to hear from you!

Mustang Purgatory

Waiting.

Since March 20, 2009 my car has been pretty much in this same state, ever since another woman failed to yield the right of way. It was not the way I intended to begin my Friday morning, which was also the last day of school before Spring Break for my daughter, who was in the car when this occured.

While the car is totally repairable, the cost of repairs vs. the blue book value is teetering on making this a total loss. No sense in putting down a good, well taken care of car, now is there?

First, it's deemed a total loss. By my own insurance company.

Since I was not at fault, I waited for the other insurance adjuster's report.

They tell me the car IS repairable and NOT a total loss.

They write up an estimate and send me a check for repairs.

The body shop requests a supplement to the original estimate.

Now I'm being told that the car is deemed a total loss.

At this point, I'm weighing my options.

So, for now, my car looks like she belongs in the movie 'Death Race',

instead of in my driveway.

Reflections at Home

Being newlyweds, we were snuggled up on the couch about to look at photos displayed on the TV. Before we turned on the TV, Brian, my husband, snapped this photo of our reflection off the TV screen. You can just make out the point & shoot camera in his hands.

It just goes to show that not all reflections have to come from a mirror or bodies of water.

I did take this photo into Picasa to crop initially. Of course, I went over to the Effects tab to see how choosing one of those options could enhance the photo. I really liked the way the B/W option brought out the detail in the photo.

I love this photo for three reasons:

-it shows a quiet moment captured
-it reminds me of a photo from back in the old days, dark and grainy
-he's looking back at me :)

Shadows in Picasa

On the day I thought I would start this blog, I took this photo. It was on Saturday, April 11, 2009, about noon. We were waiting for the pending rain, which just turned into a few sprinkles for us. Here, my husband is driving my Dad's Ford F350 pick'em up truck about 50 MPH. We began looking at the sky and really liked the way the clouds were forming layers, lines, contours.

So he suggests that I take a photo of it and I do. The original photo, straight of the camera, is the bottom photo, and the sky here resembles a cozy blanket. While it's an OK photo, for going 50 MPH, it didn't quite capture the sky as I remembered it. So, I uploaded it to Picasa and played with the settings. I just increased the Shadow to the final photo that I'm happy with (top photo).