Pepsi up close!

I have been slacking on photo challenges recently, so when I saw that Allie's theme for the week was "pets/animals" I was pretty excited- I have LOTS of animal shots!

This is one of the first shots I took with my pretty macro lens, and I adore it!

I did decide it needed some tweaking, so I ended up putting it in PS and running the Pioneer Woman Boost (about 70%) and Bring on the Eyes (about 50%) actions to give it more pop. The original version is below.

I really like how the edit turned out- it definitely draws even more attention to Pepsi's gorgeous eyes!

P.S.- check out my poll over to the right- I'm finally deciding what to call the camera {other than "the camera"} and I'd love your input! 

I win!!

If you stop by Allie's Happy Monday photo challenge, you'll notice that I won my very firstest photo challenge {insert squee here}!!! This is the first time I've ever been nominated for a photo challenge award, which made me happy, but then so many people came and voted for my image, and I actually won, and I'm ridiculously pleased about this! Thanks to Allie and all who voted for my photo!!

This is the image, by the way:).

Also, Allie was kind enough to mention an awesome giveaway at (life is too short not to) wear red shoes. Lots of fun and fashionable freebies!

Must get working on images for this week's photo challenges! Happy new week!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

This week has been crazy- I barely got all of these prompts! I'll have to do better next week.

In other news, as I mentioned here, I'm tired of just calling my camera 'camera', so I've decided to name her {yes, her}. My top 3 choices are Dahlia, Scarlet or Flora. Which name do you think I should go with? Leave me a comment and let me know:)!

1. Decay (Old/Abandoned)- An old weed head found in my yard. Then I played in CS5 with some Pioneer Woman actions on it and LOVE doing that!

2. Groups of Three- Mr. Pony found a way for me to use PhotoShop to do HDR photos- this is my first attempt. There are a couple of issues with it, but overall I'm happy with the first try coming out this well!

And here are the 3 shots that I combined to make the above image!

3. Kitchen- With Mr. Pony around, the kitchen can be almost anywhere!

4. Things that make me go 'hmmm...'- beg beg beg beg Chowder wants to go outside NOW!!! Oh wait! There is someone still INSIDE?!?! beg beg beg beg Chowder wants to go inside IMMEDIATELY!! Make up your mind, pup!!

5. "Me" time- Time spent with my pets and {soon to be named} camera- what could be more "me" than that!

 

Be sure to stop over at Ashley's blog to see all the other entries- there are so many talented bloggers out there! Next week's prompts are:

1. High Key
2. Bedroom
3. Something Tiny
4. Off in the Distance
5. Stripes

Wee bit of me

In case you haven't noticed, I'm really loving spring. I'm also really loving my trial version of Photoshop CS5- I downloaded several of the Pioneer Woman Actions and I'm now playing around with those and loving it! 

{one} what was your first job?I took care of horses for a local woman from the age of 12 til I went to college.
{two} have you ever seen a stand up comedian?Not in person- I have watched a few shows though.
{three} when was the last time you played mini golf?Early January maybe?
{four} what was the last picture you took?

{five} burnt food: yes or no?I like blackened foods and properly done grilling does include some burn marks, so in some cases, yes. In most cases, nope.
{six} if you have a pocket full of change, what do you do with it?Lost it in the bottom of my bag.
{seven} can you touch your tongue to your nose?No, and I don't think I actually want to.
{eight} do you scrapbook?I've never really been interested in it:(
{nine} do you buy lottery tickets?Nope- I used to work at a grocery store where one older guy would always buy a ticket for himself and one for me every week, but neither of us ever won anything!
{ten} do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it?Usually behind it, but I do like having one or two good pictures of myself around just for posterity's sake.  

More spring beauty

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

1. Camera Phone- Last week I went on a photo walk at SXSW with Trey Ratcliff- here is a shot taken of him by another photographer (using his iPhone) during the pre-walk talk. Sorry for the blurry shot- I was rushing to capture this one!

 

2. Camera- Yet another shot from the photo walk- there were so many amazing {and expensive} cameras and lenses there, as well as people using point and shoots or cell phones- it was an amazing mix of formats!

3. Shoes- This Percheron was quite curious about why so many people were pointing glass things at him without rewarding his cuteness with sugar cubes. Poor pony:( I snuck this shot of his hooves, and the appropriately massive shoes, but I felt guilty about not rewarding him!

4. Chair- I know this isn't a traditional 'chair', but I spend a lot of time sitting on a bike seat, so I think it works! Plus I love the pups in this shot!

5. Imperfection- Mr. Pony's first attempt at making sausages (in which he made a Polish sausage, a Chinese sausage, and hot dogs) was delicious, but just slightly imperfect. The little holes you see? Those aren't supposed to be there, and their presence infuriated him. I told him he'll just have to try again! {See what I did there? More noms for me!}

Stop by Ashley's blog to see the amazing entries this week and join in! Next week's prompts are:

1. Decay (old/abandoned)
2. Groups of Three
3. Kitchen
4. Things that make you go "hmmm"
5. "Me" Time

Green

The sight of green life pushing through last fall's leaves gives me a surprising sense of contentment- the world and our lives keep on changing, but the seasons keep going on reassuringly. As spring wakes up around me, I've found that simply seeing a budding branch or freshly opened flower makes me smile contentedly. I love everything green and growing and fresh.

I'm having moderate success with outdoor plants- my pretty climbing vine is coming back to life, going from this

 to this.

 

So how come most of my houseplants end up as ornamental garbage?

That would be because I've never bothered to learn anything about growing stuff. Hmm... you can't just toss it in the ground and wish for it to grow? Boo. Now I find that I should embark upon another learning experience- gardening!

No, I'm not going to be completely garden crazy {time??}, but I'd like to make the plants we have happy, and possibly get a few more established around the house. I'm searching the web for reliable sources of gardening know how for someone who kills plants instantly isn't a green-thumb.

Until then, does anyone out there in the blogosphere have any gardening tips for me? Seriously folks, I'll need all the help I can get!

Quiet

Mr. Pony is out for the night, and Chowder and I are quite content to putter away our evening doing a great deal of nothing. Its a lovely plan. You can see how tough this course of events has been for Chowder.

Poor pup. You wouldn't know that he had pulled about 10 toys out of his toybox, thrown them around, and then promptly curled up in bed. Brat.

Having the house to myself is giving me time to do some photo editing from my long weekend in Austin. Ok, so I don't have HDR software, or even Photoshop, right now, but I can use picnik to get some fun (if not very professional) HDR results! Behold!

I didn't think much of this shot until I put it in black & white- I think the edit really brings home the message this graffiti artist was going for. No matter how much you want to 'go somewhere', nothing will change until you step outside of your comfort zone!

Amazing weekend

This past {long} weekend I spent some time in Austin, Texas. That is a damn cool town. I even got to be a part of Trey Ratcliff's (of Stuck in Customs HDR fame) record breaking photo walk! Oh yeah, and it was the start of a little thing called South by Southwest. No big.

Anyway, we got to eat some great food, see some great sights, and have some fun times! Spring is way more advanced in Austin, and I fully enjoyed the scent of flowers, warm sunshine and the giddiness that an early spring brings! Austin, keep it weird!

Theme: Everyday

I love the combo of the everyday, humdrum chainlink fence and the glory of a new blooming iris- an amazing juxtaposition{and that is an amazing word}.

Theme: Texture

The Driskill Hotel is an amazing building- Victorian glory all over the place! Even looking up you can find beauty!

I did get a few other shots that I really loved, but I'm wanting to spend some time editing and picking my favorites from the day, so this is it for now- check back soon!

In other news, check out That is all for an awesome giveaway including an adorable little camera. Wouldn't that be fun to play with??

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

I was on top of the hunt this week- by Wednesday night I'd gotten all the shots I needed. So I've been tapping my toes waiting for Sunday morning to get here so I could post this baby! I hope you enjoy and make sure you stop by Ashley's blog to see all the amazing images linked up with this week's scavenger hunt!

1. Vanishing Point- Mr. Pony, in his diligent search for quality and ethical ingredients, found a place for us to get raw milk for less than a bajillion dollars a gallon, and we are now inundated with creamy milkiness. Since we have a bit more milk than we need, Mr. Pony decided it was time for some gelato. See why I keep him around? Anyway, he based our delight on David Lebovitz's recipe, and it really is amazing. It brings to mind wandering the side streets of Rome with a mini gelato spoon in hand, marveling at the flavors of both the food and the culture... Oh Italia:)

2. Square Crop/Format- Spring is in the air, and these flowers were too fresh to pass up!

3. Under- Chowder and Pepsi really do get along quite well. She yowls and carries on when he is playing with her, but when he walks away, she bounds after him, tail crooked, asking to play some more. She was a bit confused as to why there was a mesh monster separating them in this shot, but they were soon reunited, have no fear.

4. Welcome to the Jungle- We planted a pretty vine of some sort last year (it has purple flowers?), and it really looked dead to me this spring. However, today as I was snooping around I noticed these adorably fuzzy flower/leaf pods sprouting! Welcome to the beginning of the Pony family jungle!!

5. Calm- Chowder really likes his new bed. So much so, in fact, that catching him sitting still on it is pretty hard. He would much rather pounce on it. And spin in little circles. And swim across it. But sometimes he actually sleeps on his bed, giving his parents a few moments of calm.

These challenges are a great way to get the creative juices flowing- feel free to stop by Ashley's blog and join in! Next week's prompts are:

1. Camera Phone
2. Camera
3. Shoes
4. Chair
5. Imperfection


Join in the fun- it is a great way to look at photography with more creativity!