Winter Blahs

I got 'em.

I got 'em bad.

I can't seem to muster much enthusiasm for anything. A lot of this has to do with the fact that it's been extra snowy and COLD here. We've officially made it into the top-ten snowiest winter list, I believe. If not, we're very close. Today, it got up to around 40 degrees and I felt giddy, like it was spring or something.
Another little whiny spot in my life right now (one of many, I assure you) is that my migraines have been getting more frequent. I'm having 2-3 a week, which really sucks. As an aside, if you know me, this has nothing to do with the condition for which I had the brain surgery in 2006, so that's a plus. Anyway, the neuro decided that it was time to try a nasty little drug called Topamax. So far, I'm only on half the dosage I'll be on within a couple of weeks and I'm already getting some of the not-fun side effects, like tingly hands and feet and a foggy/doped up feeling. Why can't I get the good side effects, like weight loss??
These icicles look like teeth to me. The teeth of some really mean monster. Teeth that will hurt when they bite.

Cold-Weather Sentries

Consider if you will the lowly Canada goose.

There is an overabundance of these birds here. Mostly, they're poop machines, although they're pretty to look at sometimes.

Last week we saw a bunch on the ice when we stopped for pictures.

You can see how most of them are hunkered down and huddled together.
But there's one guy at the front of the pack...like he's standing watch over the rest.
And who can blame him for having his head tucked back under his wing? It's pretty damn cold out there.

The Word of the Day is "Texture."

Well, technically it's not the word of the day; it's the theme of the week. Texture. There's a big trend right now of adding texture to photos either via different filters or by merging photos in Photoshop. I plan to play with that later this week. (Like most trends, I'm no early adopter.)

In truth, I looked at a tutorial today and actually did add some texture to a couple of pictures, but as I was playing around, I noticed that a lot of the shots I've taken in the past few days already have some good texture all their own. In the above, it's in the clouds.

Here, you can see the windswept ripples in the snow.

And the choppy ice and snow here.

Here, you can sense the clapboard texture of this old barn. It's not as dramatic as it would be if this were a closeup shot, but I didn't feel like tromping all the way through that field in knee-deep snow. Sorry.
And this is my favorite...the marble on the angel's face, with her cape of snow.

Peace and Quiet

I thought about heading down to Presque Isle yesterday, after the snow slowed down, but as I was headed there I saw the cemetery and thought that would be interesting. I wasn't disappointed.

It was deserted, and so silent and full of snow.

There were some remnants of the holiday...

And I can't help it. I know it's blasphemous. But doesn't it look like Jesus is about to get in a snowball fight?

A Desolate Beauty

A couple of weeks ago, we had an ice storm.

Dan and I headed down to Presque Isle for a slippery photo shoot.

The sun was bright and causing the ice to glitter so prettily.It even made an old dead milkweek plant look beautiful.

Over Troubled Water

Last week we took a walk through Asbury Woods down to the bridge over Walnut Creek.

The water was pretty high due to all the melting snow.

My partner in crime came with me, too.

We desperately need a couple more sunny days like this! Warm temperatures would be nice, too, but I won't hold my breath.

Weekends off

My job is one that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Allowing that it's open every single day isn't to imply that it's important, though. It's nothing serious like a hospital, or a news organization, or anything like that.

I work for an inbound call center. Heaven forbid someone need to call about their credit card statement, or ask for Pennsylvania tourist information at 11pm on a Sunday or 1am on Christmas day and we not be there. We're there.

It's a rule of employment in my department that most employees have to work at least every other weekend. I did for years and years. For the past few months, though, I've been in the new hire training area. This means I'm needed during the week, not on Saturdays. If I had to work Saturday, they'd have to give me a day off during the week, thereby cutting off their nose to spite their face.

I found out Friday that starting next week, I'll be going back to working every other weekend.

I suppose that things could be worse....I could have to work every weekend. And the weekend I have to work is only 1/2 a day on Saturday mornings, so that's definitely better than it could be.It'll just give me less time to hang out with the fam...
and less time to take pictures to play with, like these.

**Edited to add: Since I've had a couple of questions in the comments, this is a rock and bubbles in a small stream. I thought it was neat looking with the bubbles.

Ready, Set, Go.

It's a new year. Time for fresh starts and all that.

Do you subscribe to the theory that if you tell others about your resolutions, you'll be more likely to keep them? I don't know...I've always felt more that telling others about my resolutions will more likely lead to shame because those others will know when I fail, but whatever. I thought I'd share a couple of photography-related resolutions here.

1. Keep up with the POTD. In a perfect world, I'd actually post every day, but realistically, we're probably talking 4-5 times a week.
2. Learn more about my camera. I'm somewhat ashamed to say that I've had the Nikon since October, and I'm still leaving it on Auto most of the time. The Nikon isn't made for Auto. If I want to leave a camera on Auto, I should go back to my little Kodak.
3. Practice more portraits and learn more about settings and processing for these. I was unhappy with the last portraits I took; so unhappy I haven't shared them here or elsewhere
4. Save up for a fisheye. I love that look!

As for the non-photography resolutions, I'm not telling. That way no one will be the wiser if I don't follow through!