Top Ten Things I learned In 2010

2010 was a great year. It was loaded full of variety. Lots of good things and as always challenges that sometimes felt like I was marching straight up hill. Kaedell posted a list of the top ten highlights for the E. family. Sometime I'm going to get around to that. When I asked Man With A Drill what he thought our top ten list would contain he dismally said, "I don't know? Did I do anything besides go to work?" We really will sit down and think of ten items. I hope the rest of you are working on this as well.

Saturday I had a chance to go on a scenic winter expedition with a bunch of photographers. It was a historic tour of farms located up in the Valley. I almost didn't take this opportunity, but thanks to a new photo friend and her coaxing, at the last second possible, I signed myself up.

Touring one farm after another with a camera in my hand turned out to be the greatest high ever. I'm a farm girl and I was totally in my element, and with a camera no less. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I want go back and do it all again. It was simply a fantastic day! By the time six o'clock rolled around I had 729 pictures packed on my camera. I learned so much in one single day. During the tour our instructor gave us hands on advice and thanks to his great knowledge I finally learned to think in shutter priority, something I've never been able to do. I also discovered I love taking pictures of sheep. I didn't realize this until after I got home and pulled the pictures up. I've always been a Holstein cow fan, and a chicken fan. I'm adding sheep to my list of animals I love.

The entire day was so inspirational I could not get over it, and as the sun finally faded and it was time for us to pack ourselves up in the van and make the trip home, I had so much to reflect on. Taking pictures of life is soul-tisfying. That's my new word for a deep and abiding feeling that grows from your heart and takes over your whole soul. I'm going to use it often. Yes, my farm expedition was a very S O U L T I S F Y I N G day! As a result I'd like to post some of the pictures I took on this beautiful trip, along with some great things I've been thinking about since.

My ideas are not posted in any particular order. I didn't learn them in any particular order. Life just handed them out to me randomly. In fact, like so many things in life, I keep coming back to them over and over again.

2010 Wisdom 

Things I have learned 

and constantly return to!

Everyday . . .

Learn to be more forgiving.

Soften yourself!

Stop being such a hard nose. 

Keep a generous heart with you at all times.

Take the wheel! 

Grab hold of it!

Have some determination! 

No guts, no glory!

Life is hard and then you die. You might as well stop complaining about it.

There is beauty even in the barest of days!

It's true, when one door closes, another one opens. 

Don't stand looking forever at the closed door, 

Don't dwell on the fact it closed.

Turn around and see what God has opened up for you.

Don't hesitate to enter in!

People are going to get up in your grill! 

People are going to bug the heck out of you.

Take a deep breath and relax!

 (Thanks Desi, for always reminding me of this,

especially when I'm driving!)

Gauge yourself.

Hellooooo . . .

That doesn't mean slow down all the time.

Sometimes it means,

GET GOING! 

In caring for my mom, I'm constantly reminded.

Someday I'm going to be like an old tire.

No one knows what to do with an old tire.

I'm not looking forward to it. 

It's scary to think one day I might be used up and discarded,

Propped up against some fence out back on the farm.

It's an art to learn to grow old gracefully.

It's not easy to sort through it and find your way.

All of this constantly reminds me,

 Live each day to it's fullest!

Often times the true beauty and meaning in this life, in all of it's entirety, comes to us in a storm. 

If you don't exercise and eat good, you will rust!

And corrode!

Then someone will park you out back under the old pines and forget you're there!

Exercise!!!  Keep your gears turning!

We have to age, we don't have to rot!

Again and again,

"Say what you mean and mean what you say!"

Things go better if you . . .

Stay calm. Stay CALM! STAY C A L M ! ! ! ! !

It's all in how you look at it and there's a million different ways to look. 

Don't be so narrow minded!

Open up your perspective, 

Adopt a new way of looking at things.

Adopt a new way of thinking and seeing!

Note: This Great White Pyrenees guarded the sheep

His kennel was a 1/2 acre in size.

Stop and look at the beauty around you. It's everywhere! 

ENJOY LIFE!

ENJOY THE LITTLE THINGS!

LOOK FORWARD TO EACH DAY!

GREET EACH DAY WITH A SMILE AND A HAPPY HEART!

Every thing is better in life if you can keep a sense of humor with you. 

Don't take life so serious all the time.

LAUGH!

Change is the only constant in this life. Embrace it.

You dwell in . . . what you dwell on!

In photography every thing hangs on a sharp image.

Creative composition makes all the difference.

Life is no different.

Sometimes the trail is flat,
Sometimes it takes you down the mountain,
And sometimes it's an up hill climb.
No matter what . . .
The point is always the same . . .
ENJOY THE RIDE!

Happy Trails!

One Good Picture

I have to post this picture all by itself. Several reasons move me to do so. First of all it's of my beautiful daughter, second it came straight out of the camera so nice it only took two seconds to edit and whaaalah! And last but not least every once in a while I take a photograph that pushes me with a vengeance towards mastering an art that is basically impossible to master. That is the fascinating thing about art it is not contained in any boarders! My love for the art of photography just grows deeper!

This picture was taken up at the cabin. I have a massive set of windows that face the north. It is the perfect lighting. I still remember that beautiful day so vividly thanks impart to a camera. I helped Kaedell with her family pictures on the beach that day and I took some engagement pictures for Seth and Haley. What amazes me now is how one image sparks a million different memories in my head. Looking at this picture is like walking right back into that day.

Emily Dickinson said, "Forever is composed of nows." I'm going to frame this image. It's beauty whispers a sermon on love to my heart. Bug, you're beautiful all the way through. So thankful you're mine. I love you!

Life Pictured

Ever wonder where a year will take you? In an effort to become a better photographer I decided to embark upon a journey. I'm a little nervous if you want to know the truth. And in weak moments I ask myself, "What have I done?" Still all the same I'm excited to see what my efforts produce one year from now. You can visit my visual journey by clicking on the "Life Pictured" button on the right.

I'm going to attempt to take ONE, yes, I said just ONE photograph that encompasses my day. For one year, everyday I will take one picture, in one attempt to remember my life. And I'm leaving the boundaries wide open on this; on any given day who knows what moment I'll choose to frame, undoubtedly something that touches me personally, and in what way I cannot say. I'm going to be as surprised 365 days from now as anyone. Creativity awaits me. She lies hidden in the epiphanies of each new morning and waits for me in new places till the sun goes down. And so I look forward to the challenge of finding her and when I look back at the year I hope she sparks emotion in my heart and fills my memories with the sweetest joy life knows and when she bids me farewell I hope she leaves me in a comfortable place where contentment can rest easy in me as I look back at the visual journey my path has taken.

You know what this means? I'll be packin' my Nikon everywhere ---I methodically wrap my heart around my lens! Dress in your best Life and smile big at me . . . I'm going to take your picture!

Every Day Beauty

I had been in and out of my bathroom all morning for one reason or another. I don't know what finally drew my attention to it but I stepped in front of my glass door and looked up. This was the sight that hung just outside. I was so taken back when I saw it. I opened up the door and gazed at the intricate drippings that had frozen in the night. The sun was shinning bright and the formation was starting to slip away one drop at a time.

We have a rain gutter that sometimes fills up with leaves in the fall. We planted a flowering crab apple tree to close to the house. Usually Man With A Drill cleans it out before the first snow fall. If the first snowfall hits hard before the clean out takes place, the water doesn't flow properly, causing it to spill over in various places as it makes it's way to the down spout. When I saw the beautiful formation I knew the cause. No matter, I was amazed at the pattern mother nature had woven out of dripping water and frosty air.

After seeing the spectacular sight I thought of how beauty in some form presents itself to me each and every day. With that thought, an idea struck. The idea is not original. I've seen it done by others. Come January 1st I'll present it. The project will take 365 days to complete. It will be difficult, challenging, but well worth the effort. Hum, I can't wait!

After summarizing my ideas. I ran and got Deserey. She was the only one home and I couldn't wait to show her. Like mother, like daughter, she ran for her camera.

Everyday beauty . . .you just have to look.

Beautiful begins With "K"

I'm working hard at learning better photography skills.

Right now I'm taking a class on "LIGHT."

It's a vast sea of learning. Some days I feel like I'm drowning. There's so much to understand, OCEANS! There's so much to remember. It's literally a larger subject than any body of water that covers the earth. Well, to me, it feels deep and wide, not to mention turbulent. It defiantly tosses me around some days.

My class is teaching me several things: What is light? Where does it come from? What is it's source. On and on. Wow! Let me write a book on that subject spiritually and photographically speaking.

Last night I came home from my class exuberant to retain it all. At my age I have come to love learning. My head was spinning. I was like a sponge all night, sucking it all in! After I got home, I came up to my cave and pulled up this picture. The light is so nice. It falls soft on my granddaughter's beautiful face as well as radiates from deep within her. I love the catch light in her eyes. Isn't she a doll! Beautiful really begins with a "K."

Saturday I get to practice what I'm learning. I can't wait! Practice. Yum! Today I'm paying more attention to light. Why do I have this sneaky suspicion looking for light is going to make my day go much better. Light and how it affects life . . . this topic amazes me with a camera in my hand or without. A subject for another day.

What A Picture! WOW!!!

I know you'll find this hard to believe, but the above photo was taken with an iPhone. No editing has been done as of yet! If you know anything about the iPhone, then you know it's absolutely one of the most spectacular pieces of technology you'll ever hold in your hand, but the camera built into it, for lack of a better word ---sucks! Ok, that's my biased opinion. I usually have a three thousand dollar Nikon in my hand with a twenty eight hundred dollar lens on the end of it, so it's hard to give the iPhone a fair phone camera critique.

Even worse, I can't take credit for this picture! @#*^! All of us Crowthers love to drive by the Logan Temple when we travel home from the lake. Man With A Drill was the lucky dog who came upon this beautiful scene. He said he drove down the hill and didn't really see the temple glowing there till he got all the way to the bottom. He said to me with all his heightened exuberance, "I nearly missed it." Then he went rambling on about how he took one last look in my rear view mirror and there it was. Thankfully he seized the moment, whipped his car around, pulled out the only camera he had, and framed one of the most stunning shots I've ever seen.  Brilliant! Bravo! Pat, pat.

I thought it was so beautiful, absolutely beautiful! I love the Logan Temple. This photo's a definite framer! Well done Man With A Drill . . .And An iPhone!

We Should Do This More Often!

When I'm working on pictures late at night on my computer, sometimes I stumble across the greatest finds of all time. Here it is, one photograph with lives etched in an era, frozen and framed for many generations to come.

So many things struck me when I found this photo. I laughed at the Blanch aurora that shines from within. The picture has a unique spirit about it. I laughed at both of the 'Scott's' on the back row. I laughed at their obvious lack of enthusiasm for photography. You should see a close up of their faces, just looking at them takes me back to all of their sarcastic comments as they stood for the click. It was obvious they were  being held hostage by a nagging spouse no doubt.

I loved looking at all the little kids in this picture. Taking the time to look over each small and innocent face fills my soul with complete satisfaction. Every one of these little people adds a giant serving of joy to life! Did I tell you they love going to great grandma's house together? You should see them energize each other.  The spark of childhood enthusiasm arcs back and forth between them giving way to gleeful laughter as they share in a serious bond of camaraderie. They love to run wild when they get to g-ma's. The great part is, they don't mind much stopping to have their picture taken. They're pretty happy people as long as you feed them.

My favorite part of the picture though are those little Christmas lights haphazardly strung above our heads. We never take them down now, we can't, somehow they have become a permanent fixture. Maybe it's the hidden ambiance they add to the old red brick home.

I love the faces in this picture. I love the people!  This is where my life began! This picture is something to treasure! And I know it's just going to grow more priceless over the years! I'm so glad we stopped for just a minute and captured the moment. We should do it more often!

Love you family of mine!

Fire In The Sky

Friday night I was talking on my cell phone with my sister. While I was busy yacking my jaws to her, I walked over to the kitchen sink to perform some menial chore, looked out the window, and in udder astonishment saw the most beautiful sight! The sky, it was brilliant with color and looked like it was literally on fire.  I honestly don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. I told my sister I had to go. "I'll call you right back," I said to her in a rush. Then I abruptly hung up the phone.  When it comes to capturing light everything can change in a split second.

After grabbing my camera as fast as I could, I flew out the door, and ran across the street where I could get a better shot. I couldn't snap the lens fast enough. The photo you see above came straight out of my camera.  I haven't touched it with photoshop. Wow, Mother Nature can sure put on a show!

Gotta Post More Pictures!

You can never take too many pictures! Can you?

Missy always asks me,

"Will you take Baylee's picture?"

You know what the answer is.

I can't say "Yes" fast enough!

Baylee is a willing candidate for the first few shots.

But then Grandma gets carried away,

And soon I get the pouty "Please No More!" face.

Thanks Missy for always asking!

I love taking pictures!!! 

Spring, is it here or not?

I love spring. I was sitting in my study the other day working on pictures when I heard a little bird out my window. I was lucky my camera was sitting right beside me on my desk. I grabbed it and hoped the window was clean enough to get a good shot.
He's a fat thing. Must have had a good winter. I'm glad he's back, a sign of new life and a beautiful season just beginning . . . spring! I hope he visits me often. His sweet little warble seemed to embellish the morning and all its goodness.

Adorable begins with "K"

This little family has grown by two feet!

She's adorable!

Your wish is my command!  Babies always rule!

Today I got to torture this poor little girl! She was trying to sleep and 'Woman With A Camera' just wouldn't leave her alone. This is my niece's baby girl and these were the first pictures I sat down to edit tonight. I couldn't resist posting them on the blog, they turned out so cute.
Angelic and sweet, this one is! Thanks Chelsey, for letting me take her picture, I so enjoyed it! I just want you to know though, she's keeping me up at night too, because I can't stop playing with her pictures, LOL! Now I better get back to my editing. I love photography!!!!