Excuses, excuses...

     So I haven't posted in nearly two months, and you probably saw this and thought, "Ooh, pictures!"... and then you got disappointed when there were no pictures.  I do have pictures I need to post, and I've had them for a solid month (at least).  Unfortunately, they won't be up for another several weeks, when I might finally be able to make time for it.  In the next couple of weeks I have a Geometry test, a Chemistry test, lab, and lab report, and a quiz, test, and ten-page paper in Government. I've had a lot to do in the past few weeks, as well, but I probably could have found time to something on here..  I've been neck-deep in Paolini's newest book, Inheritance, since Thursday and I just finished it today.  It's awesome... until the end.  But I won't give out any spoilers.

     Since this post is rather rambling and reasonless, I might as well throw in some late Thanksgiving elements, with one category of things that I'm thankful for: nights. Nights up late next to the fire; nights up late with a book; nights when those are combined; evenings spent playing video games, watching TV, and hanging out with my neighbor/one of my best friends; nights spent chatting with my other best friend until the early morning; nights spent out in the living room with the warmth, smell, and orange glow of the fire in the stove on one side, and the lights and smell from the Christmas tree on the other (...this only applies to the years we have a tree, of course); evenings spent at my grandparents house with the best family and extended family ever... Nights when I can't sleep through the happy, contenting throb of thoughts and dreams swirling around in my head.  These are the best nights in the world.  I'm thankful for friendship - I lost one for several months this summer, and I'm so glad I have it again.  And after being around people (especially my neighbor/best friend) that have been hurt by two suicides in the past few months, and seeing how much pain is caused by it... I'm thankful for life. 

     So there you go, a post.  Again, I'm sorry I haven't done much with photography lately... I'll see what I can do over Christmas break to make up for it.  Until then, I've got nothing.  My cousin had an idea a while back for a photo-a-day challenge, so maybe we'll try that... Ideas, people?

Photowalk 2011

     Last weekend my dad and I went on a photowalk through Downtown Greenville.  I didn't get a ton of good shots, but it's something.  Tell me what you think!

A Weekend in the Mountains

This past weekend we took a family vacation to the mountains - we stayed in a "cabin" (it was bigger than our house) belonging to my mom's coworker.  Jessie came up Friday night and stayed all day Saturday, and we went kayaking, had several foosball tournaments, and generally had fun.  There was a huge back deck with tiki torches are the rail, which gave me my source of pictures for the weekend.

 This one was disappointing - it looked awesome on my camera screen, but it was just too grainy on the computer. 

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of the lake.  I was nervous about taking my camera out in a kayak - it's waterproof, but I wouldn't get it back if I dropped it.  We're still hoping to go to the Davidson sometime soon, but I don't know when.  At this point, I'll settle for any river in NC - the leaves should be starting to change, and it'll be beautiful soon. Anyways, sorry for the lack of posts lately.  Hopefully things will pick up soon.  Tell me what you think!

New Site!

I now have a Facebook page for my photography!  However, I won't be giving up on the blog world - on the contrary, new pics are likely to pop up on my blog before going to Facebook to be sold.  I will be making another page on this blog with a link to my Facebook page, along with some photography.  I also have some ideas for new pics, but we'll see how that turns out.  In the meantime, feel free to visit my page and tell me what you think over there! 

Tiny Visitor

     This little bugger was found at the bottom of the ladder off the pier.  And when I say "little", I'm not joking.

     He doesn't look very happy, does he?  In the first picture he looks like a baby box turtle, but we think he's a snapper judging by his claws.

     Because of his species, he is not going to be a permanent resident.  We're probably going to release him in South Rabon creek back behind our house or below the spillway at Rabon.  Still, he's a nice photography subject, though more than a little unwilling.

He was wiggling around the whole time, so I didn't get many good pictures.  It was hard to tell if he was mad or curious the whole time, but I'm guessing the former.

Still No Pictures?!?

I'm going to have to put off posts for a little while.  Hopefully it won't be too long, but no guarantees.  With school starting I'm gonna be busy, and it'll take a while to get back in the swing of things.  I did notice that a few trees are beginning to turn colors, and I'm hoping that means we'll have an early and awesome Fall this year.  I'm going to get out and find more picture opportunities soon.  We didn't get to go to the Davidson, but I'm going to want to go for my birthday in a month, so I will have more pictures from there before too much longer.  I was considering taking my camera back to the creek near my house in the attempt to get a few more, but it looks as if another dam has been constructed, so there's not enough left for good pics.

On a different note, my dad told me to think about having my own section or something in his Facebook page, which I am considering.  I've also been kind of curious.  Someone I know has an Etsy photography shop, and it got me thinking.  I'm curious if there would be any interest in buying prints of my photography.  I know it's not much, and some of what is there isn't what you would normally see on someone's wall, but I'm just curious.  There are a few that I think would make good prints, but I really want to know what everyone thinks, so let me know!

Finally!

Sorry it took me so long to get these up; I've actually been somewhat busy the past couple days.

Here are a couple "normal" edits.  I'm not sure how good some of them will look on here.

And here are a couple of funky edits.  I like them, but I'm curious to see what other people think.

Tell me what you think!

Coming Soon!

     Two posts in a row without any pictures!  I changed this blog in hopes this wouldn't happen.  I'll have to make it up to you guys with what I have planned for the next couple of weeks. 

     I ran across some old pictures when attempting to help my sister find a specific photograph.  Apparently I had quite a time, as I took 265 pictures in the space of a day or two (most of them aren't worth posting).  I took them with my dad's camera a few years ago, so they are very good quality.  They're mostly flower pictures, so it might get a little repetitive, but I hope it won't.  Lots of Spring-like colors.  Anyways, I've started to work on them and find the good ones, but they won't be up for a couple of days.

     I also have a couple of ideas around the yard, I just need to find time some morning to pick up a camera and try them out.  I'll see if I can manage it on Thursday. 

     The river trip isn't going to work out on the 12th, so I don't know when we're going.  We're going to have to shoot for a Thursday instead; my dad would be horribly disappointed if he didn't get to take a day off of work to go have fun.  :-P

Well, there ya go.  I have no excuse; I'm lazy.  I'll have pictures as soon as I can.

Liebster Awards: Recommended Reading

Well, I have a rare non-photography post for you people.  And I have no one to blame for it but Anna at Insanity Comes Naturally (which is a fittingly awesome name, might I add).

"The goal of the award is to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers. The rules of the award are:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all - have fun!"

I hope that everyone I mention will take the time to make a similar post of their own.  There really isn't a particular order here; the ones that I feel the need to mention specifically I will, and the others that I want to do the same for will unfortunately have to be tacked onto the end of this post.

1. Simple Dreams - This is the blog of a cousin and friend.  I put this one first not only because I look forward to and greatly enjoy all her posts, but also because more traffic over there would be helpful for her.  She is an excellent photographer, a trait that seems to spread through our extended family without regard to genetics.  I rate her second only to my dad in this.

2. A Penny For Your Thoughts - This is also the blog of a cousin and a friend.  It's kind of a random blog - it's full of videos, short posts, rants about life, and amusing stories, scattered far too sparsely with photography and writing (Hint hint!).  You will find some posts about me on there.  Ignore them.  They're lies, all lies.  :-P

And I am quickly realizing that I have way too many blogs to recommend.  Therefore, the rest of these will probably not be on the little sidebar on the right part of the screen(HINT!).

3. When I Grow Up - Yet another photography blog; like I said, it runs in the family.  This one also has some scribblings thrown in.  Dad could have gotten his name in first, if he ever posted.  :-P  However, the posts that are there are excellent proof that I have learned from the best.

4. The Penslayer - As the name suggests, this is a writing blog.  Jenny is an accomplished authoress, having at 20 years of age already had a book published.  As she has other books that are either finished or in the editing stages, I'm sure her book The Shadow Things will not be alone on the shelf for long.

5. Imaginational Wonders - Last but definitely not least, this is another random blog.  This one has some photography, some scribbles, and some jewelry as well.  She doesn't post often, but I couldn't leave her out with a clean conscience.  She is one of my most loyal and helpful followers, always ready to tell me what she thinks of my pictures.  I only say "most" because Sonja has recently found my blog and been very helpful as well.

EDIT:  I didn't realize I had so many honorable mentions at the bottom.  I kinda feel like I'm bending the rules a little.  So instead of having all of them down here, my honorable mentions are permanently on the sidebar on the right side.  The only one I'll mention here as well is Lilly's Scribblings, because she helped me out with this post and I really wanted to fit her up top, but I couldn't.    I'm sorry for the late edit and the removal of the names.  If I had been capable of thinking last night I would've just added them to the sidebar then.

Just A Few More...

...until I'm bone-dry.  After these few, I've got nada, so I'll have to pick up a camera and do some looking around.  I've got a couple of ideas, I just need to try them out.  I'll try to get out there and then put them up here before I hit the river.  The schedulers seem to be leaning towards going on a Friday, with two of the next three out of the picture.  So right now I'm hoping for the 12th, or we'll have to go on a weekend.  (Honestly, I'm just doing this because I need pictures.  I'll beg my dad to go again in late September or early October.)  Anyways, here are a few.

   Well, that's it.  These are all old, if you can't tell.  I'll pick up my camera and look around either tomorrow or Friday morning.  Tell me what you think!

Technical Difficulties!

I have heard reports that my blog posts aren't showing up in the list of posts for people.  It should only be for people who were following me before I changed everything...  If it's being problematic for you, please try un-following and re-following me.  I don't know if it'll work, but it's worth a shot.  If it doesn't I can block and unblock you and hope it does something.  Let me know if you're having problems!

Photowalk 2010

I've been desperately searching for more pictures to post until I get around to hitting the river again.  With this year's photowalk coming up soon (I hope), I realized that I never posted anything from last year.  Unfortunately I don't have much, and what I do have isn't great.

So yeah... they're not great, but it's something to post.  Tell me what you think!  :-)