Category: Photography

After a Covid break

fireworks at night

It has been a long year of Covid-19 and mask wearing. I managed to post nothing in that whole year. It isn’t that there wasn’t anything to photograph or post, it was sensory overload in 2021. I am making a fresh start and plan on keeping this up to date from now on. I decided to start it up with a “BANG”! I am finally forcing myself to get with the century I live in and learn how to use my digital camera for all it has to offer. I have shackled myself to the past insisting on using my Pentax K1000 35MM film camera and my smartphone. I guess this is my “News Years Resolution” in July and it is time for a fresh start. My hope is every post will be better then the last.

Gonna Get your Goat!

I decided to look up the origin of the phrase “Get your Goat”. It is something i have heard all my life and knew it meant to annoy or anger someone but how did it start? The expression comes from a tradition in horse racing. The night before a race they would place a goat in the stall with high-stung thoroughbreds. It was believed to have a calming effect on on the horses. If someone wanted a horse to race poorly they would remove the goat to unsettle the horse, hence “got your goat”.

I have to say that goats are wonderful creatures. They have great fun personalities. Spending time in the field with them was rather calming so I can see how the thought of placing them with a racehorse would calm them.

The New Norm…

Person wearing a face mask holding hand to forehead looking exhausted.
A shopping cart and a sign stuck on the floor that reads "Thank you for practicing social distancing. Please keep six feet from the customer in front of you."

The new normal is exhausting. The stress of leaving ones own house now is quite a chore. Make sure you wear your mask because it may help either you from getting the virus or you from spreading it. Wash your hands (did that anyway) but wash them till your skin rubs off then put on hand sanitizer and feel the burn of clean. Make sure you wear gloves and don’t touch anything especially your face that now itches from the face mask that your not used to wearing. You now touched stuff so it is time to change your gloves again or wash them or sanitize them. My face is sweaty, my hands are sweaty, and I have only been at work an hour now. I am already getting a headache from the elastic straps tugging at the back of my ears. I’m sorry to everyone who is going crazy stuck at home unable to leave their homes but you don’t know how good you have it. The stress and anxiety of an 8+ hour workday right now is mentally and physically exhausting. No one talks, no one smiles (and if they are you can’t see it), no more laughs…..everyone at work is isolated together and more lonely then you can imagine.

Sunbeam Sleep

Brown and white dog sleeping in a sunbeam
Brown and white dog sleeping in a sunbeam
Brown and white dog sleeping in a sunbeam

After dreary fog I needed to warm things up with some sunshine. Is there anything better then a mid-morning nap in some warm sunshine? Blossom doesn’t think so…..well unless there is meat involved like chicken or beef or pork or……

Indiana Weather

Close up of small hail/ice pellets
Close up of small hail/ice pellets
Foggy highway with cars and roadsign
Foggy day with building and large flower sculpture
Foggy day with only trees and geese visible

There is a popular saying in Indiana. “If you don’t like the weather wait five minuets”. The day can start with fog, throw out some sleet or snow then the temperature rises and we end up with a warm sunshiny day. I personally think that fog is beautiful (unless I’m driving at night then it is just scary). A couple of the photos are hail a little smaller then a pea. The last photo is a picture of the building I work at. It is to bad that you can’t see it from the road, but the geese are a nice touch.

OFFICIAL PANDEMIC

3 photos all in black and white showing empty shelves in a grocery store.

On March 11th 2020 the Coronavirus met the standards by the CDC to officially be declared a PANDEMIC. I admit I am a little concerned about catching it since I work a job that is in the health care field and we are not closing our doors. People are depending on us and my job isn’t quite possible to be able to work from home. I like a lot of others out there have to suck it up and do our best to be diligent about taking all the measures we can to not get it. What scares me more then getting the virus is ignorant panic. I’m not going to fault anyone from stocking up a little extra but there is stocking up and there is down right hording. So much for caring for our fellow man/woman and it is everyone for themselves. I was doing alright until I walked up and down all the isles and saw very little left to purchase. My anxiety level has skyrocketed but no panic attack yet. Be safe out there everyone and don’t forget about your humanity.

SOCIAL DISTANCING

1st photo is a sign that reads "The cafeteria is temporary reconfigured, Please practice social distancing and maintain 6 foot separation". 2nd photo is of the cafeteria with tables all spaced out and only 1 chair per table.

COVID-19 aka:Coronavirus has made it to the USA and has swept across it in no time. All “reasonable” measures are being taken to help prevent the spread of the virus but it is currently winning. I know that this isn’t a happy topic but it is everywhere and how can I not document this the best way I know how. I will do my best to post as much beauty and serenity as I can not just for anyone following along but also for my own piece of mind.

LOST TIME

Bright sun shining on the inside of a grandmother clock with the pendulum and weights.

Well if anyone out there is still checking this I am sorry for the long delay between postings. At the end of 2019 work was quite busy and I got lazy. Time can slip away so fast and before you know it I have lost 4 months. I learned that no matter how much I like the idea of a picture every day it is just to structured for me. I ended up caring less when i was trying to hard to take a photo of a specific topic. I have never been good at that even in art school. I tend to be more of a opportunist photographer. My new plan is weekly updates with more effort & thought, stuff I can be proud of.

Day 296 Abandoned

Old Mercedes car that is rusty and in process of being fixed up.

I know the car is a Mercedes but I don’t know the model or year. I saw this in the grocery parking lot so I’m sure someone drove it there but it does have an abandoned look to it.

Day 297 Metal

Metal sunflower yard ornaments

You want sunflowers in your yard all year long but you live in the Midwest? Now you too can have this luxury with metal sunflowers. If you have any concerns about size, not to worry they are light and not HEAVY-METAL sunflowers.

Day 294 Macro Monday

Close up of a scraped bloody knee.

I stepped on uneven pavement wrong causing me to loose my balance and fall into the road. I bruised my hand up and scraped up my knee pretty good also. I of course see a photo opportunity before covering it up with a bandage.

Day 293 Favorite soup/stew

Ham and Bean soup

This is ham and bean soup with barley and some other vegetables added. As far as favorite goes it depends on the day. I can eat soup and stew every day and usually don’t have any recipes. I just add whatever I have or feel like in a pot cook and season to taste just like grandma made.

Day 290 Books

A row of children's books

Childhood is calling. There are lots of good classic book there that provided plenty of non-battery entertainment. Paddington, snoopy, golden books, Disney books and one of my favorites is the Ernie and Bert book. It is a funny book where in the end you learn why Ernie wants Bert to put a pot on his head.

Day 284 A Tattoo

An arm with a temporary tattoo of a rose on it

Just in case you had any doubts …..Nope that’s not real. It is still a tattoo just a temporary one.

Day 283 Purse/Handbag

Doctor Who Tardis purse with matching wallet.

In case your not familiar with the show this purse is made to look like the Tardis from Doctor Who. If you are looking at it shrugging your shoulders I suggest Googling it. If you are looking at it and think “WOW THAT’S SOOOOO COOL!!” then you get a thumbs up and a happy smile of appreciation from me.

Day 281 Picture of a Picture

A painting of a shark in a metal suite with a human arm and a purple octopus dressed with a sward and a captain's hat.

I took this at the Indiana State Fair. I didn’t get the name of the painting or who painted it but I love it. It is crazy weird and beautifully done.

Day 277 Not finished yet

Back side of house with a willow tree and a pile of branched on the ground.

The strong winds we had this week blew dead limbs out of the tree so now I’m cutting more out that could also be deadly. I wish I was finished but it is only break time. My advice no matter how pretty you think a willow tree looks, they are constantly a pain in the hind end. I can’t wait to have this thing removed and replace it with a much friendlier plant.

Day 275 Nuts

A jar of mixed nut trail mix,

Walnuts, peons, almonds, Brazil nuts, hazel nuts, pistachios, cashews & peanuts are all wonderful. To all the buts I forgot to mention don’t feel left out because your just as tasty just not as well known.

Day 263 Craving

close up of a monster cookie

MONSTER COOKIE!!! If you don’t know what that is it is everything wonderful. M&M’s, oatmeal, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips…and probably some other stuff but it’s very good.

Day 248 Bottles

Shelves in store stocked with bottles of beer.

Fifty-Two bottles of beer on the shelf, 52 bottles of beer……take one off and drink it down………51 bottles of beer on the shelf.

Day 245 Relax

Pained face trying to smile with Farris wheel bars in background.

Relax???? I just can’t on the wheel of death. What was I thinking, I have a little fear of heights. Me and my bright ideas to get a photo from a different perspective. It is to bad I couldn’t stand to look out much to actually take a good photo. Maybe next time………….NEVER!

Day 241 Morning

A ceiling with a skylight and the sun is just starting to shine in.

It is now morning and the sun is starting to shine in the skylight. Wonder if I should get up and face the day head on or go back to bed for a few more hours…….Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Day 235 The 1st person I saw today

A man from nose down with arms resting on a table looking at a phone.

I was playing around with a watercolor app called Waterlogged. It is supposed to turn photos into water color paintings……this is one of the few that actually turned out all right. I have learned that simpler subject matter works better in a water color.

Day 234 Swing

A large tree on it's side propped up on stands and has child swings hanging from it.

I know it is hard to see but there are child swings hanging from the tree. This would be functional art. This can be found at Newfields hiding behind the Art museum in Indianapolis. If you have never been there it is a great place to go in a nice day to walk around. There is wonderful oversized art out in nature. I give it 2 thumbs up!

Day 233 Street Photography

Two photos: 1st is of a women walking with an umbrella down the street. 2nd is looking out a Dr. office window at the street below.

I was a bit torn on the title for this photo. Should I take a photo of a street or a photo on the street of street happenings. You get both then, neither of which I am happy with. I like the umbrella picture but again it was on a bad old roll of film. I do love the grainy quality of it and how soft it is. The other one id just passing the time waiting on the Dr. to show up, nothing special.

Day 232 Arches

A long walkway with arch topped openings along the left side the distance of the walkway with sunlight shining in.

I have been using up old film I have had sitting in a closet for at least 15 years now. This was a roll of Infrared film I was using up and as you can see it was fogged and to old to still be good. The interesting part about this one is I didn’t mark this roll as having been started and taken out of the camera. This photo was taken 15-20 years ago and sitting there the whole time. I had a couple others show up on this roll I still might share but there are defiantly a lot of arches in this photo.

Day 229 Noodles

Close up of grey colored noodles with black spots

These noodles are made with black beans instead of flour. That is why they look the way they do, but are a tasty alternative with added protein and other good stuff.

Day 221 Bridge

A covered bridge over a river

A covered Bridge in covered country in central IN. Unfortunately my lens broke a little and left a blurry spot in the center of the photo. I thought it felt weird when I was trying to focus and the photos proved me right.

Day 213 Flying

car stereo with song title "Born to fly"

If you drive fast enough it can feel like you’re flying. Until you get pulled over and issued a ticket for flying instead of driving. It looks like I need to clan my car, it sure is dusty.

Day 212 Night

Big green orc looking monster lit with black lights and a blurry kid in the foreground that looks like a ghost.

This photo was actually taken during the day at an indoor monster golf full of black lights. As dark as it was it sure felt like night in there…….is that a G..G..G..GHOST?!?!?!?

© 2019 - BECKY365