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Sometimes you have to do things.

Maddie will be going away to college in about 5 years. While we are fortunate that Pete has a good job, and I haven't had to work outside of the house since I was pregnant with her, I'm sure I'll want to do something when she leaves. When I was young, I would work up to 60 hours a week at the Dairy Queen. Then after college I worked at IBM and often stayed late and I even worked quite a few Saturdays. What I'm trying to say is that I like working. I like being busy and doing things.

So, the question is, what will I do when Maddie is gone and my time is no longer spent homeschooling her. Five years seems like a long time to figure this out, but I've already been thinking about it for a few years and I'm not all that much closer to figuring it out.

Last night was the last night of my first photograpy course, and by taking over 1000 photos, I discovered a little something about what I like -- at least when it comes to photography. I love to photograph nature. 

And dead trees -- especially dead trees. And architecture.

And while I love being able to take better photography of my family... hey, look at that, a nature photo disguised as a portrait photo!

So, by taking the class, I found out a little more about myself. I'm getting closer to figuring out my future and I'm enjoying the process. I think it's time for another class!

More on that Photography Class

I've been taking literally hundreds of photos each week since I started the photography class. Thank goodness for digital technology. 

This past week we learned about composing photos, so I've been playing around with that a bit. It's a lot of fun to be able to get the camera to do what I want now. Being able to see the wings of the bee on this flower was awesome. (Click to embiggen.)

And last week's assingment was a lot of fun also -- taking photos in the dark. Since it was the week of the 4th of July, there were plenty of fireworks to photograph.

It was especially fun playing with long exposures so that multiple fireworks appeared in one photograph.

This week is portraits, which is much more difficult for me. At least learning about light is helping me to get better shots, but I'm still pretty bad at posing people and my teenager loses patience quickly when I'm fiddling with my settings. 

Photography Class

Since I got my "fancy" camera, I've gone back and forth about taking a photography class at the local junior college. This past week, one day before the class began, I finally signed up for "Secrets of Great Digital Photography", which is the first class for the photography certificate.

After one class I'm already obsessed with taking photos. And surprisingly, I think I'm taking better photos already. 

The instructor had us change all the setting on our cameras to manual and I find that I'm loving it! I'm not sure why it took me so long to sign up for this class, but I'm very glad that I finally did it.

Photographing Our Backyard Birds

This has been a great year for birdwatching in our backyard. We've seen a few new birds and many of our old favorites. 

Since I've been trying to improve my photography skills and learn more about all the many functions of my fancy digital camera, I've taken to photographing the birds. 

Speaking of photography, I have a new photo up at my astrophotography blog.

Daffodils and Photography

I've been spending some time getting to know my camera better, which means reading the ridiculously long manual. I have to admit that I was overwhelmed by the manual when I first got the camera, so I mostly skimmed it and went on my way.

Now that I'm a little more comfortable with the camera, and I know a little more about what I want it to do, the manual has come out and I have found out that my camera can do a lot more than I thought it could. My photography still has a long way to go, but at least now I know the capabilities of my camera. 

Well, at least I know more about it's capabilities.

Astrophotography

I woke up my whole family last night to watch the lunar eclipse. There hasn't been a total lunar eclipse since 2011, but there will be 3 more over the next 18 months! I'm planning on learning a lot about astrophotography, which marries my love of astronomy and photography.

The photo above shows the moon and Spica (the brightest star from the constellation Virgo).  Click to see more detail.

This photo (which you will most definitely have to click to get a good view), shows the moon, Spica and up in the right hand corner is Mars! Celestial photobombing, huh?

If you are at all interested in following my Astrophotography adventures, you can find me at www.menelvagor.com.

Garlic

I'm all about gardening these last few weeks. The garlic is doing great despite the fact that I've done nothing but remove the thick layer of winter mulch from their bed. I can't remember if I grew a hardneck variety, so I'm not sure if these will produce scapes -- must figure that out.

Since I have a fancy new camera...

... I've been taking a lot of photos.  Be prepared for an onslaught of garden photos.

Instagram Newbie

I've had the Instagram App on my iPhone for ages, but just started using it this month.  I love the nostalgic look for holiday photos.

If you want to check out my Instagram stream/profile thing, here's a link:

Just click on that little camera icon.

Any tips from Instagram users?  I kind of set up my profile and took a few photos, but that's the extent of my knowledge right now.  Can you add other filters?  I'm clueless.

Windy