Photo Blogging Challenge (September 2015): Happy

The Photo Blogging Challenge for September theme was Happy! I had quite a few shots that made me happy. Having to choose did not. Let's take a look:

This is my happy place. We've had this land since 1969. I'm happy my grandfather bought it and my dad kept it.

Driving the jeep makes the boy happy!

I'm happy to see the bridges lit up Green and Gold after another Baylor win.

Nothing makes me happy like hitting the water early on a pretty almost fall Sunday morning with a bunch of Boy Scouts.

The Game Day experience at our new stadium, complete with Sailgating, would make anyone happy.

And a little bonus shot, I've been building a new house and, after being more than patient, we fired our contractor, hired a new one and things got moving again. That even made the house happy.

That's my selection for the month, late as usual. Take a look at all of my September photos, if you'd like. Visit the link over at a 'lil hoohaa to see what the others have been up to. Join in for October, if you want. Until then...

Photo Blogging Challenge (August 2015): Rule of thirds

This month's challenge was the Rule of Thirds. As I was putting this all together I found myself wishing I had more examples of NOT following the rule. We all know the rules of photography were meant to be broken. And I know I have plenty of examples of that in my photo stream. Enough about breaking rules, lets look at those I took this month that follow the Rule of Thirds.

Sometimes I like using the bottom third leaving some negative space up top.

It's true that following the Rule of Thirds lends to a visually appealing photograph. I've been doing it so long that generally I don't even think about it.

People portraits are the easiest, I think, in terms of the Rule of Thirds. The eyes have it! Or at least the head.

But animals work pretty good too. You don't have to keep it a traditional framing in order to keep it in the thirds.

This one is another example of a more non-traditional framing. I wanted to increase the sense of urgency by showing the kid trying to run off the frame vs. more lead room of a traditional framing.

And a bonus shot to show you can go vertical as well and still follow the Rule of Thirds and she was just too sassy not to include.

Check out more examples by visiting the other participants over at a 'lil hoohaa blog. Take a look at September's challenge and think about participating. Visit all of my August shots over at my flickr stream. Until next month.

Photo Blogging Challenge (July 2015): Patriotic

Well, July found me on the road quite a bit so my take on Patriotic is going to be pretty standard patriotic fare being the most patriotic month here in the US.

Except for this one:

Wilbur returns in his full patriotic form! Does it get any better?

The rest are some of my better attempts at fireworks. I used my Triggertrap cord hooked to the iPhone. It worked well.

That's all I have this month. I've got some fun backpacking through Colorado pics followed by a diving trip to Grand Cayman. They didn't really fit the theme. Take a look at a 'lil hoohaa's page for the other entries. We'll see you next month.

Photo Blogging Challenge (June 2015): Anything Goes

Anything goes, eh? Challenge accepted! My first breaking of the rules is more than five pictures. Take that! My second, is that my boys took a couple of these on our visit to DC. So BAM! Anything Goes! Here WE go.

Will played in a summer basketball league. Talk about Anything Goes; they called fouls and the team accumulated them, but there was no fouling out so there were teams that used that as their strategy.

Will also made Life Scout at our June Court of Honor. Now both boys are Life and ready for an Eagle project of their own.

It's all Will! He took this photo of the family at dinner our first night in DC. We're actually in Alexandria here.

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law reflect in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

John took this of Brother Will looking fly. (Do kids still say that? #swagger)

When we came up to Mt. Vernon, you could hear this fife all the way to the parking lot. John took this one too.

Our hotel was about a 5 minute walk to the Marine Corps Monument. I walked over there several times after dinner.

Here's Amy and the Boys at the Smithsonian Castle.

We're home and back to Scouts. We helped with one of my scouts Eagle project putting up new trail signs in Cameron Park and then went out to another park for a HAM radio field day. The boys earned the Radio merit badge.

Anything went. Another month in the books. As always, you can check out all of my photos on Flickr. You can also check out the other participants at a 'lil hoohaa. See you next month.

Photo Blogging Challenge (May 2015): Spring

May went by super fast! I had a hard time choosing my selections this month, so please go visit my Flickr page to see them all. This month's theme was Spring and we had plenty of it. Let's get going.

May kicked off with a Spring trip for the 7th graders to visit the Alamo in San Antonio. We took one of the famous river tours as well.

Spring is also time for Pack graduations. We have an annual Welcome to Webelos campout where the new Webelos come camp with the boy scout troop. It gives the scouts a chance to teach the younger scouts new skills and gives the cubs a taste of what we do in the troop.

Young William finished up the 7th grade. And he is quite popular with the ladies.

We had an abnormally wet May, we got rain 26 days in a row beating the previous record of 20 set sometime in the 50s. Many of our lakes are flooded but some are finally over half full, a level they have not seen since 2012.

We wrapped up May with some sunny weather and a nice event for dogs out at the park. Rosie is quite photogenic.

So there you have it. May...Spring. Like I said, I have more. Memorial Day saw the 10th Anniversary of our gathering of friends. There was dirt track racing. There was a birthday. And on and on. Take a look at the other entries as well over at a 'lil hoohaa. And join us next month.

Photo Blogging Challenge (April 2015): Friends and Family

Sometimes the easier prompts are harder because you have so many from which to choose. Such is the case for April's theme, Family and Friends. Easter fell in there so we had some family time. And really our friends are like family so let's just stick with that! Without any further ado, please enjoy my April offering.

As is our tradition, going on about 14 years now, Bluebonnets being the State Flower of Texas, families all across the state drag their children to a field, stop on the side of a busy highway, or find a secret spot on some Farm to Market Road less traveled, and make their family squat in the itchy grass and try to look like they are having a good time. For bonus fun, take a look at my Collection of Bluebonnets past.

Easter was early this year, but that didn't stop the cousins from taking a chilly dip in my dad's pool after lunch.

***BONUS SHOT *** - Easter is also quite close to, Lili, my niece's birthday. Happy Birthday, pretty lady. My dad's house has the best natural lighting of any house I shoot in.

 

We have a new family member. Meet Rosie (Mary Rose). We found her at the local shelter, they think she is a Shepard mix. I think she is going to be huge. I know she is 100% adorable!

 

My scout family got together to help one of their brothers put together his Eagle project. The work hard and play hard!

 

And finally, our school family took a trip south and visited the Alamo. Will's 7th grade class and a few parents toured the Alamo, but still couldn't find Peewee's bike.

Another month in the bag. I could have shared so many more. You can always see what I'm up to over at Flickr. I pretty much share it all. Take a look at the other folks over at a lil hoohaa. Join in for May, the theme is already up. Until next month...

Photo Blogging Challenge (March 2015): Two

I though this would be an easy one. I had a grand plan. I did not execute said grand plan. This is what I have to offer. TWO:

Two shadows and a dog.

Catching up on my Proj365, I actually have two photos from which to choose.

These two old building caught my eye while out fishing. Supposedly, they were build for Boy Scouts to use.

I'm a tipi, I'm a wigwam... two tents.

And the title of this one says it all, I needed one more 2.

Hopefully, I will feel more inspired next month. My grand plan was to be 5 shots of different 2's similar to the last. that seems easy enough, no? Jump over to a lil hoohaa to see some folks who were inspired! Join in next month. We'll see you then.

Photo Blogging Challenge (February 2015): Winter

Winter in Texas can be kind of tough to find. We started out February in shorts and ended it bundled up again.

It was pretty amazing weather, we were able to get out and hit the trails some.

Over Valentines day weekend, Amy ran the Austin half-marathon and the boys and I ran a 5K while we were waiting. Town Lake was hopping with folks enjoying the warm weather.

They paddled into the evening.

I finally got to see a little winter. I went for a visit to our Tulsa office. They had been hit by a bit of a snow storm a few days earlier.

Then, just when we though we were all done with winter, we got one of those weird weather days in Waco. Big, huge, flakes. It was so pretty coming down. The two photos below were taken only a few hours apart. In Texas, we get to enjoy three seasons in one day.

That's the best we can do for winter around here. If you want to see what winter looks like elsewhere, go check out the rest at a lil hoohaa blog. And we'll see you next month.

Photo Blogging Challenge (January 2015): Games

This month's photo challenge came to an end in a hurry. Where did January go? Do I start all these this way? This month's theme was games. I got this. We can do games. Let's not mess around and get started.

My year started out pretty good. My Baylor Bears were ranked number 5 in one of the college football polls, just barely missing out for a place in the inaugural NCAA Championship Playoff series, and had another stellar year. They led the Michigan State Spartans for 59 minutes in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas Cowboys stadium. Unfortunately, football games last 60 minutes and they were defeated by one point.

You can play all sorts of games with dice. Many board games require them but they are also quite handy stand-alone.

I've had this game for quite awhile and it was old when I bought it. This board was made in a little town just a short drive from here is what drew me to it. It's played a little like Sorry, if I recall, with marbles as the playing pieces.

My youngest was big into the video game Skylanders. You purchase these physical pieces and place them on a device that brings them into the game. Of course, there are limited edition figures and, of course, he "just had to have" many of them. And, of course, he couldn't care less about them now.

Our Boy Scout troop decided to take a break from our normal meetings and go bowling. Bowling has changed considerably since I last participated. Black lights and loud music are the norm. You can sort of text between the lanes on kiosk that also allows you to take photos for the scoreboard, order food, and see all sorts of statistics for your game. You can also select from many different kinds of games that are scored by how many pins you knock down. It was fun.

I felt like you would be missing out if I didn't include this B-B-B-Bonus Shot-t-t-t of one of my scouts on bowling night. He was so full of swag from the top of his headband to the bottom of his high top socks. BOWLING!


So January is done; what will February bring? More photos will definitely be there, new participants, why not? What are you waiting for? You have a camera, don't you? You have some time to kill at least five times during the month. Join us! In the meantime, there are many other fine photographers and there photos to check out over at a'lilhoohaa.   ← Just click right over there to take a look at some fine photographers and their fabulous photos. You know you want to. What are you waiting for? CLICK IT! Go head. I'll be right here.