Last Home Game Nebraska Volleyball Seniors

What a treat and what a difference a seat can make! I was in the nosebleed section about 5 rows from the top for the last home volleyball game of the season and it was a perfect place to take pictures from. Marilyn got tickets and I was able to join her. I am so glad that I got to go to another game and practice all of the things I learned from the first one. The pre-game and post-game were very special times. I got pictures of all 4 seniors. I actually had enough pictures to make a DVD for each of the 4 seniors, with about 125 unique pictures on each DVD. I have 3 possible connections to get them to the 4 seniors.....I'll have to keep you posted on how it actually works out.

Oh my heart is singing!!!!!!!

Yep, it's the first snow of the season...on the day before Thanksgiving. It makes me so happy. 48 hours ago it was 78 degrees - no joking. Everyone will be sick soon, and there will be a lot of car accidents because people aren't used to driving but, I LOVE SNOW. It is so beautiful! I went out to my trusty backyard with my 60mm macro and the flash. I am so impressed with how much difference the flash makes in the pictures. Even though I had just a peek of natural sunlight in the top two pictures, I set off the flash at -2/3 or something like that. You can see the difference between the first and second picture is flash/no flash. There are 2 reflection marks on the fruits in the first picture. The last picture also had flash, but no natural light, so it didn't matter. I didn't use a tripod because there is a little wind. I'd love to have the entire skiff of snow in focus. That will be another day. Can't wait!!!!!

From Fall to Fungus

We went to a local park on Sunday and I practiced using the camera's M mode. Oh it seems so scary, but it was very interesting too! I also had my flash on so I practiced taking pictures that looked like there was not a flash used - like this one. I think for most of my pictures (60mm) I had the aperture a little to large. But, if I had made it smaller, I would have had less depth of field. Oh, this is why I need to practice!

The Landscape of a Nose

K-9 was laying in the sun this afternoon. I put the 12mm extension tube on my 60mm macro and was able to get really close to his nose in the sunshine. Amazing! Isn't that a beautiful living thing?

Final Fall Fling

If the family that plays together stays together, then we are sure stuck! We had an blast in our back yard with the leaf pile on Saturday. The dogs have never been so tired.

Super fun day with Mom in the combine

When it comes to harvest, I would call this a "whoops". Mom said today that she'd have to have her mouth disinfected after being in the field a couple of weeks, because that's not what they would call it. I left Lincoln at 5 am this morning to spend the day with Mom in the combine. What a treat. Ten years ago, my sister died at the beginning of harvest. Out of necessity, Mom got in the combine. She does such an awesome job that although her "term" was only going to be 3 years, she's stuck with the job for at least another decade. Today, was also a new beginning for Gordy, Jeanette's son. He drove the 2nd combine by himself, after learning how yesterday. Mom said that Jeanette would like to have seen Gordy do this. Today was Jeanette's birthday. So on with the adventure.

This is Mom & her machine. She takes the 6 row head.

This is looking inside the air tight cabin. No windows on this baby....you'd choke with the dust!

Here we go. Nice early morning light. I had my ultra wide angle lens on my camera and decided that was it. All pictures were going to be taken with that lens, so I wouldn't open up my camera and expose it to all the stuff in the air, both inside and outside. Notice one hand goes on the wheel and the other one on the super joystick. It's sort of like playing a video game!!! The right hand does all the interesting things, like raise and lower the head, control the speed and move the auger in and out.

So about an hour into our morning, we had to wait for a semi truck to unload. What better thing to do while your waiting then to clean your windows and floors. Mom's combine is completely stocked with cleaning supplies as seen here. She dusts the windows inside and out before she cleans them with genuine "John Deere" window cleaner. (She also uses it to clean her hands before she eats?) Sounds like life on the edge to me!

The interesting part about cleanig the window is just getting to the darn thing. There are a couple of steps and since the window is leaning inward, you have a monkey bar hold at the top.

Nice form!

Here's what it looks like with clean windows!

This is the easy way to unload. You drive over to the semi and fill it up.

This is the advanced way to unload. You continue moving forward, watching your rows and fill the grain cart at the same time. It was amazing to watch Mom's skill here. She was really good at getting the cart just topped off. I'm quite sure she was not responsible for the first image!

One last picture. I just thought this was a fun angle. Notice, Mom's never too busy to chat while she's working...or in this case waiting. We had a super time and I can't wait to go out with her next year.

Birthday Treat - Nebraska Volleyball

What a treat! We went downtown about an hour before the game and went inside to the ticket office to see if there were any tickets that had been turned in. How about center court 9 rows up, just off center net, in the parent's section!! My 200L, was WAAAAY to long for our position, but it made getting good shots challenging for sure! I shot a lot at 1600 and 3200 at 2.8. It was a great way to top off my birthday day with Darwin.

Comet 17P - Holmes

Check this out. It's a comet that went crazy. It is viewable to the naked eye. I used my 200 + 2x teleconverter, ISO 400, F10 for 30 seconds. Got some star trails, but they're interesting too.

Moving on to neighborhood trees

Go 60mm macro! Another day without wind. What an amazing time to be alive.

Fall keeps on going!

Playing out in the yard today was so much fun. The orange leaves are everywhere. They fly as the dogs go chasing the balls. 70-200

Jackie's Chair

This is my friend Jackie. She is sitting in my garden in the chair that she made for me. It now has a perfect home! We celebrated my birthday today. First, she hung sideways in my tree. Then we went and golfed. It was crazy windy. The cart we got ran out of electricity and we literally had to push it back up the hill. We made it through 8 holes and decided that we were done. Then we had hot chocolate at the Mill. Everyone needs a Jackie in their life. I'm sure blessed by having her in mine.