I have been absent from Steemit for the last several weeks, but I am hoping to get back into the habit of posting regularly. It's been the usual holiday madness, compounded by a serious case of the winter blahs. I did get a camera for Christmas, and although the learning curve is very steep, I have been playing with it a lot and hope to eventually be able to take some decent pictures with it. Here are a few from last night's gathering with the in-laws.
My mother in law goes a little crazy with the decorating. Every corner of her house has holiday bits all over it. It's quite festive, but it makes me tired imagining how long it takes to put it all up and then take it all down again. Better her than me, I guess.
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Like I said, I'm still trying to figure out how to get a decent picture with the camera. It might be a long road, but eventually I will get some.
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We had more than five inches of rain here in two days, which made for some exciting flooding possibilities, but nothing really dire happened. The creek that flows past the house got pretty rowdy, though, and I went out to get a few pictures and play with the camera settings.
The road was flooded in a couple of places, but only on one side, so it wasn't much of a hazard. Driving on the opposite side of the road is something I do all the time anyway. That's the only way to avoid the potholes.
Here are a few I managed to get that I really liked. This one is Farmer Dan's house reflected in the slough. I think I will print a copy of it for him.
This one is just a dead blackberry cane, but I love the colors, or lack of them.
Here's a shot of @meanbees when we went up to cut our Christmas tree. I am having fun learning to play with the depth of field thing.
Anyway, there haven't been any big stories lately. Just the slow day to day of a Pacific Northwest winter; gray and damp and a little dull. At least we have passed the solstice and the days are getting longer again, even if only by a matter of minutes.
That snow is not from this year. We have been spared so far. Happy holidays to all! I am off to baste the turkey!
You decorated more than we did this year! I didn't want to go searching for all the stuff, so we just got a few things.
I had heard about the rain storm - in the next county, I heard they got about a foot of rain over a couple of days. Craziness!
What kind of camera did you get?
I've got a new one too, and am working on making friends with it right now... I'm still grabbing an older camera with a broken screen for my food shots and things that have to be shot... while I get to know the new one. It's the least-intuitive camera I've had yet, though my son swears by it. (He's supposed to visit in May, so he may be spending some time helping me!)
Miss you guys.
One of my classmates has just bought a place not far from you guys... it's like that's the area for people to return to if they can't afford coast prices (like, most of us.) Another one of my classmates also wants to move back to the area.
Hubby's fed up with the snow already, lol. He'd much prefer your area! (So would I - except for the lack of snow... and the mosquitoes... can't have everything, I guess!)
The new camera is a Canon Rebel T7, whatever that means. It came with two lenses, which is cool, but I have to remember which one is for what kind of shooting, and I don't have a lens that can do macro shots yet, which is what I really want to do.
I'm sure glad we didn't get a foot of water! As it is, our drain field flooded and the toilet wouldn't flush for a couple of days. We needed the water, but not all at once!
I'm sorry hubby is fed up with the snow already. It's only the beginning of winter...We haven't had any yet, which is okay by me. I miss you guys too. Give the girls hugs from me, and tell the big one that Goldie is settling in nicely, even though she and Bluey aren't hanging out together.
For macro shots, you can get (inexpensively) a "macro tube" which is just a little screw-on extension for your regular lens which will make a world of difference. It will set you back about $20, I would expect - though a macro lens might not be much more.
We seem to get the snow at the front and back end of the season - not as much in the middle, which seems strange to me, but I'm getting used to it.
It's snowing right now which pleases hubby to no end, lol. 1-3 inches expected overnight - so an officially "White Christmas" now!
Bigger girl says: "That's sad..." (but then,she says that about a lot of things.)
When are you going to hang out on Discord again? Maybe it would help you through some of the seasonal blahs...
I will have to look into the macro tube, or just price an actual lens.
Apparently the Farmer's Almanac says the PNW is going to have a very wet winter, which is good in some ways. Our water table, for one. I'm always much happier when the temperature stays above 40. I wouldn't mind a smidgen of snow, but not the long cold stretches.
Give everybody hugs for me! I will find my way back to Discord one of these days. My phone is having a bad battery attitude and keeps randomly shutting itself off, so the chat thing gets really difficult. I guess it's time for a new phone...
We're having quite a wet winter so far - very snowy compared to recent years. That's contrary to what the meteorologists predicted for Wyoming, lol.
Yeah, when it gets too cold to snow, it's simply too cold!
I hope you get your new phone soon then. I just got one that was a bargain on ebay, but it needed a lot of techy work to get it usable! I don't completely get along with it, and definitely it's camera is nowhere as good as yours.
Is it possible to just get a new battery for your phone?
Another picture today to remind you that it's not always rainy and gloomy!
Wow! A new camera! These photos are quite good! You’re quick at getting used to this new toy! I like the smell water fall!
The house looks very festive and warming,since fire place too! That goat looks like a moose!
Merry Christmas to you all!
Thank you! It's been hard getting to know the new toy! I bought the fake reindeer antlers and put them on Sweet Pea a couple of Christmases ago. It took a long time to get her to hold still for that picture.
Glad you got a camera to play with... And glad you are back posting :-)
Thank you! I didn't realize how long it had been until I looked at my last post. I feel like a total slacker!
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Merry Christmas !
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Merry Christmas to you!!!!!!
So glad to see a post from you and I will be looking for lots of great photos from you! I love your rein-goat! That's a perfect Christmas photo!
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Happy Christmas! Good luck with the camera. I've only just grasped what aperture is. I listened to my brother and another photographer talking and it really did sound like another language that I'm not included in! 😃
Thank you! The aperture thing has been a bit of a challenge. I went out the other day and took almost two hundred pictures and went home to look at them and discovered I had the camera set for low lighting. All the shots were totally washed out. Sigh. At least I don't have to pay to get them processed and then find out I screwed them all up!
I feel your pain!
:D The goat is a great reindeer !
Thank you! It took a lot of tries to get that shot. She wouldn't hold still!
Thank you! It took a
Lot of tries to get that shot.
She wouldn't hold still!
- goat-girlz
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I love the festive goat! It looks very wet, indeed. Nice photos, though.
What kind of camera did you get? There's always a learning curve, but you have so much more control over the lighting and focus...
I played with a Canon EOS RP this morning at a local retailer and was impressed. Ten years, it seems, makes a huge difference in camera technology. Time to start saving up...
Thanks! I got a Canon Rebel EOS T7. I feel like I need to take a class or something. I will spend the winter practicing so that when spring arrives and things get pretty again, I will have decent pictures to post. Everything is so blah right now.
Wonderful photos, love those horns and the shadows your lights make! :-)
There you are! I've missed you!
Lovey post, I am sooo jealous you got a camera - I will have to buy my own despite my many hints. I know you will treat us to some of your fabulous eye candy.
I didn't decorate one bit this year! Not one bit. I carried out my 18 inch plastic still decorated from last year Xmas tree around with me to set the mood and that was that.
Merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Now! I am wondering where you have been hiding!!
Take care!
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