cactus & sunrise…
when I was a way I liked to take a walk every morning…I spotted this gigantic cactus plant on my first walk…it is huge…Marco Island
it was so spread out I the photo above is the left side and below is the right…
this photo was taken on Sunday, the last day of the drive home…between Windsor, Ontario and London, Ontario…a nice beginning to the day…again taken through the windshield of my vehicle.
flowers, fruit & a rooster…
taken on the grounds of the house we stayed in…Marco Island…
don’t know what the fruit is but the tree was weighed down with them…Marco Island
this is at “Blue Heaven Restaurant” Key West…it is and out door restaurant and as you can see they have Roosters who I think live there… as I’ve never been to the restaurant with out seeing these fellows…this time there were moms and their chicks as well…I’ll post photos of them later…this wouldn’t fly here in Canada…
home…
well…I’m home…so I will be back posting and visiting again regularly! I took many photos, some I like and some I don’t, but for today I’m going to show you three of one of my favourite things to capture…”naked trees” as I like to call them. they are beautiful with their leaves, but there is so much more detail and character to them, when they are scraggly looking, bent in some of the most interesting ways…
love this scene…as you can see it was a rather dreary looking day, but warm, which cancels out the dreary! on the ride home somewhere in Kentucky…
same day and drive… but I’m fine with the colours…
I don’t mind a dreary day once in a while, especially if it is warm…
PS…all photos were taken from my moving vehicle, on the drive home from Florida…
I’m using my camera as much as possible while I’m away…taking photos of everything that catches my eye…trying to figure it out as I go…
this little fellow is very tiny, I don’t think he would be any larger than an inch…he just sat there while I snapped away, I zoomed in as much as I could…taken in Leesburg, Florida
the pilot and crew managed to find a parking spot so the could go for lunch…taken in Traveres, Florida
there actually were about seven of these fellows, but they wouldn’t cooperate so I could get them all at once…taken in Marco Island, Florida
visions from my walks…
while I’m away I’ve gotten back into my walks…had to stop for awhile at home due to the terribly cold weather…here are three lovely flowers, unfortunately I don’t know their names…if anyone does please let me know! a blogging friend of mine who takes many gorgeous photos of flowers said the first is a bougainville, the the 2nd, and 3rd are hibiscus…
looking west…
I wanted to play a bit with this photo as I thought it had great potential…as you may have noticed I’m a huge fan of contrasts…so that is what you will see today…below is the original photo…this was taken last Saturday before I went the the Radar Runs…
this is threshold adjusted…
sepia of course…I’m becoming a fan of sepia, it adds interesting colour to the photo, giving an aged appearance to the photo…
up close and personal…
I hunted for these two photos last week and I couldn’t find them…I found one similiar but not the right one…then yesterday when I was looking for something completely different, of course I found these two…the one below is a terrible photo, I was inside the house and there is a very large over hang, like a huge wooden umbrella so it didn’t allow for a great shot, terribly dark and I tried many things to do something with it…but it shows how close the deer came to my house on the lake…
on his way home…as you can see the water is not up to full levels.
Sunset Park…
I took a few photos yesterday at Sunset Park, before venturing over to the Radar Runs…it was such a beautiful day yesterday…today is pretty good as well…sunny and relative warm for a winter day! -2C but 28F for those using Fahrenheit. the photo below is looking out onto Lake Nipissing…to the west. I rather like this one below, something about the trees that always appeals to me…think I’ll do a bit of experimenting with it in a few days…
the next two photos are looking north west along the Lake Nipissing shore line….
radar run…
today was a beautiful day…sunny, no wind to speak of and not terribly cold! I saw in the paper the snowmobile Radar Runs were taking place today at Sunset Park,Lake Nipissing, so I decided to take a few minutes and take a look…I used to love going to these events when I was younger…driving a snowmobile was very high on my list of a good time…I managed to get a few photos, but I have to say the lack of attendance surprised me…there were a large number of participants but very few spectators…years ago when I attended it was wall to wall people, it was difficult to get a good viewing spot for each event…
the photo below should be to the left of the photo above…didn’t know how to pan with the camera so did it in two shots…regardless of the lack of spectators the participants to enjoyed themselves…if you look very closely at the top photo you can see the track just left of centre in the photo…
just finished his races…
favourites…
I’d decided to show you a few of my favourite photos today…but…I’ve been having an issue with the photos showing up on the page properly…anyone else having a problem with this?
looking for heat…
today is one of those days when I’m thinking of Florida…so I’m posting three photos from there…
this is one of the beaches at Naples, at the end of 5th Avenue…there was a person laying on the sand that was rather close so I used the cloning brush and brushed him out…kind of a cool process…this was my first attempt…I think it is rather visible but I’m sure my technique will improve over time…
this is the same beach but if you look way down on the right you will see the white of the condos/high rises farther down…again I used the cloning tool to eliminate a body I didn’t want in the photo…very nice beach and not busy at all!!!
a US Navel ship docked at Fort Zachary, Key West…
more experimentation…or playing if you will!
I’m enjoying experimenting with the settings in PhotoScape…it is a free program that is basically for beginners like myself…it does have a few advanced settings, at least to me they are… of which I’m trying to understand but for the most part it is very simple to work with!
below is the original photo…love this area of Leesburge, Florida…
grey scale…I would like to figure out how to do the grey scale, but adding a punch of color…for instance in this photo the bird or some of the docks could be coloured…that look appeals to me.
worked with the saturation on this one…
and of course the reverse black and white…I love contrasts…
I’ve been playing around a bit more…rather like the results, especially with the luminance and the reverse black & white…
original
snow day photo…luminance
original photo
experimenting with the levels…
yesterday I took this photo of the gnarly birch tree…I love trees with limbs like this one so interesting, always makes me wonder why the limb grew the way it did? I took the photo of the whole tree but it is in front of what I think is one of the City yards and there are work buildings etc., which doesn’t contribute to an interesting photo…too much going on when I wanted to concentrate on just the tree, so as you can tell it is cropped…
then I decided to play a little with the tools in PhotoScape as I’ve not done a great deal with it yet…this one is colour enhanced slightly.
this one is of course grayscale…
on this one I adjusted the luminance curve…
and finally…this one is reverse black and white…
very interesting to see what can be done with a relatively simple program…for the time being PhotoScape works for me…I know there is so much more that can be done with PhotoShop, but I don’t have the time to learn the ins and outs before I begin using it…this works for now!
low visibility or bright & sunny…
yesterday was bitterly cold, more important the wind was very strong & raw, it was a north west wind so it came of the lake, whipping up the snow and blowing it around…I took two photos yesterday of ice huts on the lake to show you what kind of day it was…today I took photos of the same ice huts to compare…
above is yesterday…visibility was very low…below is today, still very cold but nice!
again above is yesterday and below is today…the wind is still cold today but nothing like yesterday…
there was a time when I enjoyed ice fishing, snowmobiling…I’m passed that now! 🙂
more snow photos…
the weather here has been so strange…tons of snow…bitter cold, warm and rain, now back to bitter cold today…makes it difficult to walk! which I miss, can’t take photos…the photos below were taken back on Feb. 13th…
I liked the snow on the pole like this, with the blue sky and branches in the back ground…
the next two photos are of the same bush/hedge, the first is of course head on… 
it amazes me how these branches can hold up with all the snow on them, as they look very delicate, as branches go… 
moody skies…
I love a moody sky…something about them that has so much character…now don’t get me wrong, I love the clear blue sky with soft, fluffy white clouds as well…each has their appeal to me…
this is of the same island I’ve been showing on and off…this view is south west of where I lived, I would be standing at the far end of the break wall to take this photo…this is of course before the water has been drawn down…some years it is later than others.
another almost naked tree…this tree still has leaves on it today…I can see it out my window…
what a differnce a season makes!
the photos below are of the same tree, take frnm slightly different angels & of course taken at different times of the year…I added the double photo below as it was something I was trying with PhotoScape…turned out alright but it cuts off the original photo…would have to take the time to crop the photos to fit…the individual photos are below this one…
this tree is in Champlain Park, in North Bay…we are very fortunate here to have such a beautiful lake…the sad thing is this park has very little use…when I was a teenager I used to visit this park all the time…it was crazy busy then.
now the park sees very few visitors, except a few people walking their dogs or people bringing children to play, or those who use the boat ramp off of Lavasse River…rather sad when you think of such a beautiful area not being used to its potential…
do you know why?
I found this photo of a Key West sunset and it is rather pretty but there is a very large halo above the sun…can anyone tell me why this happened? did I have the flash on? I’ve also had photos with circles in them…again not sure why this happens…
for those of you who enjoy the snow photos here is one of a tree that pretty much obliterates the house with the snow on it!
a mixture…
when I went for my walk yesterday I only managed to get one photo…didn’t see anything new and interesting, this is the only thing that caught my eye…happens that way sometimes…I’ve walked past this tree many times but always from the opposite direction so I’m assuming I didn’t notice the gnarly branches/trunk…I will have to walk that way again to see if I can get a better view of the one branch in particular…
I won’t tell you were I found this web… 😉 I will say spider webs are very interesting…the intricacy and designs always amaze me…
more warm weather shots…
Daytona Beach, 2008 or 09 not sure which…I used to enjoy visiting…was rather disappointed the last time I was there in 2011… 
Daytona Beach…found these two photos, figured they would make good warm weather shots 
PS…it is considerably warmer here today 9F, a balmy day… 🙂 so I’m going to walk today, will take photos but they will be snowy winter ones!
warm weather thoughts…
it is still very cold here…-24F with wind chill right now! it is expected to warm up in the next few days…I’m looking forward to it…but for today my photos will be “warm weather” shots…
this is a view from the vehicle on the way to Key West…although slow going the trip from the mainland to Key West is beautiful…so much to see along the way…so far, we’ve been fortunate to have perfect weather during the drive to and from…
below is a very small part of Shipyard Condominiums, Truman Annex, Key West Florida, it is a great complex of condos…all are individually owned many rented out to winter vacationers…by the week, month or season, which ever is preferred…this complex is beautifully landscaped with a pool in the centre…only two blocks from Ducal Street…what ever you are looking for is within walk distance…
this is a small shopping area to the south of Mallory Square…have visited it numerous times and never found it any busier than it is below…not sure why it is a pretty area, nice shops…the cruise ships dock just to the right and in front of this area maybe people don’t venture here as they think it will be terribly busy???
baby it’s cold outside!!!
enough said about the temperature! but it is freezing…
I’ve two photos of a gorgeous blue sky with white fluffy clouds, that I took the last day I was taking photos, the day I took all the snow photos…feels like a long time ago! these photos are soft, delicate and fluffy… 😉 I love to watch the sky/clouds, there is always something wonderful to see…
snow!
I’ve not been for a walk for a couple of days…way too cold for my liking…with wind chill -26F, over night with wind chill -38F…brrrr…I have to go to the post office today so I will take a walk around one of our Malls…that’s the best I can! 😉 One of my visitors told me she looked forward to seeing my snow photos so I’m going to show three more today…these were all taken on the same day last week…after one of our snow storms…
this poor little bush was weighed down with all the snow…
I thought this one was rather interesting with the red of the branches & white of the snow…nice contrast…rather heavy load on the delicate branches though…
the photo below is the kind of visual that appeal to me…I love the way the branches curve & bend every which way…they are their own abstract painting! 
colourize & colour enhanced…
I’ve down loaded a new photo software program, PhotoScape…it is simple to use, easy to find my way around, for the most part…especially when I take the time to play a bit…of course there are settings I’ve no idea of what they do but that will come with experimentation. I tried GIMP a couple of weeks ago, while I’m sure it is a great program I found it too complicated for me right now…I would have to learn the software before I could do any thing and didn’t want to take the time…PhotoScape I could jump right in and do things right away…so I did a bit of experimentation today to see what I could come up with.
this has been colour enhanced…I rather like the little sparkles all over the photo…and the blue is part of the enhancement…
I simply colourized this photo…”pretty in pink”
summer photos in honour of the snow!
I’m late again today…we had at least 10 inches of snow Friday over night and we are expected to have close to the same again tonight! Ok…I really think it is time for someone else to take a turn…seriously, I won’t mind… 😉
In honour of all that snow I’m posting summer photos…
above is a small view of a few of the great shops on 5th Ave., Naples, this was early in the morning when it wasn’t busy… 
this photo is of Callander Bay, east end of Lake Nipissing(approx. 3 kilometres in diameter) but something I’ve not shown before as I don’t have many photos of this area…I will have to take more as it really is very lovely, more so in the summer! 
above is on the drive to key west…coming up to a abridge, not sure if it is the long bridge or not…excuse the antenna…
this is one of the public accesses I like to stop at on my walks…this was taken November 13, 2012, on a blustery day…Lake Nipissing is famous for being calm one minute and gale force winds the next, which has led to some rather frightening times on the lake, when I was younger…not gale force this day but windy non the less…
this is the exact same location…a bit broader photo, you see more of the trees on the left. this exactly one month later…December 13, 2012…looks more calm and serene this day!
clear skies and ocean…except one!
I have many more snow photos but I thought maybe I should show you something else…we did get some snow last evening…not sure how much…enough to need to shovel!
this is in new town in Key West…it is not far from where you come on to the island…pretty but I prefer old town, it is much more quaint!
Key West marina…there is a nice boardwalk, with restaurants, in case you need to keep your strength up…
this is Lake Nipissing when the water has been drawn down, the left hand point is called Cheery Point…they draw down the water every fall to avoid flooding in the spring…I used to live to the right of the photo…we had a huge sand bar, often similiar to this, most falls…in the twenty years we lived there I remember a couple of times we had flooding in some areas along the shore line…we had damage done to our break wall and water came up very close to the house…I moved from this house in 2010…
more snow coming…maybe!
these photos were taken two days ago…I’ve a few more, but will wait awhile before I post more…as I don’t want to over do it with snow! Having said that we have a snow squall watch for later today with possible low visibility… I ‘d like a mild spell before more snow thanks 😉both the photo above and below is a house I walk past almost daily…the trees and shrubs are gorgeous any season of the year but extra specially pretty when laden with snow…
this tree is just up the street from the photo above…you see I take photos of what I see when I’m walking…my intention is to go for a drive and take photos of something other than where I live but I haven’t gotten around to it yet…one day! I must say the two photos above have only been re-sized/cropped nothing else…the one below was back-lit as I thought it brought out the branches more, while leaving the sky alone…
snow day!
the scenery today was amazing…we had fresh snow over night and this morning it looked like a “winter wonderland”…as much as I’m not a fan of winter I have to admit days like today are so beautiful, especially when it is sunny as it was today! today I used the Sony camera my son lent me and I think the shots turned out much nicer…the whites are much nicer, whiter and brighter!
this is my favourite photo I think…all I did with this photo was add the copyright symbol and resize it…
see how delicate these branches are, yet they are able to carry such a heavy load!
signs of the times…
I’ve visited this public beach access often during my walks this fall, always finding it clean…but…the other day when I stopped by to take photos I found these two signs, along with the full garbage can? we have such a beautiful water front, we should respect its beauty…it is such a sad state of affairs when it is necessary to post signs to remind people to clean up after their dog!!! never mind the logic of people who feel it is acceptable to throw their garbage around the access…as I mentioned I’d always found this access clean but on that day someone had walked their dog and didn’t clean up after it…were they snubbing their nose at the sign? truly sad…
by the way…there is the blue snow again…
went for my walker later today just in time for the beginning of what ended up being a stunning sunset, saw part of the final performance but wasn’t able to photograph it as I had an appointment but this is one of the photos I managed to get…the sky and sunset colouring is relatively accurate but as you can see the snow is blue…I managed to get the snow close to white in my photo program but then the sunset was way off…so I chose to leave the snow blue…as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before I’m a complete beginner so I did a bit of research and as most of you will know it has to do with the “white balance”…my son lent me his Sony camera to experiment with, his camera has a setting with one for a “whitish scene with high brightness” which I think should help? I’ll give it a try and see what happens…
beautiful sky…
what a glorious day for a walk…it is warm today, sunny and smells like spring…what more could I want? I know the warm spring like weather is only just for a day or so but will enjoy it while I can…the sky was that strikingly beautiful blue with some fluffy, powder puff type clouds…I live in a small city so it was very difficult to get any photos of the sky with out trees…now don’t get me wrong, trees are one of my very favourite items in nature to photograph…but today was about the sky! I’m going to have to take some time and go for a drive outside the city…
I captured some descent tree shots, but was very disappointed with some of the lake nipissing shots, not sure what happened…when I took the photos into the sun the sky was close to natural but with the sun behind me the whole photo is terrible? Oh well…another day to try…
was feeling like a water shot today…doesn’t look like much but there is a tiny outside restaurant to the left…we go there at least once when I visit my Mother…it actually is very quiet, and peaceful…good food as well!sad island…
this tiny island is at the end of champlain park…to the left is the lavasse river…looks rather sad with the water out and the leaves off the trees, grass all brown…
birds in the tree…
this tree is in my back yard…one day this fall I happened to notice dozens of tiny birds, not sure what they were, flying all around…many of them landed in the tree. the black dots you see are all birds…didn’t manage to get them all as I scared many away when I went outside…
Jade…
here is something a bit different for me…this is Jade, my daughter’s pride and joy! I rarely take photos indoors…I wasn’t happy with the colouring of the photo so I tried black and white…for the last number of years the only photo software I’ve used was Picasa…simplistic but honestly all I really needed at the time. upon visiting a new blog friend I heard about GIMP…I downloaded it but I think it will take me awhile to familiarize myself with it…I was considering Photoshop but I think that might be a bit too complicated for me right now?
tree fence…
I like tree fences such as this…makes for nice privacy in the back yard…it isn’t mine though…if it was mine I’d trim about two feet off the top come early spring…will ensure the body of the fence grows denser…
holding on…
this tree is in my front yard and I noticed last winter the stately old fellow holds on to it’s leaves for as long as it can! Here it is January 4th., and he still has many flapping in the wind…as you can see a bit of a gloomy day…
NOTE: this is the second picture I’ve posted of my tree today…this one is a better shot…
this is a shot of the partially frozen lavasse river, at the mouth of lake nipissing, which is in champlain park… I’ve visited here many times over the last twenty years as my home was a 5 minute walk from here…here it comes…
when I began this blog I consciously didn’t write…my thought was keep it simple…only show the photos, not who I was as a person by writing…I think my photos are very much a part of who I am, but sometimes I feel the need for words…I’ve been visiting a couple of photography blogs since I began this blog…the people have inspired me a great deal, to do what is in my heart..here goes!
west side of Fort Zachary State Park…Key West
happy new year!
I wondered what I should post for my first in 2013…I decided on a photo of two of the views I love most…a sunset on lake nipissing. This was taken a few years ago…
off premier road, lake nipissing
this was taken a few years ago…when I lived on the shores of lake nipissing…funny how when something is there for 20 years it becomes common place, but when gone you feel the lose! This was part of my view for twenty years…I moved two and a half years and miss it more each day…
Happy New Year to you and yours…may 2013 bring you health, happiness & prosperity!
south beach…key west
this is as you can see a tiny beach at the southern end of Key West…I’ve stopped by and took a few photos, but never actually sat down for the day…in all honesty, in my opinion, Key West isn’t the spot to go for a fabulous beach…although this one is not bad…I enjoy Key West for the smallness, the sun, & the friendliness of the “natives”…having said that it isn’t a place for everyone…I think you will enjoy it if you are somewhat of a “hippy” at heart…or a bit artsy… :~)
partially frozen…lake nipissing
this photo is from a few weeks ago…just before we had the 10 inches of snow, I haven’t been able to get any new shots at the access as the snow plows have pushed up mountains of snow, blocking my path..have to say I’m past climbing up mountains of snow!
Leesburg waterway to Lake Harris
Love sitting at the small uniquely interesting outdoor “bar/cafe” that is to the left of this photo…it is usually peaceful, now and then a boat will pass by, would be a great place to sit and read!. When I’m there this winter I will take a photo of the bar/cafe…it is old, and run down, in terrible shape really, I’m sure it hasn’t been updated in years but I like it regardless…
Heather Cote... 
