Rise Up

Rise up!  It's springtime.  A time for new beginnings.

Happy Easter!

Rise Up

Dazzlin'

Some boots are made for walkin" (thanks Nancy Sinatra, ya I am even older that that...), some just don't like to wear boots, and most just need a closet full of footwear to cover every occasion.  I know after raising 4 daughters in our family. 

These are not so much made for walking but are made for dazzlin'...

These are made for dazzlin'

Don't shoot!

Focus on the front sight, aim for center mass, keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot, know your target and what's behind it, don't point the barrel at anything you are not prepared to destroy, always treat every firearm as if it is loaded -- just a few of the instructions that become second nature with regular training...  

Don't shoot!

One Bite at a Time...

How do you accomplish those projects that seem so impossibly large and daunting?  Really?  You know this one.  Your mother taught this to you in your youth.  That's right.  "How do you eat an elephant?" she would ask.  There is only one way....one bite at a time.

One Bite at a Time...

 

House in the sky

Sweet colorful house in the sky.  Looks cool but not very livable.   

House in the sky

In-N-Out Secret Menu Combination

Sometimes its boredom that helps me capture the images used later for my daily posting.  As I reflect on many of the daily images I have posted over the last year I can think of many that were the result of having a few extra moments of spare time on my hands.  In times like this I look around and take pictures of whatever happens to be nearby.

So is the story with today's image combination taken at the local In-N-Out hamburger restaurant.

In-N-Out Secret Menu Combination

You see it started when I was sitting at a table waiting for my In-N-Out order to be prepared (ordered off the In_N_Out secret menu of course--the regular menu is much too plain).  I turned my camera up and took a picture of the light hanging over the table.

Hanging table light

Next it was a picture of one of their chairs on the tiled floor.

In-N-Out chair

So far, not too much in the way of interesting images.  After eating my secret menu burger and finishing the day's activities, I took a little time to see what was on the camera roll.  After playing around in post processing with Filterstorm on the light, I wondered how a combination might look.  I opened my Blender app and went to work combining parts of each image.  A little touch of my regular image frame found in PhotoStudio and I finished off the image of the day--the first image above.  All a result of some ordinary ingredients combined in a bit of their own secret menu....

Hungry yet?  

BTW, my favorite In-N-Out burger is the double meat burger, mustard fried with grilled onions, no pickle, no sauce, plus ketchup on an extra toast bun.  Now that's a burger!

Setting the table

I love to eat!  And the anticipation begins upon smelling the aromas coming from the kitchen as the dinner food gets prepared.  The table then gets set and I can begin to taste it already....

Setting the table

Got your game face on?

Good morning!  Got your game face on?

Got your game face on?

Through the bottom of my drinking glass

Springtime!  Things are looking up... Especially if you are looking at the world up through the bottom of my drinking glass.

Through the bottom of my drinking glass

Spooned Self Portrait

Sitting at the kitchen table waiting for the final touches of dinner to reach the table--what better time to take a self portrait, right?  Pick up a spoon and pull out the camera you always have with you and there you are...everything you need.

Spooned Self Portrait

Water Glass Vision

So how do things look through the bottom of my water glass?  That's easy to demonstrate--just hold the camera in the glass and start taking pictures.  Here is my backyard.

Water glass vision

Statue Silhouette

This brings back memories clear back from early elementary school when we all cut out our own silhouettes in black paper and glued it to white poster board for an art project.

Statue Silhouette

The original image out of the iPhone camera did not quite start out with the art project reminder you see above.  It was a simple photo of a bronze statue inside the patio door of a local fancy hotel.  The photo was not much to look at until I began to play with the cropping tool and the frame created by the wall behind the girl's head.  A little more playing with some post processing apps and the silhouette image above ended up as the final product.

Original image capture

Fancy Hotel = Fancy Chandelier

You would think it is Christmas time when seeing this chandelier in your hotel conference room.  Not this time.  It is mid-March and this light looks like this year round.  But then again when you are in a fancy hotel some times there are more fancy things than just the dessert plates...

Fancy Hotel = Fancy Chandelier

Fancy Hotel = Fancy Dessert

Ok, so the true fancy hotels will make their point with their fancy desserts.  Desserts that come out looking like a piece of art.  This one was no exception.  Looks great but I couldn't help wondering what is really was.  The raspberries gave me a clue but one bite of this unique raspberry, cakey thing was enough for me.  I enjoyed the art piece of this one much more than the taste.  I guess you win some and you lose some.  

Fancy Hotel = Fancy Dessert

Coke--It's the Real Thing! Or is it?

Coke has spent a lot of cash over the years to establish its brand.  It is the real thing!  Or is it?  I don't really know since I am not a Coke drinker.  But don't feel bad Coke, I am not only not a Coke drinker, I am not a soda drinker at all.  Give me water , a fresh banana and oreo milkshake or my morning green fruit/vegetable smoothie and I am happy.

But Coke does have some great packaging and bold colors going for it too.  I particularly love the new small bottles completely painted.  I picked one up at a conference, took it outside, set it on a granite ledge and snapped the photo that was the source for today's image.

Coke--It's the Real Thing!

Here is the original image right out of the camera before a few minutes of post processing....

Original image

Grand America Hotel

The finest hotel Salt Lake City has to offer and at a price that cannot be beat for the service level anywhere in the country.  This is the place.

Grand America Hotel

Set to cruise into the weekend

Spring is in the air.  Weather is finally warm.  Snow has melted. Tulips are peeking out from under the ground.  Yard work is calling.  Getting set to cruise right into the weekend and attack the spring duties.

Maybe that is why winter is so nice--all that yard stuff lies hidden under snow waiting for this time of the year to come back out to play.

Set to cruise into the weekend

See Dad, I told you blackberries are not black....

Squash a blackberrie, make a point.  Life with children is never dull.

See Dad, I told you blackberries are not black...

Gentlemen, start your engines!

Early morning.  Time to start up and get cruising for the day.  My early morning start button?  Exercise.  It takes a while to get the fluids circulating and the joints lubricated and the wheels rolling, but once warmed up I can pull out of the pitts and get back into the race....right after downing my morning green power shake...

Gentlemen, start your engines!

Use your head

When facing life's challenges I have always encouraged Joe to use his head.  Sometime he comes up with his own interpretation...

Use your head

Just hangin out...

Teenagers don't do the old fashion dating scene anymore.  Seems like all they do now is "hang out."  No formal invitation, no planning ahead, no "boys pay the cost," no idea of who will show up or not......  Times have changed.  Even though Joe has sworn off women for now, he also has his own version of hanging out.  I caught up with him recently in his quiet hanging out spot...

Just hangin out...

Peanuts

What started out as a daily creativity challenge, and then turned into this daily blog, has consumed a small aspect of my life ever since.  I have learned to see differently.  To notice that things are not always as they look and that images are hiding all around me in my daily sojourn through life.  Today's blog post marks number 365!  One year of posting one image per day taken with my iPhone and processed on the iPhone or the iPad.  It has been a year of discovery.  I have developed a habit now and don't know how much longer it will last.  My initial goal was to keep it up for a few weeks.  Then it turned into months.  At some point along the way I committed to myself that I would continue for 365 days!  Today is the day!  I don't have a new target.  I will continue because I am loving it.  For how long?  I don't know.

Even sitting in a darkened restaurant waiting for the meal to be delivered offers an image opportunity.  Peanuts!  Yep, just a bucket of peanuts.  A sliver of daily life...

The best camera is the one you have with you...

Peanuts

Joe McQueen

The Mr. Jazz, Joe McQueen---performing on his saxophone at 94 years old.  Still going strong after 79 years of performing.  Strong is an understatement...he played for hours.  Jazz certainly does this musician good...

Joe Mcqueen

Thread by Thread

Thread by thread we sew together the patches of our daily experiences.  Each unique piece of life becomes part of who we are.  Day by day the thread of this earthly life binds all these desperate parts together.  It is a never-ending spool of thread starting the day we are born and continuing until we are finished with this mortal body.  Today we will all add many more pieces to our life's patchwork quilt--thread by thread...

Thread by Thread

If Trees Could Talk

Oh the stories they could tell if trees could talk.....especially the old and wise ones.

If Trees Could Talk....

Hot Feet

There are certain times when the adrenaline kicks in and I move faster than a speeding bullet (ya, watch out all you old Superman fans...).  These times seem to come less often each year as my grandkids get older and older.  However, this is one of those times when I would not stand around and let the grass grow under my feet.  

Hot Feet

Bad Apple

Ever have one of those days.....?  Nothing seems to go your way?  Feeling like the bad apple in the bushel?  Take heart!  No matter your troubles, there is always someone having a worse day.

Hmmmm, that thought doesn't really offer much comfort, does it?

The words of a classic hymn come to mind-- "So, amid the conflict whether great or small, do not be disheartened, God is over all; count your many blessings, angels will attend, help and comfort give you to your journey’s end."

Now just face reality and go buy a replacement computer....

Bad Apple

Der Fun

Iconic badge.  Been around forever--at least all my life which seems like forever...  Brings back memories of my childhood.  Yours?

Der Fun

Fairy Tale Day

Some days are just plain fairy tale days.  Other days might have been better had they been fairy tale days.  Fairy tale days are filled with fantasy, imaginative creations, drama, creative characters and, regardless of the story, all live happily ever after.  Yep, I think I will make today a fairy tale day....

Fairy Tale Day

Just another day at the office

Just another day at the office.  That is the kind of office I need--a portable one on my snowboard or my skis.

Just another day at the office

Fork in the road

Joe and I came to a fork in the road.  I passed it by but Joe....he could not leave well enough alone...

Fork in the road