birthdays and f-stops

As another year passes by and my birthday approaches, I can't help but think of the future.  The past few years, I've wanted nothing to do with my birthdays.  I dwell on the past and what I have or have not accomplished.  This year, I'm trying hard to focus on the future and make goals to make my business venture a success!  I actually can't wait to see where this year takes me.  I can't wait to see what I am going to accomplish this year.  I can't wait to see what goals I reach.

Is there any other way to look at it?  Seriously.

Tomorrow is what you make of it...

So we'll see...

On another note, a great big THANK YOU goes out to my friend Michelle from NOLA for sending me an early birthday present!  I absolutely love it and it put a great big smile on my face when I got it!  

It's a t-shirt with a photographer's sense of humor...  ;)

Love it!

**Update** 

f/stop is not MY humor...  

A local photography store in New Orleans made these.  Their employees wear them.  I meant photographer's sense of humor, because only a photographer would probably think this shirt is funny...

(And by a few comments, you have made that assumption correct!)  ;)

Anyway, a photographer usually sets their settings such as shutter speeds and f/stops to get the correct amount of light when shooting.  The shutter speed regulates how long the film/sensor is exposed to light coming through the lens.  And the f/stop regulates how much light is allowed through the lens.  (Adjusting this changes the size of the hole the light comes through the lens.)  It also regulates how much 'bokeh' you have in a photo....blurriness if you will, behind the subject in focus.  So, all those numbers on the shirt are f/stops!

I always shoot manual.  So adjusting these two elements are important in nailing your exposure...therefore getting the 'perfect' light.

And after all that, I'm sure it's still not all that humorous to you.  Like I said...a 'photographer's term'... ;)

(Sorry...I tried to make that explanation short, but I might have gotten a little carried away!)

racing in the night

Tonight is one of those nights.  One of those nights where I toss and turn.  Can't sleep no matter how many times I close my eyes.  Yes, it's very frustrating.  But every time I close my eyes, it seems that another idea or thought pops in my head.  All that have to do with my life and where it is heading.  Now don't laugh 'cause I'm about to quote Collin Raye, a country singer.  I just recently saw him in concert and he said something that caught my attention that I just had to grab my iPhone and jot it down.  It's a very simple line that I'm sure I've heard before in some different kind of way.  But I think that we can all relate.  We hear something and whatever that may be...in a certain time in our lives...it makes sense.  

Sometimes you just gotta follow the road just to see where it leads...

That seems to be where I am at right now.  As I make this leap into the photography world full time.  I'm following the road that is in front of me.  It's leading me in a new, exciting direction.  And I can't wait to see where it leads.

So as I was lying in bed tonight with all these thoughts racing thru my mind, I decided to grab my iPhone and start taking notes.  I think I grabbed my phone at least 4 times writing my "to-do list" full of ideas and things I need to accomplish to help make my goals happen.  I still couldn't sleep and felt the urge to blog.  So I got up, threw on my sweats, grabbed a cold Pepsi, and took out my laptop.  

I'm so excited for all the things to come.  I can't wait to unveil my new logo (which some of you may have seen on my latest slideshow), to finally be able to show off my new blog, and hopefully launch my new website soon.  And yes, I will also be working on a lot of the ideas I've had lately.

I owe a lot of credit to my family and friends....some of my biggest fans and supporters.  ;)  I feel lucky.  A little lost to be honest...but very lucky.  To be able to start my own business based on something that I love and have a passion for with some of the best people to fall back on when or if I fail.  I know there will be some type of failure along the way, but I also know that with that failure I will learn and grow.  With all of my business experiences throughout the years, I know that sometimes we need to fail, to make ourselves better.  Better in our profession.  Better as a person.  Better as a whole.

It's all about putting in the time and finding your strengths and when you screw up, you start over.     --Royal Pains

Love that quote!  It's perfect!

Now have a cold one on me...  ;)

Cheers!

insta-gator

Michelle and I, along with her sister and 2 nieces, went to an alligator farm in Louisiana.  It was one of the hottest days but worth a little sweat to learn more about these very interesting and powerful swimmers.  And not only are they good swimmers with very powerful tails, these guys can run.  Fast.  You can NOT out-run an alligator.

This is our alligator expert...

I wouldn't try this at home...  ;)

Here are the farms...where the alligators live and mature until they are ready to go out and live in the wild on there own.

True or false:  You can change the sex of an alligator just by changing the temperature of the egg.

TRUE:  Before the alligator is hatched, just keep the egg a few degrees cooler to change the sex to female.  Yep...just a few degrees!

I wouldn't try this at home either...

This group is the oldest...almost ready to go to the swamps!

(Notice the 'apple' logo on the fish tank in the bottom right corner of the above photo.)  ;)

True or False:  Can you put an alligator to sleep?

TRUE:  Just by flipping the alligator upside down...something in the brain tells it to sleep...in a matter of seconds!  (Just flip the gator back upright and all is fine.)  

Ummm...I also wouldn't try that at home!

Yep...insta-gator!  Meaning...you...yes, you...can hatch a gator!  The month of August I hear is the month these little cuties like to be born.  So go check 'em out!  They will actually let you hold an egg while it hatches!  Very cool!

No...that's not a real alligator!  ;)  I'm not that tough!

The plane they use to find alligator eggs in the swamps!  They drop a flag from the air so that the airboats can find the nest...and hopefully no momma gators...to bring the eggs in.  If they don't manage the eggs, only 1 gator will survive out of about 20 or so.

Me and my friend Michelle...

gulf shores

While I was in New Orleans, my parents and I decided to go to Gulf Shores, Alabama and play at the beach for a couple of days.  It's absolutely gorgeous there with all the white sand you could ask for along with pelicans flying by and dolphins showing off in the water.  We had a lot of fun playing in the waves...even after my dad broke his toes...it didn't stop him though.  ;)

And we found what I think could be my new favorite restaurant...DeSoto's Seafood Kitchen.  We drove around looking for a good place to eat and stumbled on it...lucky for us!  Check it out if you're in the area.  It was soooo good!  Too bad its far away...I think we could eat there ALL the time! 

These little sand crabs were all over the beach at night.  So we grabbed a flashlight and went out in search of the little guys.  They're certainly fast...but the funny thing is is when you flash the light on them, they would stop in there tracks for a few seconds and then either run off or bury themselves in the sand.

One of the days, we drove over to Pensacola to see my brothers.  It was a quick trip, but while we were there we got to go and see where my sister-in-law is spending her time.  She took us to Uncle Sandy's Macaw Bird Park where she helps take care of certain birds that need some tender loving care.  All these birds were or have been in some form...abused.  What this aviary does is treat them and take care of them.  You can even sponsor a bird if you like or even take a field trip and feed the birds.

My sister-in-law even admitted to us that she didn't even like birds until she started spending her time at this aviary.  One day, she brought this certain bird home and my brother said something along the lines of out of all the birds you could bring home, you brought this one?! 

She fell in love with Oli pictured above here.  (Sorry if I spelled his name wrong.)  He's a case of severe abuse the poor thing.  But he loves his new home.

His feathers will never grow back and the poor bird would sometimes just shiver.  But I know he is well taken care of now by her and my nephews.

We had a great time learning about all those birds and more.  And we had lots of fun visiting my brothers and their families even if was just for a few hours!  ;)

myrtles "haunted" plantation

My friend, Michelle, called me one day when I was in New Orleans and wanted to know if I would like to go to the Haunted Planation with her. I was very intrigued. Of course I said yes! How fun would that be! A plantation thats haunted! Hmmmm.....

The Myrtles 'Haunted' Plantation is located in St. Francisville, Louisiana. It's a cute, small town with a little tourist attraction. This plantation made it on the National Geographic Traveler's magazine as one of the top places to stay/visit. Yes, I said stay!! You can actually book a room and stay at this lovely and intriguing plantation that dates back to 1796. But if you're thinking you want to book a trip and stay here, you must plan ahead. It's booked out till the year 2012! Yep, it's that popular! (There is a waiting list just in case of cancelations.) There is a very yummy little restaurant on the property called The Carriage House, which actually was the carriage house back in the day. Original floors and all.

The plantation has also been featured on A&E, The Travel Channel, The History Channel, The Oprah Show and many more and has also been in The New York Times, Travel and Leisure, and of course many more. ;)

This is not just a beautiful place to visit, they also do tours. There is a history tour during the day and a mystery tour on Friday and Saturday nights! Michelle and I went thru the history tour and it was so cool to learn all about that era and the people who lived there and why it's 'haunted'. It was very interesting and fun!

I told my parents all about it and so we decided to take my sister and go see what the mystery tour was all about. So we headed out to St. Francisville and made it to the history tour and then had dinner at the Carriage House...where my sister had the BEST spaghetti she had in a very long time! I think she still talks about that meal! ;) We then had just enough time to get to the mystery tour...which touches a little on the history but has a lot more 'ghost' and 'haunting' stories! So fun!

I love this picture I took while Michelle and I were there. My new lensbaby adds a cool, kind of spooky effect!

If you're interested...here's a very quick story on why this plantation is haunted:

A family lived in the plantation: husband, wife (who inherited the plantation from her family), and 3 children. The husband took a 'liking' to a certain slave named Chloe. She was invited by him to live in the house and become the head slave for the household. Well, Chloe liked to eavesdrop....which got her into trouble. Not only did she over hear business plans and politicians discuss things, but she also liked to gossip about the things she heard. Well, the husband found out about her extra curricular activities and had her ear cut off. She was also thrown out of the house to live amongst the other slaves. Chloe was determined to get her 'job' back so she developed a plan. She volunteered to bake the cake for one of the children's birthdays. Her plan was to grind up oleander leaves and put them in the cake to make the children sick. She would then nurse them back to health and be in good graces again and be invited back into the house. Well, what she didn't know was that 2 oleander leaves can kill 1 person in a matter of hours. she put 10 oleander leaves in this cake! The wife and 2 of the kids died. (The younger child was too young to eat the cake.) The husband was away on business only to come back and find his family dead. Chloe decided to come clean and tell the husband the truth about her plan....thinking he would somehow be 'ok' with it if she told the truth. Well, he had her hung from one of the trees on the grounds. All the other slaves carried her body in a bag and threw her remains in the river. They wanted to prove their loyalty to him. Ever since then, it is said that Chloe visits the planation...often.

Well, later on down the road, someone bought the property. (I can't remember when...in the 80's I think.) The owner needed to take some photos of the property for insurance purposes. She sent the photos in and the insurance agent called her and said that there was not to be any people in the pictures. She had no idea what he was talking about since no one was with her when she took them. She wanted to know what he was talking about, so she looked over the pictures and sure enough there is a 'person'....a 'figure' in one of the photos of the courtyard. It is said to be Chloe. The picture was sent in to be tested and ALL the results say this photo to be authentic! If you would like to check it out, you can do so HERE.

There have been other 'sightings' of her around the property as well. (And others.) They are said to be friendly. So don't worry if you plan on booking a room. Although I have heard that some people are so spooked that they end up leaving in the middle of the night!

Well, I hope you all made it this far! ;) Here are some pictures that I was able to take while I was there. It really is quite beautiful.

You'll find these little 'cherubs' EVERYWHERE.....on the grounds and especially in the plantation. They believed back then that these little angels would protect them. And when I say they were everywhere....well, let me just say this....there were about a dozen or two in one room alone. All over. They were embedded in the chandelier or molding or wherever you looked and at every angle you could imagine to make sure that the whole room was being looked over and protected.

Looking in on the restaurant...

I just had to share this cute one of my parents...

And this one... ;)

Thanks Michelle!! I had a blast spending hours and hours with you...taking pictures and learning some history along the way! ;)