165/365 Vision

Sometimes you need to find a new way of looking at things...

164/365 Devil's Night!

We got our pumpkins carved just in time!

163/365 Fresh Ingredients...

The more I cook, and try different things, the more I love it!

162/365 The "kids" are ready!

161/365 When the wind blows...

We've been having a massive acorn drop from the oak tree, and when it got windy today they we absolutely raining on the roof. Brian decided it was time to take a layer off the roof...

160/365 Drive by sunset

From my car window, on the northbound 101 tonight on my way home from work.... ahhhhh This NEVER gets old.

159/365 Rose Valley

A little early morning exploration today!

158/365 Sunset

157/365 TGIF!!!

This week went by so fast. I've got a lot to do this weekend too.... WASC, BTSA.... cleaning.... :)

156/365 Waxing Crescent Moon

10 Photography Quotes that You Should Know

View more presentations from Ryan Coleman Design & Consulting | Freelance Information Designer & Facilitator.

155/365 Up on the Roof

When this old world starts a getting me down,
and people are just too much

for me to face.
I'll climb way up to the top of the stairs and all my cares just drift right into space.
On the roof, it's peaceful as can be

and there the world below don't bother me, no, no.
~James Taylor

We decided to have a little adventure tonight at work... there's a ladder over by the tutor area that leads up to the roof. We took a peek today... there aren't many tall buildings in Oxnard, so it's got a pretty good view! Nice sunset tonight too.

154/365 A day in Hollywood

I wish I had started taking advantage of this sooner. It's pretty fun, cool to see the production, and best of all - it's FREE.

I live one hour from Hollywood, and Debbie and I went to see a taping of the Dr. Phil show today... Last year, my sister and I went to The Price Is Right... I don't regularly watch either of those shows, but I think it's fun just to see how they are produced. I was really into theater when I was younger, so I enjoy the techie side of entertainment. I like sitting behind the cameras and seeing how it's all made.

Look for me and Debbie on the episode where the topic is "Revenge"... I don't have tivo, so I may never see it! :)

I'm going to post the "before photoshop" and the after for this one. Pretty spectacular difference, and it's a prime example of why NO ONE should trust any image they EVER see!

Photo before I cropped, desaturated, sharpened, gaussian blurred, added textures, and added custom brushes to it:

153/365 Punkin' Patch

Picked out a couple of good ones to carve...

152/365 Cozy Dell

Took this one near the top of the first saddle of Cozy Dell trail (one mile long, 600 vertical ft. gain). I stopped there because some people that I passed on the way up told me they'd seen a Rattlesnake up at the top. So I figured it'd be better to stop a ways before there and mess with the camera. It was hot (about 85 at 11:00am) and the little gnats were pesting me so I didn't spend a ton of time posing the dogs perfectly. Just needed my photo proof of summit for my "trainer" who had prescribed the hike for me! I got the shot, then went the rest of the way to the top, and didn't wait to find the Rattler. So nice to go back down after an uphill climb!

151/365 Ojai Day 2009

Had to do a little climbing to get this one. It was a really nice day... HOT, but very nice.

150/365 Halloween is on it's way...

Ahhhh.... I worked two double shifts in a row, and this is the most inspired I can be today.... stay tuned... it will get better. That's the thing about life, you know...if things are rough now, just stay tuned to the present, and it WILL get better.

149/365 Homesick...

Well, it finally happened. Took 4 years, one month, 5 days, and one bag of autumn leaves sent from Michigan by my sister, but I got homesick today...

Really looking forward to my parents visit in a few weeks.

148/365 Another Rainy Day

It was another great day of rain! So nice to sleep with the rain tapping on the roof last night. Sounds like it's going to be done for a while now, so we enjoyed it while we could!

147/365 Rain

Let the rain kiss you.

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

~Langston Hughes

146/365 Enjoy...

It rained today! First rain since March I think... I don't remember the last time it rained, so it was a while ago.

Went and took some shots of Renee at work for her website. I'm less than thrilled with what I got, but I will edit tomorrow, we'll see...

I've become a bit obsessed with taking shots of people's vanity plates out here. SO many! So when I see a clever one, I snap it (if it's safe of course). Caught this one at a red light today.

145/365 A State of Mind

144/365 Art from the Ashes

Wasn't feeling really great today, so I didn't stay very long-dealing with some stomach issues. But what a cool place. The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. The surrounding area was damaged in the fires and reconstruction/restoration is ongoing... This was an exhibit of art created from the remnants of the fires, and some performance art as well. Brian played music with Duende, and it really added a lot to the atmosphere. A celebration of the return of beauty and life to the area!

143/365 Drip, Drip, Drip

"Nothing on earth is so weak and yielding as water, but for breaking down the firm and strong it has no equal."
- Lao-Tsze -

142/365 Fall

Acorns in my backyard.

141/365 Ventura Pier Sunset

I was on my way home and the sunset was really nice, so I whipped off the highway to try to catch it. It looked better before the Sun started going down, but I caught a bit of it. Now that I know a good spot to park, I may be able to catch it sooner next time!

This shot is straight out of the camera. Only cropped.

140/365 The water crown

Played with this capture a bit today... going to have to try more of this!

139/365 Spirograph with light

Ever have one of those when you were a kid? It was one of my favorite toys... This was a fun little experiment and it worked just like it was supposed to! Cool!

138/365 Kids....

While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt

This is my friend Eva's girl, Shanti... little dancing queen...

137/365 Avo Fest!

Good food, good music, good beer!

Good NIGHT!

136/365 Jelly in a water jug

I'm giving lots of thanks to lots of people who give me ideas on this journey of a blog. Today I thank Alex for his thought that this shot looked like a jelly fish.... and so it is!

I have some great ideas for new shots to try... but today was a loooooooong day of work. I subbed in Santa Paula this morning, then did my shift in Oxnard. Not much time to be super creative! I'm tired... and so glad it's Friday!

135/365 Use a Feather

I read another blog post tonight, and she made me think that this idea not only applies to some people, It applies to MOST people. I think most of us try very hard every day. We try to be fair, we try to be nice, we try to live well and be kind. So, if you ever feel like beating yourself up about something... use a feather.

See the blog of inspiration here.