my weekend ... part one

So this past weekend me & the hubby had the opportunity to escape from it all for a few days ... & of course the camera came along! We were heading down to Salzburg, a city in Austria about 5 hours south east of where we live, right on the border. Part one ... (that would be this part) is the journey down there & day one of our 3 day trip *trust me you will see a pattern emerge).

We left out home to grey & snow at some silly hour of Friday morning ... & didn't forget a thing. We were about 45 minutes late leaving but i hold the hubby responsible for that (nothing to do with my inability to get out of bed).

The journey down was uneventful ... we survived without permanent injury to each other & only one "photographic" break as i bugged the hubby until he would pull over & let me photograph the wonderful frost on the trees. It was gorgeous but sadly a German toilet stop is not the place to be wondering around with thousands of dollars worth of equipment. Plus it was all kinds of snow & i had no gloves. But the stop was worth it (well i think so).

From here we headed down to Konigsee, the highest lake in Germany & somewhere i have been wanting to visit ever since i saw some friends photos. Here we found a whole lot more cold, not a whole lot was open & the mist rising over the mountains ... but i persevered & managed to knock out a few more photos (acceptable i would say ... hehehe) & we made plans to head back in the spring/summer time when the weather is a little more compliant!

& from here it was on to Salzburg ... stay tuned for part deux (that's two for french in case you wondered) which i plan on writing tomorrow so lets assume it will appear Thursday!

it's the simple things in life that make me happy ...

Invictus ... a wonderful story i would recommend to anyone ...

my friends who listen, & help me to smile at the times when i need to smile the most ...

getting away from it all with my husband, seeing somewhere new & experiencing everything it has to offer ...

having the ability to create a memory that generations to come with experience ...

not having to tick a box to be granted my freedom!

photoshop fun ...

So tonight has been spent on my computer ... deep in the world of photoshop having fun! yes fun, a word i never thought I'd use in relation to photoshop but I'm having a wonderful time experimenting with colour & feel & photographs!

So step back a bit ... a wonderful photographer, Jen Kiaba wrote this blog about photoshop actions, something she loves to do. & so i asked her about this & check out the link she gave me to another equally wonderful blog the coffee shop. Now my knowledge of photoshop is limited, i need step my step, simple things simple mind instructions when it comes to anything computer related & here is a blog that will provide me with both the knowledge & the actions to create a certain "feel" in an image. I'm a little blown away.

So here i took the plunge. I have a number of images at any one time open in photoshop. They're photos where i love the composition, the subject matter & other aspects to the photo but there's something missing. It just doesn't feel right. So i play with them every so often, see what works & what doesn't & sometimes i create something that i love. Today with the help of said actions i created images that i love.

I spent 2009 discovering so much about me & my photography & we're only just into 2010 & already i feel like it could be a good year for me. So thank you to Jen & the coffee shop & i hope you like the results as much as i do!

1/100

I have never been good at "still life's" ... i photograph things as i find them instead of creating an image. So when i came across the "100 project" it sounded like a wonderful idea. 100 still life's in a year & for me personally much more feasible than the 365 project. It's forcing me to think a little, use what's available & create an image from nothing.

So here's number 1!

it's the simple things in life that make me happy ...

playing fetch (yes she will chase after it & bring it back) with my kitty ...

being blogged about by the wonderful gorgeous fabulous andrea ...

fish finger sandwiches ...

caramel & belgium chocolate covered apples with sprinkles (please give me a reason to buy these) ...

knowing that i have the weekend off work & get to head to austria with my (occasionally) wonderful husband!

fabulous find ...

So there i am looking at the etsy front page & i come across an interview with the wonderful interview with Jayne of Like Kittysville Mod Beds. I laughed, why because she's funny ... no seriously funny. & honest & i like honest. & well maybe with a little of the crazy cat lady inside of her, kind of like i would be if well Kevin didn't get in the way. (But there will be a day many years from now when i will live in my house, wearing only my wedding dress surrounded by cats & kids will make bets on who can knock on the door ... yes i strive to be the crazy cat lady).

So anyways Jayne makes beds ... but not just any kind of bed, gorgeous funky cat beds that i so want but know that my cats would never sleep in. Why because there's nothing wrong with this fabulous (yes i said fabulous) beds just that my cats are awkward pains in the behind & on the basis that i paid good money for these would have way more fun using them as scratching posts.

So anyways i felt the need to write about her wonderful little shop because simple I'm happy to find someone else out there who's possible a little obsessed with their cats like me!

Like Kittyville Mod Beds

etsy shop

blog

snow day ...