?!

Dew from Fog

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

Last Saturday morning was a very foggy morning. As a result, the foliage in the front yard gathered LOTS of moisture/dew on it. I took a few minutes to snap some photos, and this one was one of my favorites.

This lavender bush (is it a bush or is it just a plant??) isn’t sprawling as much as I would like it to, but it is smelling wonderful and showing some small, purple flowers.

Montrose Flowers

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

My family got together (well, most of them at least) down in Montrose, IA, on Saturday. I was excited to see new things, so of course I took the camera and snapped as many pictures as I could. Not all of them were as interesting as this one, but this is one of my favorites from all of the flower pictures that I took.

Of course, there were some other AWESOME pictures of little Ellie, but you’ll have to go to my Flickr page if you want to see those ones.

Flowers at Night

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

I’ve been meaning to play with long exposures and off-camera flash for a while, and tonight presented an interesting opportunity. Out of 57 pictures, only 4 really turned out nicely.

This one was my favorite of the night.

Rose

I really, really, really, really, REALLY love my new camera. This picture is raw – just the way it came off the memory card. All I did was convert it to a more common file type (JPEG) and upload it to share.

Oh, and this is yet another bloom from the front of my house. The rose bush is new this year, and it’s already knocking my socks off!

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

Allium

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

After a seemingly LOOOONG winter, the landscaping in front of my house is finally starting to grow, bloom, and flourish. The first plants to bloom are my alliums, which create large, round balls of purple flowers. They almost look like fireworks were frozen in time.

4-15 Random Roadtrip

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

Last week was a LOOOOONG week, and towards the end I was getting rather anxious. It turns out that I was coming down with a cold, but that’s beside the point.

On Thursday night, I had had enough. I needed to get away for a little while. I grabbed my camera, jumped in the car, and headed into the countryside.

About 30 mins north of Peoria is a wind farm. I’m not sure how many electricity-producing windmills have been installed so far, but it always seems like there are more every time I venture up there.

On this particular evening, the sun was quite bright. However, it was really windy and the clouds were moving fast. These weren’t ordinary clouds, either. They were DENSE! One minute, the ground would be brightly lit, but the next minute the ground would be dark and shady. It made for some interesting photos, especially after I played with them on my computer…

4-17 Trinity Lutheran Photowalk

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

Last Saturday, I met up with a group of photogs from the Peoria area to take pictures inside Trinity Lutheran Church. This is an older church in this area, and the architecture and adornments speak to that.

I had only been in one other Lutheran church before this, and that happened to be the night before. So, needless to say, I was quite intrigued by the main sanctuary.

This picture is of the back of the altar – or the extreme front of the sanctuary. The sculptures, woodwork, and stained glass that you see here are carried throughout the room. It’s quite pretty.

In the basement of this church, there is a bowling alley. And when I say “bowling alley,” I mean a four-lane, fully functional bowling alley that looks like it’s stuck in the 60′s. The truth of the matter is that it IS stuck in the 60′s (that’s when it was installed, and it hasn’t really been updated since), but it’s in REALLY good condition.

Check out my flickr feed for pictures of the bowling alley and more of the church.

4-13 Macro Play

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

Amidst the fallen leaves, new ones emerge.

Spring has been a FUN time to begin my photographic endeavors. I took this shot the other night before choir practice.

And, as neat as I find this picture to be, I think that the new growth is actually Poison Ivy.

4-7 Dilapidated House

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

I think I’ve fallen head-over-heels in love with a program called Lightroom, which is a sibling to Photoshop. Just last night, it allowed me to take an average picture of an abandoned house and turn it into something that looks eerie, creepy, and cool.

…. now I just need to come up with a spare arm and leg to buy a full license for Lightroom befor my 30-day trial expires.

3-29 Sunset

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

I had a GREAT time taking pictures last night, and it was all capped off by some sunset shots from the Eastport Marina in East Peoria. This is one of my favorites.