Allegany: August 21-24, 2011

August 20-24, 2011:  I made my annual visit to Allegany (by myself) during those August anniversary days since Mom passed away. Bob couldn't come with me this year, because he had taken time off in July for Claire's wedding.

This time with my Dad is a special bonding time, and I am grateful for whatever time I can spend with him.  Jake & Caroline were around for the first few days, so I got to spend time with them too!  And of course, practice with my new camera!

August 21

Dad (two months shy of 91 years old)

House Finch at the feeder

The lazy days of summer!

Baby pine cones

Lovely green!

I made cinnamon rolls for Dad & I

August 22

Love these finches!

Pine cone bokeh

Bee on goldenrod

Fence view

August 23

(anniversary of Mom's passing & cemetery visit)

Civil War Monument

On August 24, I headed for home, with a planned stop to meet up for lunch with Julie (Bebop) in Ithaca at Moosewood Restaurant. On 13 North toward Ithaca, I passed a sunflower field, and just had to stop and take some photos.

After a great lunch at Moosewoods, and lots of conversation about Daily Pics, photography and Zazzle, Julie and I took a walk to one of the renowned Ithaca Gorges:

  Julie (Bebop) checking her camera settings:

Julie shooting photos:

Cascadilla Falls & Stone Bridge

Photo of me (taken by Julie)

A few hours in Ithaca was a perfectly great ending to a special time spent with my Dad! 

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Note:  this blog post was actually written in January 2012 as part of my "catch-up" but published as if in September, to keep things in proper sequence.

Learning Curve = Not So Much!

September 26, 2011:   Over the past month, I'm very happy to have learned that the learning curve hasn't been as steep as I originally thought.  I'm still shooting in autofocus, but I'm learning how the focus works.  It will take some time until I feel confident enough to use it exclusively.  And even then I will probably take my Canon G12 on certain outings (such as bike rides in the park), because it's lighter and easier to transport.   It will also take a bit longer until I get into manual focus.  But I will get this, I'm determined!  The photos I take with this camera are already so much better!

Here are some of my "practice" efforts since my last blog post in August:

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Note:  this blog post was actually written in January 2012 as part of my "catch-up" but published as if in September, to keep things in proper sequence.