039 - Quincy by pool

Guess who wants to go swimming?

Whenever we go out to the pool and stick our toes in to see if it's warm yet, Quincy looks at us so expectantly hoping we give him the go ahead to jump in. Funny, once upon a time this dog couldn't swim. The girls would have to hold his rear end up so he wouldn't sink. It really wasn't until we got the house with the pool that he somehow figured it out. Now he LOVES to swim. Still too cold though...maybe in a couple of weeks.

038 -Art Cow

There is a big parcel of land near our home that seems to be used for an assortment of reasons. We have seen them sell Christmas trees, fireworks, pumpkins, palm trees, flowers and so on. It hosts everything from construction equipment auctions to what seemed to be dance lessons. There is always something going on, even if we can't quite figure out what it is. Not that long ago a cow showed up. Not a real cow, but a sculpture of one. We had no idea why it was there, and tonight I decided it was time to shoot it.

Melissa and I headed out and since it was dark I pulled the truck up and used my headlights to illuminate said cow. As I am shooting, I see bright lights and notice a very large tractor bearing down on me. Quickly, I abandon my photo shoot and run out of the way to move my truck so this tractor could get through. Turns out, it was the artist of the cow, Bryant Martinez coming to say hi. He is using the area to create and assemble different works of art for our upcoming 2nd Annual Festival of the Arts at Winthrop. http://winthropartfestival.com/ He was nice to chat with and told me of some other sculptures that would be finished soon and displayed. The festival is May 1st and 2nd, so if you are in the Tampa area be sure to stop by!

037 - Stencil backlit

Back to basics...this is a straight shot right out of the camera, no tweaking in Photoshop other than to convert it to black and white. I took a brass stencil from my card making days, put a light source behind it and here you go!

036 - Electric River

Ok, I know technically it's Sunday, but I haven't gone to bed yet so it's still Saturday to me. I was playing around in Photoshop tonight...I like how a simple bow turned into an abstract river of light...kinda cool.

035 - Bubbly glass

Another attempt at glass...I am coming to the conclusion that I should stop trying until I am able to get a proper studio setup again. The only light source here was from a light table. I think I need to try this was a secondary spot from directly above. Hmmm...where is George when I need him?!

034 - Tampa Power Plant

033 - Quincy's new doo

Quincy - before

I've been saying for a while now that Quincy needs a haircut...he could barely see where he was going. Just a big, furry, smelly hairball. Oh yeah, and naughty...

Quincy - after

Now he's clean, fresh and far more tolerable!

032 - Yellow roses

The rose bushes in the front yard are blooming like CRAZY!

031 - Grasshopper Pie

Melissa turned 21 today. I can hardly believe it. She has been through a lot in those 21 years, learned some hard lessons and has grown into an amazing woman. I hope this birthday brings her the courage to follow her dreams and live her life to the fullest.

We went out for dinner and she got to order her first legal alcoholic beverage of choice. Free dessert cuz it was her birthday and home by 9:00. Party animals...yep, that's how we roll.

As promised, Grasshopper Pie awaited us at home. Mmmm, liquor infused marshmallow-y goodness!

030 - Reese's Eggs

Apparently my punishment for bragging about how beautiful it was yesterday was an entire day of rain today. It was one of those days that you could just snuggle up with a good book. (In between naps of course). I am retaliating with colorful Easter candy!

Tomorrow's photo will be GRASSHOPPER PIE in celebration of Melissa's 21st birthday!

029 - Spring flowers

An absolutely gorgeous day today! Blue sky, high 70's, light breeze and no humidity. Perfect. We visited the Lowe's today and got 2 truckloads of mulch and some flowers for the front of the house. Even got a little bit sunburned. Dear friends and family in the great white north...I'm not rubbing it in or anything, I'm just sayin.

028 - Tiny yard flower

We, along with many of our neighbors, have these tiny purple flowers growing all over our yards. Is this a sign of spring? Maybe it's Florida's version of crocus...

027 - My office

My office is a pit. It's so sad. Once upon a time it was beautiful, really. Then I started working from home and things just got out of hand. CD's that have been burned and need to be boxed, all the books we have up for sale that will end up being donated before we move. Boxes of paper, printers everywhere, photography stuff mixed in between. Soon it will be all packed up, moved and I can start all over again!

026 - Snowman

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

025 - Doll w/ Hat

I have been toying with the idea lately about doing portrait photography. I had always thought that good portraits had to be done in a studio with strobe lighting, so since I don't have a studio, I never really considered it. This changed about a week ago. I came across a web site of a photographer that does all her portraits with natural light...and they're beautiful! I wanted to try this out myself so I got out my baby double. This was shot with just window light...not too shabby!

024 - Pool and lizard

We uncovered the pool today. *Sigh* In the past whenever someone would ask me about pool maintenance I had always said it's really not too bad. An hour or so on the weekend, that's about it. Well, this is the first year the pool has been covered and I think it made it worse. Mountains of leaves. Bummer.

In the process of scooping everything out we found a lizard floating amongst the leaves. So cute with a single water drop on it's head!

023 - Tampa Theatre

When it opened in 1926, the Tampa Theatre was one of the most elaborate movie palaces in America. The ticket price on opening night was 25 cents! It is on the National Register of Historic Places and was restored to it's original glory in 1978. Today they host over 600 events per year, making it one of the most used venues of it's kind.

022 - Horses in the Trees

I love the weekends. It gives us the opportunity to go for a long drive and discover new things. What is really exciting is when something shows up completely unexpected. We were driving on a little back road and saw a brown horse grazing near the road with a forest of pine trees behind it. I got out and starting taking some pictures when Elliott noticed this white horse coming toward me through the trees.

He walked straight up to me and just looked at me, like maybe I had something for him. I think I should start keeping apples in the truck...

021 - Photoshop

Playing around a bit with Photoshop today. Can you guess what it is?

020 - Cavalia Media Day

Cavalia is here!

You may or may not know this about me but... I love horses. Ok, now that we have established that, I can go on to say that Cavalia is one of the most breathtaking performances I have ever seen. At times I had tears in my eyes...seriously. Even if you don't have an extra special place in your heart for horses you would still be amazed by this show.

My favorite part was the Grande Liberté. Nine Arabian horses wandered on stage, one or two at a time completely un-harnessed, no leads, nothing. I have never seen horses interact with one another in such a way. They were frolicking about as if they were on a playground at recess. As Sylvia Zerbini walked on stage they all turned to watch her, expectantly waiting to see what kind of game she would play with them. Amazing.

There were trick riders, acrobats and aerialists, performing stunts that were incredible, far too fast moving for me to shoot without flash. (No freaking out the horses) I was able to get a few shots when the performers were being still for a second or two, like the Bungees Cavaliers below.

I truly enjoyed my glimpse at this magnificent group of artists and hope to be able to see the full performance while they are here in Tampa. Created by Cirque du Soleil co-founder, Normand Latourelle, Cavalia is currently touring major cities in North America. I definitely recommend going to see this if they are in your area.

A huge thank you to Stefanie Phillips from RFB Communications Group for sending me the invitation to this awesome event. It was great to meet you today!

019 - Pink Tulips

Elliott bought me flowers! He's such a sweetie!

018 - Glass Vases

My Studio Lighting instructor, George, once told me that photographing glass is very difficult. I didn't doubt at all that what he was saying was true, but I didn't realize at the time just how difficult it was. I will try this one again...someday when I have more patience and with studio lights. Ahhh well, better luck next time.

017 - Pinchy Seeds

Melissa and I were working out in the yard today and once we got back in the house, Melissa realized she was covered in these pinchy seeds. I have no idea where they come from, but Quincy will quite often come in from being outside just covered in them. They are only about a centimeter long with tiny pinchers on the end that attach themselves to everything. Once she got them off her pants, we collected them all into a pile and I got out the macro lens. Even something incredibly annoying can turn out to be pretty cool.

010 Cavalia Follow-up

I wanted to share some exciting news! A public relations firm here in Tampa saw the photo I had posted of the Cavalia tents and sent me an invitation to attend the Cavalia Media Preview Event being held prior to the opening of Cavalia. A mini version of the performance will be given with the opportunity to photograph (not allowed during regular performances) and interview the artists. Thursday is the big day so be sure to check back to see an extra special post at 365 Days of Photos!

016 - Rusty Tractor

Elliott and I had a great ride on the bikes today. Nothing like all that fresh air! Yesterday on our way to the "Strawberry Festival" Elliott saw some old tractors that he wanted to go back and take a look at. I think these things have been parked on this lot forever. I really liked this white one...it seemed to be looking at us. Kind of a strange cuteness...in a creepy kind of way.

015 - "Strawberry Festival"

We went to the Plant City Strawberry Festival today. Our taste buds were all ready for a yummy strawberry extravaganza. Sadly we were very disappointed. The "Strawberry Festival" seems to have little to do with strawberries. Yes, there were a few booths selling jewelry shaped like strawberries, a couple obligatory FFA displays of how strawberries are grown, and you could buy strawberries if you were so inclined. Personally, the thought of walking around for the day carrying a flat of strawberries seemed quite inconvenient. We did buy a strawberry shortcake which was very good.

Really what this event should be called is heart attack waiting to happen. The majority of the fairgrounds were taken up by carnival rides and deep fried food. Deep fried butter...really? How about a deep fried Pepsi to wash that down? Don't get me wrong, I'm not completely turning my nose up at the art of deep fried sweets. I personally have a soft spot for deep fried Oreo's. However, this was the STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL! Fortunately, I do know where to go for yummy delicious strawberries...the grocery store.

014 - Brownies

Mmmm...brownies.

013 - Carnival Inspiration

Cruise ship in port at Channelside in lovely downtown Tampa. It's a cool 48° tonight, not exactly tropical cruising weather. Hopefully they find warmer weather as they travel south!

012 - Quincy

Mom, I can't see!

For those of you who didn't know who I was referring to in yesterday's post, this is Quincy. It's always good to have a face to go with a name, even if it's covered in fur. I think I'll be calling the groomer tomorrow... before he starts walking into walls.

011 - Baseball

This is why we can't have nice things.

Quincy was playing in the yard today and came in with a newly found toy. He was so excited! Since he has always been an agressive chewer he doesn't get new toys often. He was just so happy so... silly me, I let him keep it. Yep, silly me.

010 - Cavalia Tents

Cavalia is coming to Tampa! What is Cavalia? According to the brochure we got it is a "lavish orchestration of equestrian and performing arts, in which acrobats, aerialists, dancers, riders and musicians cavort with horses in dream-like settings". See http://www.cavalia.net/. Anyway, the tent caught my eye yesterday so we went back tonight to see how close we could get. While I was able to get pretty close up while on the ground there was a chain link fence to contend with. So... across the freeway and up to the top floor of the casino's parking garage we went. Much better!