moving back to blogger

I have been playing around with blogger and have decided to move the blog back there. I have not a technical girl and so I am moving back for shear ease. Sorry for any inconvenience.

http://simplyblogged.blogspot.com

where to blog?

I switched from blogger because I was having issues with people being able to comment. I like some of the features here on wordpress but I find it hard to follow blogs from here. Blogger keeps adding so many tools and nifty little gadgets that I am feeling it pull me back. I have been following from my google reader and I just found out that a lot of my blogs were dropped for some reason. So, for months I thought everyone was busy and not blogging as much. WRONG!

Any thoughts?

exploring all angles

I have been taking a subject and shooting it from all angles lately. I have done this with a couple of things and I have been having some fun with it and thought I would share.

summer solstice

I was kind of disappointed that it was cloudy on the solstice but we decided to make the best of it and go out and take some pictures.

We left after 1:00 am…

My son, Jacob (a friend), and I went out shooting together.

We drove all the way out to Captain Cook State Park. The skyline was beautiful.

It was 2:00 am…..

“Rusty give me a glamor shot”

“Rusty give me a Blair Witch Project pose”

We also fit a Bench Monday shot in

We did not get to bed until after 4:00 am, the sun never went down and was coming up. It was a fun night.

15 books

Kristybee tagged me on facebook but I thought I would add it here too. I think I need to make a goal to blog everyday in July. I need to be a better blogger. =]

“Don’t take too long to think about it. List 15 books you’ve read that will always stick with you. Choose the first fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Tag 15 friends, including me.”

In no order:

1. The Man Who Ate the 747 by Ben Sherwood: Funny book. I read it years ago and I still chuckle.

2. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert: I simply adore memoirs and I love her time in Italy and the whole concept of the book really.

3. The Tenth Muse by Judith Jones: Another memoir of a great women, editor, cook, wife, you name it.

4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: I can never decide which one I like best. I like them all…..well, I have not read them all yet but the ones I have read I like.

5. Collections of Poems by Williams Carlos Williams (both volumes): I seriously love the Danse Russe. It made me smile.

6. Letters Home by Silvia Plath: I think all people have crazy thoughts from time to time but when you share them they get worse. She was brilliant and certifiable. I loved reading her letters almost as much as her poetry. She made me laugh and then I felt so sad for her too. Her son lives in Alaska, well he did, he killed himself this passed winter.

7. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: I read inheritance too but did not like it as much as Little Women.

8. The Children’s Story by James Clavell: I could write a novel about this short book. It is crazy how short of time it takes to brainwash someone.

9. Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde: If you have not seen the movie or read the book, don’t see the movie and rush out and get the book.

10. Freedom Writers Diary by Freedom Writers: Sometimes it is good to see outside of your little world and be shocked by the world we really live in.

11. The Domain Book of Intuitive Home Design: How to Decorate Using Your Personality Type by Judy George: This book has saved me many times. I like a decorating style but it does not mean I will like it in my home. I would buy something and then hate it when I came home with it. Now I buy stuff that fit my personality.

12. The Color Code by Dr. Taylor Hartman: I love personality tests and this book has one of the best ones I have ever seen. A couple of years ago I took a job being a supervisor and it was tough. I had everyone take this test and it was much easier to do my job knowing who I was working with.

13. Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson: Sorry to add this book but it rocked my photography world. It is a must have for every photographer.

14. Grandma Slaughters Family Cookbook by “Our Family: We made this book for my husbands grandmother and technically it is a cookbook but it is full of stories that go along with the recipes and my family and I have a great time reading it.

15. The Scriptures: I had to add this because it is one of the books I remember all the time. I read it, not as much as I should, and a believe in it. So the list was not complete without it.

simply revisit

One of my favorite things to do when the seasons change is to take pictures of the same things I did the season before. We have this little tree growing on our property line and it may be little but I think it is so beautiful.

Last fall……

Summer

…different direction but same location.

sweet wonder

I recently did a maternity session with a friend and during an out-take her little girl was staring at her exposed belly with curiosity and wonder and I thought it was darling.

grilled halibut with mango salsa

Get the recipe here.

simply cupcakes

Martha Stewart has a new cookbook about cupcakes and she had a whole show on cupcakes. She had cupcake store owners on. My favorite was Sweet Revenge, her cupcakes were visually interesting and they looked delicious. She used parchment paper instead of cupcake liners. I decided to try it and I liked it. I was lame and just made regular boxed cake batter.

I do have one tip for you. I take a container of frosting (store bought) and I whipped until it is light and fluffy, it doubles in size and is half the calories.

bokeh lovers unite

Today I was reading an article over at SS by Tracey Clark on the subject of bokeh, one of my favorite subjects. I decided to look through my stream and see what I had, actually I was thinking about this last night since today is Bokeh Wednesday. I found a lot of shots and it is interesting to see where one finds a shot with bokeh.

I was on a walk and the woods were covering me but on the side of the trail there was this beam of light and I thought it would be interesting to see if it would create some bokeh.

My salt and pepper shakers

The sun and the light being broke up by branches

This was taken at a shooting range and all that bokeh is broken glass

The faucet in my bathroom