Last Hot Night in August

We have had such a horribly hot, high humidity summer and it has has been tough to suffer though it.  It does things to one.  It makes one tired and grouchy, like one's energy is being sucked right out.  No one ever looks their best. What with the sweat dripping off the tip of your nose and one's hair, well frizzy is an understatement, but I didn't know it caused cameras to hallucinate.  The above photo is shown as it was taken by the camera, no touch ups or computer programs used.  It certainly looks like a flying saucer floating over a forest to me.  In reality it is caused by the lens fogging up from the heat and humidity of the night.  This photo was taken at around 11 PM and the temperature was still about 90* outside and this was just last week after many weeks of such weather.  I had to wipe the lens of my camera after every shot to keep it from fogging up to much and even then if I took too long to set up the shot it would fog up the lens and give that eerie look to my shot.  The picture was taken with just the light from the  the back porch light using my shutter speed priority setting on my camera.  I am really trying to learn to use my camera to a much fuller extent and having fun learning more.
Once again this is a photo op I would have missed without my husband Tom.  He was walking the dogs when he saw the mushroom and told me about it so I could go out to photograph it.  He's always on the look out for interesting things for me to photograph, although I don't think he or I expected the results I got when the mushroom was first spotted.  Thanks, Tom.
Below is a close up of the mushroom as it should look and if one looks at the blades of grass one can see how wet everything is even without any rain.  I am certainly glad that we have had a break from that awful heat, Maybe I'll be able to go through my day without the heat sucking all the energy out of me.

November goals

It has been raining here again and that means more mushrooms and it seems that every time it rains for a few days than stops for a few days we get a different kind of mushroom. I've never seen such a variety of mushrooms in all my life. I've said that before and still more and different kinds of mushrooms keep popping up. The newest ones are bright red and seem to match the bright red of the leaves right now. Since my goal and priority for October was to get this blog up and tweeked I have several groups of mushrooms from different rain times that have been sitting around waiting to be edited and organized. I have learned that the blog will always need some tweeking to keep it fresh and interesting but it won't be the drain on me that the start has been. I now know lots more tricks and tips and where to go. I really think I did well in accomplishing my goals for October; I posted 27 posts, and my blog sure looks a lot more professional. I'm also learning to toot my own horn and let people know about my blog. My niece JoAnn used to say " You've got to toot your own horn, or someone else will use it as a spittoon." Pretty smart considering she was in her teens when that was her favorite saying. That attitude got her a job as a disc jockey at a local radio station instead of flipping burgers as a teen. Pretty nice. Thus far I have received favorable comments from those who have visited my blog and this has done wonders for me personally. I have learned many things and not just how to take pictures and use a computer. I have grown in courage to try new things, not long ago I would not have had the courage to do this blog. I've overcome a lot of my shyness, I talk to complete strangers (in safe situations of course) and take pictures of them. I pull over to the side of the road to take picture and have even had the police stop and talk to me without getting flustered. The setting of my goals for the past couple of months has seen much in my personal growth, especially with sitting down and thinking through my thoughts and putting them into words for the world to read.

November has another set of priorities, I want to keep up this personal growth, but I need once again to bring back more balance in my life. I need to balance this blog, MyShutterSpace, and Facebook. They each play a different part in my life on the computer. I need to get out in the world more, as much as my health will allow. I've been asked to do a powerpoint presentation on the 14th with my photography for a special women's night out at church, considering I've never done a powerpoint presentation I've got more learning to do. I also need to do more to increase my health so I've decided since I've been doing so many deep knee bends taking pics of mushrooms I'm probably strong enough to go back to swimming at the gym. Something I love to do but have put off. Lots of things have gotten a little off balance and since I have so little strength and energy it doesn't take much to get off-balance. This month's priority is balance; something everyone must apply then reapply again as we go though our lives.

More Mushrooms

Rainy day

Rain, rain go away

Come again some other day

Little Johnny wants to play.

OR

Pain, pain go away

Never come another day

Cuz it's me who wants to play.

We're starting another round of rain which means MORE MUSHROOMS. I still haven't finished editing the pics I've got. I'm actually getting a little tired of mushrooms, but I've seen so many different kinds that I've never seen before I'm afraid to not go look and take pictures cuz I don't want to miss any.

While it's raining though I'm staying inside and getting some organizing things done. today I finished designing and got some contact cards done, some permission cards made up so I know I can use people's photos even on the Internet, and stickers to go on framed pictures I give away with contact info on them. Tom was a tremendous help in doing all those things.

I finished some editing and got some more pictures on flickr. I haven't been able to take pictures outside so I set up to do still life's inside and took a few. Kept up my blog. For me this was a Very full day, but I made sure to take a nap so maybe I won't pay to high a price tomorrow. Good night all.

Ground Level Photo Workout- more photos

If you would like to see more go to my flickr photostream and I have many more mushroom pictures and by tomorrow I will have more edited and put on flickr. I think by the time mushroom season goes away I will have enough pictures from all differant angles to do my own book on mushrooms. I just don't know enough about mushrooms to do a book. Anyone want to collaborate on one with me?