3 Quarters Today

My Life, my photography, my passions

Small Town Living

Day 100/365: The Great Goose Chase

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Canadians and Snow Geese in Nebraska
Canada and Snow Geese in Nebraska

You know spring is close when the Canada and Snow geese start heading back north.  Nebraska is in a migratory flight path for many species of birds, including geese, who use the corn and wheat fields as feeding and resting grounds. So on my 100th day I bring you the great Nebraska goose migration.

This year, because of my 365 project, I had a purpose for driving around chasing after thousands of geese and getting a photo of this spectacular site.  Thousands of geese fly over and then start to gather and spiral as they descend in what actually looks like an organized landing pattern. They are very skittish and typically chose sections of land that are difficult to gain access from the gravel roads.

Trying to walk out and sneak up on them is not easy. Goose hunters normally set decoys and sit in blinds waiting for hours. I don’t have that much patience, and you never know where they are going to land. So you watch the skies and chase the clouds of birds in the air. Many of my photographs the past couple of days were part of my goose chase.

The geese  don’t stay long in one spot, some flocks will stop and rest and others will be taking off and continue heading north. In less than a week hundreds of thousands, if not millions of geese will fly over.

Below is a video a friend across the road from her house at a neighboring pond.  Turn up the volume to enjoy the sounds of nature.

Day 95/365: It’s High School Speech Season

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Day 95: Speech Poses
Day 95: Speech Poses

Competing in Speech takes poise, confidence, concentration, composure, and self confidence which I believe prepares students for a life and their future careers much more than any athletic sport.  Elmwood-Murdock High school has a strong athletic program, with many teams competing at the district and state levels, but their academic extra-curriculum activities such as speech, FBLA and FCCLA are just as strong with many students participating in overlapping contests.

Normally a speech meet is not a spectator sport. Yes, it is a team activity, and while not normally physically draining it is always mentally draining. Speech meets are often all day affairs, requiring the students to leave at six in the morning and not getting home until nine that night. This is my daughter’s first year in speech and this year she  is doing Humorous Interpretation, “What Makes the Perfect Parent.” I thought having three characters to portray would be plenty, but next year she said she needs to add more.  I watched her classmates duet rendition of  “Hansel and Gretel, Open to Interpretation” and was in awe with over 20 characters and voices depicted in just ten minutes.

Now I know, that duet is probably over done, and judges probably hear the same scripts year after year? So the trick is to make the presentation fresh, make it your own, and do something no one else has done. This is where speech team support comes into play. Teammates suggest changes, dialects, inflections, and special added touches. I nearly died when I heard the Austrian Body Builder version, “I vill pumpp vu into ze oven vitch, ohh (strike pose)” and I think the judge did too. The Elmwood-Murdock duet team placed has placed in the finals during most of the season.

Project 365 Lesson: At the last minute I decided to splice my daughters various poses together from my camera video to add to the end of the post. This image was so much better than my original “planned” image of three girls talking to the “wall” that I totally changed the focus of the essay. So lesson learned, sometimes your unexpected, last minute inspiration will win the day.

Day 91/365: Zebra Stripes

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Day 91: Zebra Clutch wallet at Coop de Ville

Yes, I bought it. I guess every three years I need a new wallet. I’m drawn to classic style with a bit of flair. Black and white will go with everything, any color purse, and I can carry it by itself. Ok, you can’t see the whole wallet, but just the fabric the watch is sitting on, but trust me it’s a soft faux suede with leather like corners and silver buttons. I LOVE how it feels.

The watch I liked too, but today it just had to be an accent piece in my photograph. This is a teaser for the Coop de Ville series of pictures which will come later, don’t forget to subscribe at the bottom of the page to an email update, or click on the WordPress link at the top (if you’re signed in of course) There’s also the RSS feed, if that’s what you prefer.

Photoshop notes: I cropped and straightened the photo slightly, then added the standard layer actions/ My Finepix S1500 camera does a poor job in artificial light, I should try using the white balance more often or the lighting option and see if that improves things, but I often forget when I ‘m in a hurry. So I adjusted the color (decreased the yellow and green), desaturated and sharpened the embellishments. The original SOOC (straight out of camera) is below.

SOOC for comparision

Day 90/365: Bangles at Coop deVille

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Bangle jewelry bracelet
Day 90-: Bangle bracelet,

This week I went shopping at one of my favorite stores, Coop DeVille & Feathers, in Louisville Nebraska. Both stores are a woman’s shopping heaven. Everything from funky jewelry, purses, whimsical gifts, and decorating doodads made out of the most unique items. Everything is displayed in the most creative fashion the whole place is a feast for the eyes in an array of color.

These bangle bracelets  is just of one of my favorite pictures, love the way I captured the sparkle and shine, but I took so many that I’m going to break the rule of the 365 project and post pictures from the same day in this series. Hey, it’s my project, so I can make the rules.  Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing.  In the meantime you can visit the Coop de Ville & Feathers Facebook page.

Photoshop Notes: Cropped, added standard action layers, added more sharpness to the rhinestones, adjusted layers brought the right marker to the edge of the histogram,adjusted the color to get the original pink color of the bracelet. The original image is  below.

SOOC (straight out of camera)
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Day 89/365: Coop de Ville, a Shopping Paradise

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For the next two days I’m going to break out of the typical 365 Project rules. I took so many neat pictures during my shopping trip at Coop de Ville and  Feathers that I’m going to expand a little and break out of the one photo limit. Won’t do this often, but hopefully you’ll forgive me this time.

Welcome to Feathers

Coop de Ville & Feathers are two dynamite retail stores. They have everything a chick needs for her home, her garden, her gift giving needs and herself.

Feathers Gift Shop- Louisville, NE
Unique way of displaying jewelry and scarves.

Photoshop notes: the lighting was perfect in the store, nice big windows so the only adjustment I did was add an artistic plastic wrap effect.

Don't forget to look UP!!

Why does an old refrigerator door look perfect on this wall and not mine? I just couldn’t pull off the forks and knives either.

You look Maaaarvelous My Dear

Around every corner is a new visual vision for the eyes, something unexpected, whimsical, and things that are normally out of place, look like they belong. Don’t know her name, but she looks Maarvelous!

Paperdoll Wall

Across from the lady in the bathtub is this wall, yes decoupaged with paperdolls and whimsical funny sayings. “Being in therapy is great, I spend an hour talking about myself. It’s kinda being a guy on a date.  Caroline Shea” or “It’s the good girls who keep diaries, bad girls don’t have the time- Takiah Bankhead” Note the whimsical light at the top and the old hair dryer? There is so much to see in each room, around every corner that it’s easy to miss things.

Don’t worry, I’ll revisit the stores, there will be random posts throughout the year, but if you would like to get a regular does of whimsy visit the Coop de Ville & Feathers  Facebook page. Both stores are located in Louisville Nebraska, just 30 minutes from Lincoln or Omaha. If you visit, reserve and afternoon.