The Blue and The Red.....Oh So Sweet.

Friday night was competition night at my camera club.

I was really nervous about the photos I submitted

but as it turns out

I chose the right photos for this particular night.

I got a blue ribbon for a photo I've posted on the blog before.

I titled it The Empty Bar.

Below is the winning photo.

I was very happy to win on this photo because it is one of my favorites.

My red ribbon winner means a lot to me also because it was in the creative category.

It was a shot that I set up with some of my books, a glass heart, and a miniature vase with rose.

I thought it came out really good but during the competition

my nerves wouldn't settle down.

This photo is more personal and therefore I was more self conscious during the critiquing and the judging.

I am happy that I got a good score.

Did I mention the highest score is 27?

And a third photo I entered did not win a ribbon but it got a score of 23.

Not bad, eh?

I've also posted this photo here before.

I sure do enjoy these monthy competitions, especially when I get high scores and win ribbons.

Mostly I like it because I am learning and challenging myself to be better. 

I hope you all enjoyed my photos.

FMTSO- BRIDGES

Welcome to My Town Friday Shoot Out.

This week's theme is all about bridges.

This is our first shoot out in black and white.

The picture above is a photo of the cover of my favorite book,

The Bridges Of Madison County.

I thought it deserved a starring role in this week's post

because I think it is one of the most beautiful love stories of all time.

And of course, the title fits the theme of our shoot out.

A bridge over imported water.

This is Town Square in Las Vegas

This bridge suspends above the Rogue River in Grants Pass, Oregon

Another bridge somewhere in Southern Oregon

This is a bridge that goes from one treehouse to another in Cave Junction, Oregon.

Vanderbilt University Bridge

Nashville, TN

My very favorite place to visit.  I love this town.

Loretta Lynn Ranch in Hurricane Mills, TN

Another beautiful place to visit.

Nashville, TN

Cumberland River in Downtown Nashville, TN

It is a most awesome sight.

A decorative yard bridge in my neighborhood.

I not only love taking photos of bridges but I like what bridges represent.

I love all the metaphors and analogies of the word, bridge.

Let's bridge the gap of our friendship.

Don't burn too many bridges.

Now that's a bridge over troubled water.

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

I'm building a bridge to your heart.

Go jump off a bridge.

Ah, there are so many.

To walk the bridges in blogosphere, click here and you will be in awe.

To my love:  If you build me a bridge, I'll cross it to be by your side.

The Center of Attention

Kicking Back......

Las Vegas Wrangler's Hockey Game

Friday night I actually got myself out of the house.

I was lucky enough to get FREE tickets to the hockey game in town.

And I LOVE hockey.

There's always lots of action and excitement in addition to loud upbeat music.

I must have gotten really carried away and excited because I took 999 photos.

That is the most pictures I've ever taken at one event let alone in a full day.

You know how sensitive those hockey players can be, right?

You do one little thing wrong and a fight breaks out.

Normally, they just push and shove one another and tug on each other's clothes.

The crowd goes wild over this spurring more action.

That Ace is really trying to strip that Wrangler.

I wonder how far he'll go to expose his opponent?

Up oh!  It looks like he pulled the shirt right off of his back.

That Ace sure did make my Wrangler angry.

But the referees butted in before it got too out of hand.

And the game resumed.

The Las Vegas Wranglers lost by one point.

Can you believe it?

Those darned Alaska Aces kept my boys on their toes.

Oh, and you will never believe that I took these photos practically blind folded.

What, you don't believe me?

Well, I kid you not.

Okay, well I didn't have a blind fold over my eyes,

but I really couldn't see.

When we got to the arena I reached in my purse to get my glasses

and they were not there. Oh no, I left my glasses in my car and we rode with someone else.

I cannot see anything far away without my glasses on.

As far as the hockey game goes, I just followed the action and shot.

Oh, and I guess I am thankful that I had my 300 mm lens on my camera.

That helped me see a great deal.

I hope you all enjoyed my photos anyway.

Friday Town Shoot Out: Favorite Color

Doreen from Michigan chose this week's theme of favorite color. 

I have to admit that I've been thinking about it all week and it has challenged me.

If I hadn't given any thought to the subject I would have said that green is my favorite color.

But not just any green.  I like the entire array of greens in that color pallette.

But after thinking about this subject I concluded that

color is so personal that I can't limit it to just one favorite.

To me, color represents your personality, your mood, your emotions. 

It helps tell your life story, but only in part.

And since our mood and emotions are ever changing,

 so too, are the colors that blend with our personalities to tell our story.

Personally, I love all earth tones.  Those colors speak to me like no other.

They are warm and cozy and comfortable. 

They are natural and outdoorsy.

They are muted colors lilke browns, greens, beiges, grays.

Below is something I put together to show the different browns I like.

I love the browns in the heart necklace.

The greens......

All of my candles are green in color.

So, the earthy tones make me feel comfortable.

I really like blue a lot too. 

I like Saphhire because it is my birthstone and it is such a vibrant blue color.

Blue can make me feel very elegant, especially when I wear the necklace pictured below.

I like vibrant, sparkly blues like cobalt.

Black and white are considered hues rather than color but there is just something about those hues that I love. 

One is sophisticated and elegant and the other is fresh and refined. 

Put the two together and you get a timeless classic look.

I like so many colors.  My favorite color really depends on the mood I'm in.

If you take a look in my closet though,

you will find a lot of green and a lot of black.

Beauty

                                                              

Life is full of beauty when we take the time to notice

Hang Em Up

Texture by Urbandirty

Photo of ice skates taken at Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Kingman, AZ

by ME

Textured Balls

Get your mind out of the gutter!

Haha. 

That's where my mind would have gone.

Every now and then I'm in the mood to play pool.

After dinner with friends last week,

the plan was to go play cards.

I just didn't feel up to it.

So, I suggesgted we go play pool.

I enjoyed the jukebox playing in the background

and the physical movement around the pool table.

It was just the kind of night I needed to relieve the tension of the day.

Good music, great friends and physical activity.

Yeah, baby.

That's me.  My face looks all contorted so I didn't want to show myself.

Walking The Streets Of Oatman

Yesterday, a friend and I took a road trip to Oatman, Arizona where the wild burros roam the streets with the tourists.  It was an incredible experience to be up close and personal with these beautiful animals.

I thought it was a quaint little town and to my pleasure,

it was much more than I expected.

Many of the original buildings are still in operation

and though this former mining town was once home to over 4,000 people,

it is now home to only about 100 people year round.

The burros are wild and they will bite and kick even though they have no fear of people and motorized vehicles.  They love to search out treats from the tourists.

You can buy carrots to feed to the animals.

Some of the burros aren't allowed to eat carrots.

See the sticker on the baby burro's nose in the above photo?

It says no carrots.  The stickers are not allowed to be removed.

These baby burros will choke to death if they eat carrots.

So they find other things to chew on.

You really have to be on your guard because some of the burros will try to eat your purse.

This lady and the people she was with were very rude to my friend and I

and when I saw the burro grab her purse, I thought to myself....

KARMA

Ha ha that's what you get for being so rude.

The lady was not happy about the burro grabbing her purse.

The burros don't even flinch with all the loud gunfire going on.

It was quite loud too. But entertaining and fun to watch.

After walking around for awhile we took a little detour into the place pictured below.

I had a glass of white Zin.

There were many souveneir shops and such but most would not allow photos to be taken.

I did however, sneak this one in before I knew about the rules.

I think the earrings are really pretty. I like the ones on the far left.

Oh, I did manage to sneak just a couple more pics in down the street.

I took a lot of photos. 

It really was a fun little town.  I am so glad I went.

It's fun to be adventurous. 

I'm the type of person who needs a change of scenery quite often.

I have a tendency to become restless if I am not allowed to explore.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour.

I have many more photos from this trip which I may or may not post at a later date.

The burros really are so sweet.

When you are feeding them carrots they will let you pet them all you want.

But as soon as the treats are gone, they move on in search of someone else who will give them what they want.