MY FIRST MEETING WITH A FELLOW BLOGGER

This is Doreen who blogs at My Reflections As I Shutter Along.

I had the priviledge of meeting her last Friday while she was in Vegas for her son's wedding.

I picked her up on the strip and took her to lunch at Applebee's where Gayla works.  I know what you must be thinking.  A visitor from Michigan in Vegas and I take her to lunch at Applebee's.  What's wrong with me?  Well, I really wanted her to meet Gayla and I wasn't sure if there would be another opportunity. Doreen was a good sport and allowed me to push my itenerary on her.  A coctail with lunch helped us get through the ordinary lunch much better.

I thought we clicked pretty well. 

 Doreen was very nice and laid back and boy did she have an accent.

The truth is she thought all of us had an accent.

After lunch I played tour guide and drove Doreen out to Red Rock Canyon so that she could take some photos.  It was very thrilling to watch her because everything was so new to her and it allowed me to see through her eyes and to appreciate the majestic rocks that I sometimes take for granted.

Here she is posing for a snapshot.  Isn't she cute?

Doreen pointed out the people climbing the rock.

Can you see them?  you might have to click on the photo so you can really see.

Doreen also noticed this guy standing on top of this rock and pointed him out to me.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of this.

I wonder what she sees through her lens. 

I'm sure she has some pictures on her blog.  You should check them out.

I added an HDR effect to this one just to get more detail in the background.

Can you see the city lingering behind the rocks?

After we took some photos of Red Rock I drove Doreen to Bonnie Springs because I wanted her to see the wild burros. 

The wild burros are really quite tame because they are used to tourists coming and going and offering them food so they often seek people out for a snack or two.

We actually were able to pet them.

By this time it was getting kind of late so we decided to head back to town. 

Doreen got a call from her son who asked if I would mind driving Doreen to the Tuxedo shop to pick up his tux.  I didn't mind.

I thought I knew where I was going but apparently I did not.

My GPS on my phone sent me to the wrong side of town and I was zig zagging through neighborhoods to get back to the road I need to travel down.

I could tell that Doreen was getting stressed.  She said her son could call a taxi and go pick it up himself but I was on a mission.  I didn't want to give up.

We finally found the place and by the time I drove to the front of the hotel/casino I'm sure Doreen was quite relieved to be out of my car. 

I don't blame her.

Sorry Doreen.  I think you are really sweet.  I hope I didn't get on your nerves too much in the end.

FMTSO: Scavenger Hunt; Round, Square, Triangle

Time for the first Friday My Town Scavenger Hunt!  Circle, Triangle, Square

Guide Lines:

* straight out of the camera, no editing

* one photo per word

* three words for each hunt

* add a fourth photo if you can find all three hunt words in one (or just post this one photo)

* hunt area includes your town, surrounding areas, surrounding countryside

Round

Square

Trinagles

All of the above pictures were taken at the Griffith Observatory in Hollywood California.

It's not my hometown but I was there visiting my sister.

Join in on the fun by clicking here and adding a link to your blog.

Hollywood

A few weeks ago I went to visit my sister in Hollywood. 

We had the time of our lives and it was a great get-away for me.

My sister has an amazing view from her office in Los Angeles.

This is only a partial view from her office.

While visiting with my sister, she decided to take off early from work so that we could do something fun.

We called her friend Julie and we all decided to go on a city bus tour of Hollywood.

This was our fun bus, and we did have fun. 

This is where the bus stopped and let everyone off to take pictures

This is the view we saw when the bus stopped and let us out.

You can actually see the building my sister lives in from here.

She lives on the 11th floor.

Her building is almost in the center of the photo.

If you click on it you can see where the street curves and if you look up and to the right just a tad,

you will see her black and green building right next to a long yellow building with orange trim at the bottom.

Yep, it looks so small in comparison to other buildings but it's really not.

The three of us having a great time.

I clicked this image as the bus drove by, then I processed it in photoshop.

My sister loves this picture and wants a copy to hang in her loft.

Her loft is decorated with all sorts of pics of Hollywood and Los Angeles.

After our bus tour, we walked down the street to get something to eat because we were all famished.

We ended up at the outdoor mall at Hollywood and Highland.

Here, we found a great italian restaurant where the food was just as fabulous as the atmosphere.

The next day I went exploring on my own.  I found myself at the Griffiths Park Observatory,

then after that I went to the Gene Autry Museum and The Los Angeles Zoo.

I had a great time and took lots of pics.

This is the view of the L.A. Zoo from the Gene Autry Museum which is just across the street.

I processed this one.  Isn't he beautiful?

I'm A Rock N Roll Girl

The thing about me is that I like many genres of music but deep down I'm a Rock N Roll girl at heart.

Dancing is also a great love of mine and when I'm hearing good music, there's no way that I can sit still. 

Last night we went out with Shaun and Gayla to hear some live music.

We got to see two bands, Sin City Sinners and Yellow Brick Road.

I'd never seen Sin City Sinners but I've seen Yellow Brick Road many times.

I was geared up for big disappointment in the first band but my oh my did they surprise me.

They were phenomenal.

I couldn't sit still.

I was in the Zone.

The dancing zone, that is.

When I'm in the zone I'm like a different person.  I feel free.

I am hypnotized by the beating of the drums and I feel the music.

It's like I am one with it.

Sometimes I find it difficult to dance to classic rock.

I grew up dancing to 80's New Wave Music which has completely different rythm than rock.

But last night I didn't have any trouble getting started.

In fact, I danced to almost every single song once I was out on the floor.

I didn't want to sit down.

I'm like the energizer bunny, I keep going and going and going.

The band did sing a Dramarama song (one of my all time favorite groups) and a Violent Femmes song

so they weren't completely classic rock. 

They also sang a couple of original songs that were really good.

So good in fact that I had to buy a CD which I listened to today and relived how much fun I had last night.

Lead singer of Yellow Brick Road

They play stuff like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Great White, Rush, etc.

It had been just about a year since the last time I got to dance.

I really needed it too.

Dancing for me is a form of therapy. 

I get to stomp out all my frustrations, destress and channel my pent up desires and passions.

Yes, I get to express myself on the floor and it renews my spirit and cures all my ails.

So last night was the MOST fun I've had in YEARS.  Hard to believe but it's true.

Oh, with the exception of spending time with my sister a few weeks ago.  That was the best time.

FMTSO:

Today is April Fool's Day and the theme for this week's Friday Shoot out is that there is no theme.  Our assignment is to choose our favorite theme from the 108 past themes and to have another go at it.  I'm choosing skyline, even though it wasn't my favorite theme but more because I had an opportunity to photograph the city from the airport last night and so my pictures are very fresh.  I watched the sun go down and didn't get home until after 11:00 pm.  I'm also posting a picture from the night before because the sunset was so beautiful.  My lens didn't capture the beauty that my eyes saw but it's still pretty. 

This is an undedited version straight from my camera. 

The colors don't look quite right because the sky was very blue with orange and pink but my camera didn't quite capture the brightness of the blue.

CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO SEE A LARGER VERSION

This is my favorite picture of the night simply because the clouds add a little drama.

This was taken last night probably at about 7:30 pm from the top of the long term parking garage at McCaran Airport.

Manual Mode: Auto Focus Auto White Balance

                               F-Stop 22 ISO 200 Exposure Time 4 Seconds Focal Length 145mm

Love the blues and purple and the fact that I caught a plane flying by.

Manual Mode:  Auto Focus  Auto White Balance

F-Stop 22  ISO 200  Exposure Time 4 Seconds   Focal Length 145mm

It's getting darker and the clouds are starting to disappear.

F-Stop 22   ISO 200  Exposure time 4 seconds

Focal length  190 mm

F-Stop 22   ISO 200  Exposure Time 4 sec

Focal Length 180 mm

I have a thing for billboards.  I love them. 

In fact, I have this vision of publishing a book with photos of unique billboards across America.

I'm disappointed in this picture but glad I captured the billboards

and the Thomas and Mack Center in the background.

F-Stop 22    ISO 200   6 Second Exposure

Focal length 180 mm

Traffic trails and the city in the background.

F-Stop 22  ISO 200  Exposure time 8 seconds

Focal length 10 mm

Love the plane steaking by.

F19   ISO 200  Exposure Time 6 Seconds

Focal Length 210 mm

I hope you all enjoyed my skylines.

CLICK HERE to go to the list of other Friday Town Shooters and see some amazing perspectives.

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