an accidental photographer

Icy Jewels

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 19:46:00 +0000

December 2013 Ice Storm... a few select photos.

A Stormy Kansas Evening ~ SkyWatch Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 01:31:00 +0000

Kitties don't care much about approaching storms!

It is always utterly amazing to me when these storms approach and I can see their leading edge over our vast prairie! These pics are hot out of the camera, as the storms just went through our area earlier tonight.

All four of these photos are SOOC - straight out of the camera. No retouching, nada.

Visit SkyWatch Friday to see other glorious skies from around the world!

A Turnpike Sunset ~ SkyWatch Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 02:08:00 +0000

iPhone capture, enhanced with Instagram.

Not only do I get to see gorgeous sunsets from home, but I often see them while I'm at work. There's a lot of big sky in Kansas, and a lot of big opportunities for fantastic sunsets!

VISIT

Shelf Cloud, Kansas ~ SkyWatch Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 04:39:00 +0000

This pretty impressive shelf cloud rolled into south central Kansas late evening on June 27. I was walking away from the house, east on our gravel road, to get some good shots and then.... front line winds hit me! Even though I was fine, it was still pretty scary. I had to run INTO the winds to get back to the house.

What we photographers will sometimes do for "the shot". :-)

If you click to enlarge this last photo, you can see some wind and rain disturbance off in the distance.

Yellow Wildflower ~ Native to Kansas?

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 20:21:00 +0000

Unknown wildflower ~ August 2009

I have always liked this particular photo, however, I'm unsure exactly WHAT this flower is! It was almost hidden by some fallen tree branches, under a tree. Kansas is known for its abundance of wild sunflowers, but I don't think this is a sunflower variety.

As a side note, since we live only 1 mile from Oklahoma, I suppose it could be native to Oklahoma, right? :-)

Does anyone know what this flower might be?!

Thanks to my friend, Misty, for introducing me to Today's Flowers. If you're interested in joining this lovely flower photo meme, click the link and take a look at all the beautiful flowers submitted by other photo bloggers this week.

SkyWatch Friday ~ Kansas Sunset Post-Storm

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Big sunset skies in southern Kansas, apres-storm, late June 2013

VISIT

Puppy Love ~ Mini Australian Shepherds

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 23:39:00 +0000

Then.... May 2013.

About 2 months old.
Molly on left, Lucy on right

and Now!

Almost 6 months old.

Lucy on left, Molly on right

And yes, Lucy IS smaller than Molly.

Molly was the biggest in the litter while
Lucy was next to the smallest (not quite the runt).

I Wasn't In Kansas Anymore...

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 12:00:00 +0000

View from hotel room lanai
Maui, November 2012

I went to Maui in November with my mom, my sister and a very close family friend. A girls' getaway.

We stayed at the Fairmont Kea Lani. You can see my review at Trip Advisor, if you're interested. (My link will get you close, but I'm not sure that Trip Advisor will let me link directly so look for Susan Barnes Garten, review dated December 18.)

I highly recommend the Fairmont. Gorgeous hotel and grounds.

This is a cell phone capture with some post-processing in Topaz software.

I'm ready to go back....

Our Stormy Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 12:00:00 +0000

... Nikon D60

... Topaz Black & White Effects, Infrared I

Sometimes it's so hard for me to get decent pics of this girl.

She always wants to be right.next.to.me.

In this case, I think my friend had the right idea for her photo. I love this view of her.

A Return To Skywatch Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 05:53:00 +0000

Storm Cloud over Pond

Week of January 6, 2013

Nikon D60 with Topaz Simplify post processing

I was a lucky girl and got the entire Topaz Labs software suite for half price on Cyber Monday in November.

So far I've used Adjust, Simplify and B&W Effects, and I love all three of them. I can't wait to try the other software programs that came in my package deal!

Here's the original photo, before post processing in Simplify. Pretty dramatic straight out of the camera, I think. But I rather like the mean edge that Simplify gave this photo.

Original photo, unretouched

Which version do you like better? The original, #2, or the processed version at top, #1? I think they both have merits, it's just a matter of personal preference.

I haven't joined the Skywatch community for a few years. It's fun to be back.

If you've never heard of Skywatch, head on over and check out all the beautiful skies that other bloggers have submitted this week.

Ringo Loves the Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 01:48:00 +0000

... Nikon D60 camera

... Topaz Adjust ~ Vintage Grunge II

Kansas Sunset Via Cell Phone Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 18:46:00 +0000

I find it hard to believe that a cell phone app took this photo. Not bad for a cell phone!

This was a quick snap since I was working a small toll booth at the Kansas turnpike, and I was relatively busy with traffic. I had a brief 60 second lull in cars, and ran outside of my booth to grab this shot of the sun rays peeking through a hole in the clouds.

How cool is that?! :-)

After the Storm

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 13:43:00 +0000

Photo taken May 29, 2012, after a thunderstorm

The boring and busy minutiae of life always get in the way of what we truly enjoy each and every day.

Over the past year, the business of living has sucked many things out of my daily existence. I only had time to get ready and go to work almost every.single.day.

Now that I have finally relinquished one of my two jobs, I hope to once again find the joy and the beauty that surrounds us here on the ginormous and wide open prairie.

Slinging my camera over my shoulder always slows me down. Just when I think I am going to "hurry up" and take a quick picture, I find that an hour has passed. Taking my camera outside with me causes me to lose track of time and to savor the beauty that is all around us.

And slowing down like that is not a bad thing, hmm? I'm looking forward to many more days like that in the near future.

I think I heard my blogs softly say

"Welcome Back, we've missed you!"

Rainy Day

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:52:00 +0000

I love this interpretation of a rainy day in black and white.

I think black and white conveys the dreariness of a rainy day exceptionally well.

Of course, anyone who knows me, knows that I love the black and white photo. No surprises there.

However, I feel far from dreary today. Instead, with the windows and door screens open today, listening to the pitter-patter of the rain outside invigorates me.

I think it's time to get the guest bedroom spring cleaned. :-) I can't sit on the back porch, so it's the perfect day to clean and organize!

Day Trip - Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:32:00 +0000

Actually, this was more of a last-minute, totally impulsive, late-afternoon trip on February 6th. I had taken 3 days off work and after hubby had left for work on my first day of alone-ness (Monday), I decided I needed a quick road trip adventure to salve my work-weary soul.

My 30 minutes of fast research pointed me an hour south of us in Oklahoma, to the Salt Plains NWF and State Park near Jet.

I jumped in my car and headed south, not on I-35 as one might suspect, so that I would get there quicker. Nooooo, I took the scenic route, travelling down Route 81, a 2-lane country highway.

Once in the Salt Plains NWF, I took the self-guided auto tour. It was 3:30, and I only had about an hour before I would have to head home before dark! I really wanted to hike a trail, but there just wasn't time. The auto tour would have to suffice this time.

The good part was the animals were out and about - it was a quiet winter evening in the park. No other humans were here. I was all by myself. Just the way I like it!

One of the marsh areas, above. There were plenty of Canada geese and other duck species in the park. This particular photo just doesn't show them.

This little guy didn't seem concerned about me whatsoever. I managed to get quite a few photos of him before he turned his back on me!

I know most people consider armadillos nothing but a large, armored rodent, or, more precisely, an armored opossum! However, I found it fascinating to look at the detail in his armor, and then, when you think about it, even more fascinating to compare how the armadillo appears to the way our dinosaurs looked. It's almost as if the armadillo is a dinosaur species that survived!

Ok, isn't it funny I thought that thought? I just researched the armadillo as I'm writing this post, and actually, they ARE a dinosaur species that basically survived. Imagine that...

Finally, last but certainly not least, a few deer decided that I posed no threat. They continued foraging on some winter wheat, kindly planted by the refuge for their enjoyment, while I snapped a few photos. Of course, two of them kept a close eye on me...

On my way out of the park, I saw a carelessly tossed beer bottle near a marshy overlook. Disgusted, I picked it up with the intention of throwing it into a trash can before I headed home.

Oh how that decision came back to bite me in the butt! Lo and behold, NO trash cans to be found. Anywhere. No kidding. All the way home, even through the town of Medford, I kept watching for somewhere to throw this stupid beer bottle. But now I had the added problem of someone seeing me toss a beer bottle from my car!

Would you believe that beer bottle travelled all the way home with me to finally find a home in OUR trash can?! Luckily I wasn't pulled over and cited for "open container" rolling around on the floor of my car....

And yes, I will definitely go back soon. I want to explore even more! Here's a link with more information about the refuge and the state park.

Puerto Rico

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:23:00 +0000

As much as I love where we live on the prairie, this time of year I inevitably wish I was somewhere in the tropics, by the ocean. I'm sure many of you do also ~ unless you already live in the tropics. You lucky bug, you.

Here are some shots from a trip to Puerto Rico, several years ago, with my mom and sister. Live ecstatically through them - maybe we can all feel the warmth of the sun if we try hard enough.

We stayed at Las Casitas Village, in case anyone is interested in checking out their website. The villas are gorgeous!! We got a really, really, really good deal. I mean, REALLY GOOD. I doubt we could ever afford to go there ever again!!!

I Never Tire of Spectacular Prairie Skies

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:06:00 +0000

October prairie sunrise

Almost 8 Weeks Later....

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:40:00 +0000

Seriously?? I haven't posted on my photo blog for almost 8 weeks?

I am getting to be quite the negligent blogger, aren't I?!!

I love this photo of Fluff and Ringo (above), taken a few years ago. So I pulled it out of my archives and spiffed it up a bit in Photoshop Elements 9, which I ordered a few months ago.

Of course, as you may know, Photoshop Elements 10 just came out, and that happened to me a week after I received my Elements 9 version. Not sure why I missed that announcement... oh well. I'm enjoying working with the 9 version for the time being!

I have always liked this old barn photo (below), which I snapped shortly after my move to Kansas, and on one of my first photo excursions with my then-new Nike DSLR. I've brightened it up in Photoshop Elements 9 here...

And then I converted it to B and W (below), adjusting the contrast to get a slightly wild and stormy look....

And then there's this forever-favorite of mine (below), taken during the same above photo excursion...

I have a ton of favorite photos, but I admit these are in my top 25, er, maybe top 50?!

Looking forward to a weekend of temps in the 60s.... here's hoping you have a great weekend and good weather to go along with it!

Altered Images

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:17:00 +0000

I used PS Elements 6 to add a texture to this black eyed susan shot.

Country Deer

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 14:55:00 +0000

Our resident family of deer either need to come closer to me, or I need to take the splurge and buy a better zoom lens, say 400mm??!! :-)

I crept up on them today, and got closer than I have yet. But of course some farmer decided to come down the road and make a bunch of gravelly noise and so our deer family took off running!

Fluff

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:58:00 +0000

Fluff - one really good barn kitty

Young Red-Tailed Hawk

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:53:00 +0000


Juvenile red-tailed hawk with injured wing

Of course I saved him!

You didn't think I was going to just leave him there?

You should know me better than that!

I can't bear to see animals suffer, domestic or wild.

Read his story here and here.


One tired boy.

(Yes, it was confirmed to be a boy!)

New Guinea Keets (Babies!)

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 19:33:00 +0000

Hatched in our incubator. Two hatched on their own, I had to assist #3. You're looking at #1 and #3 here. Regretfully, #2 passed away when the STUPID brooder light slipped off the windowsill and fell into the brooder.

As you can see, hubby fixed that.

In the Chicken Coop

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:43:00 +0000

From left to right:

Plymouth Barred Rock rooster and pullet, Ameraucana pullet,

Buff Orpington pullet and Rhode Island Red rooster

My, they grow up so fast! Only 13 weeks old.

My beautiful Ameraucana, Midge.

June Storms in Kansas

noreply@blogger.com (Girl Tornado) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 23:40:00 +0000

Monday night's storm

6-20-11