Favorites Photography Wrap-Up

This photo has absoulutely nothing to do with the Favorites Photography Photo Hunt, but who doesn’t like dessert?  This is from one of the many dessert buffets on board the ship and this seemed like as good an excuse as any to feature the photo.

On to the Favorites Wrap-up:

Scott was the first one in this time around, and he presented a “Capitol” version of his favorites.  Visiting the National Zoo in Washington DC is on my bucket list and Scott features a beautiful tiger as one of his favorites.

Carol was next with some adorable shots of some of her favorite furry creatures in addition to other favorites.  Although I am not lucky enough to own an iPad, I can certainly appreciate Carol’s morning routine.  I think it is similar to one of my favorites – my favorite weekend morning routine of coffee and blog reading.

Faithful photo hunter Nye was third.  I love learning something new about Nye’s family’s culture each time I visit her site, and this month’s photo hunt was no exception.   Nye was right on with her bonus shot too – she knew I’d love to see a garden picture.

Cathy submitted next and brought another fascinating international photo hunt into our mix.  I think Cathy used just about all of my suggestions to make for a really cool “getting to know you” post.  She really hit a great bonus shot too, especially for being one of our newest photo hunters!

Sybil was afraid she’d get a poor mark for “not following the rules” – but as I explained, there are no real rules around here, and I just love what she did.  Sybil’s hunt shows us many of her favorite things to do, which I think is a really great idea.

I had a new photo hunter join us this month.  Paige of “The Authentic Me” found her way over via Carol’s blog.  I discovered through Paige’s post that we have several favorite things in common and that I’ll have to spend some more time checking out her site.

Robin’s favorites photo hunt presented us with a gorgeous collection of collages.  Robin has a great talent for making these, and what better way to show lots of favorites when you are having trouble deciding?

Dawn decided to show us the favorite people in her life, but cleverly protected the perhaps somewhat-photo-shy by having them hold cameras in their pictures.  She was also lucky enough to capture a beautiful swan nesting photo – something very new for me and a real treat to see.

I’ve not been one for sticking tight to deadlines when it comes to these photo hunts, and it is a good thing, or we might never get to see a photo hunt from my sister!  But Jennifer came through, and I swear her pets that she features in the first shot must be having some sort of conspiritorial conversation.  I love the refreshing look of a drink outside on the deck, and of course she was able to find a great shot for a bonus.

And last, but certainly not least, was Deb, who decided to go with a spring-themed favorites photo hunt when she realized that a lot of favorites just weren’t available for photo-taking in April.  She shares a truly stunning shot of a beautiful tulip.  She says she just might do some favorites for other seasons of the year too!

If you happened to miss my favorites photo hunt, have a look right here.

I hope you’ll have the chance to check out all the great photo hunts – and it looks like many of you have as I popped around getting the links for this post – and make someone happy with a nice comment.  I’ll be back at it in June, with a fresh photo hunt for you, as long as my ready-for-summer-to-arrive brain is able to dream up something interesting for you!  Thanks for participating and I hope you had fun!

February Photo Hunt Wrap-Up

It’s time for another photo hunt wrap up!  Teddy is taking a bow for you all for your lovely participation in this challenging, photo-taking month.  Gee, I could’ve used him in my photo hunt: a bow-wow taking a bow? Er, maybe not.  Anyway, on to your photo hunts.  I have 9.28 photo hunts to share with you (.28? what the heck is she talking about this time?):

First blogger in this time around was Dawn.  Dawn chose to use adorable Katie in all of her photo hunt shots. I thought it was pretty cool how she got her to pose so nicely – looks like that doggy school they attend really pays off!

Next in was Scott.  Scott once again took nearly all of his shots with his iPhone! Handy little device when you are photo-hunting, eh Scott? His last shot of the post, and my favorite, however, wasn’t taken with the iPhone – an absolutely beautiful heart-shaped, natural pool.

Photo hunt #3 was Carol’s of Wanderings of an Elusive Mind (recently added to my blog roll in case you hadn’t noticed). Carol admitted feeling a litte trepidation in deciding on her photo hunt subjects, but I think she did a fab job, especially with the help of a mugging friend and some forgiving (hopefully!) adult children whose baby pictures were posted!

Despite the fact that the word “bun” totally stumped her, Robin turned in a beautiful photo hunt. I just love her natural hearts, and the doggy leap in the snow is adorable.

Deb had to get creative to make interesting pictures out of my somewhat mundane list of photo hunt words.  She had a little fun with the macro lens on some of her shots, but she cheated a little with her heart picture!  I did say no candy boxes, but I’ll let you slide Deb! 😉

The sixth blogger in my hunt this time around was a newcomer, CatbirdinKorea.  I can’t find a real first name for Ms. Catbird anywhere on her blog, so I’m going to assume she’d like to keep it that way!  Ms. Catbird presented a fascinating overseas look at the hunt and I’m very glad she decided to participate!  I hope you’ll come around next time too, Ms. Catbird.

Photo-hunt faithful, Nye Noona, was next in line.  Her post includes some adorable pictures of her daughter Lee and some tasty looking food too!

Dear sister-of-mine took advantage of my photo hunt extension and produced a fun photo hunt, of course starring the lovable Ozzie. I think she was also trying to win my favor with her inclusion of a couple of familiar co-stars! Okay, bonus points for nepotism! 😉

If you happened to miss my photo hunt pictures, please have a look at them here.

So there’s nine photo hunts.  Just what was I talking about when I said 9.28? Here’s the .28: Holly really wanted to participate, but was only able to manage two of the seven shots.  I guess I could really give her .33 since shot #7 was a bonus!  The two shots that she did contribute were adorable, so I’m glad she took the time to post them.

I hope you’ll have the chance to check out all the other photo hunts and leave them some comment love.  Here, I’ll bribe you with some chocolate covered strawberries (hey – there’s another shot I could’ve used in my hunt; they are kind of heart-shaped!):

New photo hunt in April!

Photo Hunt Wrap Up

I imagine this is how many of us may be feeling after this season of celebrations.  As we wind down 2011, I hope that 2012 brings you peace and joy.  2011 was not a wonderful year in many ways, but it had its great points too.  One of the great points for me on this blog, was starting the photo hunts.  I just love seeing all of your creativity.  October’s Idiomatic Photo Hunt was the most popular of the year.

Now I’ll bring you, in order of submission, the wrap of December’s holiday-themed photo hunt.  Not as many of you participated this time around, and I attribute that to how busy this month can be.  Thank you so much to those of you who did find the time to participate.

Nye was the first blogger in with her photo hunt.  I loved the holiday warmth in her photos, especially the “treat” shot with the Christmas lights in the background – all ready for Santa’s arrival!

Scott Thomas, provider of our bi-monthly photo assignments, was next.  Scott’s hunt had a strong Disney theme once again, and showed some of the millions of Christmas lights Disney World displays this time of year (I wonder what their electric bill is like for December???)  Scott also had to be creative with his shot for “frost” because strangely enough, there’s been a distinct lack of it here in the northeast this month.

My photo hunt  was third, and you can see it here if you missed it.

Continuing in order of submission gets a little confusing here.  If I go in the order of comments to my original blog post, Michaela is next, although her hunt published after the next few bloggers since she scheduled it to post on the due date.  It doesn’t really matter who was next as long as you go see them right?  Michaela’s hunt featured her beautiful creativity and gorgeous use of light.  Still marvelling at the fact that she was able to find pretty shots of frost down in Texas while I’ve barely had any here in Massachusetts!

Dawn’s hunt showed some really  cute and creative pictures.  The wooden reindeer cut-outs in the spotlight are very sweet and the firetruck decked in Christmas lights was a really neat sight to see!

Dawn then kindly pointed out to Ellen that it appeared she had taken plenty of shots for the photo hunt without even realizing it!  Ellen then quickly cobbled together a post for the hunt and I’m glad she did! Ellen is yet another southern blogger who was able to find a shot of frost and her pictures of the treats her family enjoyed are fabulous.

It appears that Deb was one of the few northeast bloggers who was able to get the elusive frost shot!  She took a gorgeous shot of exactly the type I was thinking of when I included frost as a photo hunt item.  You can feel the holiday joy in her collection.

Our last photo-hunter for this month was Carol.  Her Christmas card is one of the cutest I’ve seen and I’m going to take her word for it that there is actually frost in her frost picture!

I’d like to throw an invite out to everyone who had an issue with trying to take a frost picture for the hunt this month to keep your eyes open for pretty frost patterns this winter.  If you’d like to send me a link to your pictures, maybe I can do another frosty wrap up at some point this winter!

Thank you once again, everyone, for your participation in this month’s hunt.  I hope you’ll have a chance to visit all the hunts and leave the participants some comment love!  If you’d be so kind, please let me know in the comments of this post if you’d like to see the photo hunts continue in 2012 and  if you have any suggestions for improving the hunts.  Have a very happy new year!

My December Photo Hunt

Did you forget about it in the midst of all the holiday busy-ness?  I hope not!  I’m really looking forward to seeing what you all have come up with for the December photo hunt.  I have just finished up taking my photos today and decided to write up my post while they are fresh on my mind.  You still have a few days if you aren’t ready yet – and remember archived photos are okay if you need to use some to fill out your hunt.  Happy hunting, and in the meantime here are mine.

Lights:

Always happy to have an excuse to use the “starmaking” method I discovered for myself last Christmas.

Ornament:

This is an unusual one that I didn’t think I’d photographed before, and I liked the Christmas light bokeh too.

Card:

A very special group of Christmas cards- I received each of these from bloggers!  From left to right: Becky – Rebecca the Housewrecka, Kathy –Lake Superior Spirit,  Scott –Views Infinitum, and Michaela- The Daily Click.  Thank you all – they were so beautiful and creative.

Frost:

As Scott mentioned a few days ago, surprisingly enough, it has been difficult to get a picture of frost here in the northeast, so I had to improvise! This is the cupcake-eye-view of being frosted 😉

Treat:

I found plenty of excellent treats in my stocking on Christmas morning.

Family:

I had all sorts of intentions for capturing wonderful family shots on Christmas day, but taking pictures wasn’t foremost in my mind on that day.  Though the picture I’m showing you here is far from technically perfect, it is a pretty perfect shot of some very important members of my family.

Bonus:

One of the few shots I actually took on Christmas day.

Don’t forget to leave me a link to post in the comments of the original post for this month’s photo hunt.  I’m hoping to bring you the recap on New Year’s Eve!

 

October Photo Hunt Wrap-Up

  Wow, you guys really took off with photographing idioms!  I had my largest group of participants ever this past month.  Thank you very much to everyone who participated and helped spread the word.  I think it is great how we get to meet new bloggers with similar interests each time someone decides to participate in a photo hunt.  In this hunt, I had four brand new visitors to my blog plus two regular readers but first time photo-hunters participate in the hunt for idioms, along with many regular participants for a total of 16 photo hunts (17 if you include me!).

The October photo hunt also inspired many themes as I read through them, such as: animals, nature, recovery, water and Disney!  Certain idioms were quite popular among the hunts including: out on a limb, birds of a feather, hold your horses and let sleeping dogs lie.  There were a total of 51 comments for this hunt, so to save you the wading through, in case you haven’t gone to see everyone’s wonderful work yet, here’s my wrap-up, in order of submission:

Ted was first in this time around with his first photo hunt he’s done for me.  I think Ted knows I am in love with his golden retriever puppy Dug (shhh! don’t tell Daphne!) and included a gorgeous shot of his tuckered-out pup.

Michaela was next and I think she surprised herself with how quickly she got her hunt posted.  She was most definitely one of the over-achievers on this hunt and posted many adorable shots.

Carol popped in third and featured a stunning shot of a hummingbird in her hand!  How wonderful for her to have been able to help the little cutie recover from an accident with a window.

Neggxt up was Barbregga with an eggcellent post.  And I thought I went overboard with the puns!

Two newbies were the next two posts: Amy-Lynn from Flandrum Hill and Sybil from Eastern Passage Passage both came in with nature-inspired posts.  Welcome ladies!  I hope you’ll be back!

Scott, my inspiration for bi-monthly photo hunting, brought some photo idioms home from Disney World, including a couple of new-to-me idioms.

Kathy played along in her own special Kathy kind of way.  Thank you Kathy, for your fun post and for encouraging others to join in.

I guess I confused Deb a little bit with my choice for the photo hunt this month since her post is titled “What the Heck is an Idiom?”   She said she even considered skipping out on this one, but I am glad she didn’t!  I loved her Greek collage.  Any chance you’d like to share how/where you made yours?

Another newbie, Sean, found his way over from Kathy’s site.  I’m glad you did Sean – your tangoing kittens and black cat on the fence lent a great Halloween feel to the photo hunt.

Making me jealous of yet another trip to Florida, Tracy also featured Disney-theme idioms.  I could hear “Mine, mine!” when I saw her “birds of feather” shot, and her take on “hung out to dry” was just perfect for Halloween.

Regular reader but first time photo-hunter Isa was next in with many unique idioms.  I’d never heard many of Isa’s choices and loved her interesting translations she found of some French idioms into English.

Bearyweather, my 4th newbie, also found the way into the photo hunt from Kathy’s blog.  This photo hunt’s idioms were all related to the theme of recovery; whatever it is that you have had to recover from recently, Bearyweather, I hope you are now enjoying the best of health.  BW also thought the idiom theme might be a good idea for her Photoshop students!

Robin, who thought she might have cheated a little, presented idioms to do with pies and cats!  No worries Robin.  They are more guidelines than rules, and I am always happy to just inspire creative thoughts.

Nye shared some beautifully colorful photos in her hunt for idioms.  She featured some less common choices of idioms and taught me one that she believes to be Chinese in origin.  Thanks Nye!

And last, but certainly not least, was Dawn.  She said I made her really think about this one, but she came up with some really great ideas – I’m glad you decided not to pass on this one, Dawn.

If by any chance you missed my photo hunt submission, you can see it here.

Thanks again, everyone, for your very enthusiastic participation!  Please go check out all the submissions and leave them some love in their comments section when you have the chance!  I’ll be thinking about photo hunt ideas for December (can you believe next month is December already?  Ay-yi-yi!  Although it has already felt a bit like December in these parts recently).  In the meantime, be sure to check out Scott’s assignment for this month: a daunting one of selecting your best or favorite photos from the last twelve months.

 

Rainbow of Summer… in Maine

The posts have been pouring in for the August Photo Hunt.  There is still time to get yours in – due date is this Sunday – but I was thinking I should get mine posted today while I still have power!  What a summer it has been around here: first a tornado, then a microburst, an earthquake this past Tuesday (though I did not feel it), and now Hurricane Irene is projected to hit this area some time on Sunday.  What form it will take by the time it gets here no one really knows, but with this summer’s track record, it doesn’t look good.  At the very least, I am expecting to lose power again.

I hope my sister doesn’t think I am stealing her idea (she mentioned in the comments section of the Photo Hunt that she would find me a rainbow of colors on Peak’s Island while she was on vacation) but while I was still going through my photos from Maine, I realized I had all the rainbow colors in some of my favorite things about summer.

Red:

I eat usually 2 lobsters a year – one on vacation and one at our dear friends’ summer party, so a boiled lobster is the perfect representation of summer red.

Orange:

Flower planted by the owner of the cottage where we stay  and…

a monarch along a path I walked.

Yellow:

These seem to be some wild snapdragons that I found on one of my walks.

Green:

wild green on an ocean-side path

Blue:

Big blue sky and ocean and…

…look at all the blue I found when I looked at my family’s beach gear: bathing suits, towels, chairs, umbrella and float!

Purple:

pre-dawn sky from my up-before-the-sun morning

Bonus:

My “selfie”- this shot was actually inspired by the picture at the end of this post by KD.  If you haven’t read this post, you really should – go read it, I’ll wait.  Like KD, in this picture I am makeupless, feeling good and very content.  I am at peace when I am at the beach, and I hope it shows in this picture.

I will continue reading your posts as long as I have power this weekend!  The worst of the hurricane is supposed to come on Sunday, and I have to return to work on Monday (kids come back to school on Tuesday), so I’m not sure when I will get the recap of all the beautiful assignments posted.  In the meantime, check out the links in the comments section of the hunt post.  People have submitted some really beautiful pictures so far.  If you haven’t posted yours yet, I hope to see it soon!

June Photo Hunt Wrap-Up

Can you believe it is the last day of June already?  Time flies when the beautiful weather and days when the sun doesn’t set until 8:30pm are here.  It is also the perfect day to present  a wrap of the June Photo Hunt results.  There are lots of links and pingbacks in the comments section of my original post, so I am here to sort them out for you.  I hope you will have the chance to check them all out and encourage the participants with a comment.   We all love comments, right?

First in with her submission this time around was Dawn.  Dawn had the fantastic idea to go to the zoo to complete her hunt.  She found some fun ideas and the bird with the bad hair day gave me a chuckle.

Next was Nye, who also did some travelling around her local area to get her shots.  She included that familiar but curious critter, the hummingbird moth and took a drive with her family to find her cow pictures.

Carol was the third with her photo hunt post.   I loved her yellow Western Tanager in an unusual fountain, and her cat has one of the funniest faces out there!

Deb, who just started blogging in May, had a very enthusiastic blog post featuring her photos.  Her scarlet ibis was one of the most fiery colored birds I’ve ever seen and her interpretation of the “grad” photo was truly unique.  I’m glad you enjoy the photo hunts so much, Deb!

My sister Jennifer actually posted her shots with time to spare this time around ( she commented to me on Twitter that we were “syncro-blogging”; we must have been writing and posting our photo hunts at the same time!)  Although not snarky like the last time, she still brings her great sense of humor to some of her shots including the “grad” and the “colorful bird.”

I always look forward to Brian’s brilliant sense of humor and beautiful photography, and his collection for the hunt is no exception.  His bird shots are stunning and there is no lack of laughter in many of the other shots.  Be sure to read about what happened when he was taking the cow picture!

Dear friend Renae joined in with her first photo hunt collection on Flickr.  She has a really sweet collection of pictures and wins a million bonus points for having a picture of a BABY Oreo cow!

Scott, one of my inspirations for offering the every-other-month photo hunt, posted a great collection of pictures.  He has become a really amazing wildlife photographer – I just love his oystercatcher.  He’s got just about the biggest funny face you’ll ever see too!

Sliding in last minute with her photo hunt is Robin.  With her previous commitments, I’m really glad she decided to join in; Robin is in the midst of a 365 day commitment to going outside every day for at least 30 minutes AND she is doing WordPress’s Post-A-Day 2011.  I just love her colorful bird and her butterfly, and her cow shot is definitely unexpected.

In case you missed it, my June Photo Hunt shots were posted here. They also make up the collages (courtesy of Picnik.com) at the top of this post.

Have fun checking out everyone’s photo hunt shots!  And let me know in the comments if you’d like to do this again in August!

April Photo Hunt Wrap-Up

Time for a wrap-up of all the folks who participated in the scavenger hunt this month.  If you haven’t been to their sites yet to check these out, be sure to pop over and leave them some love in the comments!

First in this time around was Scott Thomas.  Scott used a combination of his iPhone and his “real” camera to bring  us his collection.  He got a “pass” for using a railroad crossing sign instead of an actual train!  Besides, his bonus shot was a beauty, so full points!

Shortly after Scott, Gerry posted her results.  I hadn’t realized that northern Michigan wasn’t a great place to spot cardinals, but Gerry found a great way to get that shot done, and she made a lovely collage of her pictures.

Newcomer Debbie jumped in this time around with a pretty set on Flickr.  Deb doesn’t have a blog, and I don’t know who’s blog referred her to my hunt, but I hope she enjoyed herself and thanks for participating, Deb!

Next in was Nye, who lives in one of the Carolinas if I remember correctly (please correct me if I am wrong).  I was quite jealous of the fact that she already has peony buds and early spring veggies in her garden!

Moving several hundred miles west of Nye, Michaela showcased her hunt results.  Her sweet bunny in the grass gave me a chuckle and the beauty of her berry bud was stunning.

Robin was next, and she had a little fun, as I hoped some of you would, with some plays on words.  I did too in my comment back to her!  You’ll have to pop over there and have a look if you want to know what I said.  Loved Robin’s “stop action” basket shot and her creative solution to the bonus photo.

My next participant in the hunt was Dawn.  Dawn had unique takes on the body of water and the sprout shots.  I’m so glad you found your way over to the hunt, Dawn, and happy you had fun!

Popping in during the wee hours of the deadline date, Brian brought us his always unique, but always beautiful view.  Never one to skip an opportunity for a play on words, he took the chance here while showing his gorgeous photography skills.  I also gave Brian a pass on the bonus, not realizing that cardinals aren’t found across the pond!

Kathy slid in at the last minute with photos scavenged from her hard drive!  I was very happy Kathy decided to participate since she was just recently back from a brief blogging hiatus.  She has the sweetest little bunny shot and yet another creative solution to the lack of cardinals in northern Michigan.

Even later than last minute, my sister Jennifer, of the soon-to-be-face-lifted Bread and Putter, posted her photos to Flickr while her blog gets its nips and tucks.  Low on snark this time around, her set does feature the cutest little hood in a hood you’ll ever see!

I hope you’ll take the time to go look at the sites you haven’t been to yet and let everyone who participated know you stopped by!  Feel free to discuss favorites here in the comments and I’ll have a new hunt ready for you in June.

My Spring Photo Hunt

The April photo scavenger hunt results are rolling in and I can tell you I’m loving them so far!  I’m really enjoying seeing everyone’s take on the shots.  You  have until tomorrow to post and drop me a link or drop me a note letting me know you need a couple more days to finish up.  Like our friend Scott, I will write a wrap-up post about the results.  Here’s my look at the list.

Body of water:

Nantucket Sound from Smuggler’s Beach in South Yarmouth, MA

When I first thought of this prompt, I worded it the way I did because I thought it left it wide open for interpretation.  I had the idea in my head to try to create the shape of a body, perhaps in the sand, and then fill it with water for an extra cutesy interpretation, but I went traditional.  It’s got me thinking about coming up with more word-play fun for June though!

Train:

This is part of my husband’s HO scale Tyco toy train from when he was a little boy.  There are actually train tracks in my town, but I never managed to have a camera available when I was out and a train went by.  I was poking through my girls’ old toys in the basement when my husband came home and asked what I was doing.  “A train?” he asked, “I’ve got a train,” and promptly came up with an old box with all his train cars and track pieces.

Hood:

Sarah, in action, doing her math homework, wearing one of her favorite hooded sweatshirts.

Sprout:

Bleeding Heart sprouts in morning light

Bud:

 Lilac buds from the other evening I wrote about with all three extension tubes attached to the 55-250mm lens.  I’m still wondering if anyone is going the Budweiser route for this one!

Basket:

The favorite basket of Teddy and Daphne – it stores the leashes and collars for “walkies.”  Teddy regulary nudges this basket with his nose to try to give me a hint about what he’d like to do!

Bunny:

He wasn’t carrying any treats or colored eggs, but a bunny nonetheless, spotted at the edge of our driveway.

Bonus:

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If ever there was karma, this had to be it.  The day after I posted my list for this hunt, including my bonus of a close-up Mr. Cardinal, this guy landed on my suet cage and hung around to enjoy a snack while I got to take as many pictures as I liked!  Ever since, it seems, he’s been hanging around more than I’ve ever had a cardinal hang around.

Remember it isn’t too late to get your photos posted!

Scavenger Hunt Extension

My gift to you, LOL!  Since February was such a short month and since I posted this scavenger hunt halfway through the month, I will wait to see scavenger hunt pictures.  Several folks have said they haven’t had the time or opportunity to finish the shots, so take until this weekend.  If you can finish up and post by Sunday, March 6, I’ll still post links to your shots to be included in the wrap-up post.  I’m not big on deadlines around here!  I know life gets in the way.  I just don’t want to go too late into March since Scott Thomas will have a new assignment for us.  Besides, I really want to see your pictures!  😯