A whole pile of random things...

So I sort of have lots and nothing much to say.....  this is my mood these days.  Which is mostly just fine with me.  Those who need to know my stuff do- and those who don't, well, don't.

First off, I recently purchased an AMAZING wide angle lens for my camera. (Insert happy dancing here)  And I do mean amazing.  It is the lens I have wanted my whole life and didn't know it.  I will be using it for cloud pix and landscapes mostly, and already, it is so incredibly satisfying.  It ticks off so many many of my photography needs....  I could soliloquize for days, but I won't.  But look!  LOOK at those pictures!!! It really bothers me that I didn't have it for my Bayfield trip.  I had ordered with what I thought was plenty of time, but the order got hung up in processing.  Um- wut?  If I didn't know that lens was going to be amazing for me I would have canceled.  I'm glad I didn't though- so very glad.  But what is up with that Canon???  HMMMM???

This was a really good weekend for the most part, I got a lot of little things done- plus finished one book and polished off a collection of short stories.  GOOD STUFF PEOPLE!!

The short story collection especially was excellent- called Drown by Junot Diaz.  A group of 10 stories about different members of a family based in the Dominican Republic and in the US.  Some brutal stuff, but quite compelling.  One of my favorite books in this genre!   The favorite other short story collection that I always recommend is Interpreters of the Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri - both worth picking up and reading.

Old house with a bit of mystique

In other news it has been cold and tomorrow will be warm and then it will get cold and I want daffodils.  The warm weather has pushed me into premature daffodil longing- I try not to think about it too much before the end of March, but here I am- wanting some.  I've had a couple photos sent my way by people that understand- - -  I will take more of those!!!!  :)    Pictures will do until I can either pick some or procure them in another way.  

The MA has been busy busy this month, as you all mostly know.  He sort of hit the ground running very early in January and has been in the office every day since.  LONG days....  So when he gets here we do chit chat a bit.  The man is getting even funnier these days- I feel like I should get a book and record the things he has been saying, sort of like what you want to do for your kids or the students at school.  Because you know you are never going to remember them in an hour.  The last thing he said a couple days ago- and maybe it is funnier to me than any one else when we were discussing the lengths that people go to maintain their accountant.  The miles they drive, the things they do.....  he tells me: No one wants to tell the new guy about their life.  Which like I said, sent me into fits of giggles, but other people may not get it??  No?  Oh well.  Anyway, he sleeps a lot in front of the tv after he finishes supper.

LOOK at that smooshy, kissable face

Not me though, the more I do at school the less likely I am to sleep.  It is just a wonderful thing being awake for the 4th time at 11:30 pm- said no one ever.  So I slept a lot (I got laughed at when I said I slept "in" until 6:30, but that IS sleeping in for me!) this weekend, as I really was able to relax.

As you may or may not know, tis the play time of the year and the Chequamegon school is putting on The Music Man- you know- 76 trombones and all that.  Lots of fun- silly, catchy songs.  Plenty of scenery to paint.  And my initial massive group of enthusiastic volunteers has dwindled a bit.  But such is the life of the Mad-Art teacher!  We will be fine, the troops will rally.

Last month's visit with the grandgirlies

It has been intense at school, though.  Many students have a hard time in the middle of the year like this- the winter, the school work, the rare days off and the stresses of families seem to add up to a lot of kids in distress.  Seniors are focused on finishing strong, junior are worried about imminent ACT tests, sophomores are sort of lost and freshmen still- as a group- are pretty clueless. But warmer, longer days are coming- and we will make it. As I said in my last post, this snow day could not have come at a better time.  We needed this unexpected mental health day.

I still have more artwork to get into the hallways, I need to do my high school progress reports and I shall be needing to get to looking at art work for the upcoming art show as well.  So there will be no easing up in the foreseeable future.  But that just makes the week go fast, so thats ok.

Lots of things coming up, lots of things to make the day go by fast.  I've said frequently the last few weeks that I would love to discover a worm hole and a perpendicular universe so I could come to school- get into that time warp and clean both of my rooms- then come out of it and teach school.  In a tidy art environment.  That would be great- someone needs to hook me up with that - K?  Anyone?

So, I am feeling like I need to get out a book and read and relax and get myself to bed here soon.  I hope all of you have a great productive week and if I find someone who can direct me to the nearest 4th dimension, I will let you know so you can get everything done you need to do, too!  I'm helpful like that!  And I send you a week full of joy as well.

Saturday on the river and Sunday inside

 As I write this it is raining like crazy outside.  We haven't had a lot of rain lately and with all the dry grass and the windy days, the fire danger has been way up.  So it is really a good thing - and it gives one an excuse to rest inside.

It is a different Sunday from last week when the MA was frantically filing returns and mostly extensions, and was gone for 10 hours I think.  He is now doing Fred things that involve trucks and crowbars and wagons and possibly a chain saw.....  In other words, he is in his own personal heaven.  I have a little project to do myself that I have been putting off (um, blogging to procrastinate??) and probably should be reading my book for bookclub, but that will be later.

Yesterday I had lots of little plans, some of them were changed but the essence stays the same.  I went to a baby shower in the morning, after fiddling around outside for a while and then made an early exit to get in a kayak before the clouds (and rain) came in.

I miss my kayak buddy!  This is our dock and text and selfie spot (I do selfies- not him)  

I put on my wet suit thing and my splash jacket with a t-shirt underneath, because it was in the 60's.  Nice and warm for this time of the year.... the water is still REALLY cold though- hence said wet suit.  Anyway, now that I have this amazing lens and camera body (seriously - forgive me you guys for repeating myself.  I can't believe how much better this camera is than my other one.  My photos are still composed the same, but the increased ability for this equipment to pick up details and the exposure is just so different.....  I am constantly blown away by the whole thing.)  I take it everywhere.  And it is a "thing" to keep it covered and protected and tucked away under my knees, and it is another "thing" to change the lenses and keep them safe while trying to hurry to not miss a shot- ahem- you will understand this in a moment.  I am so torn between doing the kayaking thing to get activity (which I LOVE) and the whole wildlife photography thing. So I am trying to dovetail them with pretty good results.  I am going to do some pure photo shoot kayaks soon, though.  Where I sit and wait- which may outright kill me dead- but I can do it.

THIS is my place- the water in Wisconsin

So I had the MA and the Barber (the Barber was important, as he is the one with the cell phone)  take me down to the boat landing as they had something to do with the truck, and I took off.  I had to show them kayaking tricks first (lol- they are so goofy) which involved turning and paddling backwards and me generally showing off- the MA asked me to, so...   I think that someone is trying to brace himself for a paddle in his future.  Fred is not a big fan of water- when you come right down to it- but he is willing to go kayaking.  It will not be windy that day... long story.

Buffleheads- I didn't consider this the best picture, but it ended up being kind of interesting

I had started out my trip thinking that this was going to be mostly an exercise/fun trip down the river but within about 100 yards there was the first group of ducks - which I just looked up and it is something called a Bufflehead- huh.  Who knew. Followed quickly by Mallards and others that I couldn't see well enough to identify.  Then I saw a swan floating up river a bit.  So- ok- not just an exercise trip.  I kept feeling rushed as I wanted to get to the Lower Dam before it totally clouded up and try to get a good picture of the barn that belongs to Fred's aunt- used to be his Grandparents farm. The pic I got was fine, but I know that mornings are better, so I will be doing that trip again.  

The Farm

It was a fun paddle up that river- I stopped and changed lenses a badillion times.  Each time I switched to my landscape lens, I would see another animal....  I am SO grateful I thought to bring a little chocolate with me for a snack- I didn't have any other portable foods that wouldn't make a mess in my dry bag- and of course water.  It was tough paddling in some places, the river was going faster than it usually is and then on the way back there was the wind. All this is stuff I love, so don't feel bad for me.  :)  Anyway, I shed my splash jacket in favor of a t-shirt eventually and it was a comfy 2.5 hours.

One of my favorite shots so far this year.  Tundra Swan.

I caught up with the swan a couple times that trip, trying to get a little bit close to it, but not pushing it's personal space too much.  Obviously since I have lots of flight photos, I spooked it a bit.  Sorry swan.  But wow some great shots.  I have learned from a photog friend how to set my camera up for bird action shots, which I am really starting to understand.  Some of my  pix were a little out of focus yet, but that I imagine is the relative newness of my Canon 100-400 lens.  He's heavy and also the kayak seemed to always turn in the direction counter to the flight of the birds.  But cool to know I am getting the hang of panning the camera and all.  I do need to set up my camera body for multiple shots instead of single....  I am a slow learner I guess.  

Lift off!

So the annoying part of this trip was I had once again- in anticipation of said barn- switched to my landscape lens, which was a trick to stay heading in the right direction and not end up on a rock or whatever.  So I am almost there and I spot on a rock the biggest Snapping Turtle I have EVER seen or imagined.  Holy crap.  It's shell looked too small for its body- I can't even describe how massive this thing is.  Bigger than the one I saw last year way up by the other dam.  I guess it is possible that it is the same one, but jeez.  It seemed bigger.  So yeah- frantic switching of lenses almost commenced and then I decided to shoot the pic with the lens that was attached and as I floated even with him he bailed.  ARGH.  Oh well.  I will say that later, while practically zooming downstream (there was a current- lol) I saw this kind big thing poke its head out of the water- of course the turtle in question- he was checking me out.  LOL- keep your dogs and small children away from the water people.  A dinosaur lives in the Flambeau.

However these adorable little painted turtles gladly posed.  

Anyway, 6 miles is a long way for your second kayak of the season.  LOOOONG.  The last mile was tough going, but I just set my mind to it and dug down and went.  Didn't see quite as many things coming back, which was fine.  I was no longer in the photo taking mood.  I just wanted to get back so I could 1.) get to my bathroom 2.) take that wet suit off and 3.) quit paddling.  My shoulders were tired and my hands were getting sore.  Thank you to weight lifting for my endurance- and I know where I have to add to my routine- traps and the top of my shoulder.  Dumbbell shrugs are in my future.  I texted the Barber, who was with the MA, that they needed to drop what they were doing and get me.  They were waiting and I was grateful to let them load the 'yak and I babbled on about turtles and swans.

I was later treated to a trip to the Mad-Middle Son's house and I got to see Greg and Sarah and the babies and the doggies....  SO nice.  Then Mikey came over and ended up having steak for supper with his dad.  I of course did not have steak...  But the grill has gotten a good work out the last 24 hours.

Peaceful - it makes me sad, though.  I thought swans mated for life.  Poor thing.  Hope it finds one when it gets to the tundra

It was a long tiring day, but in a totally good way.  And last night I fell asleep to the spring peepers calling and the rain falling and I passed out until almost 7 this morning.  THAT is sleeping in for the Mad-Artteacher.  Haha, I am pathetic.  But always joyful!  Hope you are having a lovely relaxing Sunday all of you lovely peeps! 

Photo-drive!

This past Sunday found me waking up feeling sulky over the cold and nasty (read: snowy) weather that had occurred over the previous 2 days.  Friday afternoon had us all giddy from the early release from school: a half snow-day. Saturday, I was in a fine mood- though it was cold- it was sunny and man, I needed that.  Got a walk in, and planned to drive back to the stone house  to take some nice sunny afternoon pictures.  I was a little miffed when it clouded up  by the time I got home and so much for sunny pictures.  Ugh.  So Sunday I woke up sort of sad, which has been characteristic of my Sundays lately.  Weird, as I don't really dread Mondays, but oh well.  Anyway, I had made pancakes and was cleaning up and saying "see ya" to the MA, when I noticed patches of blue skies to the north and west!!!! Oh. Yeah. Baby.

The boat landing, you can see the ice and the ducks and geese

I am always on the look out for interesting clouds/landscapes so I grabbed my camera and headed out the door to the field.  Well, that was all fine, but I decided instead of sitting in the house and pouting, I would go for a drive.... since my chauffeur was otherwise occupied at the office.  I had only my camera and my regular lens, but had the conscious conversation with myself about how angry I would be if I had the chance to grab my long lens and didn't..... so I did!

Receding clouds 

Here comes the sun... 

I began in the yard, actually, but started the road trip down at Smith Lake.  Those were some tough shooting conditions- the sun is directly in front of you at this time of the year at 8:15.  I got a few pretty acceptable shots, and I took my self into the car and went over to the stone house to grab some shots over there.  In my usual optimistic way, I was thinking how nice it was to walk around in the grass that was slightly covered with snow- a. the tall grass was beaten down and b. no ticks!!  Combine the snow with the fact that it was close to 0 the night before and the ticks are temporarily suppressed.

Yes, I would like to kayaking in you by the weekend, thank you.

Though the highlights are blown out, I do love this picture I think.  :)

Moody back view of the stone house

The stone house has some challenges as well- there is this amazing stone foundation that is left over from an old barn.  It is really hard to get that foundation in any recognizable form, as it is long and narrow and there is so much vegetation.  Even at this time of the year, a lot is obscured by the branches.  I have an idea for the next time I get there, so I'll take another crack at it.  Otherwise, I was so happy walking around and finding other angles to shoot.  I had the MA's voice in my head warning me about where to step, as you never know where there might be an abandoned well.

Part of the foundation and an apparent silo

It was fun to shoot there and at the quickly degrading house across the street, and so where to go next?  I had seen in one of the many snowfalls this past week a little pond that is up the road towards town.  I had seen the boy who lives in the house next to it fiddling around with a canoe in that pond during the week (this water will dry up later in the spring), and he left it on the shore.  I noticed this picture as I was driving past to go to work several mornings in a row, so I parked and got that shot too.  I am not 100% happy with this, but it will do.

The canoe is waiting

So after a quick stop at the grocery store, I decided that maybe I should drive up to Butternut Lake and see if I could get some cloud shots over the lake. The clouds were sort of cooperating and I thought of a few places that I could try out.  Since I was on the highway I drove up to the boat landing on the far end of the lake.  I have no idea if you would consider that the north side or the east side or what the hell ever... but I went to the little boat landing - Koch's landing- for those of you in the know.  I was scoping out the state of the blue sky and where the sun was as I was driving into the area and was stunned by the sight that greeted me.  There was open water by the shore, ice after that and a bunch of waterfowl!!  Probably 10 swans (tundra swans) and a bunch of geese and ducks as well.  **I would like to thank my intuition for insisting on taking along the telephoto lens**  Anyway, I quietly exited the car and avoided actually getting knee deep in the swampy margins of the lake, and found a frozen path out past much of the brush that was obstructing my view.  I realized about 30 min. later that I was seriously underdressed and had inadequate footwear! Oh well, feet can be warmed and car seat heaters can be turned up. I do get myself into places I don't expect, lol.  Even with the size of my new lens, I was still a bit far away, but the quality of my camera allowed some serious cropping of the photos of these birds.

Tundra swan

Beautiful in flight

Oh, and I stopped at the big boat landing on the west side of the lake too!  

I learned a lot about my camera on this trip, and from some photography discussions I learned what I REALLY should have set my camera setting to.  Lol.  I was so happy with this day!  In spite of not being able to get out to kayak yet, and the cold, and the snow, I did use some of these conditions to my advantage!

I admittedly slapped a preset on this one!  :) Its a bit bright.  haha

Of course part of learning new things is being frustrated with not knowing instantly how to do everything, if that makes sense?!  So even after successfully solving a few issues with the camera, the editing program offers its own array of bang-your-head-on-the-table moments.  Thank heaven for YouTube.  I found one guy, who I LOVE listening to (Swiss accent- I am a sucker for an accent) but he sort of over-edits.  But I have found so much technique that I can use and I needed to start somewhere. So I am loving the way most of these pictures are turning out, but there are flaws in all of them.  And they make my eye twitch.  But, I am showing you the ones that don't make me slam my computer shut in irritation, so there is that!! Lol

Anyway, I am finding my way around this new technology and feel like I am making some progress.  I sort of thrive on these sorts of challenges and am looking forward to more.  I am itching to get some portraits now, I wonder if I have any grandchildren available for practice??  :D That will certainly be a joy!

First photos

I have a new obsession- of course I have quite a few of them, which is why I am distracted like 24/7 these days- that thing is a new camera.  I recently had a little unexpected ship that came in (our family's euphemism for money coming in from an outside source, to put it in a fairly dull way) and so I got myself some better camera equipment.

My first thought was a boring thing, like pay off a bill that I have- I mean that was the only thing that sprang to mind when I found out about this.  Then I thought.... hey I could pick up that new camera lens I have been saving for/coveting/drooling over....  then the ideas came pouring in and I could spend 3 times as much-  you know how that goes.

So I consulted with a photog friend of mine about the lens and she insisted (!) that I get a new camera body as well, and as long as I was getting a telephoto lens, I should get a wide angle to go with the rest of it, and so that is sitting on my coffee table right meow!

It is an interesting thing about me- I have no problem spending money in my head, I have NO problem enjoying these things that I get.  I have a real issue actually pulling the trigger on big purchases.  I guess because so many things like this I waited to have the money for them, and in reality I did for this too, but to actually go and buy like this-almost without restraint- was really weird.  It made me strangely uncomfortable.  I have gotten over it. :)

I actually enjoy the anticipation of getting as much as the having (um, well, sort of), apparently delayed gratification is a pleasure for me.  I really do like the waiting and thinking about things and what I will do with them.  It is satisfying when it happens then and I really appreciate what I have in my hands.  I took 10 whole photos so far.  The first night- and I knew this would happen- I couldn't even do anything with it, as I had to charge the battery.  I plugged it in after I got home late from play practice- and it was ready just as I headed to bed....  I knew better than to do anything with it then.  So I thought about it all day, and by the time I got home Wednesday night I was fairly twitching.  So many new things to learn, and I am just bathing in the joy of this....

Such a pretty girl! Canon 70D with a Sigma 24-70 4.5 lens

I took the first photo that night- nothing struck me as very interesting in the house- so I made a self portrait.  Just for something to do.  Yesterday then, I went outside and did a little bit there.  I took a Lola picture and eventually a sunset picture, and in between I took this of one of the kitties.  I was smitten with the camera then and there.  The lighting was perfect, her expression was adorable and I got her in a perfect pose.  This photos was cropped and nothing else.  I learned a few settings on the fly, and was quite happy with this first grouping of pictures.  It is quite amazing how different cameras are from one another.  Now I have to figure out if I truly want to use the wifi connectivity or not.  If it doesn't work it will make me INSANE, and none of us wants that.  haha.

So I have been digging around on line and have ordered a companion manual and all that- I could read the camera instructions, but wow people, those things are boring.  :)  I have to find it, though, I know I will need it today.  All those words and almost no pictures....  hehehe.  Seems sort of ironic that a camera manual is so text based and not so much visual.

Anyway, I should finish this off.  The MA will be up soon and I need to go to get a little pampering session for my toes and the horse won't feed himself- not in the winter at least.  OH- Jacpot portraits will be coming I should think.  Maybe someone should send me daffodils so I could shoot those inside.....  So many wonderful possibilities for the day....  so much joy to be discovered.