New Lens and Photoshop

Ok, I am SO excited about what I am about to tell you. Firstly, I finally got some good photoshop software, which means I can edit my pictures to make them look even better. I've learned all about photoshop actions and downloaded some awesome free ones from The CoffeeShop Blog. I am absolutely obsessed with the actions from Florabella Collection, but unfortunately (for me), they cost money. Secondly, I bought myself a new lens last night and I am super pumped about it! It's an EF 50mm f/1.8 II...well...it's really good for portraits! I just have to remind myself to be careful with it because it's all plastic (there is a 50mm lens that is more sturdy, but I cannot afford it...maybe someday when I'm not 22 and just out of college, I will buy the metal one). It should be here tomorrow, woohoo! Thirdly, I am starting the 30-Day Photo Challenge beginning September 1st, so I'll have at least thirty pictures to post in the next month. In the meantime, I have revamped the look of my blog. I gave it a wider template so I can post larger pictures, but remember you can always see them in their full glory if you click on them! So here of some of my old pictures that I've run a few of my new actions on to test them. Enjoy!

Beautiful tiger at the Birmingham Zoo

Troubadors in Seattle outside the Pike Place Starbucks

My sweet niece, Peyton!

Dixie, Max, and Dobby

The Botanical Gardens

I'm back! I had the day off from work today and it was fabulous! I always have Sundays off, but I'm usually so tired from working on Saturday that all I want to do is lie and around and listen to Harry Potter. Today, however, that was not the case. I also had yesterday afternoon off and got to spend time with some of my good friends (Drew, Bahakel, & Ricco) and my sister. SO, since I had most of yesterday off, too, I was not too tired to be a real person today! When I found out yesterday that I would have all of today off, I knew at least one thing I wanted to do with my free time: bust out my camera because until today I hadn't used it since Maria's shower. Craziness. Since I've already gone to the zoo twice to take pictures and I've exhausted (two of) my cats by taking photos of them (the other cat is inexplicably terrified of my camera) and I have not recruited any human subjects yet, I thought I would go to the Botanical Gardens. The sun was really bright today, which is not ideal for photographing, but I did the best I could. It wasn't too hot out since I went in the morning, taking flower photos is good practice, and, best of all, it's free (a word that is music to my young adult ears). I then proceeded home where I enjoyed a PB&J and string cheese for lunch...so much for young adult!

These next few pictures are of the Japanese Gardens. When I was in seventh grade, my friend Mary-Grace and I used to frequent the Botanical Gardens on weekends. One day while in the Japanese Gardens we discovered a whole area behind it that appeared to not have been discovered by the general public. It was like our own secret garden, except that it consisted of a small muddy creek, some knotted trees, and bamboo shoots, but, hey, we were thirteen and it was magical. Today was the first time I had been to the gardens in years and I wanted to see that little area again. As it turns out, the public has discovered our secret garden in my nine year absence from the place. There are multiple pathways leading back there, but when it was our secret place, we had to climb back there by ducking behind a white pagoda bird house looking thing that is apparently a present from Japan. I went in that way again and it was like stepping back in time. It was really great and really weird all at the same time.

This is one of the paths that has been constructed through the bamboo, but nine years ago the only way to get back there was to duck behind the pagoda thing.

There it is!

That's a potted flower on my back porch.

Someone decided to decorate a couple of stop signs in my my neighborhood.