The Edge

I attended a photo class on Sunday, focusing on composition in the field and low-light shooting. We got to shoot on the grounds of the National Cathedral, as well as inside the church. Overall, it was a fun class, and I hope to do more of these.

Anyhow ... the "fruits" of my photo class labor:

National Cathedral Pics

My in-laws are visiting for a few days, so we took a meandering sort of drive out toward Shenandoah National Park ... down through Warrenton ... and, finally, into Clarendon for dinner. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon, and I'm glad I was able to go. (I was a bit in doubt in the beginning, as I've been rather sick for the past couple of days with the WORST period cramps ever ... but, as that's slightly TMI, I'll just leave it at that. >.O)

Anyhow, I didn't feel up to getting out of the car and hiking around much. And I'm not sure I was all that inspired, overall, due to not feeling my best. But I still managed to grab a few shots here and there.

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In other news, hubby recently bought LightRoom for me. It looks like a very in-depth (and sort of intimidating) program, but I'm kind of excited over getting to play around with it and learn how to use it. Hopefully, it'll bring more inspiration and creativity to my inner photog!

I got a new camera lens for Christmas, so I headed out to Manassas to test it out a bit. The day was rather cloudy and gray, so I wasn't sure I would get any shots. Luckily, I was happily surprised because the sun occasionally broke through the clouds -- and gave really lovely effects.

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The start of a few photo posts. This one of Christmas stuff, like the dogs opening their gifts and a few scenes from my home.

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Yeah, so I'm boring these days. Just not much to say. Actually ... this isn't true. I have a LOT to say. Just nothing I can really say in public on LJ. So, instead, I have ...

PUPPY PICTURES!! *woot* =D

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First day of school for my kiddo today. And it's a gray, rainy, chilly day. Not that I'm complaining. It feels like "Fall", which is perfect for the first day of school ... and I'm weird, but I kind of like rainy, chilly weather. I'm already dreading when the current cool front passes through and the weather turns "hot" again. For today, though, looks like it's going to rain off and on all day long. I got lucky and managed to get some rose pictures during a bit of a break in the rain. I couldn't pass up the chance to get pics of water droplets on the petals.

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I know, I know ... these are getting totally boring. And, well ... boring! But I think I'm nearly done. Nearly ... *nervous laugh*

So, we finally hit Toronto in this set of pics. Honestly, I didn't take as many shots in Toronto as I thought I would. I was super, super excited about visiting this city. But, once I arrived, I have to admit it didn't appeal to me as much as I thought it would. I'm not sure why. Maybe I wasn't in the mood to sight see ... or I just had the "blahs" ... or something. But, to me, it was a lot like vacationing at home: big city, some nice people but many rude ones, lots of cars, noise, honking horns, etc ...

Anyhow, this set has some shots from the Royal Ontario Museum, the Toronto Harbor, and Union Station. I'm kind of lumping them together because I didn't take a ton of pics in any one place. I wasn't able to visit the Royal Ontario Museum -- other than looking around outside and in the gift shop -- because I didn't have time. I am still disappointed about this, and it would likely be enough to persuade me to do a return trip to Toronto. Because I really, really want to see this museum!

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These are still in Niagara Falls, but all of these pictures are from the Butterfly Conservatory, which is located there. I love, love, love visiting this Conservatory. It is beautiful and almost magical -- and full of "free range" butterflies. Needless to say, I always end up taking lots of pics here.

Pics under the cut, as always!

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Oh yes ... like those boring people no one ever wanted to invite over for a dinner party because they would, inevitably, show up bearing fakey grins and all their vacation slides ... I shall torture LJ-at large with my own summer vacation pics!!!

I know. It's horrible. Hide the pets and the kids. o.o

So, for summer vacation, we all (me, hubby, kiddo, and my parents -- who happened to be visiting at the time) traveled to Canada. We kind of decided on taking everyone along at the last minute. And we decided to drive. The whole way there. And back. It was about 8-10 hours there (8 to Niagara Falls, where we stayed for a couple of days) and then another 2 hours to Toronto. And it was about a 12 hour trip back from Toronto to our house -- mainly because we encountered a LOT of traffic on the way home. Which sucked.

So, for my first installment ... the "road trip" pictures. For most of the road trip, we were in Pennsylvania, which is lovely. Lots of farmland and pretty little houses and barns. And rolling, green mountains. I believe we were driving in and around and through the Allegheny Mountains. And most of these pictures were, of course, snapped from our moving car. I like it. I think it gives interesting results ... but it's not for everyone.

Anyhow, (lots) of pics behind the cut! Woot!!

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Took a day trip to Manhattan last Saturday (6-11) to see the Harry Potter Exhibition. We went with some dear friends, and had a fantastic (although exhausting!!) day. Feels like we walked for about a hundred miles ... and we saw just as much as we possibly could. It was a fun, fun trip. My only complaint was that I couldn't take many pictures. The weather wasn't cooperative. Shortly after we arrived, it started drizzling heavily and, then, raining, and I wasn't willing to chance damaging my camera. Plus, the light wasn't the best -- gray and somber.

But, I did get a few pics. (This is me, after all ... Hee! ^.~)

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