This is just a test!

Trying to figure out if pictures I edit actually get saved correctly or if I'm overwriting the original.  I'm not... but the Nikon ViewNX-i software has me scratching my head while I'm using it more often than not!

Original

Original

Except I thought this one got overwritten while I was in the program.
And I didn't know how or why... I guess not. Putting them here on my blog has been the only way I've figured out how to tell for sure, so far. Trust the number sequences?

More Photo Editing Exercises

Before and After

Epic

Sunsets 

This may take a few more tutorials on photo editing! 
Maybe a class if I can find one. 
Or at least a lot more practice...

Not sure I like what the color boost - or which ever sliders I moved - did to this one. 
(Bottom photo edited.)

Last year I watched this sunset from a camp we had the wonderful good fortune to use for several long weekends. It's for sale now and if I had an extra $170,000 I know where I'd be for most of the year.  

Mt Katahdin. 
sigh...

Sara wants a large canvas made from one of my pictures and I'm planning to pick out enough for a calendar.  
Practice...

The Lost File...

Another editing experiment...

Perhaps a little too much color boost? :)

I was trying to get the colors back for the too-dark trees along the coastline. This learning curve may be a steep climb!

Experiment in Editing Pictures

Nikon's free ViewNX-i Software

I don't particularly enjoy editing the photos I've taken - beyond picking the better ones as they come out of the camera to share on Facebook or my blog.

I've only ordered a couple of batches printed so far, with framing a few in mind. I've not yet pounded a nail in the wall to hang them up! 

I had one moose picture put on canvas but it came out a little too green. I feel like editing would have helped, but it looks fine on the laptop screen so maybe it's a symptom of canvas printing.  Will try again.

In this digital age we live in, we have the luxury of taking LOTS of pictures - with the hope some of them will be good! I love playing "Guess how many pictures I took today!" with family members, although most of them have caught on to how high they need to guess now. 

Above is an original and the edited version with a little more oomph! I tried to be cautious with the sliders. I'm fairly satisfied with the changes. My first effort using another picture seems to be hiding ...wherever the computer/software put it?

I'm not really interested in "artistically" editing pictures to the point that they no longer look like what I saw through the viewfinder. But I can usually tell when a picture needs some help. The pictures that REALLY need some help are generally still sitting in a file folder, probably never to be seen again. 

The biggest problem with editing software - aside from cost - seems to be getting past the learning curve of how to use it. My goal is to get over the fear (and basic laziness) of learning a little bit about how to use Nikon's free software. My plan was to purchase Lightroom but it is changing to monthly subscription service, of which I'm not interested. For now it seems like time to experiment more with this free version and just see how it goes. 

Probably need to watch some more YouTube tutorials to figure out how it works!

Back to the Edge of America!

Creatures of Habit

We drove along Route 9 to Route 1, towards Calais for leaf peeking and a little unwinding. 

It seems we took much the same path in October of 2009. 

The weather forecast promised a mostly cloudy day and that's pretty much what we got.


Road construction kept cars in single file right past the best scenic turnouts along Route 9, although the view was fairly unchanged from the pictures I took back then. 

I had high hopes of finding lots of Letterboxes along the way but we only managed to log in 2 successfully. 

The little park overlooking the bay with the lighthouse was the nicer of the two. 


We drove to the entrance of Cobscook Bay State Park  on impulse. We noticed a nature trail as we pulled into a parking space but the attendant came running over and wanted $8 even though the trail head was outside of his gate. 

We got back in the jeep and drove down the road to explore a little more.

Happened upon a public boat launch. 

The photo opportunities were wonderful. 

And free. 

(Although Tom would have qualified for a free day pass as a new senior citizen, had we known.)

We really didn't have time to walk the mile or two of trails since our dog was home alone for the day. 

We still managed to miss the "short cut" back to Route 9 and took the long way home.

The rock painted with political commentary in the bottom picture was found on the picnic table. 

I had stuffed Attitude Monkey in my pocket with the promise of an adventure photo since he hadn't made it past the railing above the glove compartment since being deposited in the Jeep as mascot. 

Almost forgot to take him out of my pocket when Tom handed me the "collectible art".  It's signed MAINE at the bottom. I wonder if there's more floating around in other states.

Can I keep it? 

Keeping it!

Funny you should ask!

"Are you knitting anything these days?"

I was going to title this post 'Never Not Knitting' but that's owned by someone and they're probably sensitive as to how others use the phrase. 


But it's accurate. 

Or more to the point: Never Not Waiting. Lots of waiting room visits with my parents, so I need something to do!
I would like to say I knit to stay sane but this summer's obsession with the Jacobus Monkey pattern might question my claim to sanity. 

I made a bunch of them! 

They became my take-a-long project because once you get the face done the arms, legs and tail are mindless round and round knitting, only requiring you count rows and at some point recognize you've gone on long enough. 

And I kept knitting them!
And then I decided to try them on size 000, 0, 1 and 1.5. 

I also quilted! Or I should say: I pulled out a nearly finished UFO quilt-as-you-go project and FINISHED IT!

(And then I started another monkey :) 

Most recently I have been working on new felted slippers. Because winter will come. And they either wear out or my knucklehead dog thinks chewing on them is fitting punishment for being ignored.

It seems to be Mushroom Season

Let's go for a walk in our woods . . . 

Waiting at the edge

Sunrise will not be rushed.

Lakeside Landing. 

A lake road I've driven by for all of my adult life and never driven down to watch the sunrise. 

In early August we found out how little we knew about the symptoms of stroke. My dad was shuffling more, slowing down. At 81 it seemed to be allowed. But then he fell. When I called the doctor to get him seen, little things started adding up. Go to the Emergency Room NOW we were told. 

He was admitted on a Tuesday. We have been fortunate in that this was our first experience with aging.
Realities of life. 

To say he hated the hospital is putting it mildly. By Wednesday of the next week we brought him home, as he wished most desperately. 

By Friday I knew it was a mistake. We survived the red tape until Monday. 

He's now at a nursing facility regaining strength and relearning life skills. Fully aware of his surroundings and again wishing to be home. 

He says Saturday. I hope this is not another mistake.

Meanwhile, I've moved back home and started making morning trips before the sunrise to be with my 85 year old mother. Cook her breakfast, bring in the paper, be there when she showers to be sure she hasn't fallen. And clean. To keep busy, but mostly because it's desperately needed. A little at a time, everyday.

But occasionally I turn left towards the sunrise. 

To remember to take a deep breath.
Breathe. 

(Random days from August 22nd - September 9th.)

A Season of Change

Uncertain New Normal

My parents are in their eighties and with the recent stroke dad had, things have changed.

Things are still changing.

Helping care for them is a given, but it's taken a little while to settle into a routine that can be sustained, without falling apart.

Remembering to breathe. 

Some days it feels like panic mode has taken over and my desire to fix all the things is made harder when suddenly all the things need fixing.

An impulse left turn on the way to mom's one morning had me chasing the sunrise. After that first morning using the camera on my phone I began taking my Nikon with it's new-to-me used 18 - 200mm lens.

I've been thinking for a while now I would revive this journal. Blogging is as hard as I remember! I've written and deleted dozens on paragraphs. 
I'm going to hit Publish and hope it gets easier.