Sunday Stills: Frame It

This challenge was a fun one. The job was to frame something with something else. An example given was to frame the moon with tree branches.

I chose to frame my latest "ride", my trainer's 17hh Thoroughbred gelding, Ladd. He's a handsome man :) So sweet.

I'm not too happy with these first two shots...it was so bright out when I took the pictures that his face was dark and the sky was perfect...so editing sort of compromised it. But the sky still looks a bit pale...but oh well.

The second two shots are better (I think).
Ladd, framed by the sky.

Check out some more framed shots at Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: Eyes

Honestly, one of the first things I thought of with this topic was this kind of eye:

And then of course my favorite eye, my pony, Daisy-Mae.

And this little ham if Groenemeyer, named after the German singer. My uncle died suddenly January 2007 and he had joked about naming a pet Groenemeyer.
Thus, my amazing barn cat (most people who meet him agree he's amazing. I have many threats of thievery. Be jealous ;))
We all should have a Mr. Gronemeyer. :)

You can't say you don't love that face. Even if you're not a "cat person".

This one is last because the quality is bad...my cats dragged this dragonfly into the barn a week ago, but by the time I got the camera and started taking pictures it had revived itself and it's wings were beating so..hence blurriness.

But take a look at those huge eyes...is all that blue really eye?!
Must be a great view.

Check out more eyes at Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills (I know; it's been forever): Black & White

I think now that's summer's basically here, I'll be doing Sunday Stills again :)
Just six days of school left! It may be only six days, but this last week has been full of school work.....ew.

Things like Geometry (luckily, that's one of my favorite classes).
Interesting how I didn't notice how dusty and old my calculator looked until I took a macro :P

I was assigned My Sister's Keeper as a summer read...started reading it before the official assignment came out and...looks like I'll need to read it again before the summers over because I didn't annotate this first time around...oh well.

This is my attempt at representing horses and dirty barn work without a horse ;)

I'm so busy...but it's so beautiful out. I can barely make it through school; summer is calling me!

Check out more black and white shots at Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills Challenge: Landscape(Fall Foliage)

Hello, Sunday Still-ers! :)

I knew we'd have a "fall foliage" challenge, so I took some fall pics a couple weeks ago...the colors are already fading now, as most of the leaves are on the ground. Fall is my favorite season because of all the color, and the temperature, which is PERFECT for trail riding...and I like hearing the "crunch" of the leaves.

But I wanted to ask; are you sure we shouldn't be doing a "Winter Wonders" challenge right now?

I woke up to this a few weeks ago...that was a shock. I seriously thought maybe I was dreaming.
I wasn't.
Luckily, it didn't last long. :)

And so, without further ado, my Fall Foliage photos (sorry my landscape pictures are limited):

Don't you wish they sold carpets in this color?
That'd be cool.

So this "fall foliage" isn't that colorful...can you tell why?

The flowers in fall really make it feel like "Indian Summer".
That's my dog, Abby, in the backround.

Have a great fall week everyone! (or for some of you, Spring!!)

Check out more landscapes and pretty scenes at Sunday Stills today! Or join in! It's a great motivator to get out and take photos.

Sunday Stills Challenge: The Letter "C"

This week's challenge, the letter "C", was relatively easy...I just stepped out the door, looked around, and took "C" pictures...not good pictures, but the subjects do start with "C"...

My first one wasn't actually taken outside...this is my model of an edible cell.
No, I'm not enjoying Biology this year... :-/

It was pretty annoying to make...but there it is...it's a Cell, with a Cell wall and Cell membrane and Cytoplasm and Chloroplasts...lots of "C's" (in case you want to know, it was made with a brownie)

Each year, a place pretty close to where I live hosts the Cosequin Stuart Horse Trials. All entrants to the event (which has included Jean for summer 2007 and 2008...at least, those are the summers that I went, too) receive a Cosequin bucket with merchandise...I got one of the buckets :) I love them. This one is pretty faded, but...another "C" for Cosequin (Cosequin is a VERY good, VERY expensive join supplement for horses)

Next "C": Cats.
Miss Genevieve tonight...a little bleary-eyed...

And cat number 2...Groenemeyer...who came home today sporting (for the first time in 2 years) battle wounds...wonder what animal he was hunting! :P his nose is scraped up, and so is his paw and the base of his tail...I put some antibiotic ointment on...he'll be fine.

And, last but NOT LEAST, I made a video of my CROSS COUNTRY jump schooling I went to last weekend with Daisy-Mae! Our first one!
I know, it's not actually a "still"...so that's why it's not the main part of the post. Feel free to watch it, if you're interested...and I apologize for the *terrible* quality, I'm not sure why the quality got so much worse after the video was saved on my computer... :-/...I'm not a tech geek, so it'll take a bit for me to figure that out... :(

Check out more subjects with the letter "C" at Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills Challenge: Photoshop

Sorry I'm so late! I realize probably not many people will check my blog now..if at all...but it COMPLETELY fled my mind this morning that I had Sunday Stills to post! And considering I spent time making 4 photoshopped photos! :P

I don't own any sort of photoshop software...I know...*GASP!*
I use picnik.com...my computer is *painfully* slow, but I get through it...I took all but the last picture of Daisy and I...that was taken by my cousin Anika on the day that I bought Daisy, 2 1/2 years ago.

We start off with this ex-standardbred racehorse that I met during a 4H Equine Careers Camp in June named Snickers...he's here to show his support for breast cancer victims... :)

And this is my chicken, Bibbi...she is not generally that orange, but I played with saturation on this one...

My barn cat, Gronemeyer...first I played around with the saturation on the photo, than I used the black & white brush to make everything but him black and white...I was going to leave out the green altogether, but then I figured it looked kinda cool...so voila.

And, Daisy-Mae and I April 17, 2007...I used the "cinema scope" tool on this, than changed to black and white, than added words and the "museum" frame...

Check out Sunday Stills for more!

Sunday Still's Challenge: Happiness is...

I actually did take pictures to use for a different "Happiness is..." subject, and now my camera won't upload them... :(

So, I improvised.

My horse trainer, Jean, does eventing herself. The past 3 years she's gone eventing with her English Thoroughbred, Bubba. Unfortunately, Bubba has been retired from eventing this year. These are some pictures from the archives from the last 3 years.

Happiness is horse events.

Anything involving horses, sign me up!

You get those funny moments while taking up; Bubba is quite an interesting horse, to say the least. The King of all kings. :P

Jean and Bubba; Stuart Dressage 2008

Cross Country; GVH 2009; Last Event Bubba was in.

And then, of course, there's meeting all the adorable horses in the trailers around ours... It was hard to resist these ponies; I ended up going up and petting them. Sooo sweet. :)

And then, of course, there's those horses that are walking around that are sooo beautiful they take your breath away...that's one of the best parts; watching all those gorgeous horses.

Check out other people's view on Happiness at Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills Challenge: Signs of Fall (and also Macro Monday 9/28/09)

I will admit that this week, my entrants were pretty lame...Fall has barely arrived at our house, so there aren't that many "signs of fall" around....I will admit that I went to the archives for the first two shots, taken last year because they are much prettier and more "fall-like" than the ones I took this week...

This is what it really looks like...not very pretty.

These next few are also my entrants for Macro Monday this week...

Now, I have my own personal "sign of fall"...for those (FEW) of you that read my blog regularly, do you notice anything different about my pony? (Besides the fact that she's whinnying adorably at the camera, AND looking at it?)

Her coat is darker...it gets almost liver chestnut in the fall, like her mother (though I've never seen pictures of her mother, that's what I'm told she looks like).

For more signs of fall around blogland, check out Sunday Stills!
Or maybe even join! It's a great way to make yourself get out with your camera and snap pics...although, don't take my word for it, because evidently I'm pretty bad at taking my camera out a lot to get good pics...this week I waited until today to get the pics :P :).