Our 2010 in Pictures - my photography (and a note on Bigger Camera Envy)

I may not have blogged on here for almost 90 days now, but I was busy in 2010 with my camera - I still love my Canon G9, and although I am sometimes struck with BCE (bigger camera envy), I think I'll stick right here with this little gem.   Truth is, I don't really want to learn more advanced photography techniques - I like to think I'd like to learn (and use) them, but honestly - I can only handle so much.   My trusty and talented Canon G9 is my idea of a great camera, it's in my comfort zone, and we're sticking together.

For any of you that care to look it up, I googled the G9 this morning and on the Canon site, discovered that because they've come up with the G12 now, the G9 is "no longer available".  However, over on Amazon, you can now apparently pay TWICE what I paid for my camera new - to get one.   It has been a very very popular camera, and it doesn't surprise me ...

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-G9-Digital-Stabilized/dp/B000V1VG5G

BACK TO THE YEAR IN REVIEW ... here it is, a review, for any of you that are interested, of what 2010 looked like for me and my loved ones:


January 2010:
I began the year in what I call a "State of Tilted Grace" ...

 

"You see a cow a day" - a saying in our family that was beautifully proven on Martin Luther King Jr Day 2010 as I drove home from Borrego, while Mark rode his bike home.

Sunset at Torrey Pines Start Park, January 24, 2010

February, the month of love ...


Valentine's Day 2010: My Beautiful Family .. Trevor, Cara, Kaia, Kiara, Kristina, and Mark {Cottonwood Creek Park, Encinitas}



February 2010:  I LOVED taking another series of "Mixed Media with Paper & Cloth" art classes from the talented Jane LaFazio, through La Jolla Athanaeum  {this is Jane}

MARCH 2010 ...


"Dark Star" ceanothus (native California lilac) - in full bloom in our yard



Mark, racing in San Dimas - late March 2010 (FYI, this is NOT a shot of him racing ... this was warmups out of the parking lot!)

APRIL 2010:  we reach the end of tax season and our year officially begins!




home, home on the range ... or on the "inland bluff overlay zone", as it were





Stormy Skies - Solvang:  April 2010

Manhattan Beach Pier - late April 2010


MAY 2010 - Mark's Birthday Month !!!
{my Canon g9 captures florals - beautifully ~ you can almost smell them !}



Graham Thomas Roses - from our garden




Mother's Day Bouquet ...




my husband MARK - on his birthday
 {in Santa Barbara's ALICE KECK PARK GARDEN, where we were married in 1999}

 

JUNE 2010 ... Summer's here !!!

Rocky at Home ... so dashing !!



our grandson TREVOR with Mia ... June 2010



JULY 2010 ...



" Summertime ... and the livin' is easy ..." -  Mark & Rocky, hammock'ing

 AUGUST 2010 ... Montana Time!



We go to visit Mark's parents at their half-year home,
the cabin at Flathead Lake, near Bigfork, Montana
{here, Marion, Gene, and Sierra}





Marion's Echinacea in Bloom


 

and then there's the crown jewel of the orchard: 
 the CHERRIES, August 2010



SEPTEMBER 2010  {fall fruits & back to school time ...}

our friends the FULLERs took a cruise - and I got Russian Nesting Dolls !!

CREATIVE IS A VERB by Patti Digh .
my copy arrived in September from the publisher



page 63, CREATIVE IS A VERB
artwork {"Airstream in a Cornfield") by me



 

OCTOBER 2010: Spooky Time

my G9 photographing Cara
photographing tiny lizard with her phone ...



detail of lizard (aka, "why I love my G9")



"House Blessing" art that I created in a class by CHRIS COZEN, at Stamping Details (Halloween, 2010)

NOVEMBER 2010:  giving thanks for our many blessings ...


solo cerces leaf



Family Is Everything: Thanksgiving 2010



a sunset as viewed from outside my home office window ...



can you see the rainbow? as seen from our kitchen window

DECEMBER 2010:  celebrating Christmas, celebrating life

and for the best display of our Christmas Day, see my next post - which includes a Smilebox slideshow!

Happy New Year, my friends

All my best,

Davielle



Owlet Update

Well, my friend Victoria and I had quite an exciting evening watching the owls -- unfortunately, NONE of the photos that I took on Friday night came out worth a darn.

However, the shots I caught last night (Sunday, the last day of May) are "okay", and worth a quick post here.

Mark and I were quite surprised to see two of our owls (not sure if two owlets, or a babe and a parent ... so hard to tell from such a distance & in the dark) LAND ON THE BLUFF -- and how cool is that CA native shrub, whatever it is? it's silhouette looks like a violinist sitting, his back rounded to the left, facing the owls (to me, anyway - is it my migraine meds 'seeing' that !!???)

You'll have to keep in mind -- it was WAY DARK OUT, and my camera is just a Canon G9 -- so not capable of a lot of zoom, and not capable of great night shots --- I do have the most success using the ISO setting, which is meant for the inside of museums where you need a lot of light AND you can't use a flash.

how cool is this? one of them taking flight !

here we have ONE on the "power box" (closer to the pole) and one that just brought dinner (so, presumably a parent) sitting on the wire

These ALL had to be "edited" -- they have been cropped, they have had their brightness, contrast, and some even the color -- adjusted. But I don't have PhotoShop, so they're not all that great.

owl moved OFF power box and onto wire ...

Still, they're a testimony to our Great Horned OWL BABIES and their parents, and we're pretty stoked !!!

Thanks for following our owls - I know that a lot more of you read these posts than comment, 'cause I get e-mails about the owls and how cool you think the posts & photos are ... I sure wish you could comment on here ... bloggers LOVE comments, you know :-) !!!

-- D.