For the birds

With all the snow we've gotten this winter, I haven't been able to get out into the woods and enjoy nature like I usually do. Fortunately, nature has been coming to me.

hummingbird moth

hummingbird moth on bee balm, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

Looking and acting just like tiny hummingbirds, these moths are amazing little creatures.





They're awfully quick, too. It was hard to capture them with my camera! I was lucky to get these shots.

honeysuckle

honeysuckle, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

First honeysuckle of the year! Just in time for Mother's Day.

fog on the river

fog on the river, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

prickly

prickly, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

I'm not sure what this is, but it's certainly interesting. I love the prickly blue leaves, and the way it contrasts with the echinacea next to it. It seems to enjoy this hot, muggy weather as well. I'm glad something is thriving!

sweet pea blossoms

sweet pea blossoms, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

One of the few things that will make me smile no matter my mood is seeing pink sweet pea blossoms by the side of the road. They take me back to a time when summer was endless and unfettered; when the days were mine to do with as I wished, and what I often wished was to wander through woods and fields, always bordered with those ubiquitous pink blooms.

Fire and sunset

DSCN1526, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

monochrome

itty bitty hearts, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

I've joined a group on Flickr called "52 of 2012," which gives a new assignment every week for a photo theme. I needed some inspiration/ motivation to take different sorts of pictures, and so far it's been fun.

This week's theme is "Monochrome," and when a coworker gave out these tiny cupcakes this morning, of course the first thing I did was take out my camera.



My Nikon has several color settings, including black & white, sepia, and cyanotype.





The cyanotype pic was the one I chose to post in the group page. It was fun to take pictures with all the different settings, though.

Oh, and the cupcake was yummy.

Sad days for fans of Kodak

I'm sure you've heard by now that Kodak has filed for bankruptcy. This makes me sad, as I (and perhaps most of you) would not be into photography if not for Kodak. My first camera was a Brownie that my mom had picked up at a rummage sale.

I don't even remember what I took pictures of. Cats, probably. But it introduced me to the wonderful world of taking pictures, from which I have derived considerable pleasure since.

My next camera was the 110, the slim pocket camera that used film cartridges and flash cubes. Remember flash cubes?

(Mine was black, but I couldn't find a good image of the black model)

That camera went to camp with me, where my friend Margie and I took pictures of each other taking pictures of each other. We were ten.

I wonder if she still has the picture of me?

I had other cameras in my 'teens and twenties, some of them Kodak, some not. The next camera that changed my life was the EasyShare I bought so I could upload pictures of items I was selling on eBay.

When I had the bright idea to take it with me on my rambles about town, my photographic life took off. I got an account on Flickr to host pictures for blogging. The nearly instant feedback pushed the learning curve to great heights, and I learned so much just by tooling around the site looking at other peoples' pictures. For an inexpensive little camera, it took pretty good pictures. I even sold a couple that I took with it.

When I bought my current camera, I gave the Kodak to a co-worker who didn't have one to take pictures of her grandchildren. I hope it lives a long and happy life chronicling the lives of those kids.

I also hope Kodak, the company, survives this setback. I used to live in Rochester, the home of Kodak, and they used to be the largest employer in town. It would be really sad to see it disappear.

What are your Kodak memories?

Grandmothers' Garden in winter

DSCN0483, originally uploaded by Lizzie~Belle.

The garden grows brown and crisp, but never bare.