December 19th, 2008 Series

On December 19th, we were lucky enough to have a warm front come through Louisville, Ky. (I'm endlessly fascinated by the weather here in Louisville) It actually got up to 70 degrees that day. These are photos taken in my back yard from relatively the same angle at different times throughout the day.

Quick Update

Happy Holidays to everyone!

I've been ill the past week so I haven't gotten anything tweaked to put up. I took a series of photos from the 19th when we had a warm front go through so there are some interesting pics from that that I'll have up maybe monday.

Thanks for reading the old bloggeroo.. I really am very grateful!

Subtle Beauty of Winter

I keep hoping that the sun will creep out or that the blue herons, ducks and other critters will creep into my yard, giving me a good photo op. No suck luck unfortunately. It's all been rain with a dab of snow here and there.

I keep hoping that I'll get some sort of spectactular, uplifting picture but unfortuantely in this cloudly light it's just not happening.

So today, while it's warm, it's still raining and the wind is kicking up really hard. I decided to embrace it though instead of fighting it. Above are some of the pictures that I've taken over the last week or so.

Weather like this makes me moody. I considered that if it emtionally talks to me, even while that emotion isn't happy, it will probably move other people and maybe folks will see what I see. Subtle and maybe a tad sad beauty in the middle of winter.

Winter Sunset

These were taken last Thursday, in my back yard. There was a weather front moving out creating the most beautiful colors..

Blue Heron

All last week we had company staying with us so I had to forego posting on ye olde blogs. This week though things are back to "normal".

We survived munchkin's birthday party and he seemed to have a great time with all
of the people who came to celebrate his birthday. I was really surprised how
well he handled all of the noise. Very little phases this kid.. I was
definitely "blessed" when I had this little guy.

I have been SOOO antsy and sorta bummed that I hadn't had time to get out and get any pictures. I wanted to go to Churchill Downs two saturdays ago but we had a "family emergency" that day and I was unable to go.

Luckily, this beautiful guy appeared in my back yard yesterday morning right after sun up. He was very kind in that he posed in the sun for me so that I could get some decent pictures.

I hope everyone has a happy mundey!

Baby "Gray" Jay

It's a very coold and "blustery" day today in Kentucky. We are getting some rare, early snow showers and it really looks "winter-y" outside. Everything is very gray, and the leaves are all off of the trees now. If the snow would accumulate a bit so that it blanketed everything, that would be ok but the snow isn't sticking. So it's just cold, and wet and icky..

Because of this, I went digging for pictures from the summer. I would much prefer to think about summer things than this cold day.

Above is a photo of a baby Gray Jay in the tree outside our home office window. I was sitting at the desk, pecking away at the keyboard when I noticed that the momma jay was making an awful ruckus in the tree. To this day I don't know why she was so upset but when I looked more closely to investigate, I saw that there was a young Gray Jay in the tree.

Of course I had to whip out the ole camera and get as many pictures as possible.. which is what I did. I didn't get very many good ones but the one above turned out pretty well.

I hope that the day in your neck of the woods is warmer and a bit sunnier than it is here..

As always, if you like any of the pictures you see and would like prints, you can find them at www.abounaderphoto.com or you can email me at heather@abounaderphoto.com and I'll find them for you.

Another Lame Post about my cats

I swore I wasn't going to blog today. I thought, "Egads, I'm gonna be too busy cleaning and cooking to post on the blog.. besides, I'm running out of things to blog about.."


That was until I was eating breakfast this morning. I sit in the Living Room with munchkin and eat breakfast because he likes to eat whatever I eat. I usually share my whole wheat toast with him as we watch Playhouse Disney together.


At some point the cats will come greet me after taking their sweet time getting up from wherever they slept overnight in the house.


I don't "do" mornings well. I had a couple of jobs where I worked second shift (which I LOVED!) and this reset my body clock to "second shift" time. In the mornings it takes me a good HOUR or more to really wake up.


Sahara settled on the end table next to the upholstered chair where I usually sit. She doesn't normally do this. (Usually she sits on the back of the chair unless her sister has occupied it.)


I looked over at my perfectly posed kitty only to see that she had some "Red stuff" on her face. It took me a minute to realize, that she had decided to inspect the new flower arrangement with Star Lillies on our dining room table.


Our cats are allowed just about every place that we go, except counter tops and "eating" tables. Clearly this rule offends Sahara and she obviously gets up on the dining room table at night. She just HAD to show me that she defied me. I know that only Sahara does this because Lill isn't as athletic and she couldn't care less about getting on counters and tables.


My apologies for the bad photo but it was still dark out and I knew that If I didn't take the photo right then, she would somehow get the stuff all over our just cleaned house.


I just hope she doesn't realize that I've posted the photo to the internet. I'd hate to see what she'd do in retaliation..


(DISCLAIMER -I know that kitties aren't really malicious.. it's just funny to me that she chose to show off this morning instead of following the usual routine..)

More about the Poor Kitties..

I know, it's more than just slightly lame that I'm just posting cat pictures. Especially pictures of my own cats.. But I want you to see the horribly way that they're treated. Truly less than royal by their standards I'm sure...

This is poor sahara having a quick nap...

As always, if you like any of the pictures you see and would like prints, you can find them at www.abounaderphoto.com or you can email me at heather@abounaderphoto.com and I'll find them for you.

The Poor, Harassed Kitties...

Before my son came into our lives, we had Fur Children. Our Fur Children are two black cats that we "rescued" from the local humane society shelter. Their names are Sahara and Lill. They are litter mates but they clearly had different dads.

Sahara is a slinky, highly intelligent, highly sensitive, graceful, athletic feline. She has a Siamese like face, and talks like an oriental breed.

Lill is a big, burly, ungraceful, super lovey kitty. She is the exact polar opposite of Sahara.

I love them both very deeply.

Sahara is less afraid of my son than Lill. Lill has a paw that is constantly swollen due to an unknown allergy. If her paw was better she'd probably be more up to the task of dealing with my son. Still, she adores my husband and I and seeks out a lap whenever there is one to be found.

Unfortunately I haven't had as much time as I'd like for the kitties now that munchkin is here and I really feel bad about that. But luckily they are forgiving...

Above is a photo of Lill cleaning herself in the sun in the Laundry room, far away from my son. Black cats are difficult to get good pictures of because the camera views the black as low light. I usually have to go "all manual" to take good pictures of them.

As Always, if you see a photo that you think you'd like a print of, you can probably find it on my website: http://www.abounaderphoto.com If you don't see what you're looking for, drop me an email at heather@abounaderphoto.com and I'll find it for you.

A bird that isn't afraid of me..

Last week I was fortunate enough to get a photo of one of the Red Shouldered Hawks that Live in the tiny patch of woods in my back yard. It was really refreshing to take a picture of a bird that wouldn't fly off at the slightest noise. In fact I swear this guy glared at me when I leaned up against the window too hard and made a loud THUNK sound.

Our house sits on land that was cow pasture for decades. I am finding all kinds of birds here that normally don't live in a suburban habitat. I have seen in the last year: Blue Herons, Red Winged Cow birds, Indigo Buntings, White Crested Night heron (Only from afar), Green Heron, Hummingbirds, Ruby Throated Hummingbirds and the various common birds that everyone sees like Starlings, Robins, Blue Jays, Blue Birds. etc..

Ever since my husband bought my first Digital SLR Camera last year I've been trying in vain to get a few of those amazing wildlife pictures that folks see in National Geographic. I've been reading and reading and reading and come to the unfortunate truth: In Digital SLR Photography, your camera doesn't matter as much as your lens. A really good lens costs $1600. Thats one of the ones that I'm using but it only zooms to 200mm which is why the hawk above still appears a bit fuzzy.

I really need the 100-400mm zoom which is another $1600. Hopefully next year, if I can find another job when munchkin goes into daycare I will be able to afford another very expensive lens.

On the "SITS" blog friday, they were doing "Open Letters" to whomever they chose. It was really fun reading them all. I contemplated doing an open letter to canon, explaining to them that I want really good pictures but I really don't want to pay the $1600 to buy another great lens. I was too tired friday and too busy this weekend, so that one sentence above will have to suffice..

This week is Thanksgiving and I'm going to be uber busy cleaning the house and then working myself up into a panic attack for Thursday. (my first time to make thanksgiving dinner) So I may not post every day this week. I apologize for that but I'll be back next week with more Blather..

I'm hoping against hope to go to Churchill Downs either Friday or Saturday because this coming sunday is the last day of their fall meet. Hopefully hubby will go along with my evil plan.. wonder if he reads this.............?

As Always, if you see a photo that you think you'd like a print of, you can probably find it on my website: http://www.abounaderphoto.com If you don't see what you're looking for, drop me an email at heather@abounaderphoto.com and I'll find it for you.

Last of the Retirees...

What a fitting thing to post on a wintery friday. Critters hanging out, on a hot July Day relaxing.

More "retirees"....

Stony Ridge Equine Retirement Center

Daisy and Friend

Mocha

Daisy

Daisy

I cruised back through my blog and I see that I never blogged about my trip to the Stony Ridge Equine Retirement Center run partially by April Dimico. April Helped me out tremendously during my equine photography class when she allowed me to wander the pastures of her farm. Even though I have a strong love for horses, I know very few people that own them locally.

All of the horses on April's farm are retired. Either they had some sort of injury during their various careers or they are at the end of their career and were therefore retired by their owners. I find this to be an amazingly generous "gift" that the owners of these horses have given them. It takes a lot of character and good heartedness to take care of a horse in this way the rest of his days.

It was wonderful to me to be able to just wander around a pasture, being mobbed by 15 or more friendly horses. They all wanted to see what I had, what I was doing, and if I had any peppermints. April kept having to hold onto them while I walked far enough away to take a photo. My friend Anna also came with me and we had a wonderful time!

I had a chance in October to go back to her farm but it rained that day and I haven't had time to go back there since. I'm hoping we'll get a bit of snow sometime in December and I can go photograph the horses then.

I have more photos but I'll save them for tomorrow :-) Happy Wednesday!

A rare moment.... (#1)

I'm calling this a rare moment #1 because in life, there are a lot of rare moments. I'm just going to number the ones I talk about so that I can keep track.

Last night, munchkin and I were driving home right around sunset. It has been cloudy for days here which means that photography is a futile effort, unless I want to take dark pictures of fallen leaves. (no thank you!) I had never seen neon colors occur naturally in nature until last night. In fact, I didn't think it happened..

There was a weather front just pulling out and there was very strong pinkish/reddish light in certain places just under a line of clouds. We drove down a street with old, tall trees and all of the trees had neon pink leaves at the tops and the rest of the trees were dark! It was so magical and I kicked myself for not having my camera with me. (it is always a huge decision for me - do I be obsessive and bring my camera with me or leave it at home) By the time I got home, the sun had set and I couldn't get any pictures. Needless to say, I am very disappointed in myself. Next time that camera is coming with me!!

So to console myself for not having any pictures of that rare moment, above is a rare moment of another sort. If you've been reading my blog all summer (and I don't think a soul has until now) you know that I was obsessed with the Ruby Throated hummingbirds that frequented my Black and Blue Salvia bush underneath the laundry room window. I left my camera on the dryer right by the window and I would go check every so often for the hummingbirds. Photographing a hummingbird without a feeder is an extremely difficult task, so I'm pretty pleased I got any decent pictures of them at all! I had less than a minute to snap away and hope that something was in focus or in frame. The hummingbird happened to fly in front of one of the yellow flowers next to the bush and I was able to snap away and get the above picture! I was so proud!

Today I have to fill out and mail invitations for my Son's first birthday next month. (Instead of photographing anything or going in the studio) I can't believe it's been a year. It's been both the longest and shortest year of my life..!

I am not a social butterfly(In fact, I'm a certified hermit) and planning a party of any sort is a huge stretch for me. I've already gotten the decorations but I'm still mulling over the cake and food to serve. If I was working, I swear I'd just hire a party planner to do this stuff...

PS. if you ever want a print of any photos on my blog, please visit my website or you can just comment and I'll get back to you.

Kona Gold

(Kona Gold, Top, Cigar Watching Kona Gold, Bottom)

I don't know a lot about Kona Gold other than he is a Throroughbred. I read about him though and he accomplished quite a bit in his years of racing. http://www.kyhorsepark.com/kids/sub.php?pageid=115&sectionid=1 I think during Kona's years of racing, I didn't pay a lot of attention to what was going on in the racing world. Thats changed now because I have a very good friend who is very into horse racing and Saddlebreds. (and my pictures reflect this don't they!?)

While I was photographing Cigar, they had let Kona Gold out in his Paddock and he was running around like a "mad man" neighing and having a good old time!

Since I had never seen Cigar with his head up out of the grass, I chose to stay where I was and photograph Kona From a distance. I have a lot of photos of Cigar's head turned towards Kona's Pasture. Cigar did call to him a few times, and I have a feeling that if he could have, he would've run the fence next to Kona. It really was a testament to cigar's personality that he didn't get all squirrelly and DEMAND to run next to Kona Gold. (I'm sure if Cigar was 10 years younger, he would have :-))

Happy Friday!

Gypsy Supreme

This is Gypsy Supreme. Gypsy for short. Actually I think his barn name is Del but don't quote me on that. Most horses have their official registered name (if they're purebred and registered with their respective registry) and a "barn" name. A Barn name is kind of like a nickname and it's specific to each horse.

Gypsy has been at the Horsepark for as long as I can remember. He is a gorgeous horse and seems to be very sweet whenever handled.

The last time I attended the daily presentation of the champions in the champions barn, I saw Gypsy do the most wonderful thing. When they were showing the video of one of his wins, and he heard the crowd on the tv, he perked up his ears and stood a little taller and got a little excited. The sound of the crowd turned him into a show horse again for just a moment..

If you go to the Kentucky Horse Park's website you can read the long list of accomplisments by Gypsy. http://www.kyhorsepark.com/kids/sub.php?pageid=3&sectionid=1 He's one of the Greatest Saddlebred Show Horses of all time.

My Pictures of Gypsy aren't that different than most pictures of him. All of the Champions have that "door" with the cross bars on the front of their stalls so that well meaning folks don't accidently get bitten. (not that Gypsy bites, it's just for insurance reasons) I took a photo of Gypsy through the bars because it's so typical of what folks see, day in and day out when they go there.

Gypsy was checkin out Cigar while I was photographing him so I made sure I got a few photos of Gypsy too.

Cigar

This weekend was a good weekend for me. It was fairly productive for a bit of house cleaning and laundry and I finished up an almost 2 year project with my miniatures. I didn't get out to photo any more horses though. I'm hoping to do that next weekend at the Fairgrounds.

Everyone seemed to really like the photos of Alysheba from the Kentucky Horsepark. I was SO thrilled to see him in good shape!! I also got a few pictures of that old Campaigner, Cigar. The pictures of him aren't as exciting because cigar has been at the horsepark for a long time now, and he just wasn't very excited about much. It was just another day for him. This is the first time I was able to get a photo of Cigar where he wasn't grazing. I haven't had time to get these up on my website yet so you're "peeping" them first here.

I really should have used a polarizing filter the day I was at the horsepark. I was just too caught up in worrying about munchkin to remember to bring the danged thing! Oh well, live and learn!


I know it's monday but hopefully some of these retired racehorses will help you daydream about your own relaxing retirement. May they be as carefree and may you be as well taken care of. :-)

Alysheba

On Thursday, I took a 60 minute "road trip" east to the Kentucky Horse Park. The Trip from Louisville to Lexington is a scenic rolling one and it always seems short to me. I know each exit, and the landscape as if it were my own neighborhood. I am always in a good mood when I go to Lexington because most of the time, it means I am on my way to the "Kentucky Horse Park".






This time was special to me for two reasons. First It marked the first time that I took my son with me. On Thursday of this past week I was feeling very stir crazy and I really needed to get out of the house. It was a rare day 74 degree day in November. I can't remember the last time we had those kinds of temperatures when it was supposed to be winter. I really wanted to take advantage of what would possibly be the last nice day of the year. My son is at an age now where everything is fascinating to him and I don't know how many more days I'll be able to get him outside until spring.




Secondly, I wanted to visit and photograph Alysheba. Alysheba was the 1988 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner. His race record is 21 times placed out of 26 starts and he was the 1988 Horse of the Year. Over his career he won $6 million US. In 2000 he was exported to Saudi Arabia to stand at stud. This year, I assume that he was no longer getting mares in foal so the King of Saudi Arabia was kind enough to donate him back to the United States where he would live out his days at the Kentucky Horse Park. I emphasize kind enough to donate him back because many great racehorses that are exported to other countries come to not so glamourous ends. Not everyone reveres race horses the way we do in the US.





All that said, Alysheba looks fantastic for his age. A lot of stallions are allowed to get fat or unfit and the trip from half of the way around the world to Kentucky can take a lot out of a horse.






Alysheba was very bright eyed and curious the day I was there and he looks exceptionally fit considering his age. He also appeared to be very sweet. A lot of stallions throw their weight around or are ill behaved because there is a misconception that if you "train" a racehorse too much it takes the fire out of them. This guy was wonderful. Definitely gave his handler space and didn't get nippy at all.





I was very lucky in that there was another photographer there (who's assistant wouldn't give me his name for some reason) and they were posing Alysheba for him. Normally when you visit the Hall of Champion HOrses you can only get pictures of them with their noses in the ground. I got quite a few decent shots but as always, there is something that I feel I can improve on.






Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures of this Kingly, stately stallion in his new home where he will be loved and well taken care of for the rest of his days.