Zoom Zoom

That title pretty much sums up the day I had a Calabogie Motorsports Raceway  http://www.calabogiemotorsports.com/ in July.  I had a great opporunity to photograph the BMW Driving School with some photography friends.  It was a boiling hot day but it was so much fun watching these drivers putting the petal to metal.

Not In My Backyard

Went on a little photography adventure this week.  We drove out into the Ottawa Valley and stopped at a local gentleman's farm and took some pictures of the old farm equipment and vehicles laying around the property.  By the looks of things, when something broke, no need to fix it, just leave it and let the grass grow up around it.





My Own Backyard

Before leaving to do groceries this morning, I had time to admire our garden.  I can't take any credit for it as I have NO gardening abilities what so ever.  All the hard work and credit goes to my mom.  When we first built our house, we had a landscape designer come and give us the plans and we did the work ourselves.   Just last year, we finally finished the backyard landscaping and here are some of the results of mom's hard work.  The Lily's recently added to the garden are so beautiful and they smell amazing.  Thanks Mom!!!!















Creativing Cropping

After posting my pictures from my trip to the nursery, I got some great feedback from some of my photography friends and a few of them challenged me to be more creative when cropping my photos.  So, below are some of my attempts at Creativing Cropping.  Comments and suggestions welcomed.  Enjoy.

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After Photo (thanks for the suggestion Hagan)

Pretty Flowers in Almonte

A few people from my photography group got together on Saturday and went to Whitehouse Perennials just outside of Almonte.  They had the most amazing set up with the most beautiful flowers.  It was so great, we're going back again in a few weeks to take some more photos.

New York, New York

A city so fabulous they named it twice.  Yes, I'm sure everybody has heard that line but it's so true.  This was my second visit to this great city but on this visit I got to see so much more than my first trip there. 

My trip to New York was made better having my mom and friends come with me for a girls 4 day getaway.  We stayed at the amazing Waldorf Astoria Hotel.  You can't put into words how spectacular this hotel is.  Sunday Brunch is available for $95.00 for adults and $65.00 for children under 12. Oh, tips and drinks are extra.  Believe it or not, people were lined up for.  We went to a little local resturant around the block from the hotel.  2 eggs, bacon, toast, homefries and orange juice for $5.99.

We took the New York City Hop On, Hop Off bus tour which included tours of Brooklyn, Harlem, Upper and Lower Manhattan.   We also took a harbor cruise that went around the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. 

We did a little shopping which included Macy's, Tiffany's and one of favorite stores in Time Square...the M&M Store.  Our tour guide said we had to go to John's for the best pizza in New York.  The pizza was OK but the next we went to the same resaurant and had the most amazing Chicken Parm and Pasta.  For dessert, we stopped by Carlo's Bakery (the Cake Boss on TLC). 

This statue is located at the pier where we caught the ferry over to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  I must admit, I was difficult to look at when the waves kept going over the face of the statue in the water.

One of my favorite stores in New York is the M&M Store.  This is Blue dressed up as John Travolta.

The Statue of Liberty.  The ultimate symbol of freedom of the United States and to get there we needed to go through metal detectors, take our shoes off and some were patted down.

My favorite building in New York City.  The Flatiron. 

We walked around Central Park one morning and got a great picture of this little guy.  I like to think of him with Robert DeNiro's voice saying, "You looking at me?"

Central Park and this is the Hans Christian Anderson statue.  My main goal was to get a picture of this statue and the Alice in Wonderland statue. 

From our bus tour coming across the Brooklyn Bridge heading back into Manhattan.

My purchase at the famous Tiffany's of New York.  I'll keep my blue box forever.

I hope you my photo adventures in New York City.  I can't wait to go back!

Canada Day Fun

What better way to celebrate Canada Day then to spend the day out in the park with friends!  MJ invited me to celebrate Canada's birthday at Petrie Island in Orleans.  It was a perfect day to enjoy the sunshine, playing on the beach and having a picnic.  Dominique and Alexia had a great time and I really enjoyed taking some photos of their time at the park.