Life: Through the Lens

We are so fortunate to have a group of friends who share our love of photography, and sense of adventure.  This fall we have had two weekends to explore our beautiful state, reconnecting with old friends and stretching our skills.  Here is a recap of our first weekend away this October. Day 1 - Mackinaw City First stop - the Icebreaker Mackinaw.  We loved touring the ship and seeing and hearing the history of this important part of the Great Lakes story.  The last stop on the tour was the gift shop, of course, and we were delighted to see Tyler Benson's series about Onyx, the Coastguard dog.  Such a great series of books for kids. We do not tire of visiting the beach and lighthouse, getting that familiar view of the bridge. Attempts at night photography met with mixed results, but it was so much fun watching the sunset, and seeing the stars appear in the crisp night air. I captured the big dipper, though it wasn't dar...

I have this lovely new point-and-shoot, but can't get the photos off of it!  Apparently wireless is the way to go now, so I have to figure out how to follow the directions that make no sense in order for that to happen.  This being said, I can't do my updated "comparison" post yet, so decided to focus on one of my favorites subjects - critters. The title of this post is Paying Attention, and that is what you really have a to do to find the little creatures who live amongst us.  You also have to be cautious, and quiet, and patient...and like to get up early.  Does this describe you?  I can be any of those characteristics, but it is so hard to do it all at once! There was a morning a couple of weeks ago where I said to my husband, "That's it!  I am getting up and going to take photos.  You are on dog duty.  Okay?"  I jumped (6:15) grabbed my camera with the close-up lens, tripod, a sweatshirt...and headed out to the field out ba...

When I stepped into the elevator last fall, I wondered if this padding was a sign of things to come! It is absolutely delightful to have some time to catch up.  Catch up on life!  A new semester begins this week and I am extremely thankful it is a light one for me.  The fall was too heavily focused on "work," and there was little or no time for me to write, photograph, and enjoy my family.  Last night I set about putting last semesters photos from my classes into Shutterfly so I could share them with my fall students - and it brought some closure to the courses, and relationships I built with my students. In the fall I taught 2 sections of an Introduction to Education course, and 1 of Inclusion for the General Education Teacher.  When I walk into my collegiate classroom for the first time, this is typically what I see: And then it quickly becomes this: Of course, I do not teach in a lecture format, and this course is an exploratory of the teach...