Hi world! Sorry that I have neglected Mary's Pixels for so long. Life has definitely taken a few unexpected turns which have cut down my ability to get everything done. Mary's Pixels is about to undergo some reconstruction and will be back on a regular basis beginning in May 2012. Thank you for your patience.


Mary ·

The last few months have been extraordinarily busy, sometimes difficult and never boring for me. Actually, I could have dealt with boring a bit better. At first it was shear business that kept me from keeping the blog updated and posting new pictures. I had my summer job at the Cub Scout Day Camp and all of the photos I took there, plus several photo assignments I had taken on. It got harder to get a daily shot. I missed days here and there, but I thought I had gotten a handle on the 365 Project, but then towards the end of September I tripped, fell and while trying to save my camera, I managed to dislocate my right shoulder, and a few days later, it happened again. Yikes! Don't ever believe those movies and tv shows where someone dislocates a shoulder, calmly gets it pushed back in and is up and running around like nothing ever happened. A dislocated shoulder hurts. A lot. And you get told that even if you felt you could lift the camera, you shouldn't.And that hurts almost as much as the shoulder if you're like me. Anyway, to make a long story short, that's why I've retired the 365 project, at least for now.

Oddly enough, abandoning the project wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I love having a camera available whenever I see a picture I need to make, take or whatever the proper bit of jargon is. And I generally do take at least one picture every day. But, and that should almost be in capitals. I've never liked being told I had to do something, even if I'm the one doing the telling, I guess. But if I feel the urge...try to stop me.

The therapists gave me the okay to use my camera again and I grabbed the opportunity to visit the Rhododendron Garden and found so very cooperative wood ducks. Then I got to play with the cub scouts and got more pictures. And last night we had a big chili cook-off and trick or treat night at our church and I got even more pictures. That feels so good - I'll get some of them up here shortly. And there'll be a lot more because that's what I do. Life is definitely looking up again. And no one told me I had to do it. Not even me.

Keep smiling. ·

Like most of us I wear many hats in life. I'm a photographer, a writer, a singer, a mom, a wife and many, many more. Lately the mom hat has trumped all the others as I've run around getting paperwork together for John as he prepares to go on a mission. (It is amazing how many hoops a person needs to jump through to get a visa.) The singer's hat has been worn a lot too as this is the spring performance season for the Conchords Chorale, the community choir that my son and I belong to and that leads to the photo editor's hat as I work on the photos that my husband takes of the concerts. I've kind of neglected my writer's hat, but I dusted it off this morning so I could put this blog entry together.

My photographer's hat has not had the chance to get dusty because of the 365-Day Challenge which means I have to pick up a camera every day for at least one shot. Hallelujah for the shove to keep going! I've been pushed to experiment like last night when I got John to use his phone's flashlight app to shine a light on a glass ball we have and I could have a backlit object for a challenge! The experiment worked! Yea!!!! I've also gone to events like the opening the Portland Rose Festival . I've got a friend in the Clown Corps and was there to take pictures for her portfolio. Twenty years in this city and UI had never gone down there before, but that photographer's hat got me there. And it was awesome!

Today I am wearing yet another hat. It's worn in conjunction with the photographer's hat and is special because my husband led me to it. He knows how hard it's been some days with the challenge and with the growing need I have to get out there every day and find something different. Mark called me when he got out of a meeting and asked if I had seen the sunset. I said not really. He pointed out the red sky and that I should get out there with my camera. I grabbed my trusty camera and and my purse and ran out to the car. The first place I stopped revealed that the best view of the glowing sky was off to the north of us and totally blocked from where I was because of houses and trees. Dang! So just like those storm chasers we see on the news shows, I started to work my way further north, looking for a clear view before the sunset could fade out. Between cars and red lights, bicyclists and pedestrians I was sure I'd never get the shot. But then - success!!!!!! Over by the old Washington High School was an open field around a tennis court and an open view of the gorgeous sunset!!!! Yea!!! I could have jumped for joy, but instead I settled down and got a lot of shots! So, thanks to Mark I now wear the hat of a Sunset Chaser! If you'd like to see the shot or others check out my Flickr stream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pnmaryf/...hotostream) and on my blog, Mary's Pixels (http://www.maryspixels.com) or on Facebook. Let's here it for finding new hats!!!!

Keep smiling

Mary ·

Yesterday was a gorgeous May day here in Portland. Blue sky, sunshine, warm temperatures. The kind of day that is rare since we are living in a temperate rain forest as my son loves to remind me when I complain. This is the tail end of the rainy season. A very long rainy season, but I digress. Back to yesterday's story. I cheerfully grabbed my camera and took off for the Rhododendron Garden, one of my very favorite places to go when I want to take pictures of birds. I start to turn into the parking lot and my mood changed. The Garden was mobbed by other people out to enjoy the gorgeous day. Sadly I did have a moment of: "how dared they wreck my plans?" It was all about me. I'm not proud of it, but I need to be honest. Don't I? But the moment passed, I'm happy to say and I decided to go down to the Eastside Esplanade to get shots of the Willamette and all the bridges and whatever else I would see there. A perfect plan B.

Plan B also failed miserably. First there was a long freight train that I had to wait to pass by. (I did get a few interesting shots through the car window, but nothing exciting.) Once the train was gone I continued on to the parking area under the Hawthorne Bridge only to discover that the parking lot was full! Oh no! What was I going to do? I didn't have enough time to drive any real distance. so what was I going to do for plan C?

I wish I could say that plan C jumped right out at me, but in the interest of truthfulness, I have to admit that I just started to drive again. I didn't want to admit defeat and go home. Boring!!!!!!! I remembered some interesting old buildings in the Buckman neighborhood so I drove in that direction. I found one modern building that was incredibly out of place in that area. Then I parked the car to take a couple of shots of a lovely Victorian. When I got out of the car I spotted the perfect shot: not a bird, not a bridge, not a Victorian but a wonderful door with multiple window panes in many colors set into a warmly painted doorway set on a street corner. Wow! I grabbed a few shots of that door, remembered to get a few shots of the Victorian and then went on home feeling great!

What does this have to do with the title of this post? I guess there has to be a moral to the story or why write it? So here's the moral: when you can't do what you want to do it's okay to indulge in a moment of pouting, but then you should come up with alternative plans until something works. Otherwise you'll be miserable. And I, for one, don't want to waste my life feeling miserable.

Keep smiling

Mary


·

Lots of little things to talk about today:

Will we ever have a storybook spring? We're all busy complaining that we want spring to arrive. That it's unusual to have so much rain and cool weather and when will we be able to work out in the yard and why do we schedule Little League in April when all the games get cancelled. Truthfully we are all in denial. This IS a Portland spring. Maybe a bit wetter than average, but when I go back and look at the pictures and remember other years, this is pretty close to normal. Good thing I've got the pictures or I could wind up like those clliched folks who go on and on about walking up hill both ways to school in blizzards and so forth. Or we all remember how much better it used to be, weather-wise anyway.

Kids DO grow up: John got his mission call in yesterday's mail. He's going to Brazil. We're all excited for him, but at the same time it seems like only yesterday he was that little kid running around the house in denial of his own exhaustion. The second he stopped running he would fall asleep. And the day before that I sat him on my lap and introduced him to the computer and the Donald Duck ABC game and other cute little kids games. And I even have the pictures to prove it. And I am so glad I have those and got to enjoy all that time with him in sports, school & scouts and everything else.

My 365 Project. Yeah, I know I talk about this all the time, but it amazes me that I am almost one third of the way through it. And it gets really hard to come up with an interesting picture every day. (Okay, some of them are not all that exciting, but I am trying.) But I have the pictures to prove that I really am trying to fulfill this challenge to my imagination.

Oh yeah, and I have the pictures to show for my other adventures: singing with the Conchords Chorale, hanging out with Cub Scouts & Boy Scouts, visiting the coast with Mark, and so many other things so I can smile and remember what I've done AND I can share them with other people. Yea!!!!!

And what do all these things have in common? What??? Uh-huh, you've got it. I've got the pictures for all of these things to help stimulate my memories, to keep me honest, to challenge me to stretch and get out of the ruts that are so easy to fall into in our busy lives. And let's not forget the joy of sharing our lives with other people. So, grab your camera, get out in the middle of your life and make more memories! Have more adventures! And meet more people!

Keep smiling

Mary
·

This has been an awesome week! I was out for awhile almost every day with my camera. I went from the Rhododendron Garden to Dave K's Fishing hole and then yesterday, to celebrate our 22nd anniversary, Mark and drove to the coast for the day. I've put some of the photos up already in My 365 Project and in the Trip to the Coast albums if you'd like to check them out. A few of the highlights: at the Rhododendron Garden I watched a woman try to coax a red-winged blackbird to eat from her hand and by golly, the bird did just that! I was astonished and amazingly, I got the picture to prove it! And I do mean amazingly because I had my 200-500 mm lens on the camera and I wasn't really that far from her. It shouldn't have worked, but it did! I was all but jumping up and down on the spot and even more so when I got home and looked at the image on my monitor. A very good day.

The next day I visited my friend Dave's favorite fishing spot, He's been wanting me to see the ospreys and eagles that hang around the ponds. The bad news: no osprey or eagles while I was there. I think they must have been sleeping in since it was cold and the heavens kept opening up with hail. I'm shivering just remembering that part. But, in between I got to see the beauty of the area and got some gorgeous photos. It's amazing how much natural beauty is located so very close to the populated areas here in western Oregon. Dave let me shoot some shots of his hand-tied flies too. I had a great time. (Note: Dave emailed me later to tell me that the Osprey and eagles showed up around four that afternoon. I'll have to wangle another invitation some time.)

And yesterday was mine and Mark's 22nd anniversary. To celebrate we drove to the coast and visited the wreck of the Peter Iredale at Fort Stevens. The winter was hard on the wreck but it also uncovered some bits and pieces I haven't seen for years. Fascinating. And it was a gorgeous, and rare, blue sky spring day so we got some wonderful photos. I love the coast almost more than any other place in the world. Something about being near the ocean relaxes me and all the everyday problems go away. From the Peter Iredale we continued north to Astoria and over the bridge to Washington and Ilwaco. It was very quiet there since it's too early in the year for the crowds to be heading toward the Long Beach Peninisula. Before we started home again we finished our trip up at Cape Disappointment which was anything but. (Lewis & Clark were disappointed there, not me.) After hiking up from the parking lot (and that is a hike since it's fairly steep!) we checked out the lighthouse, the battery left over from when this was Fort Canby and an amazing number of cormorants down at the foot of the cliff by the water. At least three different types of cormorants. Mostly they were sitting on the rocks, with one taking off every once in awhile to go hunt for a fish or just play in the waves. There were even a few just riding the waves in and out. At least that's what it looked like from where I was above them. Wish the pictures were better, but even with my long lens it was not easy to get in close. (Time for a brief moment of lens desire - I want a longer lens!)

Anyway, as I said, this was a great week. I even had a day taking pictures of a home that is going up for sale. I can't wait to see what happens next. And with that optimisitic thought, I need to go do laundry and vacuum and buyt a ham for Easter dinner. Have a great day and week yourself!

Keep smiling,

Mary ·

The last time I wrote anything here my 365 Project stood at 78/365. Today I posted up yesterday's shot which is 92/365. Yikes! Time is moving right along, but this challenge is getting harder. Some days I don't see anything out there that I really want to add to the project, or I'm too busy to seriously look or, *gasp* I actually went out without a camera!!!! Yup! Somehow I went out the front door of my house without a camera or even my trusty cell phone which is my back-up camera these days. How this could happen is beyond me beyond the obvious: I wasn't thinking. That certainly translates into every day life. I could make an endless list of times I have said or done or even not said or done something because I wasn't thinking. I won't bore you with the stories from my childhood and teen years where I spoke without thinking. But it is a bad habit I've worked to cure in my adult life. THINK has been one of my mantras to the point where I sometimes overthink.what I'm doing. From one extreme to another....I'd better work on that too. I need to be a bit more spontaneous, I think. Oops - there's that 'think' word again!

Anyway, back to the challenge. I've had to try a little spontaneity in a few shots recently when I didn't see anything that I wanted to add to the project. One night I was ready to give up when i remembered this little pink dragon that lives on our front porch and John's Lego army men from Toy Story. John and worked out a scenario where the dragon was chasing the army men and I got the shot! Yea!!! It was fun playing with the toys and setting up a shot instead of looking for the perfect shot. The next night I was stuck again - just too busy to go out and look. Now, John and I are working on a project to clean out some of the stuff he's accumulated over the ears the way we all do. I dug out a couple of little figures and a miniature can of soup and there was "Commercial Break"! Maybe there is a way to balance the not thinking/overthinking parts of me so I can just have some fun. I hear that girls just want to have fun - maybe it's time for this girl to do just that.

Time to get off the soap box again and go do some of the everyday things so I can go have some more fun. If you want to see all of the 365 Project photos check them out here at http://www.maryspixels.com or visit my Flickrstream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pnmaryf/.

Keep Smiling,

Mary ·

Yesterday was day 78 of my 365-Day Project. I was delighted with the picture I shot. There's a cool Art Deco-Style house here in SE Portland that I have been wanted to shoot for years and years. Every time I drove by it I swore that I would stop next time and get THE shot. But, until yesterday, I never did. Well - I did try a couple of times but there were alweays cars parked in front that spoiled the image I wanted to make. But not yesterday. My car headed for the curb on its own and I was out there with my big DSLR that I had taken with me in hope of finding something special to shoot. I got it!!! And what's more I loved the shot I got. Life is good.

Today I got up and decided it was high time to write another entry to the blog and I blanked. Life was not so good as I faced yet another case of writer's block. Then I thought of the 365-Day Challenge and realized that among other things it gives me something to write about and helps me focus on the world around me. It's not always easy to come up with an image that I think is good enough to post, but I need to do just that to keep up the challenge. Why? No one is going to punish me if I miss a day. Certainly the world will not be changed f I miss a day,. But I will be - I challenged myself and I want to succeed. 365 images in 365 days. Yikes! I have this fear that I will run out of ideas - but that's making me look more closely around me. And it keeps me focused. It's all too easy to just drift through life. Do the chores, wash the clothes, cook dinner, feed the cats and not feel alive. I don't want to drift. This challenge reminds me of that. It keeps me on track and looking outward not just inward. It makes me look for the positives and not the negatives. Yea!

And now I will climb down from my soap box and grab my camera and go look for today's shot! See you later!

Keep smiling,

Mary ·

As February eases into March and we are in the midst of a lot of rain (down here in the valley) and snow (up in the mountains) I have watched the number of photos in my 365 Project mounting up. Today was a big one: #50! It seems appropriate that today's image is a family one: John with Mr. Bunny through the years. Mr. Bunny has actually been in our lives a bit longer than John since he was a shower bunny. He crossed the country with us in 1991 and has survived being lost, tossed and kind of worn out. He's been patched, mended and re-embroidered and continues to guard the upstairs, Go, Mr. Bunny! If you're reading this over on Facebook, feel free to come over here to Mary's Pixels (http://www.maryspixels.com) to check out the project as well as the other photos that are here.

Also, after an amazing amount of televised gloom and doom we had snow last week. It came a day later than announced down here in the valley, but you can't blame the weather folks - have you ever tried to tell Mother Nature to get a move on? Never got me anywhere. And our geography is so varied around here, while it was pretty safe down here in my part of Portland, up a bit higher they got a lot more trouble. However, I did get some shots of the white stuff while it was around. Oddly, the big pictures didn't come out as well as the small ones: daffodils in the snow, a crocus poking through the snow, that sort of thing. Occasionally I wonder what people think when they see me crouched over a little tiny flower trying to get just the right shot. But mostly I just don't worry about it any more. I did get a couple of good larger pictures over at Mt. Tabor. We may have only gotten a couple of inches, but that didn't stop people from having fun. I could have done without the cold, but it's warmed up and brought us lots of rain with more snow in the mountains.

And before the snow got here I was able to see the wonderful tundra swans at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge! That was exciting. They put on a wonderful show for me while I sat in my car and watched them as well as an eagle up in a tree, lots of canada geese, ducks and coots as well as the ever-changing sky Ridgefield is a wonderful place to visit.

Keep smiling,

Mary






·

Not to worry anyone, but Monday is Valentine's Day. Hope you're ready for the day. I'm not. As usual my good intentions at the beginning of the year have mostly slid off track so I am behind getting things into the mail, finding just the right card (or making it!), losing weight (don't we all wish that every year?) and making another loaf of homemade bread. Sheesh! But, there is one resolution that I have so far managed to keep. And maybe it's because I started it on January 10th instead of Januaray 1st. I had time to consider and not just add this one project to a list of other resolutions. I don't know. The one resolution that I have managed to keep on track so far is my 365-Day Project! So far I have posted 33 pictures to my album here on Mary's Pixels and to the set on my Flickr stream at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pnmaryf/...23967203/. It'sd been a challenge for sure because I don't have time every day to go out and seek a gorgeous sunset or sunrise for that matter, a view of Mt. Hood or even the Portland skyline from the Esplanade. Instead I have to look around home or the different places I go on my daily round of errands with a camera handy. (Cell phones are great along with the regular point and shoots) If you look at the album, you'll see that the first shot was actually one of some of the chaos in my house. Yesterday's was on crocuses in bloom in my front lawn. I have no idea what today's picture will be yet - but something will come along before I go to bed tonight.

There are a couple of things I've already learned from this project:

1. There are a lot of interesting bits and pieces in my life if I'll just look for them and stop moaning so loudly about the trips I can't take for one reason or another.

2. That Chase Jarvis, the author of one of my regular blogs is right! The best camera is the one you have with you. I confess that I have been guilty of snobbery where cameras are concerned. But this project has really brought it home to me that I won't get any shots if I don't use the tool that is with me when I see something special: my cell phone, my trusty Canon G11 or my big DSLR. Use the camera you've got with you and SHARE!

3. Sharing is the 3rd part. I might take the most wonderful photos in the world (or even the not so wonderful), but no one will know that if I keep it on my memory card, in my phone or on my hard drive. Share the photos you take. There are tons of ways to share those photos from email to Facebook to Flickr to Smilebox which one of my sisters is using these days, bringing a smile to my face when she sends one my way! I am not recommending any one way for you to share, just offering some of the ways I've used or been a recipient of photos. You know, you can even - dare I say it - PRINT photos to share.

Well, I'd better get off my soapbox now and go looking for today's photo for my project. And maybe a few extra besides.

Keep smiling,

Mary ·