Chelsea and the Geese

Have you ever considered what runs thru the minds of creatures we meet on our journey?
I have.

In literature, its called personification.

Yesterday, I had the priviledge of meeting Chelsea, John's daughter.  She is very sweet and typical for her age. Its tough being not a kid and not an adult.  I know, I'm still there!! LOL

Anyway, Chelsea took over the picture taking yesterday. You can see a few of her compositions below. Good job girl!!

We were sitting on a rock that was close to the waters edge. It would seem the locals are used to the two-footed creatures feeding them various items, because as we sat there, we create quite a crowd of on-lookers; of the web-footed variety.  And; there was one red-winged blackbird.
The blackbird was incredibly tame, and I think that if I'd had something to offer it, it likely would have taken it from my hand. Unusual. Said bird was not impressed when nothing was offered. Although he did make several fly-bys, just in case.

Curious; the web-footed creatures, waiting for dinner, mulled around, in the water. Circling; nudging for front row access. Some got a bit snippy when there was nothing to eat, impatient waiting. Others seemed in for the long haul, and parked in front without budging. They gathered in a bunch, and had there been something offered; I'm sure a melee would ensue. Overall, the group was reasonably orderly.

We walked from there; heading up a pathway; in the direction of a hut offering ice cream and fries and other such items.
The two-footed creatures found here, waiting for dinner, mulling around. Some were in cue; others hanging off to the side; some got a bit snippy, impatient waiting. Then, taking their snacks, would park, at tables nearby or wander off. There was a bit of nudging and some negotiations. Overall, the group was reasonably orderly.

Chelsea's Pics:

Sailboat

Goosey Lucy

Tree

BONUS POINTS: In What story Is Goosey Lucy a character?

Gradient Mesh - not just for straining pasta!

So a certain someone said I should only post every few days.
I have something to share, so I'm gonna post. Sorry BF. :)
I was staring at the rock picture that was roughly commented on and got a brilliant idea.
So lo and behold, below is the same picture, but recreated using a gradient mesh.

Sorry about the watermark, dear readers. I have to protect my work.
The gradient mesh tool is really cool. Its like taking screening, and shaping it around the object you are creating. Then when you have the shape, you start to add the colour. The neat thing is, you can move the mesh to recontour your project as needed while you work. So you can tweak and tweak until its just right.
Here's another one I did about a year ago:

and here is another, this is a project from a course, so poor John only has half a profile:

 I found the result with drawing people this way is a bit Sim-like. Hmm sNada nada na pa?
There you have it, the gradient mesh.

Morning Teaser extrapolations

ok so, now I know that if you navigate away from your post, it becomes lost forever.  What the heck! Ha!

Since its only just after 8am, I have no clue what I typed earlier. Probably wasn't so good.

This morning I'm using Mozilla as my browser. I need to use a couple browsers to check my web site design work. Web sites will sometimes appear differently in different browsers; you can fix that by adjusting the coding. But you'll never know if you don't test it.

Big plans today; doc appt then off to boxing.  Yes.  I said boxing. I took up boxing for fitness just over a year ago. Its alot of fun; amazing for stress relief and has the added bonus increasing your fitness level.  John (aka: my new best friend), came along with me on Monday.  Curiously, I have not received any comment from him on what he saw.  Curious. Will let you know if he does comment.

Anyway, I have digressed far away from the teasers I posted. So coming back around now. The first picture is of course a sunset. This one is over Lake Huron. If you have never been to Lake Huron, you have to go. In fact anywhere along the Great Lakes, especially Huron and Lake Superior is amazing. The picture is one of many versions. I was waiting for the desired level of the sun, colour of the sky, roll of the wave and a solitary bird flitting across the horizon.  For me, some times flashpointing happens in reverse. I have an image in my mind, and I wait until my surroundings presents it to me. Definitely a more difficult process.

The rock pictures are from the viewpoint of possibly a frog, or turtle or fish that can hold a camera. Ha! I like to vary my examinations of my environment; some views are landscape in nature, others are macro. I only have one lens on the camera, so I have to be creative in how I take these. I think this is called Macro photography. Most of the macro ones end up out of focus or at odd angles, simply because my eye is not actually looking thru the viewfinder. Seriously, did you think that?

No, I just place the camera on the ground, or hold and point (as in the case of the water scenes). Try it. Its cool. If you have a zoom lens, you will do better than I on these macro scenes. I figure, it must be what lesser creatures see as they stumble around in the grass.

Tonight, John and I are doing something. Dunno what yet. Will bring camera tho. 

teaser

just adding a couple photos from our recent holiday on the shores of Lake Huron. Observations and flashpointing to follow!

Day One - Flashes at the Pier

So hello fellow readers. Day one.
My plan is to enlighten you to my visions; likely I will go off on a tangent from time to time, to the amusement of some. 
Today, I didn't leave my computer desk. So my observations are limited and a bit dull.
Yesterday was cool. Went to a place that I am now listing among my favourite places to be. For those who live in the Burlington/Hamilton area, you may be familiar with it. The sight is the pier which juts out either side of the lift bridge; the lift bridge being located below the Burlington bridge.
Of course, I was out during the twilight hours. With my new best friend. We walked out the pier that juts out into Lake Ontario.
Saw a poor seagull. Limping, broken. He was being mocked by his friends. They kept circling around, laughing. Poor thing. The circle of life.
The air was pretty clear last night. After suffering through some extreme heat that lasted several weeks and seemed to knock the breath out of even the most celebrated heat-loving canadian; we managed to have a cold front go thru that has cleared things for awhile. Breath!
We watched a few sail boats skirt along the shoreline. Sail boating would be cool. But only if I could just be a passenger.
A wee pup, German Shepard, came to visit the end of the pier along with his keepers. Puppies are so cool. Big paws trying to navigate the world. I think he knocked over his water dish a dozen times. Finally his keepers brought him back to the car. Puppy = 1; keepers = 0
Walking back towards the bridges; the sun was positioned just above the larger, Burlington bridge. Should learn to bring my camera with me, always. The light was perfect. Long shadows. Bright flashpoint of sun; flashing thru the bridges grating. Trees shadowed dark and water glimmering like diamonds.  Nice.
Gonna venture off topic now, fill you in a bit on what my flashes will be. Alot of stuff I see daily; I make comment on, to myself, in secret. I'll share my secrets here. Flashpointing is the practice of seeing things happen as you go about your day; making mental comments, then, moving on.
You would think nothing of it; until later, something happens to remind you of the moment.
Flashpointing