Friday, May 26, 2017

A Walk Around the Yard

As I begin experimenting with other types of photography I feel like I'm a newbie again who has no clue what I am doing! I see these gorgeous macro shots or stunning landscapes that other photographers create, and then I see how blah and boring mine are in comparison and realize I have a long way to go to get good at something other than portraits. That's the crazy thing about photography, in my opinion. Someone can be amazing at one type of photography and completely suck at another.

I recently looked back through the first set of portraits I ever took. At the time I thought they were pretty good, but now I realize how awful they really were in comparison to what I can do now. I just keep reminding myself with tons (and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons) of reading, learning, and practicing I eventually got decent at portraits. The same thing will happen with other types of photography if I stick with it.

While my first attempts at portraits are buried in my archives, where no one will ever them but me, I've decided to share my early attempts at other types of photography with my readers. (Aren't you lucky?!)  So, here are some macro shots I recently took of the bushes, trees, and flowers in my yard:





























I have no ideas for what to photograph next, which seems to be a common problem for me.  If anyone has any ideas or suggestions send them my way! Otherwise, I think it's time to start researching some photo prompts to inspire me.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Michele Whitacre used to be a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona.  Now she just takes photos for fun when the mood strikes.
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© 2017 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Daisy & Gatsby: An Overdue Blog Appearance!

Poor Daisy & Gatsby have been sorely neglected on the blog!  The last time I posted any photos of them was in September 2014, shortly after the one year anniversary of when we adopted them.  I stopped blogging just before their second birthday so there are only a handful of posts including photos of them.  Many of those are ones that I added to posts of the dogs' birthdays, since the cats love to get in on the present opening fun, too!

Just like our dogs, our cats have very different personalities.  Daisy is a bit wild and rambunctious, and she loves to play with her toys.  She will run around the house carrying them, or spend hours tossing and batting them around.  She's a bit of a daredevil and can often be found climbing high up where she doesn't belong. Gatsby is much calmer and can usually be found watching the world out the window.  Gatsby is more likely to wander off by herself to take a nap, but she's more likely to jump in my lap when she is in the same room with us.  Daisy loves to be around the rest of us, but she's less likely to sit on our laps.  However, she's the one who is more skittish around strangers, so it often takes her a while to make an appearance when new people are at our house.  Daisy actually does better with photos, so I ended up with a lot more images of her that show off her spunky personality.  Gatsby doesn't like the sound of the camera shutter so she tends to look irritated or scared in many of the images, so I have to work pretty hard to get good photos of her.  

Without further ado, here are some portraits of our sweet kitty fur babies:

Meet our crazy little Daisy...



And our sweet Gatsby...


Oh hello there...


Just hanging on the stairs...



I think I was interrupting nap hour...


When we first moved into our house one of Daisy's favorite places to be was IN the fireplace, so we had to search out fireplace door to keep her out.  We were lucky to find some that fit considering our house was built in the 90's.  So now she has to settle for laying in front of it...






That little tongue!...


Daisy & Gatsby are biological sisters that we rescued as small kittens.  They were born in a shelter on May 6, 2013 and just recently turned 4 years old, which seems impossible!  I love how they both have the lighter area on the one side of their noses, even though their coloring is completely different overall...








What a goofball...



Gatsby sits with her front paws crossed all. the. time.  It cracks me up...


She also likes to sit with her paws folded up under her.  Kevin says she looks like a chicken sitting on her eggs when she's like this...


For some reason hanging out by the towering basket of dog toys was a popular place while I was taking their photos...



Gatsby is amazing at catching flies or other bugs straight out of the air.  She seems to be great at spotting things far off and quick to get them.  Something's definitely got her attention here...



Silliness...



What do you see?...





Since is has been so long since I posted any photos of them, I went a bit overboard!  So, if you made it all the way through, thanks for stopping by!

Michele Whitacre used to be a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona.  Now she just takes photos for fun when the mood strikes. 
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© 2017 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC