Tag: texas

Neighborhood Walk | {1500 Miles, 1 Image}

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One of the many things photography has taught me is to be more mindful and observant of my surroundings. I think photographers are always taking images in their mind, whether they have their camera with them or not.  It’s nice to slow down on walks and notice the small, beautiful details that are around us. On a recent early morning walk around my neighborhood, I saw a few of these little mushrooms in my neighbor’s yard. My neighbors may very well think I am completely nuts when they see me crouching down on their sidewalk to take a photo of a mushroom or flower, but that’s OK with me. I’m perfectly fine being the “crazy photography lady” in the neighborhood.  I don’t have a dog to walk, but I love taking my camera for a walk.

Let’s find out what Melisa discovered on her neighborhood walk! Her post is here.

The Japanese Tea Garden | {The Serenity Project}

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Recently we visited the Japanese Tea Garden. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much; I thought we would walk around for maybe half an hour, take a few photos, and then head to lunch.

We were pleasantly surprised with this beautiful park!  The garden has a long history and first opened in 1919. Since then, it’s been through several renovations, the most recent in 2008. Now it’s a beautiful, serene oasis in the middle of a bustling city. September 16, 2017-ECC_7993EileenCritchley1September 16, 2017-ECC_7981EileenCritchley1September 16, 2017-ECC_7988EileenCritchley1September 16, 2017-ECC_7991EileenCritchley1September 16, 2017-ECC_7983EileenCritchley1September 16, 2017-ECC_7980EileenCritchley1

We all enjoyed our walk through the garden, looking for flowers, waterfalls, butterflies, and koi. What a beautiful way to start the weekend! We will definitely go back.

(All images taken with Lensbaby Velvet 56.)

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The Serenity Project is a collaborative photography project. The participating photographers aim to bring a sense of peace and calm with their images. Please click over to  the talented Wendy May, multi-genre photographer, Aberdeenshire to see what brought her some serenity this month.

 

The Gardens | {1500 Miles, 1 Image}

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We love botanical gardens and make a point of visiting them whenever we are in a new city. We recently joined the San Antonio Gardens and I know we will be visiting there regularly. I love all the special events the garden hosts throughout the year and there is nothing better than a morning spent walking, exploring and of course photographing! My daughter likes to wear bright colors when we visit in the hopes a butterfly will land on her. She enjoys walking around the gardens with us, looking for butterflies, dragonflies, birds and lizards. Her absolute favorite thing to do at the garden is feed the ducks.

Light like this doesn’t lend itself to making the best images, but living in sunny environments has forced me to embrace direct sunlight. Life doesn’t always happen at Golden Hour so we have to work with what we’re given.

 

Please head over to Melisa’s post to see what the gardens are like in her area!

The Weather | {1500 Miles, 1 Image}

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We certainly had some wild weather this past week! Fortunately, San Antonio wasn’t hit nearly as hard as predicted by the hurricane.  We got some rain and wind this past weekend, but fortunately not much in terms of flooding or damage. One nice side effect of that is the weather has cooled down, particularly in the morning. This morning it was in the 60s! For the past few days it’s been sunny.

While we were lucky in San Antonio, my heart goes out to those in Houston, as they were affected much worse than predicted. The flooding images coming out of Houston are heartbreaking and unbelievable. If you are interested in finding ways to help Houston, here is a great resource.

Head over to Melisa’s blog to see what’s happening on her side of the country!

The Sky | {1500 Miles, 1 Image}

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This week our theme is the sky.

We went to the zoo this past weekend and I noticed a cluster of birds in the sky. They were all spiraling around and I wonder what was beneath them on the ground. What were they circling around? Or were they just soaring because they can?

I am looking forward to seeing what Melisa’s sky looked like this week! Click here to find out!

A Photowalk | {The Serenity Project}

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In the  quiet space between the chaos of school and homework, work and meetings, appointments and obligations, beauty and serenity can be found on a walk around town.

 

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Taking a walk with my family and my camera is my favorite way to spend a morning.  It’s a great way for us to discover our city, whether we have lived there a month  or a year.

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I love taking photo walks. You never know what you will find.

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You might even find beauty under I-35!

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What else is summer for, if not discovering magic?

One of my goals with photography is finding a place of mindfulness, simplicity, intention and serenity with my images. I am thrilled to join the Serenity Project, a collaboration of photographers striving to capture a sense of peace and calm within their imagery. Please continue to follow the circle by visiting the talented Maria Russell and seeing what brought her some serenity this month.

A change of scenery

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We recently moved from Arizona to Texas. This is our 7th move since we’ve been married.

We lived in Arizona for 5 years, which is a very long time for us.  We liked it there, and even thought for a time that would be “it” for us. Life had other plans as so often happens,  and my husband decided to take on a few more years with the Air Force. Long story short, here we are. Same life, different city.

Arizona and the desert had its own unique beauty that I was fascinated with when we first moved there. I took tons of photos of cacti and desert plants. I hiked often (in the WINTER, as it’s too hot to do much of anything in the summer!) and loved all the hiking trails that were available. I took plenty of photos of my daughter on those trails and watched her turn from a toddler to a school-aged girl.

 

One thing Arizona made me appreciate, though, is big trees and cloudy skies. We have those in Texas! A change of scenery is always good for inspiration and I’ve really been enjoying exploring (and photographing) our new town!

 

 

 

I’ve been meaning to start a blog/website for a while now and with this change in our lives, now seems as good a time as any. Hopefully I will make it a habit and stick with it. My hope is to post words and photos and use this as a spot to keep my personal projects.