Since my online photography class wrapped up a couple of weeks ago I’ve continued to cram stuff into my head.  Some of it new, some of it simply reinforcing what I learned in the class.  I find myself spending a lot of time on the site that sponsored the class.  By-the-by…it’s called Clickin’ Moms.  No, there are no children in my closet. When I asked my sister-in-law about online photography sources she recommended Clickin’ Moms, a forum that she’s been a part of for a number of years.  She reassured me that’s it’s not just for moms (remember, no kids here).  There do seem to be a lot of moms on the site (duh), and a lot of people who primarily do…people…photography. And I’m not so much a people photographer, in case you haven’t noticed.  However, I’ve also found forums about the things I’m interested in, and, like I’ve mentioned previously, I learned a ton in the manual exposure class I took last month.

Verdict?  Clickin’ Moms is a keeper for moms and non-moms alike!

I’ve also been slogging through a book called Understanding Exposure.  I say slogging because, though the information is good (though it’s supposed to be intended for beginners but if I hadn’t taken the online class I don’t know that I’d be able to follow), I find the author to be….what’s the word I’m looking for?…snooty?  snobby?  I don’t know. Something in his tone.   Condescending?  Getting closer.  But, it’s good information and I think there is stuff to learn there, so I will continue.

Another resource that I recently stumbled across (through a link on Clickin’ Moms) is Craft & Vision.  They have a bunch of PDF’s, 30-65 pages long, available for purchase for $5-$12/ea.  They also have a number of freebies.  Thus far I have printed all of the freebies (Ten Ways to Improve Your Craft Without Buying Gear, Ten More Ways to Improve Your Craft Without Buying Gear, Craft & Vision 1:  11 Ways to Improve Your Photography, and Craft & Vision 2:  More Great Ways to Make Stronger Photographs) and have purchased two (Exposure for Outdoor Photography and Portraits of Earth: An Introduction to Landscape Photography).  I’ve read Portraits of Earth.  I find the author (and founder of Craft & Vision), David duChemin to be funny (in a dry style) and honest.  I appreciate people who tell you that you don’t have to buy every piece of equipment under the sun to be a photographer.  That all of the equipment in the world won’t help you if you don’t dig deep and find passion in this thing called photography. I mean, I fully intend to buy more equipment down the road, but shouldn’t I figure out how to use the stuff I’ve got first?  Anyways, check him out.  And, if you have any favorite sites, please feel free to share….I’m like a sponge.

I was looking forward to this weekend because I wanted to try my hand at sunbursts (I read a cool tutorial on Clickin’ Moms) and I wanted to go to a local park that has water falls so I could practice slow and fast shutter speeds. Unfortunately, the park was closed this afternoon.  Likely because of the wind that came with the rain we got today. Yup.  Rain.  I think it’s likely the first measurable rain we’ve had since April or May.  It was quite nice to wake up to the sound of rain this morning. And I think I heard the withered and dry plants and trees breath a sigh of relief.  Though it will take much more rain than what we’ve experienced in the last 24 hours to really make a difference.

With the rain came wind.  Now, I am originally from the Oregon coast.  So, when a wind warning is announced with gusts up to 40 mph I’m all like, “Pppfffft…talk to me when the gusts are 60+.”  It did gust pretty good today, though.  And, the root systems of trees are apparently weakened due to our very dry weather.  Could be dangerous, I’ll give them that.  When I went to the grocery store I saw that one of the huge flowering cherry trees that rain pink blossoms in the spring had uprooted.  That made me sad.  I love when it rains cherry blossoms.

Anyways, the park was closed.  I drove down the street to the next park (less than 1/2 mile away) and it was not closed. Weird?  Yes.

I was actually hoping for some rain.  I wanted to catch drops hitting puddles at a high shutter speed.  Of course, when I got to the park it cleared off.  Blessing and curse.  I didn’t really want to get wet, but I wanted rain.  And I had my trusty raincoat on (Western Washingtonians are always prepared with raincoats.  Umbrellas?  Why bother.  A good raincoat is all you need).

So, no rain.  But there were geese.  And ducks.  Let’s pause here and tell you a story about a duck.  A moocher duck. Hoping for a handout (she was disappointed).

First, duck minding her own business:

Then, duck notices me standing on the shore:

Waddling ashore (“Hey, lady, do you have a snack for the duck?”)

Cleaning up (“Hey lady, cleaning up just for you…now do you have a snack for the duck?”):

Posing (“Hey, lady, I’m adorable…do you have a snack for the duck?”):

That was one disappointed duck.

And raindrops on a few flowers.

And then I came home and shot a few pics of whirligigs and maple leaves that had fallen off trees on our property.

And then I put a small pork roast on the Traeger (I’m going to top it with a Chipotle Cherry sauce that I picked up from Chukar Cherries a few months ago) and picked beets from our little garden to go with it.  The beets are small (note to self: thin aggressively next year), but they’re beets fresh from the garden.  And now I’m drinking a cocktail (grapefruit vodka, lotsa lime, tonic) and chatting with you.  No complaints about this Saturday.  Tomorrow?  Sounders game in Seattle!!!

Cocktail glass is empty.  Must remedy.  Hope your Saturday has been great, too!