Update - A New Blog

Hi. Thanks for coming by. I have started another new blog now.

When I first started blogging I wanted to keep everything separate rather than have it all mixed together. Rather like having a file drawer for every topic. So I had to have 4 different blogs.
Growing Greater - yard stuff and some about my animals
Born2cree8 - about my fibre arts
Decisions Decisions (picturethis06) - my photography
Wandering Words - my poetry

Well, now there is Beta Blogger! In Beta Blogger I can use labels to keep things separated, so now it's like having one file drawer with several labeled file folders in it. This makes the whole blogging experience much easier for me as I now only have to post to one blog. It also makes it much easier for people who come to read my stuff as they now only have to visit one blog instead of several. How great is that!!

I will keep these old blogs as there is so much "stuff" on them, but I won't be posting to them any more after this one. If you want to come read this older stuff again, there are links on my new blog (All In One) to these older blogs.

So come visit me at All In One and see what new stuff I've been up to.

Salmon Arm Fair 2006 ~ RESULTS

Okay, the Salmon Arm Fair is over for another year and I have the results of my part in it. Out of the 9 photographs I entered, one took an Honorable Mention ribbon. That is not quite as good as I had hoped it would be, but I am happy to have gotten at least something. I am grateful for the recognition that this ribbon gives. There were a lot of great photos there and not all can win. I have a lot on my plate just now, but am thinking I would like to join the Vernon Camera Club, maybe after Christmas, as I could likely learn a lot from other photographers there. At the least it would be nice to meet with "people of like mind".

The picture that took the Honorable Mention is #28 below, the one with the 3 mule deer.

For results of other entries I had in the Salmon Arm Fair this year, please go to my blog http://born2cree8.blogspot.com and read about my fair experience, complete with pictures.

Missed Something Important

When I get a lot of emails at one time and haven't the time to read them all I scan for the important or personal ones and go back later to read stuff from online groups I belong to. Well, it usually works fairly well, but this time I missed a very important email. I had thought it odd that my wonderful niece Becky hadn't gotten back to me with name ideas and now I know SHE DID! I am sad that I missed her email until now. Oh well, at least I finally found it when going back through unread ones today. Here are Becky's suggestions (Thanks Sweetheart!)

For #2, how about Tranquility. The scene is very tranquil and calm.

#4 I’d call Reflections, a. the reflections in the lake and b. she seems like she’s reflecting on life.

#5 (I think I see a trend) the first thing that popped out to me was Serenity.

#13 Peaceful Grazer, he just seems calm and at peace with his surroundings.

#14 all I could think of is the beauty of the picture, so Okanagan Beauty was all I could come up with.

#22 I like sanctuary on the shuswap, or maybe just Santuary. (again, the calming trend LOL)

#28 first thing that came to my mind was The Three Muskateers.

#34 I thought of Sage Friends, you said maybe something with the word sage in it, I picked that because Sage Friends, Old friends….that kind of idea like they’d be friends their whole lives.

I really like some of these suggestions and am sad to have missed out on using them this time around. However, I am confident that I will need names for other photos in the future and these names will come in handy then... either as they are or to give me ideas :o)

Yesterday I went to Salmon Arm and turned in my entry forms and my pictures as well as the entry forms for 2 of my friends... so "the dye is cast". Now I have until September 5 to make Damson Plum Jam and Damson Plum Jelly (mmmm good stuff), sew a cushion out of recycled material (it will match the curtains I also made from recycled material) and finish weaving the table runner that's on my loom (lots left to do on it yet). These need to be turned in at the fair on Sept. 6. The fair runs Sept. 8-10. On Saturday Sept. 9, a group of 6 (me and 5 friends) will be taking part in the Sheep to Shawl Contest as we did last year (for more info, see my blog http://born2cree8.blogspot.com ) and on Sunday September 10 I will be taking part in the spinning contest (my first time). You have 2 hours to spin the weighed amount of fibre (sheep fleece) they give you and then it's all measured by being put on a skein winder. Whoever spun the longest thread wins. If it breaks while they are measuring it you loose points, so it has to be spun very thin but strong. Should be fun.

Final Decisions

Okay... here goes:

#1- The Flow of Nature
#2- Solitude
#4- Contemplation
#5- Nature's Love Affair
#13- Garden of Eatin'
#14- Reflections of Autumn
#22- Window of Time (Wilson's "Empty Nest" helped me to see the entire picture as this)
#28- Family Forage
#34- That "Deer" Sagebrush

Now the matting. I looked into getting some mat board so I could cut my own mats. For a 11x14 piece (for an 8x10 photo) they want $12.00. I can buy pre-cut mats for $2.49 each. Louise gave me some white mats for which I am grateful. Yesterday I went to Welk Mart and looked at the pre-cut colored mats and found that they are far more striking than plain white so I bought 3 of the 11x14 mats for $2.49 each. They were closing so I didn't have time to get any more as it takes time to make decisions as to which look the best. I used them with the white ones from Louise and double matted 3 pictures. They look great, so I am going back today to get more. It is sad to buy pre-cut mats when I have a beautiful mat cutting kit I want to use, but for the difference in cost I just can't go there. Over the internet I could get a bulk amount for about $5 US a sheet (32"x40") so that's about $5.65 Canadian. (plus shipping of course). The guy in town is obviously really gouging on the price of mat board. In future maybe I can order some off the net, but for now pre-cut will work.

Name Results

I got just one email back with names for some of the pictures. Thank you Wilson for your input:
#14...Reflections of autum
4...Tranquility
1...The flow of nature
22...Emty nest

When I met for a few minutes in town with Louise and Rosalieand showed them the pictures, they both looked at #4 and said (at the very same time) "Contemplation".

I was at my ministers house for singing practice with his wife. They both looked at the pictures and gave me some ideas:
#28 - "Who's Lookin'?"
#34 - Sagebrush (or) That "Deer" Sagebrush
#13 - Velvet Touch
#14 - Fall Reflections
#2 - Solitude
# 5 - Natures Love Affair

Last night I remembered Mom's idea to call #13 Garden of Eatin'

So.... now to make my final decisions here.

Name These Pictures!

Okay... now each of the pictures chosen need names. I have a few ideas but could use some help.

#1 is Bridal Veil Falls in the Pine Pass just out of Skagway Alaska. I took this picture when up there on a family cruise vacation in May 2005. I have decided to call it "Bridal Veil Falls". Why not, haha.

#2 I took from the cruise ship on the way to Alaska. It is on the coast of BC just north of Vancouver. Any ideas for me?

#4 is my Mom looking out onto the Shuswap Lake at Salmon Arm, BC. I'm thinking "Shuswap Tranquility". Any input on this one?

#5 I took this picture of a butterfly (don't know what kind) on a sunflower in my yard last summer. I could really use ideas on what to name this one.

#13 is a Mule Deer buck eating in an alfalfa field. I took this picture later in the afternoon Aug. 10th 2006 just south of Okanagan Falls, BC. What about "Late Lunch"? Any better ideas grately appreciated.

#14 was taken by me on the Shuswap River at Enderby BC Oct. '05 and it could use a good name.

#22 was taken just up a bit from #14, along the River Walk. (I enlarged this one to an 11X14 last year and put it on a wooden tray then covered it with several coats of Varathane and gave it to Mom for her Christmas present.) I'm thinking "Sanctuary on the Shuswap". Any input?

#28 These Mule Deer were near the Kalamalka Lake Lookout, just out of Vernon, BC summer of 2005 when I was fortunate to capture several pictures of them before someone in a noisy car came along and scared them off. Help me name them please.

#34 is another of the Mule Deer in #28. I'm thinking of something with "sage" in the name. Ideas anyone?

I will be very grateful for any and all input here. I had such a good time reading the comments and input on the photos and think it will be great to get some on the names too. Thanks in advance!!

Decisions Made

This is what I chose and have gotten printed for my entries:

New Competitors: minimum size 5x7
Class :
2. Open Prints (I guess this means anything you want to enter)
{#2 & #14}
3. People {#4}
4. Animals - Domestic or Wild {#13}


Intermediate Competitors: minimum size 8x10
Class:
5. Pictorial (this also seems to be an anything goes class)
{#1, #22, #5}
6. People {none}
9. Plant - Domestic or Wild {none}
10. Animal - Domestic or Wild {#28 & #34}

I decided to enter extras in some classes and skip others depending on what I felt (and some of your votes indicated) were my stronger points. It was hard to decide which class #5 should be entered into (Plant? Animal?) so I put it into Pictoral.

Votes Tallied

I am so grateful to everyone that checked out this blog and sent in their votes and thoughts on which pictures could be contendors for the photography contest at the upcoming Salmon Arm Fair. The results were:
#1 - 4
#2 - 5
#3 - 0
#4 - 6
#5 - 8
#6 - 1
#7 - 4
#8 - 0
#9 - 0
#10 - 1
#11 - 3
#12 - 3
#13 - 5
#14 - 8
#15 - 1
#16 - 4
#17 - 3
#18 - 2
#19 - 3
#20 - 1
#21 - 1
#22 - 10
#23 - 6
#24 - 0
#25 - 7
#26 - 0
#27 - 2
#28 - 7

I added #29 after most had voted so it only got 1 vote. I later added #34, too late to get any votes, lol. However, they are both from #7 and I think would have gotten votes if they were up sooner. I cropped #7 to make it more attractive after reading some of the comments.

#34

Like #29, this is #7 cropped. I tried a slightly different crop on it this time (using "the rule of thirds") and do think it might be better. Do you agree?

#30












#31

These Iris plants are all in my yard
















#32

















#33

This Day Lily is also in my yard

#29


This is #7 cropped a bit. Does it look better with a bit less background?
These mule deer were near the Kalamalka Lake lookout one day when I was going by the - right place at the right time.

I've added more

Okay... I thought I "must" have more pics of people so I got digging around and came up with more... lol. There were a whole bunch of my pictures that I hadn't even looked through yet and had forgotten about. Good thing I found them... phew! I also decided to crop one of the Mule Deer pictures and "run it by you" for your opinions.

Closer look

If you need/want a closer look you can enlarge the photo by clicking on it. When ready, just click the "Back" arrow at the top left of the window.

Mats

I was talking to Louise yesterday and she has some mats I can use for the 8x10 photos I enter. They are all white. The ones I cut myself for the 5x7 photos may have colors or be white, depending on which pictures I use and what mat boards look best with them. I did my blog with a black background and the pictures really look great on it, but I am about to change that to white so we all get a better idea of what they will look like with the matting.

Thanks so much for all your imput. Remember, click on "COMMENTS" below some of the pictures and let me know what you think, or email me if you prefer to do it that way. Either way will be greatly appreciated.

#28

I got looking at the pictures and decided to crop some of the background out of #10. This is the result. Very much like #12 but there are differences. Some other pictures here are close but different as well, a little closer in for example. Some are suttle differences, but they are there.

#25













#26












#27

#22
















#23











#24

#19



















#20



















#21

#16














#17














#18

#13















#14












#15

#10














#11













#12

#7














#8












#9

#4














#5












#6

#1


















#2
















#3

An Explanation

Hi all. Here's what's up. I am going to enter some of my photography into the Salmon Arm Fair, so in the next day or two I have to decide what is going and get it enlarged. I also have to cut mats for each picture which, thanks to Terry and Alana giving me a mat cutting kit for Christmas will be no problem for the 5x7 photos, though I will have to find and buy some bigger matting board for the 8x10s.

I need your help to make the final decisions as to what is or isn't going to be entered. The catagories I am planning to enter are as follows:

New Competitors: minimum size 5x7
Class :
2. Open Prints (I guess this means anything you want to enter)
3. People
4. Animals - Domestic or Wild

Intermediate Competitors: minimum size 8x10
Class:
5. Pictorial (this also seems to be an anything goes class)
6. People
9. Plant - Domestic or Wild
10. Animal - Domestic or Wild

I will post a bunch of pictures that I am considering and really would appreciate if you could post "comments" to the blog or email me direct with your oppinions as to which pictures you think would be good for competition in each of the above catagories. It would also be fantastic if you could give any reasons why you think your choice would have a chance to win this competition. THANK YOU for taking the time to help me out in this, I am grateful!!!

I also am going to be part of the Monashee Spinners and Weavers group taking part in the Sheep to Shawl Competition again this year. (On my blog www.born2cree8.bogspot.com I posted pictures etc. from the 2005 competition which I was also a part of). We decided this year that if we are paying for a Exhibitor Pass to take part in this competition we should each be entering other things too, so this is one of the divisions I will enter in. I also am considering some other things to enter.