Confession is Good for the Soul

I love taking pictures, especially nature pictures and I have a thing for cameras... I have several of them.

I have two DSLRs and several point and shoot digital cameras , (four of them to be exact). My confession is that I had never shot any of them out of the Auto mode before last night. I didn't know how.

Auto has worked very well for me, but I always had to do some tweaking and editing on my pictures before printing or posting on my blog.

All of that is changing, because I am currently taking a photography class. The first class was last night. I enjoyed it a lot and learned so much about my camera. Hands on training is definitely the best way for me to learn.


These shots are the first pictures I've ever taken that was not in the auto mode!

I went to Forrest Park this morning and took most of these pictures there. I'm usually not too crazy about the flowers on hosta, but I love this deep purple flower. It was just buzzing with bee activity.

I've become so accustomed to taking my pictures in the auto mode and for the most part I was happy with them, so I was a just a little uncomfortable when I told the instructor that, "Auto is my friend", and his response was, "It's a stupid friend".

I guess no serious photographer takes pictures in Auto. I don't want to just take pictures, I want to be a serious photographer. So I leave my comfortable friend, "Auto", behind and strive to know how to operate my camera and take better pictures.


If anyone lives in the Indy area and is interested in taking photography classes, might I recommend Indy Photo Coach. The instructor I have is excellent, (even if he did insult my very good friend, "Auto"). Just what I learned about my Canon 50D last night is worth the investment in the class and we have really just scratched the surface.

On a sad note- I'll be away for a few days. My mother-in-law will be having surgery tomorrow on her shoulder that was injured in a fall a couple of months ago. It has been re-injured and the bone is no longer in the socket. She is in the end stages of Alzheimer's and weighs about 90 pounds. There is a chance she might not even make it through the surgery, and if she does make it, the next couple of weeks will be very difficult for her. We are concerned that she will stop eating again and lose even more weight. It is very sad to have to put her through this surgery but we have consulted with the surgeon and those responsible for her care and we feel like it is necessary.

Please keep her in your prayers.

White River Gardens Reflecting Pond

Dragonfly Pictures

Here are a few of the dragonfly pictures I took at White River Gardens yesterday!

Happy 4th of July

I had a wonderful day today. I spent several hours at White River Gardens and Butterfly Exhibit. The zoo and the gardens are together and for the price of admission you get to enjoy both. I had planned to walk through the zoo but it was packed today. They literally had to close the parking lot at one point because it was full. Thankfully most of the people were at the zoo and I was able to enjoy the gardens at a leisurely pace. The butterfly exhibit was a bit crowded though but it was still fun.


We finished off our day in Indy with a stop by the Chocolate Cafe. Hubby and I shared Chocolate Eruption Cheesecake. Oh, wow, was it ever yummy!

I'll be sharing some of my pictures from the gardens over the next few days. I spent most of my time trying to get pictures of dragonflies at the garden ponds.

I hope all of my American friends have a wonderful 4th of July celebration!

Question Mark Butterfly on the Hummingbird Feeder

This morning I was outside cleaning and filling the birdbaths when I spotted this butterfly on the hummingbird feeder.

I'm going to White River Gardens and the butterfly exhibit today. I can't wait to be in a building filled with butterflies!