Playing with the MOON!

Okay...this is the kind of moon picture I was after...(this is my picture HA)

I did some research in a book I ordered that is written for the camera I have...
Photographers Guide to the Nikon Coolpix P500...
which I can better understand than the manual.

This picture I took of the moon in the night time mode of the camera...it is not showing what my eye sees and that is all the nifty craters and such I wanted ON the picture.

So totally by accident I had switched to M (manual) mode and captured this...

HUH...well yeah now you are talking!!!

So, i went in and read a little which I totally don't understand M mode...but I went back out and experimented in.

I went to the menu and preset the while balance by measuring what I was working with
and it will automatically save that...
As I was taking pictures I played in the shutter ranges and around the 1/200 was when I began getting good images.

Some were blurry lower than that...but I had accomplished what I was after, so I was ecstatic.

Lesson: The auto mode isn't exactly the best image you might be after...so I am after learning more about M mode.

Now I must practice action ...since I doubt seriously the Buffalo are going to "Strike and Hold that POSE" for me at the Buffalo roundup in Custer, come Sept 24th!

Which Chris and I are going to and are so excited about!!!!

She and I are calling it our artist retreat date...
we plan to meander up stop and sketch at will explore old places, get pictures of stuff...and hit the Buffalo roundup next day and meander back home...

We will be in our glory these 2 days!

Thanks for dropping in...leave a comment I love seeing who actually did drop by.

Have a nice Holiday!

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Progress on Student in Stained Glass Class

This is week 3 of Stained Glass Class, offered at the Stagecoach Gallery, for Hannah VandenBos

She came into the gallery in the middle of the week to get her soldering instruction in.

As you can see each step dramatically changes the project...

here is a close up of her project.

She did very well accepting the technique and took her project home to finish and tweak the lines and do side 2.

Tomorrow is the scheduled class in my studio...where we will add the zinc, hanging loops and clean it up, then patina the lines..
this project will be completed and ready to find its place of honor to hang.

She then has a choice to make.

Prepare to work on a circle or oval piece...or do another strait sided piece on her own, coming in if stumped...and then working on the circle piece...either way she has to do a circular project so she can learn how to finish that edge off...

the FULL Stained Glass Class is 7 weeks...Hannah is going to get the best compilation of the classes because she does her homework AT home...instead of bringing back what she was supposed to do and working on it during class time.  She will gain what I expect for the students to gain from 7 weeks of class time.

Learning the process
pattern prep then
transferring and cutting the glass
grinding the edges and fitting the pieces
foiling
soldering
then finishing the edges for two different styles of works
plus reinforcement

If you take the class the correct way you gain a LOT of knowledge from this instructor.
:D

hope the holiday weekend is good for you...

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Preparing...

The FULL moon is tonight...and I really want to capture a good image, as I am learning how to actually operate the camera...and this is an exercise for me to try to accomplish.
So I practiced last night.
I have research today...cause I am not doing what i have in my mind I want...

But they are fair... this one i do like the cloud coming across it...

This one I cropped to see if the haze increased...it does...

Truly I would like a great unhazed image possibly with moon craters happening...
and maybe I just need to wait for the October moon when it is the closest to the earth.

So this was my practice last night
working in the dark...

If inclined check out the stagecoach page
www.facebook.com/stagecoachgallery

and view some of the new pieces coming in this week...

Since I found out this morning that today is Friday and not yesterday...let me wish you a happy 3 day weekend.

:D
//

Riding Out...There he is...

As we were riding out and about last night after supper, I spot him...

This is taken through the window of the truck...soooo we creep up...

If you notice he has turned..he knows we are coming in...and he is watching us...

I am totally in the wrong direction of the sun...so these pictures are washing out...he is getting ready to lift off..

and he lifts up...

and there he goes...

OFF into the yonder...

While I am having this desire to photograph the Egrets...in take off...this was not what I was actually aiming to get..(no pun intended)
so you will see this effort again.

have a great day today!

The Foggy Road

I made this picture look old in photo shop, trying to get practice in here and there.

Y'all know by now I LOVE fog...this is a road I walk up some mornings and the trees were all hazed in a blanket of fog.

A favorite look for me is aged images..so I practiced with giving the piece an aged quality.

I pretty much alter everything..nothing is sacred.

This is the afternoon I am cutting off the computer..well stepping away from it anyway..and headed to the table in the work room to work on the dragonfly lamp.
I am making some little dragonflies today..sculpting them of solder and metal.
They will become affixed to the shade.  Giving it a nice 3D effect.

Lets get that done!

Then I will post the process for you.

Have a great afternoon..

Pondering the Morning

Sitting with my coffee mug in hand I gaze east, across the road, looking into one of my favorite views and plan the day.

I have the feast cooking, as Craig prefers the big feast around 9 or 10 am in the day, today it is a roast with carrots and potatoes.

Then I am headed to the gallery. 

I speak a lot of the gallery and I know y'all would like to see it. 
So, I am going to charge the video cam up and upload a small clip.
Not today, perhaps tomorrow.

Today, I need to finish researching the glass I want to use in creating a reproduction of Tiffany's (the true Tiffany) Lampshade-Magnolias.

The woman doesn't want a floor lamp or a hanging fixture, but a tall table stand lamp.
So this pattern needs to be trimmed down a tad to accommodate.

I should work on the dragonfly lampshade shade to finish and show you the mechanics involved there..

I intend to create a brochure of the store..

I need to dust...

and

I SHOULD fire up the exercise dvd...

All this I ponder over coffee...

Have a terrific day!

Sunrise walk...Egrets!

Sun is beginning to rise...we have'ta take Bugsy up to the vet for her momma surgery...this takes 5 minutes when I get back...

the sun is rising higher..so I grab a few of the others and we strike out for our walk.

Now this doesn't look steep from here but, this is the very top of Killer Hill...

How is this looking for ya now...we are ALMOST to the bottom...if i go further on you won't see the top of the building for reference.

Baby, Snorty and Forrest frolic about and find all kinds of smells and a stinky thing...

 

The bridge we aren't going to cross over today

I hear a squawk and there they are the Egret Pair!!!

One flies on but he is turning around!

This is hill minor a bit easier for me to get up when my knees are not co-operating like this morning...

Time to call them back and head up the hill...

Today is supposed to be in the 100's but the walk was a nice cool in the 70's point...today I am not at the store, I am closed Mondays..for the most part sometimes I do end up there.
Today tho I am helping Craig with some of the vehicle maintenance stuff.

Ya'll have a fantastic day! and thanks for coming along with us on our walk.

Activity on the Hill this Morning!

I spotted 2 different owls...the distance is great about 1/4 mile. Sitting on a pole across the road..it was a bit foggy this morning too.

this one was on our property almost in direct line of the one on the pole.

Later the deer were spooked and running hard!  Here is why!!!

A pack of coyotes...here are 2 of the pack...

Another one off from those 2...and..

this was another of the herd I could see...there were a few in the trees too but I couldn't get a good view of them

All in all about 7 of them!

the distance for these pictures were about 1/4 miles out...I think the camera did well for clarity!

Enjoy your day!

then later I photo shopped one

cropped in close but sorta pixally so I added a few layers to hide that fact...i like how it turned out..:D

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Photo to Panorama to Print

I photographed the old schoolhouse across the road from out place, and created a panorama view of the images.

Hmm kinda plain I am thinking.  So into Photo shop I go..(i need the practice anyway).
I added one layer and tweaked it, then added a second layer and tweaked it in vivid light and then made that a tad brighter...i ended up with this.

I have gone to Fine Art America and ordered it printed on metal, and with their silk paper to see how their print job turns out.

I prefer the enhanced image...which one would you prefer to buy ?

have a great day y'all
///

WATER...water...

Water is important, we ALL know this to be true.  the animals need water too...we make sure they have tanks and dug outs or at the very least go fill a tank to give them this precious commodity.

Insects need water too.

Bees NEED water to convert their honey.

We leave the tanks on at a trickle even once the cattle leave the pasture to provide ALL the critters some fresh water.

If we have a mosquito problem we make sure it is running adequately to not have stagnant draws so mosquitoes can breed.

The bees will bombard the tank and spill the water over...
it is the craziest process to watch.

Do you make sure there is a water source for the wild creatures?

Enjoy your day! (a rarity...nothing was mispelled!)

Stained Glass Class week 2

Student Hannah, arrived for week 2 of class.  Her homework from last week, to have cut the glass for the pattern.  Her pattern is dolphins, which will come to life as the process rolls on.

This week we set up the grinder out of the box so I could show her how everything went together, where the station guard went and how the eye guard attached...sorry forgot to get a picture.
We packed it all back up and put it out in the car.

Then moved over to my grinder, where I showed her how to clean it and then we put it back together filled it...and she was shown how to grind the edges to fit the pattern.
She did an excellent job and caught on to this process quickly, forgot picture of this too.

The next step is foiling the edges...so we moved back to the other table and set the foil holder up with a fresh roll of foil and foiled a couple of pieces.

I remembered the picture...:D

She began at the bottom to move up..the right piece shows a ground and foiled piece the left is ground and she is foiling the middle piece.

The rest is her homework for this break...to grind and fit and foil.

Next session #3 will be soldering...yeah the fun begins.

There are TONS of classes offered at the Stagecoach Gallery...all levels, most mediums.
Come in and discuss your desires or not sure, we have a list to help you figure out what you might like to explore.
The beauty of a class is, that no matter the level of experience you always come away satisfied with some kind of growth in your artist soul.

Or..open the door...

Come on by...:D

Thanks for visiting the blog today.

Mar

Operation Egret!

We have a large pond on the property, where the critters gather and frolic.  This picture is at the top of the knoll down to the reservoir.  It trails off to the East a ways yet and there is a bridge.
One critter in particular I want a shot of (on the camera) rising from the water.  Our egret, and I found out this morning there is a pair of them!

So, I planned all week for today's journey to the pond to get said picture.  Only he wasn't here, he was at the bridge...soooo no picture today of Mr. Egret.

I, for some odd reason, LOVE bee's.  they do so much for the environment and produce a yummy substance...except for a sting what is not to like about a bee...well allergies and allergic reactions aside.

There is a colony of bee boxes by the pasture...the bees were sleeping when I first arrived, it was cool and dark still.
As soon as the sun hit their box, they began to rise!

Those little specks are the bees.
Wait a close up...

Then we rode out to JR's to get some fresh tomatoes.  In the back tree by his pond is a dead tree.  Birds love a dead tree. 
Here is a picture that shows a few of the doves and one of the four woodpeckers.

there was a woodpecker at the very top too...

Time to get ready For Hannah VandenBos...she is learning stained glass, this is week 2.
Her homework was to cut the glass to her pattern, this week we learn to set the grinder up and grind the edges to fit the pattern, and foil.  Grinding the edges and foiling will be her homework for this break.

Have a great Sunday, thanks for dropping by :D.

New Work Displayed

New work is beginning to arrive from several of the showing artists at the gallery.
We are gearing up towards hunting season and Christmas season!

When the hunters arrive in Platte, SD to hunt the creatures and need to return home appropriately attired with gifts..

Jarod Tegethoff has brought some of his antler creations.  This is a coat rack.  Perfect for lodge or home, or take back as a souvenir for the man cave!

Isn't she FUN!  Mary Schweitzer has created Punk Fairie to delight the fun at heart.  PERFECT gift for the teenager, for sure...but I wouldn't mind having her at all.  VERY eclectic.
and of course those Fairie collectors, will not see another like this one!

Julie Windler sent this gorgeous! and I mean GORGEOUS covered dish.  NOT small but not huge either. The perfect size. 

What I love for pottery is it is functional, and when not using it..decorative!

These are just a few of the newest items in the gallery...TONS more selection of so many different styles, mediums and theme.

You HAVE to come in to experience the whole ambiance and flavor.


Thanks for looking..have a great weekend!