Purple Berries

Not very fall-like, but I captured these berries not too long ago. I was totally drawn to the vivid purple color.



Purple and green is one of my favorite color combinations, and always reminds me of a bathing suit I bought in my early teens. A one piece, with purple and green diagonal stripes, purchased from the Spiegel Catalog through the mail - one of the first mail order purchases for me. I remember feeling quite out of my comfort zone with that color combination - perhaps it was a departure from the style of that time. But so I digress.

The trees here have reached their peak and I need to get out there with my camera before it's all gone!

Edited to add: The plant photographed is a Callicarpa or Beautyberry, a shrub found mainly in the South.

Brotherly Love

These two guys are sons of one of my co-workers.



I shot the youngest when he was an infant and at eight months, and now he's two. Oh, how much he's changed!



They certainly share the love and their curly hair (the curly hair definitely comes from their mother!).

A Night in Vienna

I attended a student orchestra concert last week at the high school. While I don't have direct ties to the orchestra program, I still play the violin and enjoy listening to live classical music, especially music created by young artists. I guess it brings me back to my own high school orchestra days.

The program included string players from the 6th grade, whose skills are still quite basic, all the way to the High School orchestra. The wide breadth of musical ability across the performer displayed the years of practice it takes to play an instrument well.

I had this musician picked out as the most technically advanced of the high school students. Sure enough, later on in the program he performed a solo.


I love the rich sound of the cello. I think if I were to pick up another stringed instrument, this would be it.


I noticed her black fingernail polish - something I would never do with mine!


Congrats to all the performers - they did a great job!


Shared with Nancy's Tuesday Muse

Adorable Family

I enjoy my photography as a hobby so when it comes to formal portraits for other people, I only photograph families who are close friends of mine.
I've known Kellie and Ian for several years and still remember when they moved into the house right behind us. They now have two adorable kids who are 6 and 4, making them each 10 years younger than my own kids. Watching them often reminds me of my own kids running around the back yard when they were young.

I told you they were adorable...


And so full of fun...


And silliness....

The boy is silly just like my own, and I can imagine my own daughter reacting to her silly brother in the same way!

It's hard to go wrong with such a beautiful family.


Shared with Nancy's Tuesday Muse

What Goes Up .....

You know the saying - what goes up must come down.

Up she goes...


What I didn't capture is the girl's fall from Caesar after the above photo (I was probably frozen in disbelief). She was a little too high up, got bounced up and lost hold of her left stirrup, so down she went. You know how things appear to happen in slow motion when you see something wrong going on? Well, that's what it looked like to me.

But she landed quite gracefully on her shoulder with no contact from her horse (he moved right out of the way - good boy). She dusted herself off, got right back on and back to jumping.



Good Job, Caesar....


It's not a sport for the faint of heart, that's for sure.

But for sure, it makes her happy.

Shared with Tuesday Muse