I am a Scavenger

I've been a Scavenger for a while now.   It seemed such a little thing, but it has made a HUGE impact on my photography, my attitude, my confidence and my life.
That may sound a bit mellow-dramatic, but I assure you, it is not!!!

I have done things.
Many things.
I never would have done these things if not for the Scavenger Tribe!!

I remember the first time I heard about this thing called the Photo Scavenger Hunt on a now obsolete platform called G+. Ron Clifford had shared a link for the signups in his stream. I had recently joined this thing called G+, discovered him there and immediately followed him because I loved his style of photography. This was at the beginning of my own photography journey. I was still discovering my love for photography and learning on a whole new level!
I had NO idea the journey I had put my self on!!

I said "I'm in!" for the first time in March of 2015..... I remember it being so fun to see a group of people that enjoyed photography AND each other!
The first meetup had just happened and there were many post in my stream about how awesomely wonderful it had been.  I'm guessing Ron was commenting on some posts as well, so I saw the posts that way!  It looked like a fabulous time was had by all!!!
It got me very motivated to jump in and become a part of this "community".
What I didn't realize at the time was how truly WONDERFUL being part of this community would be!   I had NO idea of the friendship that would form, the connections across the world that would be made, the encouragement I would receive, the happiness I would have from meeting people in real life!
 That's right!!!
This small town girl right here got on a plane (for the fist time ever) flew across the country (Alabama to Nevada) to meet people I had only "met" on the internet!!!!

It.
Was.
Epic.

I cannot describe to you how absolutely wonderful it was to meet these precious people!!
These Scavengers.
My tribe!

Life changing. Enormous amounts of FUN. Hugs galore. Photography.  LAS VEGAS!!!!

That will be a blog for another day.....

For now, I'd like to take a look back at my first ever Hunt Photos.
It was Round 15...there were 10 words.

....quick explanation on how it works..... It happens about four times a year. There is a "sign up" day. On that day you say (type) "I'm in" if you want to participate in the Hunt.  After you sign up, we are given the rules of the Hunt.
My favorite rule is "Have FUN"!!!!
It's important.
There are a few technical rules about how to post the photos, how to name the photos, how to participate in general.
Then, we get the List.

The list is sacred.

The list is magical.

Every.

Time.

We are not allowed to talk about the list outside of that particular Round's community!!! (It's one of the rules!)  (it causes confusion, jealousy and world hunger. The list must be guarded at all cost!!)
We are given 7 - 10 words to interpret into photographs!!!
Sounds easy, right?!!?

My first list was as follows:

Bite

Bliss

Cobweb

Curved 

Greasy

  

Hang in There 

LadyBug

Risk

Wax

Yellow

I SO wish I could take you back to see all of the FABULOUS interpretations of these words!!! Let me tell you.....Scavengers are amazing, creative and fun!! For each word there are hundreds of interpretations!!!
So.
Much.
Creativity!!!
I was hooked after this round!!!
I haven't missed a single round since my first sign up!!!
Even when I was at my own personal worst, (life was very ugly for me for a bit there) the Hunt helped me focus on something else for a while!
I have submitted a photo for every word on each List.  Not always the best photography, I'm a work in progress, but motivation to keep plugging on.
The List has made me think outside of the box, inside the box, under the box, through the box, around the box, and made me look for the essence of the box!
It is because of the Hunt that I found the Arcanum. I learned more about photography and post processing under my Master Instructor, Bob Young. As an apprentice in the Arcanum I had access to people all over the world giving feedback to help me improve my skills. Much like the Scavenger Hunt, but consistently.  It was like having my Tribe with me every day, not just during the Hunt!!! It was another of my life changing experiences.

Because of the Hunt (and consequently, the Arcanum) I now have my own photography business, a web page for my work and have made actual money doing something that I absolutely LOVE!!!
<<<  My website  >>>

I found my niche, my style and my voice because of the Photo Scavenger Hunt, the people of the Hunt (my Tribe) and the process of the Hunt.

My latest entries for Round 26.....I think (hope!!) you will see a bit of improvement....

Courage

Coward

Curtain 

Home 

Monkey

Rainbow

Road

Selective Color

Sepia

Wizard

You can see everyone's entries here ----> Round 26
I highly recommend that you go see just what this Photo Scavenger Hunt is all about!!!

This is not the end of my story, just a quick  look into how it started!!!!
I will forever be grateful to the people of the Hunt.... Chrysta who had the idea and made it happen, kept it fun, Lauri and Elizabeth who have kept it going through ALL of the changes that were forced upon us,  and each person of the Scavenger Tribe.
Y'all are in my heart, always.

#HappySads

Life happens when we're not paying attention!!

Well, Hey Y'all!!!

It's been a minute since I last posted...SO much life has happened. 

Tragedy and triumph.

Loss and gain.

Death and life.

It would take me ages to sort out the whole story so let's suffice to say....it's good to be back!!! 

I've been doing things..... lots of things.

I'm now considered a "professional" photographer!!! Although, I still have so much to learn! Since I have been paid for (many) jobs that seems to make one a professional. Who knew?!?! 

I also have a website (with a blog that is also neglected) where I post my work. I'll post a link in a later blog. 

I also started working outside of our home!!! O.o  That's probably the biggest change for me!!! The Army decided they needed my husband in a different place. An hour and fifteen minute  drive form our home!! =/ That change along with the actual job change put our budget in a deficit for a while there!!! It was tough at first, but we adjusted, made some changes and I started working part time. We didn't love it, but it helped.  There is not much funny in this story, but our family has had some really good times together these past few years!!! 

My oldest child is now a National Guard soldier!!!! He graduated (homeschool) high school (early)(because he worked hard!) and shipped to Basic training in April!!  Since he is National Guard he is now home and working on getting his college stuff going. The Army does not make it easy, but he is making progress!! It is important to us that he gets his college in before joining full time. He wants to be an officer one day and this is the best way for him to reach his goals!!! 

My middle child continues her pursuit of musical knowledge and writing prowess!! She is so talented!!! I could listen to her play the piano all day!! She is also teaching herself the guitar, ukulele and cello!!! There is no boundary to what she can accomplish when she sets her mind to it!!!  She still has a desire to be a fireman. She is finishing up her latest book. 90,000+ words. 350+ typewritten pages!!!!  She is discovering she enjoys science, through the fabulous teachings of my sciencey friend!!! 

My baby boy is still the same fun loving kid as he has always been  just taller, much taller!!! He enjoys mentioning that he is taller than me frequently!!  It's adorable!! He was the shortest of us for so long and very recently has grown past me and his sister!!! He has discovered a love for classical music!! Playing it on the piano and listening to it while doing math or whatever!!! I couldn't be happier!!! I share a love a classical music with my dad and now with my son!! =) 

We had a few pet additions to our family as well, but they deserve their own blog so I'll save their intro for another time!!!

Blessings!!! 

So Very Much Not A Farm Girl.... Part 4....

Ok. Yes.  

There has been another incident of my non-farminess.... 

If you need to catch up here is a link>>>Farm Girl Part 3<<< 

You will also find links to the other stories there..... I'm afraid I will never be a "Farm Girl".

On to this story....

I am not what you would call a snake hater!!!! Quite the opposite!! I think they are beautiful and have a very specific purpose. As long as I don't have to see them, hear them, or whatever, they can live their happy life however they choose! 

Where I begin to digress from my lofty opinion of them is when I see them in places I frequent…

Namely, my yard!

As a “city girl livin’ the country life” I am not accustom to seeing snakes so my first reaction to a sighting is “GET THE SHOVEL!!!!”  or  “GET THE GUN!!!!!”  It really doesn’t matter what size the snake is…. At some point they will be bigger, possibly venomous, and/or eat my chicken’s eggs so all snakes must go!!!  I am assuming that most "farm girls" are capable of taking care of this themselves.... well, good on them!!! 

Yesterday I had some extra energy (a rare thing it seems these days!!) so I decided to go on a walkabout around our property. My Army Man had told me of thousands of flowers growing in the bee field so I wanted to check that out for sure! And the bees!!!! Of course, I wanted to check on the bees too!!! It’s always so wonderful to see lots of bees flying around and being active around their hive!!

See those spots on the right side?? Those are bees!!!

I started out in our front yard which is actually very large. Earlier, I had spotted some mushrooms I wanted to shoot (photograph) so I headed that way first! I got a few shots and let me just say…. mushrooms can be a bit tricky to shoot. I was lying prostrate on the ground to get a good angle and could feel a bit of the dampness from recent rains coming through my clothes, but it had to be done. It doesn’t help that my oldest son, who was getting logs for a future bonfire, drove by on the lawnmower and gave me a weird look. You’d think he’d be used to seeing his mom down the ground with a camera by now!! Maybe it was the dampness….. pretty sure I saw an eye roll in there somewhere!!! 

But a photographer does what a photographer needs to do to get the shot....

I think it tuned out quite lovely!!!! I have a few (read, several) more, but they didn't strike me quite like this one did!!!

I left the area with the mushrooms and went across our ever-running creek!!! It's the little creek that could!!! It never stops flowing!! Even when there has been no rain for months!! It is a faithful little creek and when it has rained it gets bigger and louder!!  Anyway.... I crossed the creek and found a few wild flowers growing over by the pond!!! (and here I was thinking the flowers were almost done!!!) 

Well, technically the last (yellow) one is ragweed!! At least that's what we call it around these parts and it causes many folks plenty of misery this time of year!!!   But I found it's tiny blossoms quite enchanting (after I sneezed about four times!)!!

As  I was making my way back to the bee field I came across a bit of wetness that I can only describe as extremely gross!!! It is a place where runoff water flows from properties higher than ours and the place it ends up is stagnant for the most part!!! There must be movement somewhere, somehow, because of the shapes within the depths, but it seems very few and far between!!!

?????

From here I walked the path through our enchanted forest (at least that's what I tell myself as I am anxiously dodging huge spiders, countless spots of poison ivy, possibly snakes--that I cannot see, thankfully! and moss!!). I love moss!! =) 

The bee field is through this path and it really is covered in little yellow flowers!!! It is quite a sight, but the camera does not see the beauty as I see it. The camera only sees the chaos so I decided not to share photos of that part!! 

I crossed back over the creek (in a different area)(we have like three creek crossings on our property!) and decided to go see the chickens!!! They are always good for a photo or two!! I noticed that the volunteer tomato (by the coop yard) had a few orange tomatoes so I decided to give them to the chickens as I have done all summer!!! 

No big deal!!! 

Right?!?!?!

WRONG!!!

The wooden gate that the tomato vine has clung to all summer has on opening on the support bar that until now held a spider. The kind of spider that sort of buries itself and puts it's web around the opening....I think it's a trapdoor spider or something  like that!!! Anyway..... I noticed that it's web was hanging down so I looked closer and freaked out a little!!!

I KNOW!!!! It's really hard to tell from this photo!! (believe me I saw the giggles the men were suppressing while I was showing them this photo in the camera!!!) 

BUT...there is a SNAKE in there where the spider used to be!!!! 

FREAKING OUT HERE!!!!!
First of all.... All I saw was a tan body, dark spots. Tan body, dark spots....tan body dark spots...

Gaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!! It could be a rattle snake OR a copperhead!!! Both of which live in our area of the world AND both of which are venomous!!!!

So I did the only logical thing I could think of.... I called my Army Man!!!!

Luckily for me (and ultimately the snake) he was very close by with a coworker!!!

That's right!!! I called the Alabama National Guard!!! 

Bahahahhahahaha

And what do you think they did??? They came right over and started looking for that snake!! 

I am the luckiest girl in the world right here!!!! Two very capable Army Men came to my house to remove the threat (that I was feeling!!)!! They had to remove the planks on the gate because the snake would NOT budge out of his hiding place! He had gotten himself curled up around a screw or something....I don't know. All I know is, there was a snake in the gate, he did not come out of the gate and I don't want him near me, my kids or the chickens!!! 

They worked on this thing manually removing the screws so they could get to the snake! 

=) =) =)

Meanwhile, I got a photo of a wasp butt..... This is no ordinary wasp (butt)!! The size of this thing (the wasp,not necessarily the butt!) is about the size of my pinky!!! It is the largest, reddest wasp I think I have ever seen!!!!  EEEeeeeekkk!!!! We stayed well away from this thing!!! 

Seriously, there are days, beautiful days, that I wished I'd have just stayed inside!!!! 

Back to the drama of the snake.....

The Army Men finally got the snake out! It was all of about 9 inches long. (shivers!) Jere said it was a "rat snake". Non-venomous. Non-threatening.  

Still....it had to go!!!
Never fear though you (crazy) snake lovers!!!! It was a catch and release!!! The guys took it with them and released it in the woods far away from our home!!! =) 

See those dirty hands?!?!?!  

THAT is what the Alabama National Guard did for me 

(and this little snake!)!!!! 

It really helps that I'm married to one of them!!!!! 

=) =)  

 Then my son, traitor lover of reptiles that he is, got to hold the snake while the Army Men were cleaning up!!! He was thrilled and begged asked several times if he could keep it!!!
Ummmmm NOOOOO!!!!! I need my sanity!!!!

                                      

To help and prevent nightmares (my own included!) I will leave you with these last few photos I took while waiting to be rescued by my Army Man!!! 

Find a happy place. Think happy thoughts. Find a happy place. Sunshine and rainbows. Find a happy place.

Blessings!!!

Waiting Game.....

I have now completed my requirements for Sphere 1 in the Arcanum!!!

Hooray!!!!

At least my Army Man is happy!! My work/study has used up several of my evenings and he misses me!!!
Some of you may have no idea what I am talking about when I say, "Arcanum"!! Let me encourage you to check it out!!! It is a new way of online learning based on an "Master/Apprentice" technique!!! It has been invaluable to me!!! The time spent in  my Cohort has increased my skill and knowledge to a level I never thought possible and the friendships I have made will last a lifetime!!

Here is the link to their website >>>Information that can change your life!!<<<

If you have any desire to learn more, increase your skills or become a Master and teach others this is a great way to do these things!!!

Trey Ratcliff is a co-founder of the Arcanum and has wonderful information on his own website >>>stuckincustoms<<< He is an avid supporter of the art of photography and finding your niche and sticking with it!!!

I am still finding my niche.....

I think I shall have to refer to myself as a "Fine Art Photographer".

Here is my Level 19 Critique session with my Master Bob Young...>>>Bretta's Critique<<<

It will give you a taste of what I like to do as a photographer.
Sometimes I like to make a photo look like a painting. It is a fun process in Photoshop!!
I do not like to photograph people in a posed position.... I do not mind candid shots, but mostly I only do that of my children and believe me it's all I can do to get those done!!!
Portrait photographers have my complete sympathy and respect!!!
I could never do what they do!!!

These are the photos I had in my Level 19 Critique....

Well, that's that!!

What's next??

I'm so glad you asked, because I'd like to know too!!! ;-)

When you complete Sphere 1 in the Arcanum you are placed in a "Lounge" where you wait for a Sphere 2 Master to find you and pick you to go into the Sphere 2 experience of their making!!! 

That's where I am for the time being!!! =)   

Waiting to be found!!   

One of the concerns I have about Sphere 2 is there doesn't seem to be too many Fine Art type of Cohorts... There are several landscape and portrait Masters....

My Master (Bob) has assured me that I will be chosen and have a lot to offer.... for now I will continue to wait, take more photos, keep learning more about Lightroom and Photoshop, and enjoy evenings with my Army Man with no looming work due!!!!! 

Happiness!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Blessings!!!

A Little Help Never Hurts...Part 2

Same kind of post as yesterday.... going to show you a progression of a photo from the Straight out of camera version to the final edit...

I am learning so much in the Arcanum and I cannot sing it's praises enough!!
Seriously, if you are interested in increasing knowledge and skill in your photogrphy, give some serious thought to joining. You can cancel at any time if you feel it's not a good fit!!

>>> The Arcanum Website <<<

Ok...so here is the flower of today....

This is the photo straight out of my camera..... I really do enjoy getting down in the nitty gritty of flowers and showing the layers and textures!!! God is an amazing designer!! He perfected beauty way before man felt a need to have perfection!!!
I like this photo pretty well here, there are obvious issues. One being the petals on the bottom are cut off.... that is not a problem though!!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is what I presented to my Cohort (July 2015) for Level 8 (where I had to narrow down a selection of my photos from 10 to 3 for a critique!)...  I simply cropped it so all of the sides are evenly proportioned. No biggie... All of the post-processing adjustments for this version were made with Picasa. A FREE editing software offered (and supported) by Google!! It's all I had at the time and I really enjoyed working with it. It is a great way to "get your feet wet" in the world of post processing!!!

Here is the link if your interested  >>> Picasa Website <<<

After I cropped the image, I did a few color adjustments. In Picasa the first thing I always did is darken the shadows... it's a slider bar adjustment that really makes the photo begin to pop a bit.
I did a soft focus on this one too!! =)  I thought it made it look kind of dreamy.... I also added a vignette. Usually vignettes are black. I chose to go lighter on this one and use a grey tone. One of the things I LOVE about Picasa is there is a rainbow selection for vignettes which mean the option of vignette color are pretty much limitless!!!! =) =)   I thought the grey vignette added to the dreaminess of this photo and I really liked it!!!


For my Level 16 work in the Arcanum I had to reprocess photos presented to my Cohort in any of the Levels of 1 - 8. Just like the first flower I showed you yesterday.... here is the link in case you missed it!! (gasp!!)
(just kidding!!)
>>> A Little Help Never Hurts (Part 1) <<<


I probably should mention here that for almost a month now, I have been using the Free trial of the Creative Cloud Photography plan!!! Here is a link to that....
>>> CC-Lightroom & Photoshop <<<
I will be starting my subscription in September as I don't think I can do without them now!!! Lightroom and Photoshop can do so much more than Picasa, although, I will keep Picasa because it does a few things better!!! =)

Now for the reprocessed ones!!

This version I processed only in Lightroom. Started by cropping (again! because I started back with the original photo!). Did some spot removal because there were a few white spots on the petals (I may have forgotten to mention that previously...) Did a "Vibrance" adjustment. Also adjusted Shadows and Contrast. The photo at that point seemed to have some "noise" going on so I did a "Luminace Smoothing"... it helped!!


Then I went even further.....

I took the photo from Lightroom into Perfect Effects (I have Perfect Effects because my generous Master in the Arcanum saw something in me that would respond to this program!!)
As a military wife, stay-at-home mom I do not have much any extra income. FREE is ALWAYS better for me. I do pay my Arcanum dues ($79 per month)  myself (as to not burden my family with that cost!) with the small amount I get paid to keep the books for my church...

This is the final (and again, best, IMO) version of the image....
In Perfect Effects I did a noise reduction again. I used a filter called "Bleach Bypass" which reduced the saturation quite a bit! and I did a filter called Grunge which gave it a bit of texture and ended with a Vignette. One of the things I like about Perfect Effect's vignette is it is not just a standard dark or light fading.... there are MANY options and I chose the one called "Strong" but it uses the color of the photo, not black, which I really liked!!!! =)


Blessings!!!!