Clifs of Moher

These cliffs stretch 5 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. I'm sure they are quite the tourist attraction when Summer comes, but all was quiet today. I didn't have to pay to enter and I didn't have to follow the path, either! I climbed the stone fence and sat in the high grass to take this shot- which you can see is quite the vantage point. It was raining and foggy, and if you look close at the grass you can see what felt like 40 mph winds. Still majestic!

Downtown Sligo

Today I saw all I was hoping to see in Ireland . . . . . green countryside, sheep with their babies, and another castle! So you can imagine how hard it was to pick one. This shot was taken tonight from my hotel room looking over the main intersection.

Maybe tomorrow I will post something green. Stay tuned.

Wedding Day

This is my friend Jesi. Today is her wedding day and the reason I am in Ireland. I've taken over 700 shots and the day isn't over yet, but just quickly looking through about half of them this became a favorite. I love the color of it, her shadow in the doorway, and the feeling of old romance I get when I look at her. You're getting to see it first!

Congratulations Jeff and Jesi!

Boats In The Bay

I am in Sligo Ireland and I thought I would be posting photos of rolling green countryside and castles and sheep, but I haven't seen any of those things, so for today I snapped this colorful boat with the mountains as a backdrop. Tomorrow is another day......

Dublin Dead End

My first day in Ireland. I sure didn't think my first day's post would look anything like this! It's a very good example of what I see all around me. I don't know what it says, but with the storm clouds as a backdrop, I think it frames the graffiti well.

Coffee To Go

This is not the photo I had planned for today, but I spent 12 hours on a plane and that wasn't what I planned either. This is a shot of my iced latte - my companion on the road, and a willing subject!

She's With The Band?

I kept coming back to this one. Spooky and beautiful at the same time always wins out.
This was taken at Hell's Kitchen tonight - and the band rocked it! I only had my point and shoot with me and was pleasantly surprised when I saw this shot.

Goodbye Already!

This is Old Man Winter walking into the sunset!
I am feeling quite confident that this is my last shot
with snow in it for quite a few months!

Things have a way of messing with me when I'm this
bold in my predictions, but I'm sticking with it
now that I've said it!

March Madness

Yesterday the snow was gone and it rained all day long. Today I woke up to a snowstorm. Oh Minnesota! Thank you for the crazy weather to make my photo-a-day more interesting!

This gentleman was doing what many were doing this morning - shoveling out after another 10 inches piled up. He was different than the rest. He actually seemed to be enjoying himself!

Spring will come........right?

Soggy Cityscape

Some would say this isn't a good photo because it's blurry. I would argue that that's exactly why I like it! Everywhere I looked tonight this is what I saw - bright saturated colors reflected onto the roads.

I think it's beautiful.

Cherry Tomato

I must be getting comfortable with this photo blog thing - 2 days in a row I forgot about the pressure to take pictures all day. My camera has become a comfortable sidekick!

After fitting an old macro lens to my new camera, I spent the evening playing around with close - up shots of tiny things. Here's the winner!

Sunday Drive

Temperatures going up and rain coming down - fog settles over the twin cities tonight.

Day of Beauty

Instant beauty shop on Saturday morning! I made a decision long ago to never do hair at home - even for my family. Taylor somehow cajoled me into turning her into a blond today. While she was sitting under my antique hair dryer, reading the newest issue of Vogue, I took a few shots from different angles and liked this one.

I liked it even more after I washed it in sepia tones. Somehow, it looks new and old at the same time.

Fire at the Funhouse

The sky was so interesting this morning that I felt like I needed to shoot up at something to take advantage of it. Turns out the Wiseman Art center at the University was the perfect subject!

The Wiseman is cool enough on its own and has been photographed thousands of times, but with the clouds like this it takes on a new perspective - to me it looks like a Fun-house on fire!

Rock on Leprechaun!

I found this spirited chap at O'Gara's in St. Paul earlier today. The rest of him was just as festive as you might imagine, but I like the simplicity of this shot more.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of the Irish folks and their crazy friends!!

Art Changes Everything

Uptown. Eight o'clock. 50 plus degrees. I was sizing up this wall to see if I could get a good shot out of it when a couple of runners passed by (the blurry things with legs.) I pressed the shutter and got this!

One of the things that has been so interesting about this project so far has been all the different reactions to my posted photos - who likes what, and for what reasons. Usually the ones I am the most excited about get the least response and vice versa! Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.

Where's The Cheese?

I was playing around with some lighting ideas before work today and took a bunch of photos of some kitchen objects and utensils. This is the inside of my cheese grater.

This view must be what mice dream about - just waiting for the cheese!

Mornin' To Ya

It may be simple, but I like the composition of this photo.

Unroasted coffee beans from allover the world  are lined up in
bags along the wall at my neighborhood coffee house. I've taken shots here a couple of other days, but other photos won out.
Today the bean takes center stage.

You Are My Sunshine

Think Spring! Sunday afternoon at Cub with my camera - I was laughing out loud when I saw this! After I took a few shots, the store employees came over and told me I couldn't take photos in the store(???) I was thrilled I already had a good one!

One more hour of sunlight started today. Appropriate, don't you think?

Firestone Flyer

I was all excited when my husband asked if I would like to go to the car show tonight. I thought there would be all kinds of sleek, colorful car shots to choose from. I was wrong, but I really liked this abstract looking shot of Russano and the Firestone horse flying behind him.

Dessert at Travail

My daughter and I came across this restaurant with the entire front window open to the kitchen. I had taken about 20 shots before this guy noticed and gave me a huge smile. I can't imagine the staff isn't used to gawkers, but they all started cutting up and posing!

I picked this one because it was real. To everyone at travail: Thanks for the entertainment!

Waiting for Superman

Is it my imagination, or does it look like a Superhero is about to appear? No special effects - that is fog rolling in above the city tonight.I drove through downtown to snap a few on my way home from work tonight and was inspired by the comic book effect of this shot.

Rights of Passage?

At first you think this must be a few of our 10,000 lakes. Upon further inspection, you see it is more than a few of our 100,000 POTHOLES!! Anyone who lives in Minnesota is very familiar with this scene right now. Anyone who doesn't, is very lucky!

Drippy Tuesday

This is what today looked like everywhere I looked! I caught this drip in action and thought it was pretty cool! (pun intended)

You think if I keep wishing hard for Spring, I will get quick results like this?

Pretty in Pink

When I went to bed last night, there was a snowstorm, when I woke up there was ice underneath all the snow from the storm, when I left the house I slid into a ditch and stayed there for 2 hours..... are you seeing the theme here?

I had to break out of the funk. This perfectly pink tulip reminded me that Spring will indeed come. Sooner or later.

Frosty Window

I don't know if it's lack of sleep due to a busy weekend, or my talent is running on empty. . . but this is all I could muster today. It is frost on the inside of a storm door at my house.

Tomorrow is another day - thankfully!

Weeeeeee!

Ok, so I'm in a motion phase, but I have over 300 days left, so that just means I will perfect movement in pictures by the time I'm done with this - right?

My family spent the day at Nickelodeon Universe and I took over 90 shots today. This was my very last.

Color, Movement, fun - what else do you want from me?

Lionfish

I went into my local aquarium today for some inspiration and found him! The pattern on his scales caught my eye, but the tank had alge on it and it took away from the colored version, so I opted for black and white. I think his stripes pop better this way anyhow.

Mr. Dreds

I was coming up the hill and he was going down. I like the gritty look of Mr. Dreds with a bit of the city behind him. I've been wanting to post more street and/or people pictures, but it's too cold to wander very far!! Stay tuned.

Wheelin'

This is about 60 bicycles in a row. I focused on the spokes and tires to emphasize the tunnel-like effect, and moved the tire nearest to me for a bit of blur.

SPEED

I have been trying to get this shot since before I started my blog!! My husband and daughter have taken turns driving me through the tunnel so I could rig up my camera and settings to get it perfect. Well, tonight I got it as perfect as I'm going to get it! I'm going about 50 mph - and yes, this time I am driving. (don't try this at home!)

I know I'm going to get various emails tomorrow about this photo (Mom, I'm fine) but it was so worth it for this amazing shot!