So, I took my 2nd trip down the Ocoee river this year on July 4th, both within 2 weeks of each other. I was lucky enough to get the same guide this trip as I’ve had my other trips. Danger Dan is simply the best guide. This was the first trip rafting on the front and let me say that I drank as much of the Ocoee has I could without falling in. On the bus ride up to the drop off point, guide Michael sat with me. What a small world…he knows where my little small home town is in Ga! He told me about some of his trips down the river………and some falls. Funny thing on this trip is our raft ended up behind his and I was able to catch him in action. Be sure and watch the video to catch this entertainment. You will also see the beauty of this river, some wild rapids that tried to EAT US ALIVE. Danger Dan did a water rescue at Hell Hole, which wasn’t easy considering we had to paddle our ass off to get through the powerhouse rapids from a dead stop. Somewhere along the way my Aquapac for the flip cam didn’t seal right and got a little water in it. It made it to the end to the trip, but the rush of water from Hell Hole was more than it could take. The cam froze up and wouldn’t do anything. Was happy when I after letting the battery run dead and then charging for a bit I was able to retrieve all of my videos from the day. YAY!!! Sad to say I still haven’t gotten to surf Hollywood yet. Looks like I need to make another trip….WHO’S WITH ME NEXT TIME?? I need folks that can paddle hard!
July 4th 2010 Ocoee from Donna on Vimeo.
I am so far behind on blogging, but as I don’t think many people read this thing I’m not sweatin it 
This past weekend July 19th, Rick and I met up with some of friends for some fun on the Ocoee River. We took out first white water rafting trip last year and we had a blast. We decided that this year when we went that it would be a FULL RIVER experience. I can’t begin to tell you just how much fun we had. This trip was planned months in advance and the wait only severed as building up the anticipation level to almost unbearable! About 2 weeks before we went, I tortured myself daily with videos on youtube and by the time our rafting trip got here I was simply terrified of the rapid named humongous/godzilla! I had watched video after video of this rapid eating people ALIVE! Disappearing into that churning wall of water and never surfacing again…………ok, that could be because the cameraman didn’t bother to swing around and show you where they were washed up on shore battered and bruised several miles down the river. Luckily, we sailed right on through Godzilla, even Broken Nose, Edge of the World and Hell Hole couldn’t stop us this day!
Our guide Danger Dan was amazing….He knows this river well. When he isn’t yelling at you to PADDLE PADDLE PADDLE – DONT STOP he will entertain you with a joke and even a song…..and if ever happen to have to the joy of rafting with Danger Dan, don’t forget to ask him to play the piano for you. Cherokee Rafting is the best. I am planning several more white water rafting trips before this summer is over and I can’t wait….
See ya on the River!!!!
On May 1, 2010 my baby brother Danny married the love of his life and our family gained the most beautiful and sweetest girl ever. I had the honor of photographing this special occasion, along with some awesome help from Wendy of WendyCPhotography and Sandy Dilbeck. I can’t even begin to describe just how amazing this day was. The Bride was absolutely breathtaking and the ceremony was simple, sweet and beautiful. The reception was a great party/family reunion where everyone enjoyed themselves.
Welcome to the family Valerie….WE love ya’ll so much.
It seems like forever since I posted, but when I look back it was just last weekend. I had a crazy work week this past week with a shift and department change. I didn’t know if I was coming or going, but glad to be back on 1st shift. Thanks to some awesome photography friends I have been out shooting more than I’ve shot in awhile. It also helps having a couple of new lenses in your bag. Spring has been fabulous here in Tennessee, but those of you who know me, know that spring time allergies are brutal for me and tend to keep me hold up in the house with the windows closed. This past weekend I even bought a bouquet of flowers and went out in the backyard and shot over 200 pictures…………….. you photogs out there know what I mean when I say. “AHHH the thrill of pushing that shutter button”
Today I am going to help a friend with an engagement shoot. Man! I haven’t done one of those in a long while. But this is great timing because I am shooting my brothers wedding next weekend in Georgia. I am so flippin nervous and excited I can’t stand it. I’m also excited that my dear friend Wendy of WendyCPhotography will be going with me to help. It’s gonna be great.. Praying that the weather will co-operate.
Here’s some spring flowers shots I’ve done. Even got Jojo the cat to pose with the Iris’s!
It’s been awhile since I’ve done an Fix it Friday for I Heart Faces, so I was itching to get started on today’s edit. I don’t get the chance to shoot many portraits and so it’s good for me to do a Fix It Friday to stay in practice for when those few portrait ops come along.
Here is the original photo we had to work with. Thanks to 50centofyourlove for providing an awesome fix it Friday photo.
My first edit was done mostly in lightroom. As I am still not lightroom SAVVY, I still had to open the photo up in Photoshop for a few little tweaks.
The next edit was done all in CS3 where I could use some Florabella goodies
Both photos have a texture applied to them and blended with “overlay” reduced down into the 20%–30% opacity. This adds just enough to give it that nice and subtle painterly effect without being distracting.
Friday morning, April 9th at 9:36 a text from Buffy reads “Left a note for you and Brandon(my son) on the front porch….didn’t want to wake you ”. Here I go rushing outside in my jammies and find sitting on my porch is a card for me and one for Brandon. There is also a Mason Jar filled with the most beautiful Lilacs and a simple ribbon tied in a bow. My first thought is..” Dang it!! Im gonna kick her butt for making me cry” and in that same second Im thinking….”I love her and Im so lucky to have her as a friend”.
I had a really tiring week last this past week. I had to work overtime everyday and was wore out by the time Friday rolled around. Plus, I was worried about my mom, she’s been sick for 2 weeks and they had just admitted her to the hospital. How in the world did Buffy know I needed a pick me up??? I can tell you that it sure made my day. Buffy’s hand written note and cuttings from her own Lilac bush touched my heart more than she will ever know. In this crazy busy world we live in today, we have lost what it means to slow down and think of others. To take the time to hand write a note or cut some flowers for someone to bring a smile to their face. I know I am guilty of it.
So, as I sit here typing this blog, the smell of lilacs are filling my room and making my day even more brighter. Here’s wishing that you all have a BUFFY in your life, as I TREASURE the one I have. Now, if I could only talk her into doing her own blog! She has an amazing gift at writing and telling stories…..
There just isn’t enough long Holiday weekends. And if you are like me, as soon as one is over you are checking the calendar to see when the next one coming up will me. My daughter and I took off to spend the weekend at my Mom’s in Alabama. I love taking road trips with my girl! My first day there was just a LAZY day. I had every intention of getting out and meeting up with a friend at a car show, but after a little nappy poo I didn’t feel like getting back out. I did however take a little walk around my moms back yard looking, hoping and searching for something in bloom. The dogwoods are just now starting to bud out and I ended up with this photo that I LOVE LOVE LOVE!
On Saturday my daughter and I hung out at Noccalula Falls for a bit. She was my model for the day as I got in some practice with the new lens.
And these backlit Daffodils with the sweet bokeh make me Smile
Just can’t go without posting a photo of my moms cat Ethel. What a gorgeous kitty she is and full of piss and vinegar!
Yes, the weekend was way to short and I hated leaving my mom who is sick with the flu. But I am already counting the days until the next long holiday weekend. Hope everyone had a great 2010 Easter!
What a jammed packed weekend I had full of friends, wine, cameras - it all equals out to a whole lot of fun. The Nashville photography Meet-up group members are some of the most awesome people you will ever meet. Any time spent with them is always fantastic. This past Saturday we all met out at the Arrington Vineyards in Arrington, Tn which just happens to be owned by Kix Brook, you know..the one from Brooks and Dunn country Duo! The sun finally made an appearance and temps around 70 made for a beautiful day. It also meant that a whole lot of people would be out and about. I believe they all showed up at the vineyard on Saturday. Everyone there was stretched out on the grass soaking up the sun! As I was way to busy running my mouth catching up with everyone, I ended up just toting my camera around and not doing much shooting. I did manage a couple of shots to test out my BRAND NEW Tamron 70-200 F2.8 lens. It sure has a sweet bokeh (background).
Here is a shot of Wendy – the Meet-up group Co-Organizer who couldn’t have picked a better place to celebrate the arrival of Spring. For those that want to know – some photo info: used my new tamron 70-200 f2.8, edited in photoshop by simple adding a color overlay and a slight texture border – both from Kalidescope.
On Sunday my shooting buddy Jeremy and I went out for a bit. We first hit Nice Mill. Since I didn’t win the “lensbaby composer” lens that was given away at Saturdays meetup, I decided that I should just use the Lensbaby 3G that I already owned.(I really really really wanted that composer, guess I shouldn’t be to dang greedy though.) I made a few shots with the lensbaby and I have to say that I LOVE what I got. A lensbaby doesn’t fit everyones one style of photography. I just happen to have fell in love with it when Craig Strong made the first Original Lensbaby several years ago.
editing info ~ simple used an action called “lomo” by Nic V.
Lastly, Jeremy and I met up with Rhonda over at Walterhill Dam. As it turned out, the rain from the night before caused this not to be a great place to shoot. Some times you can just have to much water . I managed one shot that I kind of liked.
editing info ~ to much to name as I don’t remember it all but it’s basically and HDR (3 exp). Bumped up the saturation for the water, made the sky purple (because I can) and added some sun rays.
So this old woman here was out celebrating the release of the New Moon DVD this past weekend. I got together with some friends to watch the movie on an awesome 60 inch plasma TV with surround sound. I tell you, it was almost better than seeing it in theaters. Thanks to our Hosts Wendy and Scott – I had a blast! Oh yeah…forget about a Team Edward or Team Jacob…..Im creating a TEAM CHARLIE!
I have NO pictures from this party…dangit. Left my camera at home this time. Some photographer I am huh?
On Sunday, I attended a Lightroom Seminar (for processing photos) for the Nashville Photography Meetup at the same location as we had the New Moon party. I am mostly a photoshop kind of girl. It’s just easier to work in a program that you are familiar with. Lightroom does have some great features and after the seminar I do have a tab bit better understanding of how the program works. I will probably use it a little more now, but I will not give up my CS3 where I have layer masks and lots of brushes, actions and filters….you get the idea
Here is Wendy giving us a Lightroom lesson on that FABULOUS plasma TV that we had just watched New Moon on the night before.
And just to prove that I was paying attention and learned a little bit here is a picture edited in Lightroom.
original photo SOOC – straight out of camera
My lightroom editing was to first use a totally rad preset called Sweating Bullets – I then adjusted the exposure and the black slider. Changed the color of her eyes and lips (THAT IS SO COOL) and then applied a strong vignette.
