Tag: Rain

Mauve and Wine Iris In The Rain

I was so lucky yesterday. It had been doing this light rain, almost a mist, most of the morning, but had tapered off when I first got up. I was able to get out and get some photos of one of my favorite subjects, flowers coated in raindrops, before it started pouring, which it did for the rest of the day.

I was so excited when I went through them about the number of shots that actually came out really well. I should have plenty of pretty photos to share for a little while now.

I managed to get all of BG’s masks done yesterday and the remaining 30 some masks half way finished. I basically did all the small piecing and minor hemming that needed to be done and stopped before putting the front and backs together with the elastic and/or ribbon (doing 2 different types for versatility).

Today there is going to be a crap ton of pinning going on before I can get back to sewing. Because I am doing the 2 different types, I might actually have enough materials to get most of these finished today.

I doubt I’ll be able to get them all done as my ribbon hasn’t shown up yet. I have some on hand, but probably not nearly enough to finish. I had originally planned to do them all the same, but rethought that because of all the different people that would be getting one.

The new option was to go with the original mask design and use the elastic loops for the ears. This seems to really only work for adults and, as my Hubby can attest, not all of them. So… two different styles it is.

I had a point yesterday where I panicked a bit because I thought I was actually going to run out of thread. After years of forgetting if I had enough thread while I was at the store getting materials for a project and just getting a new spool to be safe, I actually ran out of 2 spools of white thread. Granted, both were partial spools, but still. I ran out! I went through all of what I had and found a couple more partials and I think I’ll have enough to finish. Maybe.

I REALLY hope I don’t have to make an emergency run to the store just for thread.

 

Freezing Edge

After nearly a week of beautiful, open window weather, today is a nasty, cold day. Not just cold, but we are currently below freezing. My remaining hyacinths won’t survive the cold snap. It is doubtful the rest of the daffodil’s will either. The one I have left to bloom, the edges will get a bit frost bit at the very least.

I noticed that my single miracle tulip is up and has a bud on it. I have no clue what this freeze will do to it. It will depend on how long it is going to last. Sadly, we are looking at storms and freezing rain and sleet today, so it may get interesting.

I haven’t done a thing lately that could be considered creative. The closest I’ve come is deciding what I’m fixing for dinner and that isn’t even all that creative. I don’t think my brain is willing to focus on much outside of reading at the moment. Even then, I’m doing a reread of one of my favorite series instead of anything new. I think it is tied, at least in part, to information overload, so I’m trying not to take on anything new for a little bit.

Rainy Day Hyacinth

I ran out to try and get a good photo of the flowers drenched in rain, but it was still coming down just a little too much for me to be able to do more than a REALLY quick shot. That and I’m not crazy enough to sit out there trying to get the perfect shot when it is also lightning. So you get a not so perfect but still kinda pretty hyacinth today.

Also, that rain was COLD!! It’s going to take me a while to warm up now.

Wet And Rainy

Our wonderful streak of warm, sunny days has ended and today is wet, rainy and dreary. Not the least little bit conducive to getting my camera out past the overhang on my porch.

It is a good day to go hole up in my studio and see if I can actually manage to get that little project finished. I’d love to get it done and get that mess put away so I can start on the next item on my to do list. At the very least, I need to get a photo or two because I’ve promised and haven’t pulled through just yet.

Also, it would be good to take a few steps away from the books for a bit as I’m getting rather frustrated with what I’m reading lately and I’m not entirely sure how to fix that. I have a few books coming out this month that I’m looking forward to, but there are still a few days before the first one hits my reader.

For now, I’m off to play with metal clay.

Rainy Day Thoughts & Indie Book Marketing

So much for the pool. Maybe later I guess. Instead, I’ve been tossing around ideas and concepts with regards to indie authors and book marketing.

I have seen a whole lot of hurdles, not just for me but for other indie authors, with regards to even getting your book in front of other people. I do recognize that this is coming from a narrow perspective and I’ve probably just not yet found the right groups or people to give me a better perspective, so this is potentially a bit skewed.

I’ve seen a lot of talk about supporting other indie authors. As I’ve mentioned before, this tends to be a bit cliquish. Authors tend to support other authors in their own genres or those they are friends with. If you don’t fit into one of those two areas, you don’t get that support (and I don’t entirely disagree with this). You also see a lot of groups dedicated to supporting all indie authors without regards to genre, but they seem to only have indie author followings.

Another side of this lovely book marketing coin is the readers, which seem to be left out of the equation. Not all authors read all genres. Some authors may not even be readers (this kind of breaks my brain but it is a truth). So why are all of these groups and support systems targeting only other indie authors? Why are they not attempting to connect those authors with readers or book bloggers who have an interest in the genres for the books they are trying to promote? Those are the ones that genuinely have the ability to get a book noticed.

If you were to look at this from just about any other business marketing standpoint, this system wouldn’t make sense. You wouldn’t cultivate support and a following for say video games among other video game manufacturers, because they aren’t going to be the ones buying your games. You would want to connect with the gamers.

That isn’t to say an indie author should not support another author, just that it kind of feels a little like barking up the wrong tree. Like that whole support system is unbalanced and energy is too heavily focused in the wrong area.

The idea that there should be some way to somehow create a group of both readers/book bloggers and indie authors and pair them together based on genre interests is something I’d absolutely love to pursue. The problem with that, for me at least, is one of the same roadblocks I have with marketing my own book. That is the lack of connections to get it all off the ground. That and I am struggling to find bloggers that are willing to even look at indie books and authors.

I’d love to find out if it is even possible or if others, from either the indie author side or the book blogger side, would even be interested in a set up like this, if they felt like it would be of use to them. If you have thoughts or suggestions, please chime in!

 

 

Rain Speckled Iris

I have Irises blooming. Not all of them yet, but a few. I love the color variations in this one. It is so vivid and eye catching. Irises are some of my favorite to photograph because there are so many different interesting parts, especially once you get close. Fair warning, there will be lots more Iris images in the days to come, when I’m not going insane getting things done in prep for recital or running BG to a million events.

Between The Rains

Yesterday was kind of nasty, with rain most of the day. We did have a very brief period where the rain not only stopped, but the sun came out and we got some really pretty blue skies. Of course I took advantage and ran out to try and get some pictures. This one is one of my favorites, though I have so many, it is impossible to pick. I think it is the first time I’ve ever managed to get such a strong reflection inside a water drop. I have a few others that came out as cool, but I’m saving them.

This latest round of pictures put me just over 300 images on my photo print site!

Rain Means Raindrop Photos

With the last couple of days being mostly rainy with periods of dry, I spent a crazy amount of time crawling around on my front sidewalk taking pictures of raindrops. My elbows are so not thanking me today. There were so many images that turned out amazing, there is absolutely no way I could pick a favorite. I ended up uploading over 40 new images to my photo print site, and all but like 5 of them are rain drop images.

Raindrops On Leaves
Raindrops On Leaves
Raindrops On Leaves
Raindrops On Leaves
Raindrops On Leaves
Raindrops On Leaves
Raindrops On Leaves

I’m just fascinated with all the various different ways you can look at water drops and what they do. I really love some of the really interesting reflections you can get inside each individual drop.

While I chose each of the ones I uploaded for various different reasons, the one below, almost didn’t make the cut because it was actually a bit of a mistake. It isn’t as clean as a lot of my other images or as in focus, but the more I looked at it, the more I really loved the softness and the color in it. When I uploaded it to the site, it looked amazing on all the product options.

Raindrops On Leaves
Raindrops On Leaves

One of the things that attracts me to macro photography is the ability to get really crisp and sharp details that you don’t normally see without the aid of that macro lens or smashing something against your face, but that is the beauty of photography as an art form. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Some of my favorite images are ones with things that would normally be considered flaws, but those flaws are what give it that something special that makes it so different and interesting.

Waterlogged

I love taking pictures of things that have been drenched in rain because water does such cool stuff when it forms drops. That said, I could really do without the 6+ inches of rain we’ve had over the last few days. I could absolutely do without the storms still coming that will be bringing more of the same over the next couple of days.