Janet Brien's photos

1 picture above in a note! :) I looked out into the meadow this morning and saw the frosty mist rising up around the lone Oak there. Even though I have taken pictures of this tree in the mist before, I thought it would be wonderful to have a picture where it has snow on its branches and very few leaves! :) (roll your mouse over the image above to see the other misty Oak picture I posted a while ago!)

Something about this frosted grass caught my attention. Maybe it's the fancy hair?! :D

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) Yesterday when I braved the cold to look around and take pictures, I discovered some really cool icicles adorning our shop's eaves. They are an interesting shape, being very broad and thick. Though I took pictures yesterday, I came back today so I could make this my Picture of the Day! :) Today I have two other pictures, one shows blackberry thorns with frost crystals, and the other shows icicles dripping down blackberry leaves! :D ENJOY! (Sorry for the short posts and lack of comments, I'm buried in a project!) Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend, Richard Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine Wikipedia: Joseph Addison Explored on December 12, 2013. Highest placement, page 4.

This picture shows a close up of a blackberry vine, complete with frosted thorns. Crazy, isn't it? I've never seen such well-defined crystals before! Explored on December 12, 2013. Highest placement, page 7.

This was a really cool find! I saw all the icicles on the eaves above the blackberry bushes, so I looked to see if any icicles had formed on the bushes too...and they had! So much fun!!

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) First of all, thank you EVERYONE for all of your wonderful comments!! You don't know how wonderful it feels to read the nice things you have to say! :) Also, I have to giggle because I knew you guys would be teasing me about the temperature and I absolutely love it! I don't know how those of you who've mentioned can LIVE in sub-zero climates, HOLY COW!! You're all crazy! :D *big hugs* Also, I wanted to say that I'm in the middle of a project right now and haven't been able to comment, which is making me nuts, but I'm hoping to get some time soon so I can come and visit each of you. :) As for me, I decided to take pictures inside today!! It was actually warm and balmy at 17 to 25 degrees today, but I saw my pink double-walled water cup on the counter with tiny bubbles sticking to the sides and thought, PICTURE OF THE DAY!! I had a great time taking pictures...sometimes there's nothing more enjoyable than a good abstract! After playing with the plastic cup, I saw a glass vase nearby with tiny bubbles too, and had more fun with that one. (Later I did go out and I got a bunch of very cool frost pictures but I didn't want to process them today. Something for another day! :) Jean Toomer (December 26, 1894 – March 30, 1967) was an American poet and novelist and an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. His first book Cane, published in 1923, is considered by many his most significant. Wikipedia: Jean Toomer

When I saw this, I really wanted to make it my picture of the day, but Steve felt the pink picture was much more flashy, so I went with that one. However, I simply LOVE the way these bubbles appear to be moving through the water. To explain what you're looking at, the weird stuff on the left is plastic wrap which we have to cover the vase of water (it's extra water if the pipes freeze). You can see lots of other bubbles here and there, but none of them are floating in the water, they are sticking on the side of the vase. I love seeing these kinds of images, so I hope you like this one! :)

Here is another picture of the bubbles sticking to the inside of our water-filled vase at another angle. Off in the distance you can see just a bit of the plastic, and the flash is reflecting on it to make that cool rainbow triangle! :D To me, this looks like bubbles marching off to their Triangle Leader! :D

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) Today marks the coldest day that I've ever experienced in a place where I live: 7°F degrees!!! That is so incredibly cold it's hard for me to understand...so I went outside because I needed to fill the bird feeders and in so doing, I had to lift the feeder off the metal pole...and I held the pole for just about 5 seconds. After about two seconds it felt like I was touching a hot iron!! WOW!! We have two bird feeders, so I used one hand for each pole, and then I shook my tail back into the house, yike-yiking all the way to the hot water to warm my freezing hands! :D :D HOLY COW THAT'S COLD!!! Always the glutton for punishment, I noticed that the frost formations were just AMAZING, so...once my fingers warmed up, I got my camera, put on my boots again, and out I went to capture frost crystals! :D This one is my favorite because it was a mistake. I was taking a picture of a different area and the flash illuminated this frost flake beautifully, showing how it grew out of the vinyl cover we have on our spa. I didn't realize they can form this way, isn't it fascinating?! (By the way, this is the same surface as the next picture...instead of being medium brown, it's burgundy, which I pushed closer to black to help pop the "frost-flake" out :) Robert Mapplethorpe (November 4, 1946 New York City;– March 9, 1989 Boston, Massachusetts) was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white photography. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, and stills of flowers. His most controversial work is that of the underground BDSM scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s of New York. The homoeroticism of this work fuelled a national debate over the public funding of controversial artworks. Wikipedia: Robert Mapplethorpe

I use RAW image format when I take pictures, and to process them, I use Canon's RAW image tool. There is an option called "Auto", which adjusts the image the way the program thinks it should look. It's usually wrong but I like to see what it comes up with, since I will sometimes start my processing there and if its close and then adjust various sliders. In this case, the image you see is exactly what the software thought was right. I instantly had two reactions: "OMG this is nothing like what it really looks like!!!" and then, "But you know... hmm... wow... I actually really like it!" I decided to process it this way and the only thing I did was remove noise that was added to the image with this appearance. (By the way, in reality, the pink is actually a medium BROWN with just a hint in the direction of orange. :D I think the RAW tool has been eating mushrooms! :D :D :D

We have a heated bird bath, and all around the edge of it was this amazing formation of frosty trees! Isn't this cool?! :D I am totally fascinated by the way that frost forms!

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) Today's surprise was waiting for me when I looked out our bedroom back door, which opens up onto our tiny upstairs deck. The eves were bristling with icicles and they were brilliant with the sun shining on them! I was so excited I ran in to tell Steve so he could see too. Both of us had a lot of fun taking pictures! James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American author, journalist, cartoonist, and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in The New Yorker magazine and collected in his numerous books. One of the most popular humorists of his time, Thurber celebrated the comic frustrations and eccentricities of ordinary people. Wikipedia: James Thurber

This image shows some of the cool details of an icicle up close and personal!

This is only a few of zillions of icicles that were hanging from our eaves, and I like this angle because it's a bit different than what I've usually seen! :)

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) We didn't get any new snow, but it's so cold that none of it melted, so I spent some time walking around our meadow looking for some fun pictures! I found this leaf laying in the snow just as the upper forest begins at the base of our hill to the ridge. One look was all it took for me to say, "Picture of the Day!" Liv Rundgren Tyler (born Liv Rundgren; July 1, 1977) is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of Aerosmith's lead singer, Steven Tyler, and model Bebe Buell. Tyler began a career in modeling at the age of 14 but, after less than a year, she decided to focus on acting. After her film debut Silent Fall (1994), she appeared in supporting roles in Empire Records (1995), Heavy (1996) and That Thing You Do! (1996). Tyler later achieved critical recognition in the leading role in Stealing Beauty (1996). She followed this by starring in supporting roles including Inventing the Abbotts (1997) and Cookie's Fortune (1999). Wikipedia: Liv Tyler

I spent a lot of time taking pictures of snowy "hats" on the various plants and grasses I saw in the meadow. Lots of fun images, but this one is my favorite! :D

This morning Steve and I watched a deer cross the meadow, and here are its tracks through the snow! :) There is something very magical about this image, not sure quite what it is, but I love this one! :)

2 more pictures in notes above ! :) We woke up to a dusting of snow and a temperature of about 27°F degrees. Very soon it began to snow more and more, and we ended up getting about 4"! More than we got all last year, in one day!! I was going to go out and get some fun macro pictures but as I started my day, I looked out to see the birds out at the feeders, which were empty! So I went out and filled everything up, put out suet, made new humminbird juice, and within minutes, it looked like a scene out of Snow White! Birds flying everywhere and enjoying the feast I put out for them! How could I resist taking pictures of them?! :D My Picture of the Day features a favorite birdy, the lovely Oregon Junco. They are bigger than the ultra adorable Black Capped Chickadee but no less cute! They spend their winters here and we love seeing their boisterous antics every day! :) James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the period that "the negro was in vogue" which was later paraphrased as "when Harlem was in vogue". Wikipedia: Langston Hughes