Yesterday....

Yesterday was the scheduled "reunion" of all of us that went to the Photography Workshop to the Smoky Mtns. back in October.  Oh what fun to gather with all my photo family that I spent 5 days with in Tennessee.  I must say, we all cleaned up really nicely.  In Tennessee we were dressed for hiking, loaded with layers and layers of clothing, make-up and hair kinda took a back-seat, so yesterday seeing everyone all "dressed up" and lookin' good was a real treat along with just visiting, eating and viewing photos from our special time together.

We had our gathering at "Lovell's of Lake Forest" a beautiful restaurant....now there is a story here to be told....  My traveling partners, Susan along with Jim were both from the northern suburbs. (fyi, I knew neither one until that morning when we introduced ourselves)  We met up at my house which is much further south and took off on our adventure together.  Now we spent 6 days together, traveling, eating, classroom time, taking a kazillion photos and not once during this time did I wonder if Susan Lovell was any relation to Jim Lovell, ya know the astronaut that was part of the team of Apollo 13 (in case you are still wondering who the heck is Jim Lovell, just watch the movie, Apollo 13 with Tom Hanks portraying Jim Lovell then you will remember.)  It wasn't until the last night, when only my traveling companions, Susan and Jim and our instructor Lou were having dinner together, all the remaining classmates had already headed for home, but we decided to wait until the following morning to take off.  It was then that I discovered who Susan Lovell really was.  Oh my, surprise, shock and awe were written all over my face.  And it wasn't until last night over dinner that she really talked about her Dad and growing up during the time he was an astronaut.  I wasn't the only one surprised, most everyone else did not put two and two together either until last night.  Anyway, we had a great spread of food, casual but yummy, wine aplenty, and lotsa laughter.

Lou is having another workshop in the Smoky Mtns. in April, but since I am going to a photography workshop in late March into early April in Charleston, SC (be still my heart) I don't think I will register for this one.  I can't leave my kids that much.  Leaving for Phoenix the end of this month for 10 (yippee) days and then again in March, is a challenge.  Having animals always presents a problem when traveling but there is no way I would give them up for the few times a year I travel.  My daughter always cared for Toby, but now that I have two and with her 1 dog and 3 cats it is too much. Oh what's a Mother to do?

Anyhoo...on my way home last night I spotted a little grocery store across the street from the restaurant called "The Sunshine Market"...and thought, I need some flowers.  Now that Christmas is over and all the prettiness from the holidays has wilted away, I need a little color on my kitchen sink.  And, no surprise, it's red.   The little primulas, one of the early, early signs that spring will return is now adding cheeriness to the kitchen.

And do you have as much trouble with photographing reds as I do?  Trying to get the brightness but not over exposed is always a challenge for me.  But I gotta say, using Lightroom 5 really helps in the editing.  And fyi, taken with my 50mm....someone asked what class this is.  The class is given by Kim Manley Ort.  Here is the link to her website where you can find all of her workshops... Kim Manley Ort Photography .  I don't know if anyone can join the workshop now, we are in to our 2nd week out of 4, but she may offer it again in the future.  Our challenge this week is street photography.  This will definitely be a challenge for me, not that I don't love street photography it's that I am not sure how many people are going to be out and about during this horrid weather.  It has warmed up but the predictions for the week are back in the deep freeze once again.  Oh Phoenix come to me baby.

And thought I would share a few of the shots that I displayed yesterday from my trip to the Smoky Mtns.

This is why they call them the Smoky Mountains...

OK, that's enough.  Got alot to do today, busy week ahead.  Hope yours

is a great one!!

And thanks to those that suggested Whirly Bird app...now I'm hooked.

"We owe it to each other to tell stories". ~ Neil Gaiman

Until next time....