Things Are Changing In My Life

Life is moving so fast I can hardly believe it! This year has been one of the busiest and most exciting I've ever had and that's saying a lot since last year I opened and then closed my own salon, started my etsy store, and became a full time writer.
Right now I'm at a crossroads and I actually know which way to go. I've opened a store on Fine Art America and I'm letting my etsy shop peter out on its own. Etsy hasn't made me any income and it has been a bit of a drain. For what I've spent there in the past year I could have paid for 3 years on FFA so it's a good decision for me. Plus FFA has fun contests to enter. Right now I've only got a few photos up, but as soon as I get time my paintings will be going up there too. I'll still be able to sell the originals, but now people on a budget can get a print and I can take them to shows and not have to worry about remembering to take them down when they sell! I can even sell my jewelry on there if I want.
I'm still a full time writer (my head would explode if I didn't write), but now I write later in the day so I can get some shots in first. My whole direction in life has changed and I couldn't be happier. My writing has gone back to being fun again and I'm no longer stressing about getting the rejections. Plus the waiting for the rejections sucks and I'm still waiting for the round that should be here soon.
I have my camera to help me pass the time and life is good.
Here's a few pet shots I've taken, let me know what you think.

Praying Mantis Eating

Praying Mantis Eating, a photo by B.J. Halsey on Flickr.

Heard a cicada making a noise like a scream and went to investigate. This is what I found! It took a while for the praying mantis to eat so I got a ton of photos.
I'd never seen anything like it before and I'm really glad I went to investigate. It was creepy though.

Hidden Friend

P1010056, a photo by B.J. Halsey on Flickr.

Can you find the praying mantis? I love this photo! I didn't even see it until I was looking on the screen at home.

Birthday Trip Day 2 Part 2!

After we left the canyon we headed for Old Bisbee, AZ to take the Queen Mine tour. Right outside the town is the now closed Lavender Mine where they used to mine copper and other metals. It closed in 1974 due to lack of production. It's both beautiful and hideous at the same time.  

The Lavender Pit Mine.

The Queen Mine tour was my favorite part of the whole trip. I loved going down the track on the cart and feeling the cold breath of the Earth on me. There were a few stairs we had to climb, but our guides were very patient and seemed to be in no rush. They never hurried me and that was appreciated. I want to go back again soon. We'll make reservations though because we had to wait for the last tour of the day. They book up fast.

They dress you before you get to go in the hole.

The old foreman got tired of walking all over the mine so they built him a special bicycle. The miners used to joyride it when he wasn't around and blame Headless John for moving it.

Our guide Benny explaining the bell system. It's small but mighty.

Would you ride in this elevator? I would!

The potty cart. Sometimes the miners would play tricks on each other with it. They would take off the brake and the victim would roll down the track with his butt hanging out. If they hit the wrong lever trying to brake they would dump the "load" and have to clean the whole track. Poor guys.

 This is the exit/entrance to the mine. A daunting yet beautiful sight.

This was the best part of my trip, but sadly most of my pictures inside didn't come out. It's so dark in there you can barely see with the lights you have, but it's a friendly dark. Next time we go I'm taking a flash unit! 

Some Fun New Pics

I'm still having fun messing around with my camera, and I just sent my second short story off! I hope it gets chosen! I hope you enjoy the pics!

Bubbles are fun!

My favorite so far of azaleas.

The hummingbirds love this plant. Wish I knew its name.

Tasted as good as it looked!

More practice for etsy pics. Jane loved the blueberries too.

Herman chilling out.

He loves to pose for me in the mornings.

From our last outing.

Giant Palo Verde beetle. She didn't like her picture taken.

Purple prickly pear cactus. 

A Fun Trip With My Husband

Over the weekend my husband and I went on an adventure! we were planning to go to Saguaro Monument to take pictures, but they don't open until 7 am. Since it was before 6 we just followed the road to see if there was any place else.
We found this wonderful mini cemetery about a mile before the gates to Colossal Cave. The cave was also closed.
I present Rincon Cemetery, one of the oldest in town and started on the heels of a gunfight!

The entry gate.

It's all locked up, we had to go around the wall.

Beautiful iron work.

Some of the graves are so old they don't have markers anymore; if they ever did. The last pic is my favorite one. It was a really nice spot and a lot of the graves are arranged to look out over the valley. You have to go off the path to read the names and it's a bit steep. 

All in all it was a great find and afterwards we went to Denny's!

An Adorable Rodent

On the night of the full moon my husband and I went out to take pictures of the bats emerging from under a bridge. Sadly I didn't get anything good from them. This is my best bat pic.

It's right in front of me and moving super fast!

However on the way back to the car my husband heard a rustling noise and we investigated. These little guys and girls were all over! 

They are tiny kangaroo rats eating mesquite seed pods! They looked and acted like mini gerbils and they were only afraid if I leaned down at them. There were tons of them all over the place, but they didn't like the flash. After getting a few shots we left them to eat in peace. I love shooting wildlife!

I Got A New Camera

I love my XP50, but I hated auto-focus and that had been my only complaint until I tried to print out a photo to hang on the wall. It's a great shot of Herman the lizard.

This is the photo, he is peeking out of his house.

It looks great on the screen and Herman is in focus. It's a good photo and I love it. My husband has one of those fancy printers that prints photos for sale so I thought I was set. I choose the 8x10 size so it wouldn't be to big and was so excited. The print came out pixelated and not very good. That was the blow that made me cry. 

For my birthday, which is coming up next month, my darling husband got me a new camera. It's an Olympus E-PL3 and I'm still learning how to use it, but I love the manual mode. I control everything! It's smaller in the body than my XP50 but the changeable lenses make it heavier. Fortunately the neck strap will be comfortable after a pad is made. He ordered it so early because of a special deal to save on a second lens so now I have two lenses. I actually like the way it feels in my hand better than my Fuji, it feels more real. The pictures it takes seem better too. I guess the camera does have something to do with it after all.

Fuji

Olympus

The down side is I'm spending even more time outside taking random photos and bothering strangers and less time writing and painting. I'm even thinking of selling some of my photos to see if people will buy them. My husband who has sold photos and been paid to take them thinks I could actually do it. I still hate messing with them in photoshop though, so that could be a problem. I think I've gone a little crazy. This is the most fun I've had in years! Now if only I could tan and not burn.

I didn't even see the mantis when I took the shot!