Wherein I attempt to master the selfie

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I like to check my baggage when I travel. I know a lot of people prefer to carry on their items, but I prefer to check. Reason being that when I travel, I take my laptop (it's not an iPad or notebook by any means) as well as my DSLR camera. Once my camera is in a bigger bag with my purse, that bag and my laptop constitute my two carry-on items, while clothes and more are checked.

That said, I didn't check my baggage for my recent trip to Dallas for Bloggy Boot Camp, a fully paid trip I won from The SITS Girls. It was a quick trip with little chance I'd be leaving the hotel (which I didn't) so I left my camera at home, packed my laptop in my suitcase and lugged it all upon the plane.

Having no DSLR along for the trip meant I had to use my iPhone for any photos. An iPhone 4S, so it's not all that great, but it works in a pinch for most things.

I'm not so sure it worked all that well for selfies. Or maybe it's the camera operator. I tried, I really did. And the following provides proof.

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'Labor Day' highlights: My first red carpet experience

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I've been a fan of Joyce Maynard's since first following her newspaper column back in the '80s. It was a column on all things domestic — a domesticity that I, a younger than average mother, was trying desperately to achieve. In many ways, Joyce Maynard helped me learn to be a mom.

Now Joyce Maynard has helped me learn the ropes of the red carpet.

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Local photos from a long-distance grandma

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I am a long-distance grandma. A long-distance grandma who likes to take pictures. Mostly pictures of of my long-distance grandsons.

Every once in a while, though, I'm reminded that I don't need to travel 812 miles to my grandsons' house to get photos that warm this grandma's heart. I don't even need to leave my house for that at all, as I have incredible photo ops right outside my windows, from morning til night.

I often start my day with sunrises that look like this...

Colorado sunrise

October sunrise in Colorado

Colorado Sunrise

End my day with sunsets like this...

October sunset in Colorado

And in between the sunrise and sunset are animals of a squirrelly sort galore. Just yesterday, in fact, I had the pleasure of photographing a mama brown squirrel taking a break from her ever-hungry babies — a mama who was none too pleased with my intrusion on her momentary peace.

brown squirrel at rest

unhappy brown squirrel

brown squirrel on the run

When the months between visits with my grandsons stretch long and lonesome, I must remember to focus on what I have right here in my own back yard.

And in my east- and west-side yards, too.

Vincent Van Gogh quote

Today's fill-in-the-blank:

This week I was reminded that __________.

BlogHer, boys and more

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Today I'm off to BlogHer 2013 in Chicago. Last time I went, in 2011, I went with a friend. This time I'm going completely alone. When I get there, though, I'll be meeting some dear friends whom I speak to nearly every single day yet have never met in person.

I'm excited.

And I'm nervous.

A praying mantis can only do so much, so today I'm simply posting some recent photos I love of the boys I love. Plus a few other photos I recently took that I love, too. I'm hoping they'll leave me with a peaceful, easy feeling.

I hope they leave you with a peaceful, easy feeling, too.

 

(Oh geez... I just posted all those, then realized I didn't watermark a single one. Oh well. Gonna stay peaceful and believe folks will do the right thing and not steal my pics.)

Today's question:

Do you typically take more photos of people or more of nature?