St. Louis Trip

I had a wonderful time in St. Louis and discovered the most amazing botanical gardens. If you are ever in the area, the Missouri Botanical Garden is a must see, but give yourself a full day or two to see it all. This place is massive and has something new around every corner. I am definitely planning a return trip to this garden oasis!












While in St. Louis I also visited the Shaw Nature Preserve. This too is a beautiful place to see. I did not get to see the prairie or the wetlands as a storm kept me out, but I would consider revisiting there also if given the chance.



Of course every trip to St. Louis is not complete without a trip to the Gateway Arch. For a twist, I photographed it in the dark. I had photographed the Arch in the daylight, but really enjoyed experimenting with night time reflections.






My final stop on this trip was Grants Farm to see the Clydesdales. WOW what beautiful creatures. These horses are incredibly gentle and will run to the fence lines to be scratched and patted. I also took the tram ride around to the petting zoo and past some of the historic architecture on the tour.

Woodworking Makes Progress

My arbor is moving along nicely. I am so proud of the good job my hubby is doing on his first major woodworking project!





And yes there is a tractor setting in the garage with only three wheels…I hope it gets fixed soon, my grass is still growing!

Third Annual Lincoln Day’s Car Show

Hodgenville Kentucky

Lincoln Heritage in Kentucky

Abraham Lincoln Homestead and Boyhood Home

The Glider Flies!

I bought this glider for my husband about seven years ago for Christmas in California; it flew its maiden voyage that day and never flew again until today. Maybe it needed to have the fresh open spaces of Kentucky to soar!

Bambi Attacks

I am so thankful that my son was not injured and his car not seriously damaged. We could not find the vigilantly Bambi and hope it lived to attack another day…

Jonathan Ruth, B.A.

For those of you that are hungry to learn more about Photoshop, you must take any opportunity to go see Jonathan Ruth of Indiana University Southeast Fine Arts Department teach a seminar on Photoshop techniques. Jonathan is Teaching Computer Art and Design and has a phenomenal wealth of information, shortcuts and design ideas using Photoshop.

Photo Forum Digital Darkroom

Photographer Dave Hill has sparked a popular style of a grunge effect. Rick Nevels of Nevels-Lowe Photography brought us some techniques that are very similar during our Digital Darkroom class at The Photo Forum. While this does seem to be better achieved in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom which I do not have at this time, I did find a few ideas to try in Photoshop 7 to give a grungy look. I have noticed you have to have the right style of picture for this to really look nice. Here is a couple of before and after images. Let me know what you think.

New things for the studio!

The studio will soon have a new feature as construction is underway. I can't wait to see this addition to the outside area of the studio!

Shelby County Fair

I attended the Shelby County Fair and although I was disappointed to find that the exhibit hall does not run the entire length of the fair (it was not set up the day I attended) we did watch the tractor pulls. I am looking forward to the Spencer County Fair. I think I prefer it over the Shelby County Fair…

Stocking Fish and Fruit

Ok, so we are still amazed by the joys of country living. We have our first fruit since planting out fruit trees and we just stocked the pond with Blue Gil.

Hay Fields & Sky

I very much enjoy the beautiful fields and skies of Kentucky. Our neighboring farm hayed his field and it gave me a change to catch this beautiful scenery.

WHAS Crusade for Children

I had the pleasure of photographing the WHAS Crusade for Children at the studio and Pleasure Ridge Park Training Center. I was amazed to see just how many people make this worthy charity successful. It felt good to donate my time to this event and I look forward to working with them again in the future.

Fire Iron


Shively Firefighters

Fairdale Firefighters


Pleasure Ridge Park Firefighters



Patrick Henry Hughes

Lexington Fire Department

Highview Fire Department

McMahan Fire Department

Oldham County 4-H Dog Club



Southern Christian Wrestling Alliance

Muldraugh Fire Department

West Point Fire Department

Jack Daniels Distillery & Christiana Tennessee

While my family was visiting from California, we spent a couple days with my brother and toured the Jack Daniels Distillery and wandered through a small town, Christiana Tennessee. I especially liked the yellow daisy-like flowers outside the visitor’s center. I would like to find out what time of flower this is, as it felt like a dried flower.

Fishing with Family

Our family from California enjoyed fishing in our pond. Our Cousin came out to show them the ropes (or hook, line and sinker).

Churchill Downs

Mom and my Aunt bet on the grey to place at Churchill Downs, they were thrilled with their winnings…but then, a bet of $2 wont make you rich overnight!

On The Ohio River

I thought we were going to have to pull my Mom away from the fossil beds at Falls of the Ohio kicking and screaming. The flower gardens were vibrant and the Louisville skyline spectacular. While my Mom, Aunt and I wandered the gardens, my Husband, Son and Uncle enjoyed the cool breezes on a very warm afternoon. We also visited the locks system that is still under construction.

Farmington Plantation

Today we visited Farmington Plantation. We did not take the tour here, but did go through the visitor’s center. I do plan on touring the house in the future. My Mom and Aunt enjoyed wandering the beautiful flower gardens.

Bardstown Kentucky

Today we visited Bardstown Kentucky and My Old Kentucky Home. We had dinner at the old Talbert Tavern and walked by the Jailer's Inn and a historic cemetery behind it. My family is visiting from California, and is pictured in front of the sign for My Old Kentucky Home. Standing is my Uncle Mike and Aunt Wanda, my mom Carol is sitting. The Cicadas are out in full force, you will see one of these noisy critters below.