Through My Lens...Fiber Arts

** UPDATED to include additional pictures **

I've been asked several times...What do I take pictures of? For me, it's a hard question to answer. I've been known to take pictures of anything that captures my attention. I don't have a particular subject or object that I'm really good at. I'm always in practice mode with flowers, people, buildings, motion, nature, etc. I guess I'm a fearless photographer. Just take the picture. I don't mess with the dials of my camera too much as I'm afraid I'll miss the photog moment and mood. I shoot mostly in P-mode and A-mode and know how many clicks I need to adjust my settings on the fly. I'm an all around photographer.


I use my camera mostly to capture the progress of my many hobbies. I'm a knitter and I'm a sewist. I've also dabbled in beading, baking, sketching, and painting watercolors. Mostly, I'm into Fiber Arts...yarns and fabrics. I photograph my work, my finished products. Handmade products by me. I also post reviews of garments and accessories I have made. I photograph my handmade creations for everyone to see. A picture is worth a thousand words.


I thought I would share some images of the creations I've made. I will continue to update this post as more pics become available. Enjoy!

Happy July 4th!

Today doesn't feel like a Sunday to me, but a true holiday. I spent most of today running errands and well, just having a fun day. You can tell it's a holiday...there just doesn't seem to be that much traffic. Folks are either visiting friends and relatives or venturing downtown (Washington, DC) to take part of the festivities there. I prefer to have a nice, long, quiet weekend. Doing my own thing.

By mid morning, I ended up in Old Town Manassas. Armed with my Canon S90, I went on my picture-taking adventure before the crowds arrived. At first I felt really restricted only having a small P&S camera with me. It felt good not to be bogged down in hot weather carrying heavy equipment. So, I put my camera to the test to see how well it does in bright sunlight and in low light situations. Here are the results:

In the middle of Old Town


One of the decorations around the train station


Okra's got a new facelift...bright yellow!


The gazebo at the Pavilion


At the Pavilion


Tractor ride


In the middle of the train tracks


Signage at the train station


Train on display


A close up


Enjoyed chatting with these two ladies waiting for the train to arrive


School Must Be Out - Taken at stop light while in the car



Early afternoon, I was thinking of my DH, and decided to pick up some lunch and some Mango Smoothies and headed over to the garden center. Hmmmm, another picture-taking adventure. The indoor shots were taken without flash. Amazing.


The patio - indoor display


The blue room - indoor display


The orange room - indoor display

Gardening Wear


A False Window Display


A Fish Wine Rack


Orchids in the greenhouse


Merrifield's own


Need pots?


Outdoor patio display


Spectacular color arrangements


Couldn't pass up taking pictures of these colorful chairs


Another outdoor patio display


Hibiscus in bloom


A Lonely Wagon


Nap Time!


The temperature gauge in my vehicle registered 101. It really felt like it. The humidity wasn't too bad, though tolerable.

This turned out to be a fantastic no flash day for me. I left the camera on "P" mode and just snapped away. The S90 did a fabulous job with the indoor and low light situations. The battery lasted for 255 pictures. I kept snapping away even when the red battery light kept blinking. Eventually, the lens retracted and the camera turned itself off. And yes, I did have a spare battery with me.

Overall, I think my camera did a great job. It took me awhile to get used to holding a small camera. Then I had to get used to looking at the LCD versus a viewfinder to take a picture. To keep the camera hanging from my wrist, I used an adjustable heavy wrist strap that worked better than the flimsy Canon strap that came with the camera. I've ordered a Canon leather case for my camera that should arrive in a few days. In the meantime, I picked up a Lowepro Ridge 30 padded case to use while on travel.

A wonderful small camera that's almost as good as a DSLR. Almost.

Fireworks - Scene mode


Camera: Canon S90
Lens: 28-105mm
Mode: P-mode
Flash: none

Can Nikon and Canon Get Along in My Nikon World?

The answer? A definite Yes!

When folks ask me what brand of camera I recommend. My answer is usually...get a Nikon. I personally like Nikon because that's what I've been using for many years. That's including the good ole film days. Over the years, I've dabbled with Canon, Olympus, Pentax, and Kodak. I still come back to Nikon. As you know, tastes can change.

When I started to do some research on P&S (point and shoot) cameras, Nikon didn't make my list. At all. I wasn't too disappointed as I knew Canon has been a front runner for several years. Yes, there are die-hard Nikon users out there that absolutely love their Canon P&S cameras.

There were several features that I was looking for in a P&S. First, have the PSAM capability so I can manipulate the shutter and/or aperture settings. Second, a pretty good lens range (wide and zoom). Third, take reasonably good pictures in low light situations and fourth, had to be somewhat small and lightweight. I narrowed down my choices to a Canon S90 and the Panasonic LX3. After reading many reviews, I had settled on the S90. So far, it has proven to be a real winner.

Here's a picture with the flash raised. When the camera is set to P or program or professional mode, the flash will remain down or closed. When the camera is set to flash mode, the flash will raise up. When the flash is turned off, the flash moves back down into the camera. I was fascinated to see this in action. The camera is smart enough to know when the flash needs to come up and when it needs to go back down. Clever!



The 3-inch screen on the back of the camera is bright and sharp. I can actually see the subject and/or objects clearly. The menu system was intuitive for me. I haven't touched the user guide. That's a very good sign.



I noticed that one of the scene modes on the camera had "underwater". I happened to stumble upon this optional accessory, an underwater housing. Since DH and I enjoy snorkeling, it was a no brainer to go with the S90.




As you can see, Canon can exist in my Nikon world. Now when friends ask me which brand I recommend, I do tell them...get a Canon or Nikon. You can't go wrong with either of them.

It's All About the Bag

A photographer can never have too many bags. That's my motto. Just like most women (like me) who needs a bag for several occasions, a photographer needs a bag to lug their equipment for different needs. Yes, I already have the typical squarish camera bag as well as a backpack camera bag. I also have a special sling type bag. Those reviews will be saved for future posts.

My recent need was to find a camera bag that didn't look like, well...a camera bag. It also had to have a slim profile. It had to be able to carry some pieces of paper like brochures, booklets and possibly a small notebook. I'm thinking when you're sightseeing and you start collecting travel brochures and maps...where do you carry these? That's where a messenger bag comes in handy.

After looking at several brands and a few messenger bag wannabees, I settled on the Tamrac Adventurer 4 (messenger) bag. What sold me on this bag was the slim profile, huge pockets, and good padding to protect my equipment. Here's a picture of the front of the bag. I've taken a DVD case and placed it in the front flap pocket (see the corner peeking out near the zipper pull). Plenty of room here.




Here's a picture of the side. I've placed my iPhone on top to give you an idea of size. The side of the bag has a nice slim profile.




Underneath the flap is a single buckle and you can see a small square patch of velcro. This small piece of velcro comes in handy if I decide not to buckle the flap down. As you can see there's plenty of storage space for a camera and some accessories and nice thick padding. I have been able to put my D5000 and SB-600 flash in my bag along with my 35mm lens and room for another gadget.




There's plenty of space in the front zipped pocket area. There's two large pockets big enough to hold more gadgets, like a cell phone, small notebook, snacks, etc.




Here's the back of the bag with another zippered storage pocket. The pocket is quite flat, but I've managed to place a DVD case inside.



On one side of the bag is a small pocket. Here I've placed my iPhone inside. It's a tight fit, but over time I'm sure the pocket will stretch out a bit.




Here's a top view of the bag. There is a nice padded handle that's off center on top of the bag. A nice feature to have, but I would have preferred the handle in the center of the bag.







I have noticed the bag tends to flop over if I only put my camera in the bag. It gets top heavy with the camera. When I add more "stuff" to the bag, it sits on the floor without any problems.

This bag is comfortable to wear on my shoulder or wear across my body. The strap is adjustable and easy to change the length. The strap also has a padded shoulder piece that easily slides across the strap.

Overall, this is a great messenger non-camera looking bag. Plenty of storage space for my camera equipment and accessories. I highly recommend this bag.

A Blooming Year of Colors

Once DH mowed our lawn, I was able to venture out to our side gardens and see what was blooming. Was I in for a big surprise!

Our hydrangea was in glorious bloom. I grabbed my camera for another photo opportunity. This time to capture the colors. The sun was setting and the hydrangea shrubs are located on the shady side of our garden. I took these with my flash.



A gorgeous blue bunch of flowers:




A gorgeous pink bunch:




A tiny spider:




Some bumble bees enjoying the Milk Weed: