Eye Candy Friday | An Evening in the Garden.

Karen, Lydia, me

Yesterday evening, my sister Karen and sister-in-law Lydia joined me for Cocktails in the Garden. It was our first time attending the event (which is held weekly during the summer), and it might be my new favorite Thursday evening activity!

Lydia and I arrived a little before 5 - just in time to get in a few photos before the skies opened up.

Thankfully the restaurant was happy to accommodate us a little early.

Karen joined us and we enjoyed a delightful bottle of rosé along with the cheese and charcuterie plates. I didn't take any photos of the food, but here's the skyline view from our table on the (covered) rooftop.

By the time we finished dinner, the rain had stopped; it turned out to be a lovely evening.

We wandered around and had as much fun looking at the garden as the people!

I love using Waterlogue for "street scenes"!

I took my camera bag with all three lenses, not sure what I'd want. I started with the 50mm and switched to the 24mm after dinner. A few of these photos, including the selfie of the three of us, are from my phone. I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable behind the camera which is a good thing - there are only two more Fridays before the trip!

Wishing y'all a wonderful weekend!

Eye Candy Friday | A Morning in the Garden.

The Botanical Gardens feature prominently in my summer bucket list - not only to practice with my camera* but also to explore and play with Charlie. Tuesday morning, we did all of that! Katie took the day off, so we went with both boys (and a whole trunkful of gear :-)

There are morning programs in the newly opened Children's Garden every day. Tuesday is Garden Playtime with "hands-on learning and sensory stations."  There were at least a half dozen stations with real bugs, play dough, and hidden "bugs" for the children to find.

We thought Charlie would enjoy the Splash Pad, but I think it was his least fun activity of the entire morning!

iPhone photos - I didn't want to get my camera wet

His favorite activity just might've been the Family Restroom. He and his mom visited the Yellow Door and the Green Door ... and that's when I had little Sam and my finding light moment.

The main garden features The Curious Garden. It is indeed curious. and also very fun.

It was a very cloudy morning; the city skyline was barely visible. I certainly didn't have to worry about any sun flares! 

And we didn't have to worry about seeing everything on this one visit.  I'm already planning my next morning with Charlie and an evening with his mama and a few girlfriends for Cocktails in the Garden. 

Yummm, when I snagged that Cocktails link I saw those drinks - I'm definitely a gin girl, but I might just have to give vodka a try this weekend. That White Rose Kennedy looks awfully tempting!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend ... and a few fulfilled temptations!

*I had the 24mm lens (with no filters) on my camera for the entire visit. It is a wonderfully lightweight lens for being out and about. 

Eye Candy Friday | Camera Practice.

When I upgraded to the iPhone 7S last September, I pretty much put away my DSLR (an eight year old Canon Rebel XSi). But over the past few weeks, especially as I look forward to Alaska (just three months away), I started to reconsider. This might be the only time I ever go, and I would hate to regret a missed opportunity for the best photos I could take. I pulled my camera back out. Whoa, I was rusty! It took a lot of tries, but I was pretty happy with my first effort, Renie's finished wrap.

I realized I need a lot of practice (and a bit of new equipment - more to come on that front). which means the camera is still sitting out on the counter. and I'm going to make a focused (sorry, I couldn't resist!) effort to use it! So for the next bit of time, I'm going to devote my Friday posts to sharing the best image(s) I have from the week.

Tuesday afternoon, I took Charlie to the park near his house. and I brought my camera along. two firsts in one afternoon! I took about 75 photos - 25+ with my phone and the rest with the camera. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw the one phone photo I saved.

at the top of the slide

Here are the other seven I saved from the camera. I used a 50mm f/1.4 prime lens (no zoom). Yes, I got a bit of exercise myself climbing up to be at eye-level and running around just as much as Charlie to stay close!

The movement shots are really tricky. I used the "sports" mode for this one.

Charlie loves to find sticks. He asked if he could bring them home with him and I'm glad he forgot about that by the time we left. This is the farthest away shot I have.

Clearly, I'm a lot more comfortable up close.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased. These images are all straight off the camera. I guess it's a testament to the power of natural sunshine that the colors look true (at least on my laptop screen). ...and to dumb luck that they're pretty straight and don't look like they need much cropping.

If you've read this far thank you! I'd welcome any and all feedback, criticism and suggestions.

Happy Weekend!