Pretty in Pink

Pretty in Pink a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Yes, wrinkles, saggy bits and wild hair can still look pretty. Don't argue with me, I'll hit you with my cane.

View on black or ...what was I saying again?

Our Daily Challenge: Keyboard Button (END key)

Bumpy Bubbles Bursting

Bumpy Bubbles Bursting a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Somewhere near the top of the list for bad ideas is turning your shop vac into a bubble bath for birds. They loved it until I switched it on

View on black and I will switch it off

Our Daily Challenge: Bumpy

One Foggy Morning

One Foggy Morning a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Everytime Freddy, Jason, Michael and myself go to the park for a picnic, the weather turns dark and foggy. We do have a killer of time though.

View on black for the horror of it.

100 Pictures: Fog

Taunting the Big Bad Guy

Taunting the Big Bad Guy a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Attempting to get some bumps, I bravely snuck up on the Big Bad Guy. I stuck my finger out hoping to get stung a few times so I could have some bumps to shoot for the challenge today. He ignored me. I got closer, he pretended not to see me. So I taunted him, Hey yellow butt! Over here, I said. Nothing. Your ugly and your Mama dresses you funny!, I snickered. Still nothing. I stuck out my tongue, THHHPPPTTTTTTT! I think spit hit him in the eye for he flew right at me! I ran!

Are you NUTS! I'm not letting a wasp sting me for a shot to post in this challenge! I'll go with the surface of the wood is bumpy!

View on black. THHHPPPTTTTTT!

Our Daily Challenge: Bumpy

The Dead Rose of Cairo

The Dead Rose of Cairo a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Hmmmm, Maybe I should of showered first.

View on black or I will lift my arms.

HSS!

The Center of Attention

The Center of Attention a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Are you really surprised?

View on black or I will give you a Wet Willy.

Our Daily Challenge: Center of Attention.

PS. In real life, I am really quiet and demure. Stop laughin, I am. Quit it, really I am. STOP laughin, I am QUIET AND DEMURE, REALLY!

Dorks.

The Real Reason Mrs Bug Bit The Dust

The Real Reason Mrs Bug Bit The Dust a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Mrs Bug awoke with a stretch and a yawn. After a quick shower and shave, she headed for her walk in closet to find her best Texas Rangers Jersey and cap. With her Rangers Jersey on and her favorite baseball cap a top of her head, she grabbed her little Texas Rangers Pennant and headed towards the front door humming Zip A Dee Do Da.

She slowed as she approached the door, listening cautiously for the sounds of Mr Shoe. With one ear pressed to the door, she heard, "The next bug to come out this door will have free passage". With a smile across her face, she opened the door and skipped outside into the beautiful sun to head to the Baseball game.

Two steps out she heard a big booming voice coming from the heavens above, "Ranger Fans on the other hand, get the Shoe!"

View on Black. Have you seen the size of my shoe??

Our Daily Topic: Under Your Feet
Cliche Saturday: Shoe

------------------------------------------------------
About the shot.
Yesterdays and todays shot were taken at the same time yesterday. I manually set the camera and placed it on the ground face up. I took two shots. They both worked. Although I processed them like mad, there is no editing or cropping in these except this one had a hair on it that I poorly tried to erase. The sun rays in yesterdays and the flares in todays where not added in.

The Last View Mr. Bug Ever Saw

The Last View Mr. Bug Ever Saw a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Mr. Bug woke up to a grand morning! He sprang out of bed whistling a fun, easy going tune. He quickly jumped into the shower, shaved and dressed in his best business suit. Skipping down the stairs he met his wife. With a kiss on her cheek he said I love you and opened the front door to head off to work. Basked by the warm sun, he looked up to enjoy the beautiful sunny sky. This is what he saw

Cute Little Chickens

Cute Little Chickens a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

It all began back in the summer of '67 at the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. I had just turned 1 and some friends of mine asked me to come hang out. We strung flowers in our hair (yep, I had that once) and danced around without a care in the world. It was there I met a chicken by the name of Bawkbawk. We hit it off swimmingly. Bawkbawk new I was into photography and asked me to take some portraits. They were pretty controversial and racy for the time. You see, Bawkbawk was molting and you just never showed a chicken without feathers, it was unheard of.

We have stayed friends throughout the decades and I still take portraits of Bawkbawks family every year. These shots are Bawkbawks great great great great great great great great great great greate great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great greate great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great greate great great great great great great grandchickens.


www.flickr.com/photos/hbmike2000/sets/72157625521677184/ Quacker Series 6 of 6


View in black and I will tell you were not to step.

100 Pictures: Feathered

Character

Character a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

As I ran through the Living Room and rounded the corner to the kitchen, I knocked a piece of wax paper onto the kitchen floor. I hid behind the counter trying not to giggle and give my whereabouts away. After a minute of not being found, I quietly peeked around the corner. There he was, about 10 feet away, our eyes locked. I was spotted! I jumped back behind the counter, back up against the refrigerator when all the sudden, this little fur ball comes flying around the corner and lands on the wax paper that had fallen on the floor. As soon as all four paws hit the wax paper it began to slide. His rear end sat down and off he went doing a 360 across the kitchen in a perfect sitting position on the wax paper. He's such a dork.


100 Words: Character

View on black. Or I will give you a flea bath

Disk Oh Wheeeee!

Disk Oh Wheeeee! a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

I have a horrible time taking candid shots of strangers. It's a challenge for me even to point a camera in the vicinity of another person. If they so much as look in my direction, I scream, drop the camera (it's on a strap around my neck now) and run away with my hands in the air like it's the end of the world.

While at the Orange County Fair I wanted to take some shots of the rides. I had no problem what so ever snapping away some shots of this ride called Disko. It's spinning in circles like mad and it rides back and forth on this U shaped track.

Almost a year later, I'm going through my shots that have never seen the light of day and I come across this shot. I jumped up knocking the chair over and sending a cat to the ceiling, yelling "I took a candid shot! I TOOK A CANDID SHOT!"

Does it count if you take a candid shot and don't realize it ... for a year?

View on Black or I will take a candid shot of you on accident

PS. Does anyone know how to get a cat unstuck from the ceiling?


100 Words: Challenge

Kamikaze

Kamikaze a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Luckily I took this shot before I heard the words, Let's get in line. I passed out right after they were spoken.

100 Pictures: Words

I See Alice Stopped By Again

I See Alice Stopped By Again a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

OFF WITH HER HEAD!

Paint my roses. I'll teach her, the little vandal.

I said, OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!

View on black. OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!!!

Our Daily Challenge: OFF WITH YOUR HEAD! What? Thats not the challenge. It's Burst Of Color? Oh. OFF WITH YOUR HEAD! Teach you to correct me.

PS.
OFF WITH YOUR HEAD! (Guess who woke up on the wrong side of the bed) :)

Oh Dear Lord, What Have I gotten Myself Into Now

Oh Dear Lord, What Have I gotten Myself Into Now a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

If you ever wondered what the most common phrase is rattling around in my brain. Now you know.

View on black, cause I said so.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Have you ever seen a candid self portrait before? Now you have. I was posing for this and having a difficult time with remote. I clicked the button, nothing happened, rolled my eyes up, sighed and just as I was about to move, click click click. Stupid remote. Takes better shots then I do.

Rusty Me

Rusty Me a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

I actually ended up with four or five different shots that I really loved for yesterdays challenge. Each one of those I processed a couple different ways.

I am often asked, which came first, story or the shot. Story, title, one liner, idea or whatever it is, almost always come first. I get an idea stuck in my head. Sometimes clear, sometimes fuzzy, usually lonely. Once I have the idea, I picture in my mind what I want the shot to look like to go with it. I grab my camera, run outside, turn it on, run back inside and grab the memory card, call the cat by the wrong name and get stared at and back outside again. In the process of doing this, I get new ideas and sometimes I can mix it in with what I am doing and sometimes I can not. This is a case in point. I actually like this process better than the peeling paint for the Rust/Decay challenge and like the photo better but it didn't fit what I had in my head.

Had I uploaded this instead, I would of just stared at it for 8 hours trying to figure out what to say, so I uploaded "I'm Sure I Can Blame That One On The Cat".

The texture in this is the side of a rusty boat.

Our Daily Topic: Rusty/Decay

View on Black. Well, you have to do something besides just sit there or rust will start poppin up on you too.

I'm Sure I Can Blame That One On The Cat

I'm Sure I Can Blame That One On The Cat a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

After eating Ranch Beans and Wieners for dinner, the paints peeling off the walls.

View on Black or the Sun won't be the only big ball of gas in your neighborhood.

Our Daily Challenge: Rust/Decay

Waiting For The Fair

Waiting For The Fair a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

I love going to the Orange County fair! I wait for what seems like a year before it comes around again in July. I will be honest though, I don't do the rides. I get really motion sick and toss my cookies. Kind of redundant since I eat everything in sight till I toss my cookies anyway.

View on Black or I will post a shot of "cookies"

Our Daily Topic: Waiting

----------------------------------------------------

I processed the shot till I got the vintage look I liked. I wanted a vintage look since the challenge was waiting and I wanted to show that it seems like I wait for years. Once I got the right vintage look, I decided to play with my recent discovery of layers and textures.

Yesterday I went out and took some macro shots of a couple of different things I could use for texturing. One of them was peeling paint off of a door outside. I thought it was perfect, again to show ages of waiting. I had no clue how dramatically it would alter the image.

I've been playing with layering textures on top of images. I reversed that thinking today and layered the photo on top of texture. It made a difference. The image came out clearer. It also made the date the shot was done as yesterday instead of July 2010 when I really shot it. Yesterday was when I shot the peeling paint texture.

I still have a ways to go before being great at this but I am having fun and I don't think it turned out too bad if I say so myself.

You There

You There a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Yes you. You who is lookin at my photo, who did you think I was talkin to, myself? (Don't answer that). Stop staring at me and go leave a comment already. Your making me self conscious.

View on black or I will keep staring at you.

Our Daily Challenge: Negative Space

PS. OMG! I have HAIR between my eyebrows!!! Stop looking! STOP LOOKING!

The Texture of Friendship

The Texture of Friendship a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

I took advantage of not feeling well today and learned how to add textures to a photo.

I sat at the computer with a cat (why is it always the heavy one) in lap and pulled up Photoshop. As my spouse opened the door to go to work I heard, I downloaded some instructional books on Photoshop for you to read up on. I thought to myself "oh cool!"

Like a typical guy lost and refusing directions, I never opened any of the instructional books.

I went through the thousands of photos that I have taken that have never seen the light of day and pulled up some shots I thought would look good.

On the first shot I used the fiber texture on Photoshop along with clouds. Four hours later I figured it out.

Then I decided to try my own shot for a texture. I pulled up a shot of an old piece of wood and layered it in to The Texture of Friendship. Six hours later I Finally figured it out.

I sure am glad I didn't waste 30 minutes of time pulling up those instructional books that would of probably told me how to do it in minutes.

Girls, stop laughing, it's a guy thing.

View on Black for the best texturing I have ever done. (Yes, I know it's the ONLY texturing I have ever done)

Korean Friendship Bell

Korean Friendship Bell a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Donated to the people of Los Angeles in 1976 by the Republic of Korea, the Korean Bell of Friendship celebrates the bicentennial of the U.S. and honors veterans of the Korean War. The Bell cost $500,000 to construct and was patterned after the Bronze Bell of King Songdok built in 771 A.D.

The Bell Pavillion was built by thirty Koreans flown to the location, cost $569,680 and took 10 months to complete.

The Bell is rung four times a year, 4th of July, August 15 (Korean Independence Day), New Years Eve and every September to coincide with bell ringings around the country to celebrate Constitution week.

100 Words: #10 Celebrate

My New Car

My New Car a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

I love the retro style of my new car. It's fully loaded. It has Air, Custom Wheels, it's a convertible and has as much Horse Power as I can add.

View on Black for the New Car smell

The Troll Under The Bridge

The Troll Under The Bridge a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

So let's clear up this superstition that a troll lives under the bridge. I live in a home thank you very much!

View on black or pay the toll

Our Daily Topic: Superstition

A Foreign Affair

A Foreign Affair a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

My other half put this ceiling light shade we found (see "The Glass Shield") into one of our whiskey barrels. I said fine, then I am putting this cool ceiling fan shade in the planter. And I did. Now we have lamp shades in our garden...and yes, we were both sober and now we have foreign objects in our garden.

View on black for a shinier view

Our Daily Challenge: Foreign

The Glass Shield

The Glass Shield a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

What Terra Cotta Warrior would be complete without a glass shield.
No, I didn't place it there for the shot. Yes, it is actually in my garden. No, I'm not drunk. Yes, I kinda wish I were.
View on black or the warrior will attack you.
Our Daily Topic: Foreign

By The Light of the Window

By The Light of the Window a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

This is an HDR version of "A Museum Piece".

In two years time, incandescent lightbulbs will no longer be sold here. Only Compact Fluorescent and LED bulbs will be allowed. Did anyone think about the little bit of mercury in a compact fluorescent bulb. It's a tiny amount and in one bulb is no big deal. In the amount of bulbs sold today it's not a big deal. In the amount of bulbs sold in two years because it is the only thing you can buy, it might become a big deal. Don't force us to buy something and tell us we can not throw it away in the trash because it is bad for the environment. I promise you, 90% of the population is chucking it in the garbage.

PS. I do use Compact Fluorescent bulbs here. This is one of two incandescents I have left in the house. I take the dead Compact Fluorescents to Home Depot who will dispose of them properly for me for free.

A Museum Piece

A Museum Piece a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

A 84 year old man walked into my store the other week and loaded his shopping cart with every 60 watt incandescent lightbulb from our shelf. I walked up to him and said, Sir, what are you doing? He told me, in two years you won't be able to buy incandescent bulbs anymore and he hates fluorescent and LED bulbs so he was buying a lifetime supply. I told him in that case he only needed one. He laughed and reminded me I was right behind him and that I should get two.

(I couldn't make this one up if I tried. He comes in all the time and I know him, he's slightly crazier than I am)

View on Black, it will light up your room.

Our Daily Challenge: Energy

Yoo Hoo! Mr. Retailer, Over Here

Yoo Hoo! Mr. Retailer, Over Here a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Dear Mr. Retailer,

This is toilet paper. Notice how you can't see through it. I know you try to save money buying those giant rolls of super thin tissue paper the size of the tires on my car but I have to be honest, I use HALF the roll at one go. As a customer I don't like having to use public restrooms but if I have to, then I want REAL toilet paper. I won't shop at business that doesn't have a clean restroom and decent TP. I think it is important MR CEO that the next time you have to "go", you leave your big fancy corner office and head on down to one of your stores to use the restroom and maybe you will think twice on cutting back on a basic customer service.

Yours Truly,
Olive Yore Customers.

PS. I don't like Bidets so please fix your toilet so it doesn't splash my butt when I flush.

---------------------------------------------

View on Black or I wont tell you where I hid the TP.

Our Daily Challenge: Must Have (tell me I'm wrong)

I'm T P Man!

I'm T P Man! a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Faster then a warm wind rushing through a room.

Able to leap any object in his path to the restroom.

It's not a bird or plane, it's T P Man!

View on Black or I won't save you

Our Daily Topic: Must Have

Milk, It Does A Body Good

Milk, It Does A Body Good a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

I really had a hard time deciding which shot to use today. So in the end, I tasted both. (I've since discovered, not the best way to decide)

View on black or have a glass of milk. (I'd go with the view on black. This took about an hour)

Our Daily Challenge: White

White

White a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Alternative to the Daily Challenge.

Our Daily Topic: White

View on Black or the daisies get it!

The Pinwheel of Fun

The Pinwheel of Fun a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Sometimes, the best special effect is just a finger away.

I could not come up with anything for the challenge this morning and was running out of time so I just grabbed my camera and went outside.

First, I found a wasp building a nest under a wooden candle holder. I snuck up quietly with my small lens and edged closer and closer. Nine inches away and it turned and looked at me. I screamed and ran, arms flailing. I'm not messing with it, it knows where I live.

Then I took a bunch of shots of flowers. Hated them all. Not the flowers, my shots.

Then I turned the camera around and just snapped a couple of hand held selfies. Forgot the golden rule, never shoot a shot lookin up your nose.

I sighed, turned the camera off and started to head in. As I passed this small pinwheel I saw a tiny little bug sitting on one of the spokes. I turned the camera on and got up close (this was a harmless bug). Took a couple of shots, didn't like any of them.

So, I aimed the camera at the center of the pinwheel with the tiny little bug on the edge of the spoke, stuck my finger on the end of the opposite spoke and snapped away both my finger and the camera.

And as I heard the tiny little bug yell "WWWHHhhhheeeeeee" as it shot off into the sky like a rocket, I thought to myself, "DOH!, the spokes are folded you big dork!"

View on black or take the chance of being flung into space.

Our Daily Challenge: Folded

The Cry of the Dodo

The Cry of the Dodo a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

I told her she had Chicken legs. What? Don't look at me that way. She does. Fine! I will apologize. Right after she waters all the plants.

View on black or I will make you cry too.

Our Daily Challenge: Sadness

Swimming Between Fact And Fiction

Swimming Between Fact And Fiction a photo by hbmike2000 on Flickr.

Dang it is hot here! I thought I would go out for a nice swim. Too bad I don't have a pool but this will work.

View on black or I will splash you.

------------------------------------------------------
There is a narrow line between fact and fiction in almost all my photos and stories. Believe it or not, they almost always start off in fact. Something that happened or I want to do. Some end up all fact and some end up all fiction but the majority end up as a mixture of fact and fiction.

Also, I am being held up by a VERY narrow piece of wood. I kept hearing it crack everytime I layed down.

Our Daily Challenge: Narrow