...and it felt goooooood...

...to finally shoot something again.

Ok, it's a flower. Ok, it's in my front yard. Ok, it's not like I ventured forth into the wild recesses of Iowa to track down the lonely tulip that has not been seen since the Bohemian Beatnik Renaissance in old Holland in 1966. But, oh, it felt so good to actually shoot something for the first time this year.

I even used my new macro lens, which had been sitting on my shelf unused for almost three months now.

I like this shot because the background is slightly blurred yet still recognizable without being distracting. The focus... literally and figuratively, is on the tallest tulip, as it should be.

Hope Springs Eternal... or something like that.

It's spring. Or, is it? It is where I'm from in California, but here in Iowa we're not quite sure yet. This has been one of the hardest (and few) things I have had to adjust to after moving here... the "late" springs.

We had a very mild winter this year. For whatever reason, snow missed us more often than not. Other areas to the north and south got pummeled, but we squeaked by. So, on a huge leap of faith, I'm going to prep the snow blower today and put it away for the summer. Cross your fingers that this doesn't jinx me and we get a blizzard in two weeks.

What else does this mean? Getting out and shooting more. Hopefully. The engineering business is up and running, I still have my college courses, but I will indeed make time for some shooting. My main goals for this year are more farm scenery and panoramas.