Looking forward to part three!
Well done, Ms. Aguila.
Paul
On Jun 4, 2009, at 10:13 PM, Christine Aguila wrote:
(Probably best to read this with a wink ;-) and a smile :-) all the
way through.)
The wind howled all Friday night--I mean, it really howled--and it
was cold--and Saturday morning I felt a howling in my head and
belly. We dashed to the bathrooms and grunted a "mornin" along the
way to all the experienced PDML campers who were frying up bacon &
eggs. Darrel & I put on a brave face, jumped in the car, and headed
for the cafe for breakfast.
"You better hurry up and eat. You have pictures to take."
"Well, yes, it's a photographic weekend," I said--then yawned.
"You have to get all your photographs taken and processed by the 3
p.m.deadline."
"Right," I said--then grumbled my tea wasn't strong enough.
"What categories are you going to enter?"
"I'm not sure what they are," I said. "Do you have any Advil?
I've a twinge of a headache."
"Scenic, Animals in Nature, Animals in Habitat, and Wildflower.
Let's start with Animals in Habitat; it's right around the corner"
"Fine," I said. "Do you have that Advil?"
"Look, it's time to get serious--and focused."
"Remember our pledge," I said, "the I-promise-not-to-take-the-
contest-seriously pledge."
"I had my fingers crossed when I made that pledge."
Yikes! I thought.
And so we began--the great quest for 3 contest worthy shots. Since
I had taken 150 shots of that tree that presented itself through the
thick fog the afternoon before, I was quite sure I'd get one for the
contest, so I felt cheered with my work done there--now I only had 2
more shots to get. I photographed every blooming four-legged furry
and not-so furry creature in the habitat--and the winged creature as
well--and I got it all--the sheen--the glare--the missed focused--
the blown-out highlights-and shadows so dark they'd scare the
bejeezes out of Edgar Allen Poe. For the contest I settled on a
river otter shot, which consisted of a fairly cute expression
completely surrounded by relentless out-of-focus twig-mess, which
probably covered 3/4 of the frame. "Not to worry," I said to
myself. "I'll crop it. Then it will look better." I wish I'd taken
that Advil.
The sun warmed and along with it our bones, and PDMLers started
popping out of trail holes, and cars, and trees, and bushes. I met
up with Ted, chatted with him for a while, then he disappeared into
a trail taking his striking blues eyes and Arkansas drawl with him.
Then from over a bush, I heard, "There's Trouble." All weekend Sir
Cotty called me Trouble, which made my husband & I giggle. "The
Trouble Begins at Eight" was a line used on Mark Twain's flyers that
advertised his evening lectures. My thesis was on Twain, and my
husband has always called me the Tricky Aguila. "Cotty has your
number, dear," my husband teased. I ran into Gonz at Cliffside, and
the two of us took some scenics, chased a bird for a shot, and
settled on some lavender flowers. I got down low for the wildflower
shot. Gonz remarked on the nice bokeh--but I chalk it up to bad luck
that the flowers didn't look so nice.
Thankfully it was time for dinner, and Darrel and I had a great
dinner with our fearless List Master Doug Brewer. He had the K-7 in
hand and explained all its virtues--and there are many. While
feasting on fried chicken, the three of us talked about books, and
writers, and photography, and all the stuff in between life has to
offer. It was great fun, and I shall always remember it fondly. . . .
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