~ University of Alberta Botanical Garden Visit ~

On a spontaneous whim my wife and I went on a trip to the University of Alberta Botanical Gardens near Devon. We had a great time, it was a sunny and hot day. It was great to see a lot of the flowers in full bloom. We have gone before but later in the summer when flowers were not as healthy as they were in July. It's great to see these gardens and the updates they have been doing to the grounds since the last time we went. I love to photograph flowers so it was a lot of fun, by the end of the visit I was drenched from the heat. I still have a ways to go with my personal health. The exercise we got from walking around was much needed on my end.

Here are the photos from our visit:

~ 227/365 Flower ~

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227/365
Just a shot of a flower, was a busy day....cleaning and organizing the basement. :) -Randy

~ 181/365 Summer Day ~

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181/365
Just a hot summer day.  Spent resting and enjoying the freedom of summer. -Randy

~ 175/365 More flower Power on a Monday ~

175/365
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LAST MONDAY of the 2012-2013 School year!!!  Glad to see it go.  Still fighting my cold, but feeling a bit better.  Cannot wait for summer, making some plans for shoots.  I can't wait!!! :) -Randy

~ 170/365 Flowers!!!! ~

170/365
More flowers!!!  Thankfully there are lots around the house thanks to Jenn! :)  Busy week, still fighting my cold.  Hope to feel better soon.
-Randy

~ 167/365 Fathers Day ~

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167/365
Fathers Day!!! Still fighting a bad cold and spent most of the day feeling BLEH!!! Called my Dad and wished him a Happy Fathers day.  Not in the best of moods, feeling work stress and sick combined means this coming week I am gonna be quite a grouch I predict.
-Randy

~ 163/365 Rainy Days ~

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163/365
Rainy day, storms all over....power went out at school while our students were writing an English Dept. Exam in the comp labs.  Overall a bleh day, this month is crazy busy....every day goes by in the blink of an eye.  -Randy

~ 162/365 June Flowers ~

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162/365

Busy day, stress of the year ending is taking a toll.....really feeling the pressure to get things done.  Senior High students are done on Friday!!! So little time to get a LOT of stuff done.  Had a ROUGH night, some LR5 issues......as I get older computer problems seem harder and harder to get my head around.....grrrr. -Randy

~ 158/365 Birthday Weekend Engaged!!! ~

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158/365
A rainy day, but awesome start to my birthday weekend.  Had a nice evening with Jenn and look forward to this next 10 years of my life.  -Randy

~ 140/365 Flowers ~

140/365
A good long weekend, finished off with some work and cleaning.  Had a lot of fun....really don't wanna go back to work tomorrow. :)  But the real world is calling and I'll be there tomorrow to answer the call. :)  Have a great week people. -Randy

~ 134/365 Spring Flowers ~

134/365
Long day today, was feeling pretty wicked tired tonight.  Shot this just before the sunset.  Hope everyone has a good week.  Hoping a good night sleep will give me some energy for tomorrow. -Randy

~ 45 Valentine's Day ~

45/365 Valentine's Day, shot this at school today, it was a snow day and had hardly any students.  These flowers were in my classroom, so shot this as my 365. -Randy

~ 191/365 Purple Haze ~

~ 171/365 FATHERS DAY ~

Today was a fun day, lots of beautiful weather and heat. Did some yard work and just feel so much better then I did yesterday. I had a wicked headache yesterday that kept me in a state of yuck pretty much all day. Today feels 110% better. I am so so so excited. Tomorrow I get to go in to Edmonton to get a new camera. I will be picking up a Canon 7D!!! I really love my Canon 40D but so happy to get this camera. I think it is a game changer for me. It will allow me to try some new things with my photography. The image quality is going to be a BIG jump. The noise reduction is one thing I will really enjoy. Also 1080P HD video is another huge jump for me. I am excited to enter the realm of HD video. I am going to be SUPER excited to drive in to Edm tomorrow to get that camera. :)

-Randy

~ 133/365 Flowers ~

~ 126/365 Spring Snow and Rain ~

~ Flower Edits ~

From my recent visit to the Muttart.

~ EIPS Photo Walk ~

I had a chance to go on a photo walk with a group of staff from EIPS, we had a fun time.  I got a chance to just enjoy the beauty of the plants and flowers at the Muttart in Edmonton.  It was peaceful to just be there and capture the beauty of nature inside, while outside it was raining and cold.  Here are a few of the edits I have from today:

This shot I really enjoyed because it had such colourful orange and yellow leaves behind it.  It almost looks like lights, the 70-200 2.8  really blurred the background nicely.

This shot was lovely....I saw the water beads on it and felt I had to capture a few shots of it.  Added a texture layer in CS4 and not much else. 

Love the green in this shot, just enjoyed it for the colour and soft carpet it creates.

Played with a lens baby that my friend Tara let me borrow.  It was funky.

This was a beautiful flower, I enjoyed it's simplicity. 

~ Fall Flowers ~

Some of Jenn's backyard flowers getting snowed on in the FALL!!! :)  I have been VERY busy with work.  Need to do editing but just so busy.  I know Tammy (Smileyeyes) is a wicked editor, thinking maybe I will hire her to edit my work...tee hee.
-Randy

~ Weekend is Here | Flowers from Jessica's Wedding ~

Here is a detail shot from Jessica's wedding.  I didn't have much time as the bridesmaids were moving rather quickly in to the church.  I had a chance to quickly snap this shot as she was going inside the church.  I think this was my 70-200, but I forget. :)  Anyway, I love it as a detail shot. :)
-Randy