Today's Photos - Storms over the Beach

I noticed some interesting looking clouds in the sky this afternoon and planned to try for some sunset shots.  By the time sunset time was near, heavy thunderstorms eliminated any chance for a sunset.  I did take a few shots at the beach before the storms arrived:

Today's Photos - Beach House Fun and a Sunset

Sunset over the Currituck Sound

Today's Photo's - Family Beach Trip

We arrived at the beach today for our annual family beach vacation.  Here are a couple of quick shots:

My nephew Conner

My Niece Katie and my sister Mary

Today's Photos - A Beetle

I spotted this guy this afternoon hanging out on one of my Pepper Plants:

Today's Photo - Blue Mist

I spotted another plant starting to bloom in my yard today.

I believe this flower is called "Blue Mist"

Blue Mist Flowers

Today's Photo - Two Colors

In my Shutter Snappers photography group, one of this month's themes is "2 Colors"  While watering our tomato plants, I noticed one that was about ready to be picked (mostly red), while the tomato next to it was still mostly green.  I think it fits the theme, but I might give the red one another day to get even redder and try again tomorrow.  Here is today's shot:

Today's Photos - More Bug Hunting

I found a few interesting critters on my front porch.  I am not a big fan of using a flash, but I had to make an exception today because there was too much shade on the porch to get the shutter speed I needed, and the bugs were not in a position where I could set up a tri-pod.  So here are a few hand held flash shots.

Today's Photos - Bug Hunt

No, not the VW!

For today's photos I went in search of the creepy, crawly type Bugs.  One of my photography groups monthly subject for June is "Bug Hunt".

I found an interesting looking fellow crawling around some of the flowers in our front yards and snapped some shots.  I don't think any of them are good enough for me to submit in the photo contest, but here are a few:

I'm not sure what kind of Bug this is?

Today's Photos - Buggin' Around

This afternoon, my wife Amy and I took the Bug out for a ride.  I realized that it has been a while since I've taken any photos of our 1979 VW Beetle Convertible. 

Me with our 1979 VW Bug

Today's Photo's - Mushroom

While mowing the grass this morning, I noticed an interesting looking Mushroom.  So after finishing up the yard work, I grabbed the camera and went in for a closer look:

Today's Photo - Snake Skin

While roaming around our yard this afternoon, I spotted a shedded snake skin and snapped this shot. 

Snake Skin

Today's Photo - Poker Night

Tonight was our monthly Poker Night, therefore I did not have time for any photos.  However, in the spirit of my Photo a Day goal, I did pull out the camera for a few quick shots.  Here is one of my friends around the Poker Table:

Jeff's wife Lori also showed with their new baby Austin.  They hung out inside, while the guys had a fun night of poker on the screened in porch.  Here are a few shots of baby Austin:

Baby Austin

Me and Austin

My wife Amy with Austin

Today's Photos - Hydrangea

My wife Amy's friend Jackie must have some very impressive Hydrangea bushes in her yard, because today she gave us some Hydrangea flowers that she clipped from some of her bushes.

This first photo is a simple snap shot of the arrangement:

Then I decided to get creative with a dark background and a dark room.

Set it up for a long exposure and used a little flashlight to "light paint" the flowers throughout the exposure.  Here is the result:

Today's Photo's - Daddy Long Legs and some flowers

Nothing special today.  It was really too hot to put much effort into this afternoon's photos:

Daddy Long Legs

A Nice cluster of flowers

Not sure what type they are

Official PIGLET ENEMY results at the Blue Ridge BBQ Festival

Steve and Jeff - PIGLET ENEMY BBQ

As posted a few days ago, my buddies Steve and Jeff competed in this years Blue Ridge BBQ Festival in Tryon, NC. 

They finished middle of the pack, which is pretty good considering most of the BBQ teams they were competing against do this type of thing professionally.  While Steve and Jeff are just a couple of guys who like to hang out and cook up some kick-ass BBQ!

Here are the official results: 

PORK SHOULDER/BUTT:

38th out of 89 teams

 

 

BEEF BRISKET:

43rd out of 89 teams

 

 

 

CHICKEN:

54th out of 89 teams

 

 

PORK RIBS:

71st out of 89 teams

 

 

OVERALL RANKING:

54th out of 89 teams

PIGLET ENEMY is hoping to take their BBQ skills to the next level by entering additional BBQ competitions and picking up some local catering gigs.

So if you are looking to have some BBQ catered at your next event,
give a holler to PIGLET ENEMY

Today's Photo - Fringe/Focus

It is hot as hell outside today, so I decided that today's photo would be created indoors.

The other day, I stumbled upon this 2 things challenge blog

Basically, every week (2) words are posted.  The challenge is to create something that incorporates both words.  This weeks challenge words are:

Fringe

and

Focus

So I roamed around the house looking for something with a fringe.  The most interesting looking thing I found was one of my wife Amy's decorative pillows which has an interesting bead fringe.

I played around with the aperture until I found a depth of field which would put a small area in crystal clear focus while most of the fringe would be blurred.  Here is the result:

Fringe / Focus

Today's Photos - Hatcher Garden

Hatcher Garden and Woodland Preserve

Spartanburg, SC

June 13th, 2010

For today's photos, I made a quick trip over to Hatcher Garden.  I was hoping to check out the progress of the baby Geese, but they were nowhere to be found.  Since they are Canadian Geese, I figure they are on their way to Canada to get away from the oppressive South Carolina Heat.

Fortunately, I did find plenty of other things to photograph: