Last Photos of Howl-O-Scream 2015

Much as I miss the fun of Howl-O-Scream I'm totally looking forward to the opening day of Christmas Town!  I figured I needed to finish up my Fall photos before moving onto Christmas.  Here are a few of the highlights.

Dr. Frankenstein

Wendigo Monster

Christmas Town opens the day after Thanksgiving.  I'm really looking forward to the yummy peppermint fudge hot chocolate!  In the meantime I'm trying to get prepared for Thanksgiving.  I've got a 23 pound turkey in the freezer that I can almost taste.  Sounds kind of bloodthirsty now that I've put it into words!

Sharon
#Buschgardens, #howl-o-scream, #halloween, #busch,

Fall Photos and a New Topaz Labs Filter

I am so far behind!  Not that that's anything too unusual but the pressure is starting to build up on me.  I took lots of photos this year but unfortunately real life and two jobs have taken up a great deal of my time.  I have barely scratched the surface on my processing tasks.  What a bummer.  Hopefully after the holiday season I can take a break and just work on my photos.

Topaz Labs has just released a new special effects filter called Texture Effects.  I should mention that I LOVE Topaz Labs products.  So when this new one was released I just couldn't resist.

I played around with it the other night just for fun.  These products are so easy to use you can just jump right in there and get some cool effects.  But they are also very powerful editing programs that can give you some amazing effects if you take the time to really work with them.  There is a bit of a learning curve because there are so many options and effects but fortunately Topaz Labs has many webinars and videos to help you get the most out of the program.

On this first picture I had had some difficulty with my camera settings.  I seem to have trouble at night under red lights.  Hopefully I will figure it out some day!  It was much darker than it appears and the area was lit with red spotlights.  Very creepy but didn't translate well in the photo.  I wanted to see if I could salvage this mess and get a usable image with a dark, old world vibe.

Scary ladies at the Busch Gardens Unearthed Haunted House

This next one is just a standard amusement park shot.  I do love the carousel horses at Busch Gardens.  They are painted authentically and the park really keeps them in great shape.  I thought I would give it a somewhat grungy neon look.

Here are the original photos.

 

If you like to play around with special effects you might like to give Texture Effects a try.  They offer a free 30 day trial version.

I'm really hoping to get my fall photos posted before Christmas catches up with me!  It's not likely to happy but I can dream, can't I?

Sharon

Looking Forward to Fall

Darkastle At Sunset

Funky Mood

I'll admit it.  I've been in a funk for the last couple of weeks.  This time of year is always depressing to me.  I just hate to see the end of Summer.  And so here were are in the very last week before school starts and it's a sad, sad time.  Already the days are getting shorter.  Can't say it's any cooler since it was 94 humid degrees today.

Howl-O-Scream Countdown

The only bright spot in the near future is the start of Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens.  It opens on September 25 and I'm happy to report they've already started some preparations. They even have a three new haunts this year.

Here's one of the new haunts.  Looks promising.  This one is replacing 13:You're Number's Up.  I liked 13.  In fact, it was probably my favorite.  But it was a few years old and I'm glad to see something new going in.  I'm very curious to see what is behind the boarded doors.  Here is a preview of Unearthed.

One of the other new haunts is called Cornered.  Busch has just released Cornered preview as well.  Kind of reminds me of Children of the Corn!  Terrifying!  I don't know if I can handle being chased through cornfields.

Lumberhack looks to be zombie lumberjacks.  Can't wait to see that one!  Zombies are so scary to me...but now as scary as clowns.  I still wish they would bring them back.  Maybe it's just my personal phobia but the clowns were the creepiest.  Once I was just standing there having a conversation when I felt something on the back of my neck.  Thinking it was a bug I reached up to swat it away.  I felt something I didn't recognize so I turned my head and came face to face with an evil clown.  (Insert scream here)  He had his nose on my neck!  Gives me the heebie jeebies just remembering it!

Sharon

#howl-o-scream, #busch-gardens-williamsburg,

Newport News Video

I haven't blogged much this summer.  I meant to.  Really I did.  During my workday I write really imaginative posts in my head.  Unfortunately by the time I get home they have disappeared along with my willpower and energy!

This summer has gone blazingly fast as usual.  I haven't done everything I wanted to but at least put a dent in my Summertime List.  Even managed to fit in a trip home to the mountains.  Oh joy!  Rapture!  I'll blog about that when I get the pictures ready.

There are so many activities to do in this area.  But you know how it is.  When you live somewhere you mostly leave that stuff to the tourists while you sit in the AC complaining about the heat and not having anything to do or anywhere to go!

I came across this cool video that features Newport News and the surrounding area.  The phrase that's repeated often is "Get out of the bed now".  That's something I say to myself all the time.  And lately I have to force myself to get out of the house as well.  I have so much work to do it's a real struggle to make time for fun as well.  But this Wake Up To Newport News video is a great incentive to get out and about.  Be careful about watching it though.  The song might get stuck in your head!

Sharon

#newportnewsva
#funinva

Turtle Update

Tootsie Smiles

Have you ever seen such a cute little guy?  Maybe I'm prejudiced but I think Tootsie is exceptionally handsome.  At the moment I'm thinking he's a little boy.  Of course he could turn out to be a girl when he gets older.  It's so hard to tell when they're this little.  He looks huge in this picture but his shell is just a bit larger than a quarter.

Tootsie has a very good appetite.  He eats at least twice a day. Right now he enjoys the floating turtle food and has learned how to eat the freeze dried shrimp.  Of course I have to break the shrimp in tiny pieces.  The first time I fed him the shrimp I threw in a whole one with the assumption that he would bite off pieces.  Wrong.  He started at one end and worked that whole thing down his throat.  I have no idea how he didn't choke on it much less where it went in that tiny body.  Lesson learned.

As you can see his looks have changed significantly over the past month.  He has probably doubled in size and his shell and skin have lightened.  I was sorry to see those cute yellow spots go away.  Tootsie is so much stronger now and has the beginnings of some leg muscles.  That's my boy!

May

June

As Tootsie got bigger I started to notice some bumps on his chin.  As he grew they were noticeable.  I googled them and discovered they are called barbels. I like to think of them as Tootsie's goatee!

Every dapper gentleman has a goatee!

This little fellow has truly brightened my days.  I look forward to seeing his adorable face when I come home.  Although I've only had him 4 months but he already knows me and comes running when I look in his tank.  I like to think he loves me for me and not just for the food that comes with me!

One legged dance.  He's quite the acrobat

Showing off his abs

I hope to get a larger tank in the next few months.  Although he has plenty of room in the 10 gallon I'd like to give him more areas to explore. Gotta keep my boy happy!
Sharon

#turtle, #Easternmudturtle, #mudturtle, #babyturtle,

Fun and Interesting Photos

In my last post I shared some pretty spring photos.  Now I'd like to show some of the more interesting and fun sights I've captured.  If you pay attention there is usually something interesting going on around you.  You just have to look.  Of course there's also a plentiful supply of things you wish you had never seen but that get burned into your memory permanently.  We won't go into that right now!

This lizard is not beautiful in the ordinary sense but he had PERSONALITY and that makes him beautiful in his own right.

The is one of the rescued eagles that live at Busch Gardens.  His wing is injured but he is majestic none the less.  There are a few of these rescued birds in the park.

Funny story that has nothing to do with what I'm talking about... A couple of weeks ago as I was driving on a busy highway I noticed a very large bald eagle sitting on top of a telephone pole.  It's not unusual to see hawks and vultures in that area but I've never seen an eagle, especially one sitting on a pole.  He was massive.  Then right after I passed him I also passed a fender bender.  Guess I wasn't the only one who noticed the eagle!  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of him...or the accident.

Here is one of the drummers from the show in Italy.  Amazingly his smile and energy don't dissolve in the heat.

What can I say?  These two are just perfect examples of how to have fun at work.  I didn't think they noticed me trying to sneak a photo.  But then they suddenly struck a pose for me!  Great attitudes!

Beefeaters in England

And now for something completely different...  This little corner of Italy is decorated in an Asian theme for the Food and Wine Festival.

Very colorful

I just realized today that June is almost over.  Why do the summer months go by so fast?  There must be some scientific explanation.  People are already planning Independence Day activities.  I'm not ready for it.  Once again I will try to fit in everything I want to do this Summer and at the end of it I'm sure once again I will have failed to do half of them.  I guess I'll just content myself with the half and hopefully capture them in photos so I will have something to look at as I sit under a pile of blankets next winter!

Sharon

The Colors of Busch Gardens in the Spring

It's been awhile since I've blogged.  I try to make time for it but time is one of those things that just seems to get away from me.  Like everyone else I don't have enough hours in my day.

I did manage to take a few opportunities to get out and about...with my trusty camera, of course.  Here are a few of the scenes that caught my eye.

I see you admiring my beauty!

What a lovely

Handsome fellow

Enjoying a lazy afternoon

Busch Gardens in full bloom

Serene in green

Electric England

Busch Gardens is known as one of the most beautiful amusement parks in the country.  It's a wonderful place to practice photography.  The only downside is having to fight the crowds.  Why do people insist on walking in front of me when they surely can see the camera in front of my face?  It can be very trying to the patience.  Thankfully we have season passes so we can go during the less popular hours.  We love to go at the end of the day just to do a little walking (for exercise) and then treat ourselves with ice cream or funnel cakes (to cancel out the exercise)!
Sharon

#photography, #Busch

Spring Surprise

I was walking in the front lobby of our store last week when I spotted something on the floor.  Being somewhat low to the floor myself it's quite natural that I see things other more vertical people miss.  Suddenly I spotted something that to others probably looked like a small rock.  But I recognized it immediately.  It was a baby turtle!

I gently scooped it up.  I figured it was a snapping turtle since they have been spotted in the store before.  I truly don't know why wildlife is attracted to our store.  Sure the back warehouse is damp and somewhat secluded but there's no water and nothing to eat.  But every year we have our resident frogs and sometimes a stray snake or two.  I found a small garden snake last year and got to play with him for a few minutes before I turned him loose in the woods next to the store.

But back to my baby turtle...  I scooped him up and showed him to fellow employees all the while exclaiming, "I'm a happy little soul!"  Quite the wordsmith, aren't I?  We were all sure it was a snapping turtle because he stuck his head out and opened his mouth.  For such a little fellow he was intimidating.

The next day I took him back to work to turn him loose.  A fellow employee who was off the day before said it was a box turtle.  I have always wanted to find a baby box turtle.  But I was not sure I wanted to be responsible for another pet.

I was unsure what to do with him so I stopped at the local reptile store on my way home.  After being told that the politically correct thing to do was to turn him loose near where I found him and let nature take it's course.  As we had a freeze warning for that night it was clear what that course would be.  She said that if it was her she would take it home and keep it till it was doubled in size before letting him go.  So I took him home and set him up in his own terrarium.

After a couple of day he still wasn't eating and I was starting to get concerned.  I even got some frozen blood worms.  He was having none of it.  So I started doing some online research.  I finally figured out that he is an aquatic turtle and not a box turtle.  I have had one before so I know how to care for him.

Introducing Tootsie Turtle!

Tootsie checking out his basking rock

Looking large and in charge!

Little Tootsie is thriving now.  He spends his nights cuddled up under the moss.  In the morning he is so adorable with his tiny head poking out through the moss to check out his surroundings.  Actually his head isn't really tiny compared to his shell.  It's amazing how he gets a head that big into that shell.  He is getting quite proficient at swimming now.  I have lots of plastic greenery in the tank for him to get a grip on.  He's so little it's hard for him to outswim the current from the filter!  He is eating well.  I got some hatchling turtle food that he enjoys.

When I found him his shell was still soft and he was mostly black.  His shell is hard now and as you can see he has pretty yellow markings.  They show up in the close-ups but were hard to see with the naked eye.  He is starting to show yellow markings on his face as well.  Quite the handsome fellow.  Actually he might be a girl but I'll figure that out later!

Sharon

#turtle, #hatchlingturtle, 

New Christmas Scrapbooks Ready

Winter Woodland 5x7 Mini Scrapbook

Be Joyful 3x5 Mini Scrapbook

Running Behind or Way Ahead of the Game?

I'm still working on some Christmas projects.  I don't look at it as being late.  After all most people haven't even printed their holiday photos yet.  I've still got quite a few photos to process as well.  So with that in mind I am still working on some Christmas and winter albums.  Today I have two new listing in my Etsy Store and at Sharon Stroud Designs.

I haven't made the videos yet although I really intended to get to them today.   Even did my nails!  But then I somehow got distracted in the kitchen.  I was a real cooking maniac.  I made BBQ chicken, a pot of cabbage and corn muffins for dinner.  I also cooked a pot of beans for tomorrow and to top it off I tried a new recipe for banana muffins.  Yum Yum!

I hope you enjoy my new scrapbooks.
Sharon

#scrapbook, #premadescrapbook, #christmasscrapbook

Recapturing The Christmas Spirit

I don't know about you but I was starting to run out of Christmas steam around the middle of December.  It all started out pretty well.  Thanksgiving weekend everyone quickly got into a holiday mood.  Jolly, jolly!  Christmas Town opened and even though the crowds massive people were happy and didn't seem to mind.

But then the stress began to build...the dreaded Christmas Countdown.  Every year (usually the day after Christmas) I swear to myself to get my shopping done way in advance.  And like most people I promptly forget my vow in the following months.  Between shopping, finishing up my custom orders, mailing my Etsy orders, sending Christmas cards (I actually did this year!), and making 15 pounds of fudge I started to feel the strain.  My happy holiday spirit slowly drained away.

I listened to Christmas music all day at work and watched countless hours of Hallmark Channel.  I also watched some of my Christmas DVDs.  I especially love the Scrooge movies.  My favorite is the Alastair Sim version, I think.

I did my best to stay in the holly jolly mood and was doing pretty well up until that last week.  Then I hit the wall.  Crash, boom.  Maybe I overdosed a bit on the Hallmark Channel.  Who knows. But I definitely wasn't in the right mood.  Christmas came and went with me never fully recovering my jolly.  I didn't even mind having to return to work on the 26th.  Not much, anyway.

On the weekend after Christmas. my sister and I decided to go back to Busch Gardens one last time.  We also dragged the hubbies along!  Not really.  They are usually cooperative as long as there is food involved!  The park was nicely uncrowded and the weather was perfect for me and Sis.  It was 65 degrees.  Here in Virginia the weather is like a box full of chocolates (random Forest Gump reference).  We were overjoyed with the 65.

My sister just bought a new camera she wanted to try out so the two of us were snapping photos of everything just for fun.  It made for a nice change.  I'm usually the only one forcing everyone stop and pose for photos!  We meandered over to the Santa's Workshop.  I actually tried to get photos of Santa a few times on previous visits but with the crowds it was just impossible. I figured today would be my best shot.

We took our positions at the window like a couple of peeping Toms!  There was a tiny baby sitting on Santa's lap.  It was adorable.  The baby was looking up at Santa's face with a look of curiosity and wonder.  I knew it was only a matter of time.  Sure enough the wonder turned to "what the hey?"!!  So the family photo time came to a sudden end as mom retrieved her screaming baby.

Now was our chance.  We quickly got our cameras up to our eyes and then it happened!  Santa saw us and made eye contact.  And then he waved!  HOLY COW!  For a split second I remembered what it felt like to be a a six year old on Christmas morning.  I snapped photos like crazy.  I knew this was a moment and mood I wanted to capture.  Then Santa actually gave us two thumbs up!  I was so surprised I forgot to take the picture.  Hopefully Sis kept her head better than me.  I was too busy being a six year old again!

We left Santa's Workshop excited and laughing like a couple of kids.  And I believe that the two thumbs up was a sign.  Santa was giving us heads up that we're already on his good list for the next year!

Busch Gardens has the best Santa ever.  Just my opinion.

Sharon

#christmastown, #buschgardens, #santa, #buschgardenschristmastown,