I finally had a nice relaxing weekend. We actually woke up to a dusting of snow and a feeling more like Christmas.
I think John was trying to keep me out of the house on Saturday so I wouldn’t log into work 😀 We went out doing a little window shopping at noncrowded stores (antique stores and little boutiques) and some lunch at a new local restaurant called Jam ‘n Eggs.
Eggs benedict. Pretty good, not great. The service was excellent, though.
Festive deer. They are happy hunting season is over now.
I also had time to play with my camera. I was practicing with the bokeh effect, which is where you have a focal point and blurred background, which makes the lights look very pretty:
Then I cut some cardboard with a little heart shape on it to go over the lens to make the lights have a shape:
I don’t have a fixed lens so it gives it a bit of a fish eye, but still pretty cool!
We took my parents out driving around looking at lights. Is that called light peeping? 😀 Some people have the most amazing displays.
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That was just one house. I can’t imagine their light bill! The nice thing is that they have a box to collect canned food for the senior center. They get a lot of traffic, so I imagine they collect a lot.
Then there was this house, which we have been to before. You can walk around their property. They have interactive stuff and light shows set to music.
John and Mama Radiance:
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It was chilly and windy and now it feels like mid to late December! However, we are going to be back in the 50s this week and so there will be a little more riding!
OH OH OH that cardboard and heart shape is the coolest thing!
I had no idea that worked!
It is really weird how you can take a picture through that tiny hole in the paper and it still comes out 😀
You have mad photo
taking skills! I so
admire them.
It is very warm all over
for this time of year.
I think we skipped fall,
winter down here went
straight back to spring.
I still have roses blooming
which is unheard of at this time
of the year.
I hope you have a Merry Christmas!
It’s a lot of trial and error with photography. That’s the great thing about digital is that it doesn’t cost money to try and make mistakes 😀
Glad to hear you had a relaxing weekend – you deserve it! I always wonder about crazy lightshow electric bills as well, especially after I just heard on the news that incandescent lights on a 7 foot Christmas tree costs about $10 if you have it displayed for a few hours each day for 30 days. Crazy! But I love my tree so until I get LED, $10 well spent.
$10 a month? That’s not so bad. Eco friendly as I tend to be, I love my tree lights.
Yay for the relaxing weekend, the little dust of snow (little!!) and the photo shoot. LOVE the bokeh shots!!!! Have a great day!!
Nice! How festive. We’ve been so lazy this year. Still haven’t gotten out to see the holiday lights yet…
That’s so funny because when I saw that heart picture on Facebook I was wondering how you did that!!
It’s a cool effect. If I had a different lens, it would be easier because the shape had to be really small to work with the lens I have.
So glad you had a relaxing weekend–good job, John! And yay to crazy December bike rides! This is making up for last year.
It is actually making up for the really late spring we had 😀
I love how you did that heart thing!!!!!!! Beautiful!
I love looking at lights & we watch the competition shows on TV – amazing! One neighborhood in Hawaii used solar panels & so no bill!!! We have a couple streets in our area that do the street thing.
So crazy that you are going o be able to ride outside!!!!! YAHOO!
Wow! Some of those light displays are just amazing!! Merry Christmas!!
The lights are lovely everywhere.
I am still learning my new camera, it has a lot of possibilities and I still have to read the manual. But I do love it although I have to get used to carry it with me on my walks. At that point the phone was easier.
I found the manual not a lot of help, but maybe that is Canon 😀 Just trial and error for the most part. It is heavier, though. I find taking it along on hikes is a bit cumbersome but the shots make it worth it.