I am posting this collage as my Photo of the Day.
This is my lovely daughter.
She did a wonderful job hosting the New Years party with our family last Sunday.
And today, I have a date with her.
So if you'll excuse us, today is "our" day.
I saved a couple of pictures from Bruges for this Ruby Tuesday post.
Remember the tiny street where my bike got stolen?
I posted it in my Weekly Winners on Sunday.
If you want to see more pictures of Bruges, this link will take you to this post.
This house is across the street from the small alley where I used to park my bike every day.
I used to look at this house from inside the shop I where I worked when I was eighteen.
I don't remember that it was painted ruby back then.
It most probably wasn't, I like it better how it is now.
No rubies here? Oh yes there are, look at the garlands on the left. See?
I love how the red reflects in the water of the canal.
Those people are waiting for the next boat to arrive to take a boat trip along the canals.
The minute I saw this, I knew this was a Ruby Tuesday picture.
I'm still having so much fun looking for Rubies each week!
If you want to see more Ruby Tuesday posts,
visit Mary the teach at Work of the Poet.
And this is my Photo of the Day 2009.
If you live in Canada or Alaska it's probably not a big deal, but here in Belgium we're not used to getting much snow. If we do get some, it's usually gone by the end of the day.
But not today. It's very very cold here, and it looks like the snow will be here a little while longer. It's the coldest winter in years.
I'm not sure if I got the white balance right on this one.
Up until now I used to shoot most of my pictures in auto mode.
But now I'm challenging myself to switch to manual settings in order to get to know my camera a little better every day. That's why I joined this challenge, by the way.
But I tend to forget to change the settings every once in a while ...
Many of you already know by now, that I'm very fond of my Canon S5IS,
and it's great Super Macro function.
I keep this camera within reach. At all times.
Even when I'm in my kitchen doing the dishes...
You can click on them to make them bigger.
Find more interesting macro shots at Lisa's Chaos.
But before you go, take a look at my photo of the day 2009.
The idea is to post a picture a day, to document your life in 2009.
This morning I stepped outside on my patio to take a couple of pictures in the snow.
If you want to do that and you're living in Belgium, you have to be real quick.
Snow does not last long in our country.
I woke up to a wonderful winter wonderland full of snow this morning, but by the time there was enough light to shoot pictures without having to use the flash it was already starting to thaw!
So here it is, my picture of the day...
Bruges. If you visit Belgium, you'll more than likely visit this town.
But to me it's the town where I was born.
I left Bruges to move to Antwerp when I was 23, but she's still in my heart.
I love this town, more and more each year...
Now let me show you what Bruges is all about...
Tiny streets and little alleyways.
There is a little personal history to this spot. I used to come here every day.
The door on the right is the back door to the shop where I used to work when I was eighteen years old. I used to park my bike there, go into the shop from the main street and open the back door from the inside. One day I was running late I forgot to put it inside, and my bike got stolen.
Lace shops.
A friend of the family owned one, and we used to work there on holidays and weekends.
The canals ...
They used to smell terribly when I was young, it was horrible.
Boats crammed with tourists always made us snicker.
But they know better now, the water is healthier, there's even fish in them nowadays.
And the tourists no longer need a clothes pin on their nose to survive the boat trip!
People call it Venice of the North.
I think it's so pretty ...
Oh, and the houses look like cute little gingerbread houses ...
with crow-stepped gables. I love them ...
Respect for what's old and keeping it authentic is what makes Bruges so charming and unspoilt.
Bruges still looks like a fairy tale town to me, look ...
Yes, I know, I have already published this picture,
but that was on Christmas day, and I don't think many of my readers saw it.
I had fun playing with some layers and an eraser tool on my photo shop program.
Click here if you want to know how to do it.
The Christmas lights in the streets.
They still make my eyes sparkle, even though I'm not a kid any more!
I hate it when they take them down again, and only darkness remains.
That's why I could not resist posting them, even though I know they're not my best pictures.
Click on the banner to visit Lotus and the other Weekly Winners participants.
But wait ...
Don't leave just yet!
This is my photo of the day.
I was trying to create "bokeh" after I read this tutorial.
This is what came out of it.
I'm not there yet, but at least it's a start?
A photo a day 2009.
It's a new photo challenge to take one picture a day and post it on your blog.
That means playing with my camera each and every day to get to know it better.
By taking that challenge I will be able to follow my own progress.
It will document the little moments in each day of the year 2009, which is fun too.
I might have thought it would be easy when I signed up.
But nothing worth while ever comes easy, does it?
It took me quite some time (and a gazillion pictures) to get the one picture I am pleased with.
When the composition was right it was not sharp enough, or the depth of field was wrong...
Anyway, here it is my picture for today.
Two little hyacinths I keep on my kitchen table, I got them as gifts from local shops.
The one from the flower shop had a cute little calendar with it, the pink one we got at the supermarket. I think it might be interesting to document the different stages of bloom as well.
If I don't murder them in some cruel way that is ...
I stumbled across a neat idea for a post when I was catching up on my reading yesterday.
Well, actually there were two but I'll tell you more about the second one after this, okay?
I'll start with what I found on Willow's cottage.
She posted a review of the year using one picture a season.
Like the four seasons? I thought this was very inspiring.
My review will go back to when I first started taking pictures, which was Autumn 2007, through to Summer 2008. All of these pictures were taken with my previous camera, a Canon Powershot S45. I nicked it from my husband and took my first steps into Photography with it.
I discovered my camera AND myself along the way.
The encouragement I got from my readers made me try harder each week...
So here comes my review.
This was taken on one of the very first photowalks I made with my husband.
I had joined Nablopomo, and needed pictures for my very first photo meme, Weekly Winners.
Up until then I had always hated Autumn, this was the first time I discovered the beauty of it.
I hated Autumn, and Winter even more.
I would never have gone out on a cold Winter's day before if it had not been for the love of photography that became more important each week.
I was only just discovering my camera and had found new ways of looking at the world through pictures. I had seen lovely reflections on other people's blogs and started looking for them myself.
Ooooo, I love Spring. Spring has got to have a picture of the breeding Great Tits on my patio.
( Does that sound funny? )
This is one of the first times I could capture one as he/she flies to the nest.
Summer.
My favourite season. I had only recently discovered the macro function on my camera.
While on holiday in Provence, I practised a lot and this was one of my first successes.
Those were my first steps. After that I visited London in August, and that's when my beloved little camera died on me. Well, it turned out it did not really die, it just passed into a coma!
That was terrible, but my husband bought me a new one.
The small one still works after all, and I still use it (in the kitchen) every now and again.
I plan on doing another review, maybe next week or so.
I will then use pictures taken with the new camera.
Next up is a new meme Gail will be hosting called a photo a day 2009.
The idea is to post a picture a day, a great challenge to master your camera AND make some sort of a calender with images of the little and the big moments in your life.
I really like that idea.
So this is my first picture.
Yeah I know. It's FOOD! AGAIN!!
It was a chocolate heart, it tasted delicious and it was worth remembering.
The picture isn't. Nah. Not really, but hey?
I'll try better tomorrow?
Isn't that what this meme is all about?
New Year's Eve.
The countdown is finished.
Where I live everybody comes out on the street to watch the fireworks.
We've been living here for twelve years now and I missed it only once.
And I remember looking at my watch that night, counting the hours, minutes and seconds till midnight. The feeling of being lost. I felt miserable, I was recovering from the flue and all I wanted was to go home.
We've never gone out again since then.
We happily stay home, watch a variety show on French television,(duh!) and have something nice to eat. We have one more glass of champagne.
We unwrap the gifts we had wrapped the night before.
And watch the fireworks at midnight. (I even thought about making a video this time.)
And then the next day, while I'm doing the dishes, I think of the year that has gone by.
I think of my family, and of my friends.
I count my blessings.
And I'm very happy life is getting back to normal ...
I must be getting old?
Happy New Year everyone!!
