Sitting with the Butterflies

It's been a busy past couple of months, so when I got a bit of quiet time, I opted to use some of it to sit next to our small butterfly garden.

Residential Photography

Recent residence that I photographed for a client who has listed her home for sale. Such a beautiful home. The kitchen is stunning.... especially the kitchen! Here's the listing:

Home For Sale 308 Fabiola Ave. Lafayette, LA

Gulf Fritillary

We decided to start a butterfly garden this year, including a couple of passion flower vines, zennias, cone flowers, and others. Today there was a good size gulf fritillary drinking up nectar from the zennias so I got a quick shot. The host plant for these guys is the passion flower vine, so we see plenty of them!

Photo Scans

I've been away from the site a bit. Summer is in full swing which means entertaining kids, purging old items from the house (we do summer cleaning, not spring cleaning!) and of course it also means dance revue time, so I have been editing plenty of those. So not as much time for photography but I have had a chance to get some old family photos scanned. This is by far one of my favorite things to do. It doesn't even have to be my family. I just love old photos. I've scanned and restored several for clients and everyone just has such unique images.

This is one from an old family album of my grandmother with what looks like a vacuum salesman - with some retouching. Be on the look out for some more.

Rear View

Everyone enjoys Festival! This guy seemed to enjoy hangin out at Festival International de Louisiane. Published in "The Independent," Lafayette, LA.

Festival International de Louisiane 2016

If there was ever a time to go all out in Lafayette, it's during Festival International which takes place the annually last weekend of April. Several stages of international music. Lots of good food. Street performers. A super family friendly event that people return to year after year. This year was the 30th anniversary of the festival and was an absolute blast. I was able to get a lot of great shot featured on the Independent's website here.

More pics to come soon - also, visit Festival International's site.

Tree House

Went camping this past weekend at T.L. James Boy Scout camp where there are tree houses for the boys to sleep in. Of course, I don't have much time on those camp outs to get a lot of good photography in - but got a few I just uploaded to Flickr.

Art and Paper

It's been a while since I produced any art other than photography. There is just something about hands on creating and producing something that isn't from this world that is really soothing. And there is nothing like giving yourself a deadline to make things happen! There is an art event I am participating in soon so the fire is lit.
Just about all of my small collection of work over the last few years has been on paper that I have made from shredded bills etc. The paper is great because it is sturdy enough of take acrylic paint, but thin enough to go through the printer and sew to. It can be torn - glued to - and glued on. Sometimes something beautiful that I wasn't expecting comes out of experimentation and a "sketch" turns into a tiny formal piece that I just couldn't reproduce if I tried and I don't think it would work any other way. This is a close up of one of those. Just about to finish it up.

Nasturtium Buds

A new plant in the collection, Nasturtium produces a beautiful edible flower with a little spicy flavor to it. The first buds really started growing and I was surprised at what they look like before they open. They look like little dinosaur or dragon heads!

INDesign Awards

Congrats to all the INDesign Awards featured in ABiz, Acadiana Business Publication - especially MBSB Group who received a Gold Award for their work on the Lafayette Public Library Main Branch!

http://theind.com/article-22854-Well-Appointed.html

Photo for the Day

I had a busy one today, but while out in the yard, this leaf caught someone's eye and I was determined to get a photo today. I believe it's a gall from a small wasp.

Camp McGee

Went camping with the scouts at Camp McGee which is a southern section of the Avondale Reservation near Clinton, Louisiana. It was really cold - in the lower 30s at night. I need to invest in new socks.

Mardi Gras

Well, Mardi Gras has come and gone! It was a little chilly, but no parades were rained out and Mardi Gras day was warm in the sun. Here's the 2016 Mardi Gras album, images from a few of the Lafayette parades:

Slide Scans

My grandparents were involved in New Orleans Mardi Gras for years and there are several slides of their trucks and costumes and crowds. These are a couple of favorites. The kid on the street sign at Canal and Basin is from 1967 and the photographers are from 1972.

Chicken Mask

New addition to our Courir de Mardi Gras chicken costume - the chicken mask!

Krewe of Carnivale en Rio

It's Mardi Gras time and one of the first parades in the Acadiana (Krewe of Carnivale en Rio, Lafayette) kicked off last night. Weather was great! Hope it stays stays that way for the other events!

Barred Owl Postcards

I had a few moments while waiting for an audio file to export, so I decided to send another postcard via postcrossing.com. The recipient likes owls and didn't mention much else that I have, but I do have a few nice owl pics, so I went to zazzle.com and made one up. While I was at it, I opened a store with it. So if anyone is in need of an owl postcard........

Barred Owl Postcard by BayouDragonfly
View more Barred Postcards