Last year my brother asked if I would take some pictures of the girl's softball team that he coaches, so this spring I made it to several of his games and tried out some camera settings that I had never used before. I got lots of practice...taking almost 2000 shots!  Here's a handful of some frozen action:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8

After seeing how the softball pictures turned out, I decided to use them on my niece and nephew who are almost always in constant motion.  Here they are splishing and splashing!

We all have or will experience the loss of someone in our lives but our memories keep them with us. Although I didn't know this man, each time I walk by his headstone I know that his friends and family have the memory of his amazing humor and I smile.

Spring has finally arrived and everything is starting to bloom.  Grabbed the camera and took a long drive out to the farm where mom grew up and the magnolia tree just happened to be in full bloom.  Took some close-ups and even tried it in black & white.  Am still getting used to some of the settings on my camera and almost deleted this one because I thought it looked too washed out.  Glad I hung onto it because it's my favorite out of the whole batch!  I thought the crabtree would be further along with it's pink flowers, but the red buds were just as beautiful!

A couple of weeks ago we were having absolutely beautiful spring weather here in northern Michigan. The skies  were bluer, the grass was turning green, flowers were starting to grow...and then the Easter Bunny decided to leave us a surprise.  Happy Easter!

Went to my absolute favorite place last weekend and, although it rained half the time, I did manage to get a few photographs.  Most were of my niece and nephew (very hard to capture because they are in constant motion) but I got a few scenery shots as well.

The first day we went to the playground and I watched this sailboat come into the harbor.  Later, the Emerald Isle arrived bringing more visitors to the island.

One afternoon I went to the cemetery to visit my dad and had to take a picture of the back of this headstone -- it always provokes a chuckle or two!

Saturday night the rain stopped and we were able to fianlly get a bonfire started and make some s'mores.

On the way down to the boat dock on Sunday, I snapped this picture of some black-eyed susans.  As we waited to leave Beaver Island on the top deck of the ferry, I took this picture of the harbor.

Although I didn't get a chance this vacation to see a sunset, I did manage to get one a few years ago that turned out pretty good.  Also snapped a picture of the Whiskey Point Lighthouse at sunrise one morning.

Hope you didn't mind taking a look at these!

I've enjoyed looking at everyone's photographs on here and recently got my first digital camera (finally)!  I'm anxious to learn all the different settings and what works best, but wanted to post a few practice shots for starters.  The first one is of a yellow day lily I took in my sister-in-law's garden.  The tiger lily was in my back yard.  The orange day lily out on my uncle's farm is my favorite...I love the colors!