Happy Spring! Guest Photograper: J.Mulligan

Ahhh, another quality shot from the Mulligan clan...thank goodness for Spring, another opportunity to dress up the dog!

Majestic Waves

A moment from a secluded beach on the island of Kauai...Polihale State Beach, the beginning of the NaPali Coast. It was a bumpy safari adventure to get to this western most point of Kauai, but the views made it all worth while. At this moment I felt like I was at the end of the earth, surrounded by peace and serenity...


Posted for: Thursday Challenge/Water

Simply Green

Posted for: Lens Day/Green

May I introduce..."The Big Wheel"

Ahhh yes its a bike, no its a pizza cutter, no its a pizza cutter in the shape of a bike! Leave it up to the wrenchers at Park Tool to come up with this idea.

"The Big Wheel"...making pizza mobile one slice at a time!

Posted for: MacroDay/Mobile

A Nor'easter on St. Patrick's Day...this is how to celebrate...

Although we didn't have any traditional Irish beverages on hand...we improvised with one of our second favorite beverages...Long Trail Brewery's Hibernator! So perfectly named for this time of year! And the snow, well it wasn't green, but we pretended it was...and together we shoveled and sipped until there was no more...see below

Now each bottle was strategically placed every four feet...objects in this picture may look closer than they really are...ahhhh yeah...and whalllla a productive St. Patrick's Day celebration...shovel four feet or so...celebrate with a beer...shovel another four feet, celebrate with a beer...shovel four feet, celebrate with.......come on everyone now.....A BEER! Although we busted our backs trying to clear the way, we felt good to know that we didn't have to sacrifice celebrating on this special day...Well you have to stay motivated somehow especially when the neighbors' driveways are being plowed by a snow plow...

Happy Birthday Jo-Jo! The Big 30!

Happy Birthday to you! Its St. Patrick's Day too! You'll drink lots of green beer and dance a jig too! My best friend from college who happens to be a St. Patrick's Day baby...lucky...is turning the big 30 today! Unfortunately we couldn't celebrate together thanks to the big Nor'easter that hit here in NH, but I will be thinking of him today! A congrats to him and his girlfriend too, the "cutie petutie" standing next to him is his fiance...Sophie! Can't wait to see you guys! Drink a beer and dance a jig for me!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Now don't turn green with envy because I am Irish and part Welsh. One of my favorite days of the year and I am snowed in...in fact I just got done shoveling my driveway...but a little snow can't drive the leprechauns away! I am proud of my family's heritage and really I do take it seriously. My mother has done extensive research to find out about my family's past...we were coal miners, school teachers and even rumor of ties to the Molly Maguires! My mom's side of the family immigrated from Ireland to a small mining village in Eckley, PA and the history they left behind is just fascinating. If you get a chance, take the time to find out about your family tree, you would be surprised that you are not much different from the generations past and you can learn a lot from how they lived their lives. On that note may I leave you with an Irish Blessing...

May St. Patrick guard you wherever you go,
and guide you in whatever you do--
and may his loving protection be a blessing to you always.

---

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Guest Photographers: My Mom and Dad!

Here's my dad fulfilling a childhood dream...flying a plane! Since I was a kid my dad always talked about having just one chance to fly a plane, turn it on its side and climb high in the sky. Here he had a chance of a lifetime to test out a 5-million dollar flight simulator at the
US Airways Training Facility/Sky Harbor
which is used to train pilots.

Can you find my mom in this picture???
Hyatt Regency Spa, Scottsdale, Arizona

Ok boy and girls, today's science quiz...can you tell me what animal this is???

My mom and dad couldn't help but fall in love with this cute pair hanging out at the Phoenix Zoo in Arizona...a momma and baby orangutan. Looks like momma is catching a mid-afternoon snooze!

Wow!!!, is all I can say about this picture taken by my dad while vacationing in Sedona, Arizona.
I am so proud of you Dad and Mom, what beautiful moments in time!

New Year's Addiction

I think of this as an annual addiction...a New Year's addiction! How can you celebrate the coming of the New Year without this fabulous bubbly! And when the New Year has come and you take a little snooze why stop the celebration there... why champagne goes perfect with a little fresh squeezed orange juice...oh yes I am talking about a tall refreshing Mimosa for breakfast...mmm I think I need one now!


Posted for: Photo Friday/Addiction

Boy on a "Silly Bike"

Well no catchy title for this one...Just a boy on a "Silly Bike" as my friend Nate would call it. Now if you are totally mesmerized by this hot rod check out Fire Bikes, my favorite is the Disco Beaver with the classic handles...

Posted for: Lens Day Challenge/Boy

Itsy Bitsy Spider...Made the Big Girl Freak Out!

Ok, I must admit that I am extremely afraid of spiders...go ahead and laugh...but this particular little arachnid I found while tending to my tulips and let me tell you my first reaction was not to grab my camera! None the less may I thank God for the zoom lens...where would I be without it...ahhh well still screaming like a little girl I am sure...Ewwww, I am creeped out by just posting this picture.

Posted for: Tuesday Challenge/Zoom

Who really is The Michelin Man???

The 1898 poster showed him offering the toast Nunc est bibendum ("Cheers!" or "Now is the time to drink" in Latin) to his scrawny competitors with a glass full of road hazards, with the title and the tag "'C'est à dire: À votre santé'. Le pneu Michelin boit l'obstacle" (That is to say, to your health': The Michelin tyre drinks up obstacles).

It is unclear when the word "Bibendum" came to be the name of the character himself. At the latest, it was in 1908, when Michelin commissioned Curnonsky to write a newspaper column signed "Bibendum".



His shape has changed over the years. O'Galop's logo was based on bicycle tyres, and wore glasses and smoked a cigar. By the 1980s Bibendum was being shown as a running Bib, and in 1998, his 100th anniversary, a slimmed-down version became the company's new logo; his vision had improved, and he had long since given up smoking.


The slimming of the logo reflected both lower-profile, smaller tyres on sport compact automobiles and a more athletic, slimmer, and trimmer Bib.



Today, Bibendum is one of the world's most recognized trademarks, representing Michelin in over 150 countries. Here my lovely volunteer so graciously posed with this "Michelin Sign" using the new 3D Michelin Man aka. "Bibendum..."


This last photo...Posted for: Shutterday/ Signs

"T" is for tires...

So another shot from the 2006 Ironman World Championship...I really impressed myself with this one...I like it in color, but consensus here was black and white...maybe I will post the color version another time. I wish you could see the video we have of the athletes coming around this corner to get to their bikes. Now keep in mind they just swam 2.4 miles, sunscreen is running down their legs and they have their clip-in shoes on...if there was an award for Best Wipe-Out during the transition to the bike, half of the owners to these bikes would probably be in the running! Ok now back to tires...You would never believe the variety of bicycle tires available and boy some of them are not cheap! Here you can see two specific types...sew-ups/tubulars and clinchers. As far as brand of tire...I prefer Michelin bicycle tires, they are the best!


Posted for:Lens Day Challenge/Circle

Timex the offical "CLOCK" of the Ironman!

2006 Ironman World Championship...and the winner is...Germany's own NORMAN STADLER! Swim 2.4 Miles...Bike 112 Miles...Run 26.2 Miles...with a Timex Time of 8 hours, 11 minutes and 56 seconds...hmmm makes you think about your own 8 hour work day, huh?


And don't forget, women compete too! And here she is second place World Champion Ironwoman...USA's own Desiree Ficker! Official TIMEX Time of 9 hours, 24 minutes and 2 seconds...and yes she competed in the same distances that Norman did. Not to bad for a sweet little Texan! And if you look closely not only is she carrying the American Flag, she is also carrying her favorite rehydration supplement...NUUN! If you have the chance to try this stuff, it rocks! Even if you are not a serious athlete, this portable hydration supplement is top notch for all your hydration needs, including a hangover...:)


Thanks to Team Michelin for the front row VIP seats that gave me this photo opportunity! If you contact them, tell them Kelly sent you!

Posted for: See It Sunday/"Clock"

Oh Baby! Did it snow on Friday!

Pleased to announce the arrival of little Cooper! My friends had their baby in the midst of the snow storm that we had here on Friday. And by far he is the most precious snowflake that fell that day! Congratulations to his mommy, daddy, and big brother Jett!

Broomstick Jumping, Everybody's doing it...

Here are a group of 4th graders learning about the logging settlement @ Sawyer's River in Crawford Notch, NH. One thing they were able to relive...broomstick jumping...a past time of the settlers there which challenged them at night after a long days work in the log mill and of course after a swig or two of good ol' MOONSHINE...the kids didn't get to relive the moonshine...:)


And he makes it, the settlers at Sawyer's River would have been proud...or too drunk on moonshine to care!

Posted for:Shutter Day/"Jump Around"

Guest Photographer: Jaime Mulligan and Puppy Love

Oh puppy love...how cute is this picture, I had to post it as soon as I saw it! This puppy belongs to one my friend's mom. I just love the face..."Now I am gonna poop and pee on your floor, chew up your furniture, and jump on your head while your sleeping..but just love me, ok?"

Flower Power!!!

Now its soft yellow...

Now its fiery red!

Now I believe photos are creative only by the hand and eye of the shooter but I can't help but fiddle around a bit with editing software, even though it totally frustrates me at times...but unlike when you develop film and screw up, with the computer you can always "Undo Edit." Ahhh one less Tums I have to take when I screw up because I can fix it with a click of a button. But I mean look at these flowers, one original and one modified...both unique. Technology can be fun but you have to take the picture first!

These tourists are "LOST" in Kauai

Ok, remember in the previous post I talked about Hawaii and its nortorious strong current and dangerous surf? Well it really is true, many people told us never to turn our back to the ocean...Ha! Well here we are playing "LOST." After hiking to this mountain in search of "The Others", my lovely assistant Mike wanted to pose on this exposed piece of rock and as you can see its a gorgeous backround...well he looks ok here but right after I took this shot, that wave lurking in the backround knocked him right of his feet, leading me into a frantic rage to save him and his sandals while trying to keep the camera from getting wet...now you know why I didn't get in the water in the previous post...once again the things we sacrifice for a great shot...

Ok folks the "snows" over...

Get it...the snows over...the shows over...ok well whether you get it or not you can't not look at this shot. A beautiful secluded beach on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai. I was afraid of the water even though I could see the bottom, so of course I choose to take pictures instead...no laughing please...the tides there are very strong so I wasn't about to be swept away and forever be a mermaid. Anyways, this island was amazing and I can't wait to post more shots...and of course tell you more stories!

There's no love like snow love...

Have I told you how much I love the snow??? No??? Ok let me show you...

Do angels really exist...

Well, I guess thats for you to decide...but I believe they exist, especially when it snows! Now this piece of art took some serious work. We received about a foot of snow and when I layed down, I sank in pretty far. It was so difficult to move my arms and legs but I was determined! Once the angel was complete I tried to get up, well thats how the photo from my first post was created. I gave up after a few minutes of trying to stand up without ruining my creation. As I laid there I decided to take photos of myself laying in the snow. Just goes to show that when taking pictures you never really know which ones are going to be keepers so keep shooting!

Zazzle It!

Once upon a time there was a Snow Day...

So here I am...

my first blog, my first post, my photography....all from a snowy day when school was closed and the day was mine...I love the snow, I could have laid in the snow for hours watching the snowflakes fall, dreaming about nothing at all...no matter how cold it gets, I don't believe I could ever give up winter...its just too breath taking all in a simple snowflake that decorates the earth with stillness, peace, tranquility, and love...