Isn’t this a beautiful freshwater fish?? I wouldn’t mind watching him swim in my tank back at home ;)
Aug 012010
Aug 012010
These are some of the gorgeous flowers in my garden back home. Taken mid-July when I was back in MN for a minute.
Aug 012010
Some of my most favorite hibiscus photos, taken at my friend Samantha’s house (Hutto, TX)
Are any of you following the Photography Deliciousness on my Photo Hunt Challenges blog?? One week left to vote for the June Favorites! Here is the Index of where you can find all 20 categories! Feel free to copy and paste this to your own blogs to encourage others to look at all the wonderful, creative photos!!!
Favorite Hilarious Out-Takes
Favorite Creative Crop
Favorite Sun Flare
Favorite Sweet Dreams
Favorite Work
Favorite Play
Favorite Cookout/Picnic
Favorite Transportation
Favorite Money/Currency
Favorite Fountain
Favorite Night Scene
Favorite B&W with Selective Coloring
Favorite Something Old
Favorite Something New
Favorite Something Borrowed
Favorite Something Blue
Favorite “Something Musical” Photos
Favorite Something Purple
Favorite Something Yellow
Favorite Something Scenic
Jul 082010
How ya’ll doing?
Wanted to share some of these beautiful Crape Myrtle trees with you (just in case you live in the Northern parts where these beauties do not grow). They are blooming everywhere right now in Texas! Oh… have I mentioned publicly yet that I am in Texas for the summer?! Well, I am ;)
Hope all is well with everyone back home. Sounds like there has been a ton of rain so far this summer!
Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)Jun 112010
I am not much of a drinker but this summer you might catch me enjoying one of these with my neighbors ;)
ETA: I didn’t realize so many of you would want the recipe to these drinks but since it is so simple, I will try to post what I remember
Lemon Berry Martinis (shaken)
Raspberry-infused vodka
Pineapple Orange Juice
Fresh Raspberries and blackberries
Lemon slices
Sugar for coating rim
Margaritas (Shaken)
Tequila (Patron)
Limeade
Limes
Rock Salt
Jun 012010
May 242010
Do you want to know the best way I have ever spent $2?
A visit to Niagara Falls, NY for the first time ever!!!!
$1 toll to cross the bridge there, $1 toll to cross the bridge on the way out.
Niagara Falls is about 7-8 hours west of Boston (therefore on our way home) so we decided we were going to stop and see them on our drive back to MN. We got there just after sunset which is such a cool time to see it!
This is a view of Niagara, ON which is just across the falls/river
I am very proud of how nice these panoramas turned out. This first one was stitched together using 5 photos, the 2nd one was stitched together using 7 photos. The files are HUGE but I encourage you to click on either photo to see it viewed bigger on Flickr. I could have a giant panorama poster made from either of these!
And some brief video footage:
We loved every minute that we spent at Niagara and wish that we would’ve had an entire day to visit so that we could’ve seen it from every perspective. Unfortunately we had to get back to MN so we spent just a few hours at the Falls and then went to the Hard Rock for a late dinner before getting back on the road.
Niagara Falls was beautiful and I will definitely go back for a longer visit!
Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)May 112010
Mother’s Day was one of the nicest days we have had in over a week. Not warm by any means, but sunny and calm. We spent the day up at my parents house and before I share photos, I have to share with you this gorgeous sunset over Green Lake that I captured on my way home. I pulled over at a public access site and walked through the muck until I was in a good position. Boy was it worth it! This shot is SOTC (straight-out-of-the-camera)
| Camera: | NIKON D5000 |
| Exposure: | 1/800 |
| Aperture: | f/4.0 |
| Focal Length: | 50 mm |
| Exposure Bias: | 0 EV |
| ISO Speed: | 500 |
| Flash: | No Flash |
We spent some time down at the lake and just hanging out with the kids. My grandparents just came back to MN for the summer and were able to join us as well :)
You know what? I feel like an ass. I did not take one single photo of my mom on Mother’s Day. How did that happen??!! Maybe because I was having impromptu photos taken of me. By the amazing Michelle Sauer. I am going to be featured on Twin Cities Spark this week and needed a current headshot so I asked Michelle if she would take a couple
Here is the only people-photo I took that day. I don’t know which you’re more likely to find in Michelle’s hands; her wine or her camera!! LOL
And a few from the garden…..
| Camera: | NIKON D5000 |
| Exposure: | 1/4000 |
| Aperture: | f/2.5 |
| Focal Length: | 50 mm |
| Exposure Bias: | 0 EV |
| ISO Speed: | 200 |
| Flash: | No Flash |
This gorgeous bouquet of roses was sent to my mom by Jeff and Amanda. Gorgeous!
| Camera: | NIKON D5000 |
| Exposure: | 1/80 |
| Aperture: | f/2.0 |
| Focal Length: | 50 mm |
| Exposure Bias: | 0 EV |
| ISO Speed: | 500 |
| Flash: | No Flash |
I hope all of you Mother’s were treated special on your day!!! (And every day for that matter!)
Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)Thanks to all of you who took the time to look at my Photo Hunt Entry and a bigger thanks to those who left comments and feedback. I may have made it sound like I didn’t put much effort into the Hunt (which is true) but that doesn’t mean I didn’t put effort into my photography! I actually took quite a few photos throughout the month and ended up choosing those that would work for items on the April 2010 Photo Hunt list ;)
Many of the photos I took were either of flowers or food. Wanted to share some of the pretties with you….
(You can click on any photo to comment on it in my Flickr photostream)
April concludes the 7th Photo Hunt. I took many photos throughout the month but didn’t put as much effort as I should have into following the Photo Hunt List. I have a million excuses but let’s just say it was a scramble to get this one finished with all the photos posted. If you want to comment on any of my photos individually, click on the photo and it will take you to my Flickr photostream where you can leave a comment. You can also check out all the other participant entries here. The Guest Judges and Myself will be posting our Favorites after May 7th so make sure to check out the Photo Hunt Challenges blog throughout the month of May to vote for your favorites!
A Different Point of View ~ The cemetery is beautiful when in bloom
A Perspective Shot ~ Hanging baskets of flowers
Touch ~Phoenix and Pharaoh sunning themselves together (touches my heart!)
Taste ~ Chocolate Raspberry Torte from Byerly’s
Sight ~ Strange but cool looking flower from Passion Vine. I have never “seen” another flower like it before!
Sound ~ The bells of this church
Smell ~ Roasted baby red potatoes with butter, dill weed and romano cheese. Smells strong but tastes heavenly!
Sign of Spring ~ Tulips blooming and this gnome in my garden!
Flowers ~ Hybrid tulips
A letter formed/found in nature ~ Tree that has a trunk in shape of “Y”
Tri0 ~ Tulips growing in my garden
Fish ~ Koi
Koi with Lily Pads by Kristi Sauer
Water ~ Big Marine Lake
Skyward~ Sunrise as seen from my deck
Mother Earth ~ Beautiful flower garden
Something Rare ~ Rare Orchid
Something Healthy ~ Veggies and dip
Something Colorful ~ Strawberries, blackberries, pineapple and grapes.
Something Spicy ~ Spicy Calamari from a restaurant called Aperitif
Something Triangular ~ Lampshade made of stained glass (one of a kind!)
It’s hard to believe it was a year ago today that I posted my very own Photo Hunt Challenge. A big thanks to NicoleB for the inspiration!
Go to Photo Hunt Challenges for the details and Sign-Up!
Do you go through obsessive streaks with websites on the internet, where for periods of time your concentration is focused on one particular thing? I am that way and I am sure many of you are that way too. Keeps the internet from getting boring, right!?
Anyway, right now my internet obsession is Flickr. I joined the site in 2005 (view my Flickr profile) but used it only minimally until late 2008 when I really started getting into photography (after my dad gave me his Canon G9). I blogged about the many groups that I had joined on Flickr last year and used the site a lot until I hit my 200 photo maximum. 200 photo max? Yep, that’s right. Flickr is super-duper awesome but with the free account only your most recent 200 photos are available to you. It is $24.95 to upgrade to the Pro acct which offers unlimited storage and all sorts of other stuff. I just didn’t want to pay for it…… I’ll admit I am a cheapskate and don’t like to spend money unless I have to. So I stopped using it to upload my own photos until recently since I hope to take even more photos now that I have my D-SLR and different lenses. Last week I decided to bite the bullet and finally upgraded to the Flickr Pro account. I am so glad I did!
I have uploaded approximately 1000 of my favorite non-people photos to Flickr (view my photostream) over the past few weeks and have started organizing them into sets, which Flickr has made extremely easy to do. You can see all my sets here. Example: Sunsets
I also demonstrated in this post about my cats yesterday how I could access/import/link back to my photos (with EXIF info) from Flickr with just one click of the button. Supersweet! If you use Flickr and a WordPress-installed blog, I highly recommend it.
There is a lot more you can do with Flickr like these things I highlighted in this post. Flickr is very cool, I tell ya!
Who else is on Flickr? I would love to add you as a contact!
Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)Mar 122010
During the month of February (2010) I hosted the 6th Photo Hunt over at one of my other blogs, Photo Hunt Challenges. Ever since the very 1st Photo Hunt I have been choosing my favorite photos for each category and posting them together, with a poll for people to vote for their favorite. It is incredibly hard to pick favorites from after looking at all the fun photos of the Participants and very time-consuming as well. I was afraid I wouldn’t have time to do all the work myself this month so I asked for a little help and got Ang and Carly to help me out with picking favorites. So here they all are!! Please go look through the photos……. talk about eye-candy!! I promise you will enjoy looking at them and have a very hard time choosing your favorites! Anyone is allowed to look and vote. If you want to copy this list of links to post on your blog or elsewhere, feel free!
Favorite B & W with selective color
Favorite “Something Homemade” Photos
Favorite “Something Sweet” Photos
Favorite “Something Pink” Photos
Favorite “Symbol of Love” Photos
Favorite “Mirror Image” Photos
Favorite “Your Own Reflection” Photos
Favorite “Two of a Kind” Photos
Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)Another Photo Hunt complete!! Hard to believe we have done 6 of these Challenges already! Check out all the other Participant Galleries here.
1. A tower ~ A model from the game Warhammer
2. “Main Street” ~ Downtown White Bear Lake (early morning!)
3. Five ~ Photo Coming ASAP!
4. A dog or cat ~ My kitty Pharaoh
5. Two of a kind ~ Monkeys at Como Park Zoo
6. A clock ~ Shaman (Southwest US Native Symbol)
7. A game ~ Scrabble
8. Something sweet ~ Homemade Gelato from Al Vento Restaurant
9. B&W w/selective coloring
10. Your own reflection ~ Sitting in my car at the car wash
11. A mirror image ~ A tabletop lamp and its reflection in mirror (in my living room)
12. Night image ~ Full moon on 2-27-09
13. Something homemade ~ Hot Dago (one of my favorite dinners to make!)
14. Something pink (Stargazer Lily at Como Conservatory)
15. Something romantic ~ Lingerie, wine and candles (oo la la!)
16. A candid shot (my friend Bradie’s daughter)
17. A portrait ~ Handsome Lion at Como Park Zoo
18. A symbol of love ~ Carved wooden statue (on my shelf)
19. A landscape (frosted tree in my backyard)
20. Chocolate~ Photo coming ASAP
Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)
A New Challenge (PH#6) has been posted over at Photo Hunt Challenges for the month of February! Go sign-up if this looks like something you would like to tackle ;)
Here is the list, all items are open to interpretation!
1. A tower
2. “Main Street”
3. Five
4. A dog or cat
5. Two of a kind
6. A clock
7. A game
8. Something sweet
9. B&W w/selective coloring
10. Your own reflection
11. A mirror image
12. Night image
13. Something homemade
14. Something pink
15. Something romantic
16. A candid shot
17. A portrait
18. A symbol of love
19. A landscape
20. Chocolate
Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)Some mornings I leave for work long before the sun makes his appearance, other days I can catch a spectacular sunrise over White Bear Lake while enroute. Today was one of those days! (Thanks to a super-sweet loaner bag (Coach!) from a friend, I am able to conveniently carry my camera around in style- camera bag problem temporarily solved)
PS On an unrelated note….. www.sweetsauer.com will be moving to a new server and platform this weekend so make sure you subscribe using this feed otherwise you will not continue to receive my blog updates!
Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)For the past few weeks I had been wanting to go to the Como Conservatory to see the Holiday flower show (and to test out my new camera) and finally had the chance yesterday over my lunch break. I took quite a few photos but I am not happy with how most of them turned out. Playing around until you get the settings right is much harder than the good photographers make it look! lol. Seriously, it is frustrating! I know I need to practice, practice practice and I will eventually get it. There are just so many things that can effect the photo: Lighting, shutter speed, focal length, aperture, ISO, white balance and metering?? I don't know much about metering, that is something I better read up on some more :)
I am posting my settings along with the photos
Photo Settings: 34mm f/14 1/40 ISO 200
Photo Settings: 46mm f/14 1/8 ISO 200
Photo Settings: 36mm f/14 1/40 ISO 200
Photo Settings: 34mm f/14 1/40 ISO 200
Photo Settings : 18mm f/5.6 1/320 ISO 200
Photo Settings: 18mm f/5.6 1/160 ISO 200
Any advice on what settings would work better for taking photos in a conservatory, I'd love to hear it….
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