All baseball all the time

Basically the only thing I've been shooting all week is baseball and softball.

Canon 40D with 70-300mm lens at 70mm
Tv mode F4.0 SS1/1000 ISO640
Custom White Balance
Sepia action and Leah's texture applied

Shaker Village

The Shaker religion was founded in England in 1747, and at its height it had several thousand members. Now there are less than 10 Shakers in the whole world. I am fortunate to live close to the last remaining Shaker community in the world. It's a pretty cool place to visit
Shaker Village. I drove by again yesterday on the way home from a ball game and stopped to take a few photos. This is a photo of their graveyard. It's a fenced area without individual grave markers, just this one marker in the middle. It's a great example of the Shaker way of life. I'm not thrilled with this photo. I was rapidly losing the light. I think it's a really cool subject nonetheless.
I'm also a big fan of their furniture. :-)

My mom

Shh, don't tell her I posted it. I don't know why this would bother her because I think she looks great. Anyway, I just look at this photo and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Not only is she a great mom, she is an amazing Nana. I never had a grandmother growing up, so I'm thrilled and thankful that my kids have such wonderful ones in their lives. She is my kids' biggest fan, and I love that they have that relationship. I'm also really thankful that I still have her in my life. Seven years ago she had a near-fatal heart attack and had emergency bypass surgery. I'm so proud of her that she quit smoking that day and hasn't had a cigarette since. She's a hiker, a rock climber, a winter camper, a snowshoer, a cross-country skier, a kayaker, a canoeist, a builder of her own home from the ground up, a voracious reader, a sharp wit, and a fellow nature lover. We also make a daunting team when we pair up for games because we think alike (and will gloat unbecomingly when we kick your butt). My mom rocks!

I love my mom

I'm still working on getting a photo of my mom up for the theme this week. I just had this conversation with her:
Me: "Can I have your permission to put a photo of you on my blog?"
Mom: "Why?"
Me: "Cuz."
Mom: "Well, what picture?"
Me: "I dunno; maybe the one I gave Jim for Christmas?"
Mom: "Well, everyone has already seen that."
(I accidentally on purpose didn't tell her I meant my POTD blog, not the family blog.)
Me: "Well, I like it."
Mom: "All right. But photoshop out EVERY wrinkle and make my teeth as white as Tom Cruise's. He is so weird. Did you see him on Oprah? We've been making fun of him all week."
Me: "No, I can't watch Oprah anymore; she gets on my nerves."

So until I complete my evil plan of exposing mom to the seedy underworld known as the Internet, I'm going with some more baseball shots. It's been nothing but baseball, baseball, baseball, and softball, softball, softball around here. Wahoo!

Just went back over the photos of the "controversial" play and noticed how much dust DS is eating:

On this one I ran a sepia action and then used Leah's texture she shared on PIF. Leah is awesome!

Still on last week's theme

I guess I'm still on the water theme. I tried water drops again today. This was so teeny-tiny; the set of leaves was probably an inch or so in size.

Canon 40D with 100mm macro lens

ISO200, F2.8, SS1/1250

Bird of the day, red-winged blackbird:

Canon 40D with 70-300mm lens

ISO1600 F5.6 SS1/400

And does anyone know what this is? I bet that Pat, our resident horticultural expert, will know. I'm guessing it's some type of fungus on this tree. (Kind of looks like something a cat would leave in your sandbox, doesn't it? :-P)

Canon 40D with 70-300mm lens
ISO800, F5.6, SS1/1000

A bird, a dog, and a girl

Bird of the day, a blue jay. Shot through a window w/ Canon 40D with 70-300 lens at 300 mm, ISO1600 F5.6 SS1/400 Do you think my dog is spoiled? This looks really bad on here. It didn't look this bad in Photoshop. Not good, but not this bad ;-). Anyway. Also shot with 40D and same lens at 70mm, ISO800 F4.0 SS1/15. This is so typically Baxter I wanted to show you.
The theme this week is important women in our lives. I'm going to need some type of special dispensation before I can get a photo of my mom up, so here's one of my favorite girl who will be a woman much too soon. She looks like she has no arms.
Remember that photo the other day that looked like DS had four legs? Put these two photos together and it looks like I was exposed to some horrible toxins while pregnant with them.

You make the call

Not a great photo, but I want to play "What's your call?" Is the runner safe or out?Here it is cropped in closer:
Here's my assessment:
Now let's look at that again. See the ump?

You blew the call, buddy, and my 40D proves it! I think I love this camera.
No harm, though. Our boys came back from a 5-0 deficit to win it. My DS is the player in navy blue with his back to the camera.

Shot in AV mode at ISO500 F5.0 SS1/400