Sunday Stills- Toys

Wow! Where to start? As a full time professional magician, I get to play with lots of toys... They say you can grow old, but you can be immature your whole life.... or my favorite, I can grow up or I can be a magician.... I have a large collection of Cups and Balls (3 cups & 3 Balls) My wife thinks I am special....lol

The Cups and Balls may be the oldest recorded magic trick and can be seen in the Hieroglyphs on the pyramids in Egypt. I have taken a shot that I like to view as a chaotic mess... I have Cups made from wood, copper, brass, plastic and aluminium. I have a couple of sets over a hundred and fifty years old. all in all, about 35 or 40 sets total ( I have a few duplicate sets).

Be sure to check out my wife's hotoblog at http://www.andreabakerdesigns.com/

Sunday stills - Nuts....

This weeks Sunday Stills challenge was "Nuts". This wasn't too tough to figure out for me. As a magician, I am fascinated by the old scam or con called the "3 Shell game". One of the oldest cons around, the shells are made of walnut shells and you have to guess which nut shell is hiding the little pea. I have a large collection of the different walnut shells that have been made just for the purpose of separating some fool and his money.... My favorite set are the ones pictured here. This set is made from black Walnut shells (some of the hardest shells to get perfect when making your set). Andrea bought me a set for Christmas one year that are made to look like turtle shells and are a damn good replica even though they are made from a wood resin.

Be sure to check out Andrea's blog as well. http://www.andreabakerdesigns.com/

Sunday Stills - Texture

I love texture and when on my trip to North Carolina recently, I stopped on a dock right outside of Kitty Hawk.

As a professional Magician, I love rope and saw this bit of rope coiled on the dock and had to get a shot. The texture was perfect, old and worn like a good piece of rope should be.

I am also a big fan of reptiles (snakes, lizards and turtles). I have a healthy respect for the the poisonous snakes in our part of the world.

This rattle snake has beautiful scales and patterns and you can see the texture in and on his body.

Be sure to check out my wife's photo blog as well!

www.andreabakerdesigns.com

Sunday Stills - Wild Flowers

This week has been crazy, I ordered a new Iphone 3 Gs (32 gig) and it came in about a week before it was supposed too. So of course, I had to sync it to my outlook calendar and contacts (I have a ton!) and I had to check out all the apps that I could...lol. To say the least,I almost missed posting this weeks photos.

This weeks challenge for the Sunday Stills was a little tough. It was for "Wild Flowers" and not for garden shots. I only have a few that I would consider to post and have included a decent shot, even though it is more "weed" than Wild Flower.

I love all the color that we get in the spring here in Ohio. Most of the Wild Flowers that I see are in my un-mowed back yard... My yard as a 45* incline and is a bear to mow. I have a friend do it for me once a month from a landscape company that he owns. The price is great and I get to keep the city man off my back...lol

Be sure to check out my wife's blog as well! http://www.andreabakerdesigns.com/

Sunday Stills - Things with Wings!

The challenge this week was "Things with Wings!"

This challenge was a blast as I already a big fan of the Raptors.... the birds, not the team.

I love the eyes and different textures of feathers that each bird has.

I had the chance to shot some close up shots after the "Birds of Prey" show at the Columbus Zoo and loved every minute of it.

The choices were too numerous for me to pick but I decided on these two shots.

The looks they have are so impressive and to see them fly, unbeliveable!

Be sure to check out my wife, Andrea Baker's photo blog at http://www.andreabakerdesigns.com/

Sunday Stills - tri-color

This weeks sunday stills challenge was tri-color. The more color the better. The shot that I am submitting was shot last week in the Outer Banks in North Carolina. The town i was staying in was called Avon. It is just south of Rodanthe and North of Hatteras.

I hadn't been to the Outer Banks since I was a kid and didn't remember just how cool the area was. There isn't a "fast food" place in 35 miles of Kitty hawk. No McDonald's, no Wendy's and no Burger King. I did find a Subway but chose not to stop... There are no street lights and everyone is so laid back and never in a hurry.

I will be posting other photos from the area I was in, So be sure to stop back and take a look!

Also, stop by and check out my wife's photo blog! http://www.andreabakerdesigns.com/

Sunday Stills - Silhouettes

Silhouettes are always fun to shoot but a pain if you forget to turn off your fill flash...

This weeks challenge was pretty cool to try to shoot. I decided to go out in the late evening sun to try to get my shots. We drove over to an area park and waited for the sun to get a little lower in the sky.

Andrea (my beautiful wife) was my choice for my subject and was easy to shoot.

I also saw a flag pole that was flying our flag and waited for the sun to be just right. It didn't happen, so I had to lay down in the grass to take the shot (I normally wouldn't as I am allergic to the stuff).

Even with the sun directly behind for the shot, The colors still shined through!

I love our Flag!