Last Wednesday, the boys and I drove down to Oklahoma for a family reunion. Yesterday, we returned. Before we left, I told everyone we’d be back today. Now I’m regretting not telling them we’d be back tomorrow. Quite frankly, I need a vacation.
A sit-on-the-couch-and-knit-all-day-with-not-a-care-in-the-world kind of vacation.
Some stats for you:
Total miles driven: 1288
Miles each way: 465
Miles per gallon after the first tank (the only time I calculated it): 30+
And no, I didn’t drive like a granny. I had two boys in the back seat who were going to get tired of driving at some point, so I drove in the interest of making good time.
Photos taken: 740
Photos taken out tromping around on the land: over 600
The first day we tromped around on Mom’s land, which she inherited when Grandma died. The second day, Mom and I got up early and went out to the home place (now Uncle Rod’s land) and took pictures there. I have always heard there is magic in the first morning light. Now I’ve finally had the chance to experience it.
All of those landscape photos gave much opportunity for practice with the “rules” of photography. There’s this rule of thirds they talk about, where the horizon isn’t supposed to be smack at the center of the picture but rather a third of the way from the top or bottom.
That rule was the thorn in my flesh the entire time. You have red dirt and blue sky. I don’t want too much red dirt. Nor do I want too much blue sky. I want to see the variations in the blue sky but not miss out on the contours of the land.
The photo above was taken out on Mom’s land. Note that the horizon hits almost smack in the middle. But of all the pictures I took of those stair-step trees (I was obsessed with them), I really like that one. It’s a perfect balance of land and sky. Forgive me.
I will be posting more pictures soon, as I get a chance to go through them. Right now, though, I need to make a trip to town as the cupboards here are bare.
oh, i love that photo! and with the trees, the horizon is softened. gorgeous shot!