Confetti

dale_confetti_duo

Dale and I had an impromptu photo shoot last night in the office. A a prop, we used cut-up paper scraps she had from her craft closet.

Confetti was thrown, pictures were taken, confetti was vacuumed.

Confetti015

Dale Hollow

In some ways, fishing is like photography. Most fishermen and photographers are gear nuts. It's as exciting to add a new crank bait to my collection as it is a new flash modifier. Also, both fishing and photography require a level of patience not normally seen in everyday life. Unless you're shooting a portrait (or a grip-and-grin), you don't know when the next picture will present itself. Same with that skittish bass.

The hardest thing for me to deal with about both is that no matter how much you prepare, whether it's charging batteries and going over shot lists or oiling your reels and checking the boat's electronics, there's absolutely no guarantee for success when you leave the house in the morning. Sometimes it rains, sometimes you drop and shatter a lens, sometimes the fish are fasting, and sometimes you realize you've left the keys to the boat at home after you're in the water. The possibility of all this stuff keeps you on your toes. Even when you're not catching good pictures.

The stakes are lower in fishing, though. Much lower. Any day on the water, and away from a computer monitor, is a win. My father and I recently spent the day on Dale Hollow Lake, looking for net-bending bass. Instead, we caught mostly tiny sunfish. Still a win.

Skeet

Shooting clay pigeons during Christmas break.

Underwater

Dale has been wanting to do an underwater photo shoot for a long while. Being a doer as much as a planner, she rallied her friends to get cute, old dresses and wear them in the pool. Here are some favorites. [portfolio_slideshow]

It's Finally Time to Garden Again

Enough with the cold. It's time to make a garden. My sweetheart and I are moving the garden this year because we built a shed over the ashes of the old one. Sort of like putting a house on an old burial ground. We decided to plant everything except the tomatoes right against the house. We cut down two huge bushes and shoveled out a ton of those little decorative grass clumps you see everywhere and, with a machine on loan from a friend, tilled up the yard on both sides of the back door. This weekend we'll plant the early stuff. Next month, tomatoes.

Here are some pictures of the future garden with some random backyard stuff thrown in for good measure.

Backyard/Gardening - Images by Shawn Poynter