What a Day!

The Curves Camera Crew went off on a outing yesterday to Potomac, MD to see butterflies. The weather was ideal: not too hot, not too humid. And the butterflies were out. There was a nice variety as well: some big and easy to see and others that were a little challenging.

One of the Crew has a friend who loves photography and happens to have a garden that attracts the insects. Her house is located in a lovely semi-rural area of Maryland just across the state line and near Great Falls. Bonnie Allen has a beautiful home

and a delightful garden. The garden is small but lovingly packed with all sorts of bush plants as well a lovely koi pond. She also has a bird tree where she can watch a wonderful variety of birds

such as wrens, blue birds, cardinals, hummingbirds, and gold finches.

Bonnie showed us her pictures which for the most part were absolutely fabulous. I was positively drooling. I've taken some really nice photos lately but they pale compared to hers. She gets up close and personal. What's more, she has some deer pictures

that are truely amazing. She uses this little Kodak camera that has a 380 lens built into it. It is so much lighter and easy to use than mine. I love my camera but it is getting harder to haul around expecially when I am walking any distance and using a walking stick. I may have to look into this.

After we had all shot some of the little critters, Bonnie invited us to a simple but lovely repast of sandwiches, chips, and cherries. She had chocolate eclairs for dessert. She was nice enough to fix a breadless sandwich for me. After we finished, she took us to another place where we could see some more butterflies: a roadside fruit and vegetable stand that also sold flowers. So there was the Crew all walking in and out of the flowers, taking pictures of butterflies. It was fun. We invited Bonnie to come to our picture share on the 29th of this month and we also made her a member of our group(she does belong to Curves). I suggested that she post a notice on the bulletine board at her Curves and see if anyone is interested in taking photos. Maybe she can start her own Crew. She is a nice lady and starved for the comradery that we share. It makes such a difference when you are taking pictures with people who love photography as much as you do.