In Search of the Perfect Christmas Card

Posted on December 26, 2016December 26, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Its hard to believe another Christmas has come and gone and the count down to the new year begins. One of my favorite parts of the holiday traditions is making my special Christmas Cards.

The photos I use are always from the year before. In other words, I will use a photo from this year for next year’s card and so on. I do this so I won’t feel too stressed out looking for a last minute holiday picture. Usually I have something in mind. Last year I planned a trip to Disney World with the sole intention of finding a picture for my card this year. The result was the train.

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A few years ago I wanted to use one of the decorated homes in town.

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One year I was trying to get a good candle picture for my cards.

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So with a possible card theme in mind I took off to Jackson NH for a day trip. Now a drive to Jackson from Taunton is about 4 hours. I figured I’d have about two hours there to get the special picture and then I’d need to head back home.

What I had in mind was a sleigh ride drawn by a team of horses. “Dashing through the snow”…but when I arrived in Jackson, there was no snow! Oh Oh. Strike one.

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Strike 2 was that to go on the Jingle Bell Chocolate Tour you had to be staying at one of the Inns. There was no room at any of the Inns, not that I really had time to stay overnight.

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Strike 3 was no sleighs (since there was no snow) well, in a way there were sleighs. They were mounted on wagon frames.

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To make a long story short, I didn’t get the photos I had visualized and at this point I don’t think they will make the cut for next year’s card but you never know. It all depends on what other shots I come up with. I had a good time and met some nice people and that’s what’s really important.

Merry Christmas 2016

Posted on December 25, 2016December 25, 2016 by Dusty Roads

PEACE & JOY

to you

this holiday season and

throughout the coming year.

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What are you doing for next year?

Posted on December 17, 2015December 17, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Between work and trying to bring you all up to date on the Florida trip I’ve been preparing my annual Christmas Cards. All of my cards are hand made and I use my original photos. Each year I try to top the card I used from the previous year.

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Last night we had our Team Celebration and I handed out the cards for the team members. I was thrilled that they were a hit. I can’t share it here yet as I haven’t mailed all of the others. I’ll share on Christmas Day 🙂

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Anyway they wanted to know what I would do for next year.

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Part of the reason for a Florida trip this December was to check out the decorations at Disney. I got lots of pics. These are just a sample of the contenders that I shot my first day in Florida before I even got to the Disney Parks.

In Search of Next Year’s Christmas Card

Posted on December 28, 2014December 28, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Yes, you read that right. Christmas is barely past and I’ve turned my thoughts to next year already. Truth be known I started thinking about next year’s card as soon as I cracked open the boxes of decorations. You see the images I use for my Christmas Cards are always taken in the previous season. If I waited, I’d never get the new cards made and in the mail on time.

So far this year I just haven’t gotten a picture that gives me a “WOW” factor.

I heard that the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, MA was including photos with Santa’s Reindeer as part of their Zoo Lights celebration and that caught my attention.

I debated with myself if it was worth a trip because I’d have to drive through Boston at night to get there. The price of admission wasn’t too much, only $7.00 and tickets could be ordered on line.

I debated all December but didn’t break down until yesterday. I made a last minute decision, printed a ticket and headed out.

It was unseasonably warm and I thought that being a Saturday maybe, just maybe, the traffic wouldn’t be too bad. Wrong. 🙁 Traffic through Boston does not take the weekend off.

Once there I was told the parking lot was filled to capacity but to cruise around and maybe I’d get lucky. At least the parking was free and eventually I did find a space. I noted the location by the wolf at the end of aisle.

Santa’s Castle was gorgeous but it was roped off and apparently closed. Santa must be resting up from his long ride.

I couldn’t get over the people trying to see the animals in the dark. Silly people. After asking a few people I finally got directed to the Reindeer Encounter. A $5.00 donation was requested for the opportunity to take your picture with your own camera with the Reindeer. A bench was in front of the reindeer (caribou) enclosure and two handlers stood in the enclosure with the animal.

I waited in the long line. The way it snaked around did not let me get a good look at the lighting until it was my turn. I made some quick guesswork on camera settings, paid my $5.00 and stepped into the lights. The handlers got the animal to raise his head and I snapped away.

After my moment I retreated to another bench to check the result. The ones with the faster shutter speed were too dark

and the ones when I switched to aperture priority were properly exposed but the shutter speed was too slow and I got camera shake.

With nothing usable I put the camera on the tripod and got back on line to try again. The line had grown and was now huge, snaking around the enclosure. As I debated if I really wanted to stand in line that long there was a break in the brush around the enclosure. The reindeer was lying down now and looked like it was about to go to sleep.

I pushed into the little break and shot off a series of quick photos. I didn’t get what I wanted but maybe I’ll have better luck next year. The search for next year’s card photo continues…

“Tis the Season to be Jolly”

Posted on December 20, 2014December 20, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Happy Holidays my blogging friends and followers! It a busy time of year. The Taunton Green is beautiful. They , like so many other places, used the theme of “Frozen”. I just need an evening when I’m not headed to a party or its not raining to get some pictures to share. Maybe this weekend. I don’t care if it snows. That would be pretty and fit right in with the theme but rain would put a damper on things. 🙂

I made my deadline and got my 2014 Christmas cards out on time! I used my “Christmas House” photo from last year for this year’s card.

I have some ideas for next year. I just have to get time to try capture the images.

Buddy continues to destroy the little Christmas Tree. He knows it wrong because he jumps down as soon as I start toward him. I look away and he’s right back up there!

I’ve been busier this year with holiday parties. I usually stick pretty close to home. I’ve outgrown being a “party animal” but I was invited to a “girl’s night out” for my team at work and I decided it would be fun. I wasn’t disappointed. We went to an italian restaurant in Belmont, MA called Il Casale.

We had a wonderful dinner. My teammate , Eileen had just come back from Italy and she said her meal was better than anything she had while she was there. My chicken parm was exquisite. They didn’t take any of the short cuts that so many restaurants do. But by far the chocolate cream puffs we had for dessert were the crowning glory of the meal.

That was Thursday, then on Friday we had the Redfin Holiday party. It was held on the Spirit of Boston and what a good time! Everyone was smiling and happy, there was an awesome buffet and lots of dancing. I don’t get into the office very often as its just easier to work from home so it was really nice to see everyone.

Of course when I got home the tree had been ravished again. 🙁 I’ll have to re-string the lights this time as well as the beaded garland. But it’s all about the holidays anyway. Right?