Thanksgiving treasures

Thanksgiving treasures, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
The bird is in the oven, the Bread Dressing is all assembled, and the table is set.
I know it’s silly, but I love my Thanksgiving table setting. I look forward to setting the table and seeing these pieces as if they were old friends. The plates that I only use at Thanksgiving are Spode, and my Turkey platter is one I made back in 1996 when I was in a Ceramics phase.
My gravy boat was a gift from one of my sisters back in the 80’s, and my silver plate serving pieces were a gift from my Mother, and were my Grandmothers. I’m thankful for these treasures, and the traditions and love that binds my family together.
I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Nikon D700| Nikkor 50mm
Home, San Jose, California,

May your holiday be filled with love and laughter!

Via Flickr:
Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Wishing all my  friends in the USA and expats a very Happy Thanksgiving!

My friend Judi aka Mama Z gave me the idea to post my turkey photo when she posted one today. Thank you for the inspiration Judi! I took this photo back in April when in Amador County, CA. This guy was strutting around in this rural neighborhood and a man across the road came out of his house and told me this Tom comes by daily. The man found my friend Dali and I amusing as we snapped several photos of this guy before he ran out of sight.

Nikon D90| Nikkor 70-300mmVR @ 300mm| f5.6| 1/200 sec| ISO 200| Manual Mode| Hand-held

Amador County, California, USA, Tom Turkey

Between the Lines



Between the Lines, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

I loved the reflected lines in this lagoon and thought I’d play with the movement and de-focusing again while the light was so nice then as I pushed the shutter release this cormorant flew into the frame. When I looked at it in playback I really liked the contrast, and placement I got him in the frame. A happy accident!

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 70-300mmVR @ 185mm| f5.6| 1/1600 sec| ISO 320| Manual Mode| Tripod

Moss Landing, California, USA.

Bufflehead-female



Bufflehead-female, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

This is my first Bufflehead! I hope to get a better one someday. She was pretty far so I’ve cropped in a good bit here.

Moss Landing, California

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 70-300mmVR @ 220mm| f5.6| 1/800sec| ISO 500| Manual Mode| Tripod

Adobe Systems New Upgrade Path Policy for Creative Suite Users

Over at Adobe Systems they’ve changed  the upgrade path for users of Creative Suite.  Those who haven’t upgraded to CS5 or CS5.5 already will be hurt the most! If you are a CS3 or CS4 user you’ll have to upgrade before the end of the year to keep your Discount when/if you upgrade to CS6. Adobe Systems says,  ” In order to qualify for upgrade pricing when CS6  releases customers will need to be on the latest version of our software (either CS5 or CS5.5 editions). If our customers are not yet on those versions, we’re offering a 20% discount through December 31, 2011 which will qualify them for upgrade pricing when we release CS6.”

How does this hurt? If Adobe releases CS6 in Q1 2012 those same folks will need to pay more money to upgrade to CS6 or go on the monthly subscription plan.

Read their policy here.

Scott Kelby    NAPP- National Association of Photoshop Users President has written an open letter to Adobe Systems pointing out how unfair this move is, and how it is going to hurt their base, and he gives them some “face-saving” ideas that make sense to me.

Northern Shoveler



Northern Shoveler, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

This looks better large. Please click the photo for a larger view.

Not shoveling at the moment…she’s more of a glider.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 70-300mmVR @ 300mm| f5.6| 1/320 sec| ISO 200| Manual Mode| Tripod

Moss Landing, California