Yes, it had to be . . . Lake Tahoe!

Today is my 365th blip. But, if the truth were told, it is not my 365th consecutive blip. I started Blipfoto back on August 28, 2011. I started then because I wanted to see the photos that my daughter (ramblerstale) was posting to the site. I really started blipping on a daily basis on July 16, 2013 at the insistence, once again, of my daughter when I visited her in China last year. Everywhere we went, she and worldlens were snapping pictures and discussing things like aperture and shutter speed, ISO and exposure – things that were another language to me. I had my wonderful little Nikon S9300 which took passable photos, but could not be compared to the gorgeous shots they were getting. While I was visiting, the girls taught me so much about how their cameras worked, why they composed their shots and so much more. Then, when I got home, I continued investigating more about photography. I continued playing around with my little point and shoot, posting the photos each day on Blipfoto. But I quickly became frustrated that I could not produce the kind of photos that I wanted to take. After another month, my wonderful husband bought me my D7100 with an 18-200mm zoom lens. I was set! At first, the camera was very intimidating. But I love a challenge, and I decided that I would learn everything I possibly could about this camera. Also, I decided that I would not purchase another lens until I knew this lens very well – its positive attributes as well as its negative. But most of you knew my story. . .

For me, my Blipfoto experience has been so uplifting. You are all so wonderful. You have taught, mentored and encouraged me every step of the way this last year. I can never ever repay your kindnesses and I am deeply appreciative. In the last year, you have looked at my daily blips almost 40,000 times, you have favorited my photos 188 times, and you have spotlighted 15 of my photos including yesterday’s High Desert Aglow. If it was not for you, I would have never seen as much beauty in the world around as I do now. Thank you!

The one photo which merited the highest number of favorites was Tahoe, taken on February 1st. Because you liked this so much, I decided to go back to the very same spot for my 365th blip. This one is for you. Today’s photo is the same view but at sunset rather than morning, and there was a smoky haze in today’s shot from the forest fires in California.

Thank you so much for this last year! It has been wonderful!

Here are a few of my favorites:

My three pups

Just a butterfly

I am the River

Lake Tahoe

Rowena Crest