Fall in Wisconsin

I had to drop something off at the church this morning. The church is about 25 minutes away. Along the way I kept thinking how bad I felt for not taking my camera along. On the way back I finally gave in, pulled over and started snapping pictures with my 3.2 megapixel cell phone camera. The colors here are amazing. And if you think they look great in the photos – you can only imagine what they look like in person.

Can’t get over how beautiful and red these guys are!

Beautiful golden drive

I felt like I was driving into a fairy tale.

I told my 4-year-old we were driving through the forest. (but not really! In fact, believe it or not, there are houses only 10 feet behind these trees!)

Beautiful colors lining the side of the road

How would you like to pull into this neighborhood every afternoon after a long, hard day at work?

After 30+ years out west I’ve seen my share of red rocks, desert landscapes and wide open spaces. But the fall leaves in the midwest are simply something else!

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Happy Birthday Instagram

This month Instagram turns 2.

In only 24 months time the photo sharing app has taken the internet by storm. With an average of 7.3 million daily active users the company was “gobbled up by Facebook for $300 million in cash and 23 million shares of stock… Other applications who offered the same services as Instagram have shut its doors earlier this year (see: PicPlz) while others have found themselves laying off practically entire staffs. Instagram is literally killing their competition!”*

I think it’s safe to say the fine folks at Instagram aren’t sittin’ in Gramma’s rockin’ chair watching time pass by; rather looking forward and making plans for the future.

While they go ahead and look forward, I take time to look back.

Presenting… my Top 5 All Time Favorite (Personal) Instagram Photos:

5. Oh Thank Heaven! My first Slurpee in Wisconsin – and boy did it hit the spot! Looking at this Instagram pic still makes my mouth water.

4. My husband added three real gourds to the jar of fake ones in the kitchen. Any guesses which is which?

3. Ummm. Peaches n’ cream. There’s nothing quite like fresh peaches in a bowl of cold milk with sugar sprinkled on top.

2. This Instagram pic definitely makes my Top 5! It’s the very first Instagram I ever sent. Friday Night Lights live from Salt Lake City, Utah. I took this photo at the Cottonwood High School home opener in 2011. Boy do I miss that view of the Wasatch Front!

1. There are no words. Actually, I take that back. If this was a post on Twitter I’d add this photo and use one of the following hashtags: #wasteoftime #goingretro #husbandsaveseverything #pieceofjunk? #youtellme #howmuchwouldyoupay? #whyimgoinggray

To follow me on Instagram – search for @krachelw.

*courtesy Vibe.com

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A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

While working as a Communications Manager at my last job I was tasked with updating the website. From there it was up to me to update how I wanted, when I wanted. And for me… well, I like to go big or go home. So when it was time to put “wish stories” on the website, (a story featuring a child who recently had a wish come true) I made certain that we never added a story unless we had great photos to accompany the text.

Now, I preface this by saying that it is not my intention to pick on any other wish-granting chapters or organizations. I simply show the following image to make a point.

This is a ‘wish story’ posted during a similar time to when I was posting stories to my own organization’s website. It is a great story. It tears at the heart and makes me want to open up my wallet and give. But it has no photo attached and for that I feel the author missed a great opportunity to really dress up an amazing story.

This is a screenshot of a story that I posted, with two photos to accompany the text. Don’t the photos – the top one especially – just scream ‘look at me!’?

Rule of thumb: No matter how great your writing is, without a picture your story will never reach its full potential.

(I stop here to point out that some may disagree. “A great writer is called ‘great’ because his work is so visual a photo isn’t needed,” you may say. But not everyone is drawn to text. Some people are simply visual people. And that’s my point with this post. No matter how great your writing is, there are those who will not read unless a photo is included.)

We live in such a visual world. Cameras are readily available in many shapes and forms. Handheld devices are considered old fashioned if a camera isn’t included. They come in our iPods. They work on our phones. Even the computer comes with a camera installed!

So take advantage and show off your work! Leave a comment and let me know what you’re working on these days. Better yet, leave a link to your latest project and show off your visual side.

By the way, I’m looking forward to the weekend, thinking about taking a drive through the Wisconsin back country and checking out the fall leaves. Now there’s a chance to see some amazing color!!!

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Yellow Ray of Sunshine

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