Day 334- End of an Era

Today marks the end of an era; our circa 1980’s washer and dryer were replaced with appliances from the 21st century! I intended to get photos of them being hauled away, but the door to the truck had already been locked by the time I got out there.

So here are my brand new washer and dryer! I’ve been studying all afternoon how to use their many features and am pretty much in awe of them. If you look closely, you can see a reflection of me lying on the floor in front of them, demonstrating my reverence.

f/7.0, 1/3, ISO 400, 18mm

Proudly edited in Photoshop with a black and white gradient map, following Scott Kelby’s instructions, rather than using my normal presets and actions!

Melinda3 Comments

Day 333- Hearts on a Fence

Tuesday morning is my volunteering time at the school where I taught for 23 years. Today I planned to go out after school to look for a fence to photograph for my Flickr group’s challenge. When I stopped in the teacher’s room to say good-bye, I noticed colored leaves climbing the fence outside and knew I had found my photo of the day. In twenty shots, I had three good candidates for my photo- and I chose this close-up of sweet heart shaped leaves on the fence.

f/6.3, 1/100, ISO 250, 85mm

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Day 332- Macro Monday

Leaving things, losing things, misplacing things- story of my life!  Here are some recent examples:

1) When we were checking in for our flight home from Bozeman  (almost 2 hours away from my daughter’s house in Yellowstone), we discovered that my husband had left our house key (plus fourteen dollars. . .) back at her house. There was a little nervousness about whether we would be able to get into our house when we arrived home at midnight, but we were able to get in through the garage.

2) My favorite (fifteen years old and unfashionable) black fleece vest had disappeared in my closet for a couple years, but reappeared in time to take to Wyoming this trip. But, of course, I left it there.

3) I took several foam holiday art projects to Miles to work on during our visit, but one particular snowflake sticker sheet seemed to disappear in my suitcase.  However, it reappeared in the same suitcase when we got back to California.

I’m using the snowflake stickers as the subject for this week’s macro shot.

 

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Day 331- R is for Railroad

The Flickr group challenge of the day was to photograph something starting with the letter R.  I set out on this foggy morning to photograph the refinery, but the fog obscured much of the view.  While driving around the area, back and forth over the train tracks, I remembered that railroad started with R! I used a sepia treatment and some texture to give the photo a vintage look.

f/10, 1/80, ISO 250, 18mm

But this afternoon, I decided to play some more- and did an HDR version.  Which one do you like best?

 

Melinda3 Comments

Day 328- Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my family, friends, and photo friends out in the blogosphere!  Here is just one of the many things I’m thankful for- delicious baked goods made my talented daughter! How ’bout that handprint turkey on the pumpkin pie?!?

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Day 327- Puppy Love

Our daily challenge today was “I am thankful for . . .”, and there is nothing I am more thankful for than my husband, two children, son-in-law and two grandchildren. I am also thankful the beautiful goldens that were our first grandkids. They have lost their top ranking in the family (displaced by the two sweet boys), and now Callie has the special role of comforting Miles when he needs some extra TLC.

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Day 326- Where the buffalo roam. . .

My favorite drive in Yellowstone is through the Lamar Valley, where you always have a good chance of seeing wildlife.  With our ranger son-in-law as chauffeur and tour guide, we were able to see elk, deer, buffalo, and WOLVES!  Wolf observers with their long scopes were grouped in pullouts along the highway, as a group of five wolves (part of a pack of eleven) were being observed making their way down a hillside maybe a quarter of a mile away.  My photos are not really blogworthy,  but watching the wolves cavort in the snow was definitely the wildlife highlight of my trip.

We did have an up close encounter with two buffalo along the road  (not an uncommon occurrence), and I thought this snow-covered face would be a good photo of the day.

f/5, 1/160, ISO 200, 86mm

 

Melinda2 Comments

Day 325- Big Horn Sheep!

Ever since our daughter moved to Mammoth Hot Springs at the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park, I have tried to get  a photo of the big horn sheep which can often be found along the road in this one particular section a couple miles from their house.  They are NEVER there when I go by- NEVER!  But today, I accompanied Caitlin when she drove Miles to preschool- and on the way back there was one single sheep along the road- just lying there! Of course he kept his back to me, but I managed to get a profile shot!

f/`3, 1/80, ISO 200, 44mm

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Day 324- Baby Bliss

Ahhh- sweet baby bliss! We are happily ensconced in our daughter’s cozy Yellowstone house with our adored grandbabies! The parents are out for a couple hours, and we are babysitting.  Our best babysitting method at this point is divide and conquer- Lonnie plays with Miles while I take care of Henry. Before Henry went down for his nap, I managed to snap a quick photo of his EAR, the topic for today’s Flickr group challenge.

f/2.5, 1/80, ISO 800, 35mm

Melinda2 Comments

Day 323- Layover

Between flights in Seattle . . . what is there to do? Photo of the day!

By the time we get to Yellowstone it will be late, so my husband suggested that I take care of my photo of the day NOW! I had visions of a photo of my adorable grandsons in the snow, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. I managed to capture these huge multi-colored star lights decorating a shop window (multi-colored being the Flickr group topic for today).

 

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Day 322- True Confession

Yes, I have a bouquet of fake flowers in our bedroom.

When we redecorated our house about 10 or 15 years ago, some teacher friends took me by the hand and tried to teach me about decorating with finds from Marshall’s and TJ Maxx. I somehow have the inability to see decorating gems in amongst the claptrap in bargain stores (I am much more of a sucker for expensive showrooms at Pottery Barn or Macy’s)- I just don’t have the eye.  One of the things they introduced me to was decorating with silk flowers. We went to Michaels and bought zillions of fake flowers to make a huge bouquet for the living room.  It looked great, but it’s time has been over for awhile.  I almost threw the whole thing away in a decluttering rampage, but ended up salvaging much of it.  At some point, it has to go. . .

So, today’s challenge is fake– an easy one!

f/1.8, 1/125, ISO 200, 35mm

 

Melinda2 Comments

Day 321- Soaps

Following today’s theme, here is my pastel image. I only had to go as far as the soap dish in the hall bathroom to find something that qualified.  I ran CoffeeShop’s antic vintage action to give it even more of a faded, pastel look.

f/9, 1/8, ISO 200, 85mm

Melinda1 Comment