melinda anderson photography

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Macro Play

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a macro workshop at a photo club member’s home. It was less of a workshop than a play session with Joe’s STUFF- and he has a lot of STUFF! There were LED lights and macro light rings and a light tent. There were backdrops set up and props to photograph. There were extra lenses and extension tubes for Nikon (yay!). And there was Camranger (a wireless DSLR controller and focus stacker)- wow! It was a fun experience and left me with some new items to add to my photography wishlist!

Most of us photographed this milkweed pod.

Joe’s old watch was a favorite subject- it might need a little dusting though. . .

All in all- a good way to spend a morning!

Posted by Melinda | September 26, 2016 | Categories: macro | Tags: macro, milkweed, photography, seedpod, textures, watch | 3 Comments

Blue Hour

The harbor at Seward, Alaska during the blue hour (which is about as dark as it gets in August).

Posted by Melinda | September 23, 2016 | Categories: travel | Tags: Alaska, blue hour, boats, fishery, harbor, lights, night, photography, Seward | Leave a comment

A Cruise through the Clouds

On our last morning in Seward, Alaska, we woke up to this view of a cruise ship, which had docked during the night. The early morning fog gave an air of mystery and magic to this gigantic ship, which looked like it was sailing through the clouds.

Posted by Melinda | September 22, 2016 | Categories: travel | Tags: Alaska, cruise ship, fog, photography | 6 Comments

What Lies Beyond

I’m still going through my Alaska photos, which bring back memories of the beautiful sights we saw everywhere. This shot is from our boat trip out of Seward along the Kenai Fjords.

Posted by Melinda | September 21, 2016 | Categories: landscape, travel | Tags: Alaska, fog, Kenai Fjords, photography, travel | Leave a comment

Home for Elves?

My Alaska family (especially Miles) has become fascinated with the mushrooms and toadstools that abound in this wet climate. According to Wikipedia, this amanita is classified as poisonous and is noted for its hallucinogenic properties. I just think it looks like the perfect setting for a fairy tale!

Posted by Melinda | September 20, 2016 | Categories: nature, travel | 2 Comments

Shades of Green

Alaska is SO GREEN- at least in the summer. This was taken at the Eagle River Nature Center on our walk with the kids. As I look ahead to Fall, I am wondering what it looks like there now. I am imagining some golds among the greens.

Posted by Melinda | September 19, 2016 | Categories: landscape, travel | Tags: Alaska, Eagle River, landscape, photography | 3 Comments

Friday Flower Trio

Here is another version of my yellow daisy/sunflowers with almost the same edit as yesterday.

Posted by Melinda | September 16, 2016 | Categories: flowers, painterly, texture | Tags: flowers, photo art, photography, texture, three | Leave a comment

Flower Foto Fun

Photoshop, textures, Topaz Simplify and Impression- so fun!

Posted by Melinda | September 15, 2016 | Categories: flowers, painterly, texture | Tags: flower, orange, petals, photo art, photography, texture, topaz, yellow | 4 Comments

Caption this photo!

As I was getting ready to leave the fair, we locked eyes and had a moment. . .

Posted by Melinda | September 14, 2016 | Categories: animals, out and about | 9 Comments

Love at First Sight

We went over to the fair last weekend to catch the photography exhibit (no, I didn’t enter this year), and it was a good opportunity for me to snap a few photos of the livestock. My little AAUW photo group meets this week, and the topic is animals. I could not resist this sweet piggy- what a cutie!

Posted by Melinda | September 13, 2016 | Categories: animals, out and about | Tags: fair, livestock, photography, pig | 2 Comments

Alien?!? Robot?!?

Is it an alien? A robot? A silo? A barbecue?

Nope- it’s an old furnace used for smelting copper in the late 1800″s by the United Verde Copper Company Mines in Jerome. The coke used for fuel was brought around the horn from WALES- and shipped by train to Ash Fork. From there, it was brought over the mountains by mule drawn wagons to Jerome. I’ve walked by this many times on our visits to Jerome and never stopped to look at it before.

I am always amazed by displays like this- and grateful to local historians who think it’s important to save these artifacts from the past.

Posted by Melinda | September 12, 2016 | Categories: travel | Tags: Arizona, furnace, Jerome, photography | 4 Comments

Tuzigoot

Here is Tuzigoot, the last ancient pueblo we visited- not built into a cliff, but at the top of a rise. We arrived about 15 minutes before closing, so we had barely got to the top when it was time to climb down again.

Here is the view as we pulled into the parking lot.

A shot taken as we climbed the steps at the top.

And here is the view FROM the top- the road we took back as we headed to Jerome, the last stop on our trip before we headed down the mountain back to Prescott.

Posted by Melinda | September 9, 2016 | Categories: out and about, travel | Tags: Arizona, pueblo, Tuzigoot | Leave a comment

Montezuma Well

The travelogue continues! After visiting Montezuma Castle (and then having lunch at the nearby casino on the reservation!), we drove down the highway to Montezuma Well, another part of the same National Monument. A short walk takes you to an overlook of an eerily deep green/blue well, where cliff dwellings line the surrounding rocks. Yes, the water does really look this color!

We didn’t take the steps down to the water itself, but just continued on the upper trail.

I converted the photo below to black and white; it looks a bit like another planet to me!

Posted by Melinda | September 8, 2016 | Categories: black and white, landscape, travel | Tags: Arizona, Montezuma Well, photography | 1 Comment

Montezuma Castle

Last week, we had a beautiful day of sunshine, a break before the torrential monsoon rains we had a day or two later. We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and take a drive to the Verde Valley (about an hour away) to see some of the sights on our Arizona bucket list.

The first place on our list was Montezuma Castle to see cliff dwellings!