We celebrated Valentines Day with our good friends, Debbie and Dale, starting with a HUGE breakfast at the Lone Spur Cafe.
We then drove to Jerome, a historic mining town perched on the mountain overlooking THIS:
I think those are the San Francisco Peaks in the distance- looking towards Flagstaff.
Our visit to Prescott gave me the opportunity to photograph something I don’t have the opportunity for at home- KITTIES!
First we have cute 8 month old Charlie . . .
And then we have Beautiful Phoebe!
On the way home from dinner tonight we spotted this beautiful sunset, so, when we pulled into the driveway, I had to run in to get the camera. It almost looks like the forest was on fire!
Our son, Matt, has been working in Phoenix for awhile, so we are having a quick visit with him before we head to Prescott tomorrow to see our good friends, Debbie and Dale. After he picked us up at the airport, we headed to his usual spot for lunch near our hotel. I snapped a few photos- using auto white balance- and am noticing a difference from photo to photo. I am beginning to wish I had never heard that auto white balance isn’t the way to go . . .
But he looks pretty cute anyway- looking a little like Dad!
Yesterday was busy, tomorrow is busy- so today I am getting things done around the house and trying not to obsess about what photo to take. I walked through the house with my camera and decided to snap some details of a dry arrangement in our entryway.
f/1.8, 1/200, ISO 640 @35mm
After everything I learned in my class yesterday about white balance, I used auto- and it was WRONG! I had to adjust it in Aperture 3.
Notice the blurry edges- since I discovered picnik.com, I just can’t stay away from it! I have $$$$ invested in Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, and Aperture 3- and I am using the free internet program! Somebody stop me . . .
My first camera workshop- woo hoo! My college roommate and I met today for a camera workshop- both beginner and intermediate. I am happy to report that the beginner one was probably too easy for us (we both got our cameras last summer). I did a learn a new (to me) focusing method. Focus by depressing the shutter halfway, then flick the switch to manual on the lens and recompose and keep shooting until you are finished or the subject moves. We practiced on each other- so here are some focused and recomposed photos of my friend, Carol (the last one was shot separately).
I found this method a little difficult and can get the same results focusing, recomposing, and locking the focus by holding down the AF-L button. It was fun taking this class with my friend- although we did get in trouble once for talking in class!
Project 52’s theme this week is Breakfast, and one of my favorite breakfasts is a smoothie!
Today’s smoothie is fresh blueberries, frozen mango and strawberries, yogurt, a splash of orange juice, and some protein powder. Yum! Since we got our VitaMix, we often add greens to the mix too, which makes it extra healthy.
f/1.8, 1/100, ISO 1000, 35mm
I think I have set a new record for myself: 5 minutes to take photos, 5 minutes to edit them, 5 minutes to put into a collage (and probably 5 more to get this posted . . .)! I often spend an hour or more taking photos and then at least that much time choosing, editing, uploading etc. I am trying to make this process more streamlined.
Yesterday morning there were no blossoms on my plum tree. By noon there were about fifty! Amazing what you have time to notice when you aren’t working!
Tonight is my monthly book club meeting. I am only 73% finished with the book, so I plan to spend a significant part of today reading. It would be hard to justify not being done to my teacher friends, who are still working while I am at home, a lady of leisure! Oh well, I can think of worse ways to spend a day . . .
f/3.5, 1/80, ISO 800, 35 mm
I actually RETOOK this pretty boring, simple photo, because I realized the keys that weren’t in focus were “blown out”- even though the histogram didn’t show that. I ended up increasing my depth of field by closing down the aperture a bit and using spot metering to meter off the kindle so that I could get those darn keys to be more visible.
In case you’re interested, the book is The White Queen by Philippa Gregory.
It’s Super Bowl Sunday, but my photo of the day is about something else. Trees are starting to bloom here in the Bay Area! I was hoping to find some blossoms on my plum tree, but just buds. I didn’t have my camera with me when we went to church (again, I know…), so I used my iPhone camera to record these beautiful blossoms.
I did crop and sharpen it up a little in Aperture 3.
Phobias- that is the theme for this week’s Clickin Moms Project 52. This has been a challenge! My worst phobia is definitely claustrophobia- a challenge to photograph! And then there is acrophobia, which I have often experienced on mountain roads. And then there is driving on unknown freeways in heavy traffic, goldfish jumping out of their bowls (seriously…), frogs- I could go on. But then there is the one that I face daily- and often try to avoid- the dreaded SCALE!
I had fun editing this in Picnik and pixelating the numbers!
BONUS photo: Lonnie shopped at Trader Joe’s yesterday and brought home these gorgeous flowers!
I love retirement! I had a relaxed lunch today with my friend Anne at an upscale shopping center in her neighborhood. It is a beautiful day in the Bay Area, and we chose a table outside by the “pond.”. There were ducks and geese (well, one Canadian goose) and two swans swimming around while we shared a lunch of deep- fried artichoke hearts with aioli, pear and brie quesadillas, and winter salad. What a lovely day!
The swan was beautiful . . .
but this little guy was the cutest!
It was maybe twenty years ago, that I introduced Pig Week into my first grade classroom. We were big into weekly themes back then, and our new reading series featured a story about a pig. I told my class that the next week we were going to celebrate one of the most important weeks in the year, and they were brimming with excitement, curiosity, and anticipation as they entered the classroom the following Monday. What would the new theme be? Pigs? PIGS? After I introduced the story, did some pig art projects, pig writing projects, and read some fabulous pig stories, they became believers! Several of them brought me stuffed pigs that year, because they figured I MUST like pigs.
The first day of school the following year, one of my new students timidly asked me if it was true that I liked pigs! When I replied that indeed I did, the children looked at each other with amazement. Well, this was going to be an interesting year?!?!? And I received many, many pigs as gifts that year.
Well, that was the start of it all. Twenty years later, I now own pig jewelry, pig figurines, pig socks, pig slippers, pig wall hangings, pig flashlights, pig calendars, pig pens, pig mugs, pig puppets, and more stuffed pigs than you can imagine! SInce my retirement last year, I’ve been struggling with what to do with them all. I’m surprised at how attached to them I really am!
Here is a photo of a very minor part of my collection- plastic pigs used for counting:
f/2.8, 1/320, ISO 500, 35 mm
I love Groundhog Day! Groundhog Day was always one of my favorite days to celebrate with my first graders. We talked about the seasons, did fun art projects, and followed the news of Punxsutawney Phil on the Internet. But actually, the reason I love Groundhog Day is that it means Spring is near! Even if he sees his shadow and predicts a longer Winter, just knowing that we are into February reassures me that Spring is to follow- at some point! And today he did NOT see his shadow- Spring is on the way!
Today’s photo was taken during a stroll by the waterfront, where I spotted some tiny blossoms among the rocks- reminding me that yes, Spring will come.
f/5.3, 1/1000, ISO 250, 240mm
It’s February 1- Day 32! I guess that means I am 1/12 of the way to my goal of taking a photo every day for one year!
I almost blew it this morning, though. On my way to the gym, I saw a photo opportunity- wispy fog curling around trees, something I’ve wanted to photograph. But alas . . . no camera in the car! I had vowed when this project began that I would never leave home without a camera- and here I was, camera-less. I decided exercise was more important than photography at the moment, so I continued on.
When I reached home, I grabbed my camera and headed back out in search of photo-worthy fog- not too easy to find! I drove around our now sunny neighborhood hills looking for view shots and eventually found myself down by the water, where I snapped this image of a ship emerging from the fog.
I uploaded it first in color, but I really like it better in black and white. I chose the red filter option- it brings back the days when I used an actual (not virtual) red filter on my film camera.
f/7.1, 1/1000, ISO 250, 220 mm
melinda anderson photography 