One of the fun photo ops in Jerome is by the Gold King Mine where there are rows of old cars and trucks parked. I took these shots a couple months ago and had forgotten all about them. So here they are!
Golden Hour, once more. . .
Golden Hour
From last week’s walk with Carol at Willow Lake during the golden hour:
Sunnyflowers
My friend, Carol and I took a walk at Willow Lake the evening before she left- hoping for a dramatic sunset, some birds, and golden light on the rocks. There was a lot of golden light, but no dramatic sunset and few birds. I enjoyed photographing the weeds and flowers backlit by the sun, which was hanging low in the sky; here are a few of my favorites:
I love how only one flower is facing the camera in this shot.
A hazy Granite Mountain can be seen in the background here.
Backyard Birding
When my friend Carol visits, it is pretty much guaranteed that every morning she will be found outside on the patio photographing the hummingbirds with her long lens. Here are a couple shots I took as I sat out back with her.
Red Rocks at Sunset
Here’s another image from our visit to Sedona on Monday:
An Umbrella, A Spoon, Some Music, and a Tornado
Such a fun adventure we had yesterday in Sedona! We drove over in the middle of the afternoon and had a great time wandering around and checking out the galleries and shops at Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village. We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at El Rincon, where, to the amusement of our waitress, I couldn’t resist photographing the reflection of the little white lights on the overhead umbrella on my spoon. 
Midway through dinner, the flamenco guitar music began!
During dinner, Lonnie was googling best places for sunset photography in Sedona, so we ended up on an overlook on Airport Road. The wind had kicked up, and it was threatening rain, making for dramatic clouds.
After we walked across the road and began setting up, I realized I didn’t have my cable release, so I walked back to the car and lugged my whole camera bag back across the road to where my tripod was set up. Lonnie and Carol were busy photographing the scene while I got set up again. What I didn’t realize was that they were photographing a tornado forming! I continued taking photos of the rocks, oblivious to what they were seeing. Fortunately, I have a few shots at the end of the event- although I didn’t know what I was shooting. It wasn’t until we got home and they started talking about the tornado, that I realized what I had missed! You can check out Carol’s magnificent twister photos at http://infocusdaily.com
More Moon!
Another super moon image- edited with Topaz Impression and a texture from Jessica Drossin
Moon Over Prescott
My friend, the intrepid photographer, Carol, is here visiting- so of course we had to photograph last night’s super moon. The moon kind of took us by surprise as we were out in the driveway photographing the sunset- and it quickly rose up into the clouds before I could even get my camera on the tripod. These photos won’t win any prizes, but I enjoyed seeing the huge moon over my neighborhood. Next time, maybe I’ll take photos from a more picturesque spot!
Textures of the Barrio
From last month’s trip to Tucson’s Barrio Viejo
Cloudscape
Last night’s sky called me outside at sunset. Looking out the window, I saw everything bathed in a warm glow . There were pink and orange clouds, the moon was peeking through wispy clouds, and there was thunder and lightning in the distance. I had my Lensbaby with Edge 80 attached (a very zoomed in focal length for my crop sensor camera), but, knowing how quickly the light changes at this time of day, I didn’t dare stop to change lenses. I have no images that capture the panoramic view of these majestic clouds across the sky. I know, I know- I should have used my iPhone. . .
Chapel of the Holy Cross
Whenever we take out of town visitors to Sedona, we always take them to Chapel of the Holy Cross. Built into the rocks with a spectacular view, it is a very special place. Despite being full of visitors, you can always sense the spiritual and sacred essence of this spot. When we visited Sedona a week or so ago, I took a few photos inside with my Lensbaby Edge 80.
Editing notes:
The top photo was taken a year or so ago, and I just re-edited it in Perfect Effects (my current go-to tool for editing landscapes) for today’s blog. The head of Christ and the candles at the bottom were edited in Lightroom and Photoshop. The middle photo of the person lighting a candle was edited in Topaz Impression, using the Van Gogh filter (I wish there was a way of recording that so I could remember- maybe a post-it notes feature in Lightroom!).
Close Encounter
From last month’s visit to Tucson:
I ran across these and just had to post them for my bird photographer friend, Carol. I think there might be a bit of “gesture” in the top left photo- I think it was looking at my husband, not me. 🙂
Lily Pond
These shots were taken at the lily pond on the grounds of the beautiful Ferrari Carano winery, which we visited a few weeks ago. This large frog was so still that we thought it was a garden statue; however he hopped away when my friend, Georgia, started tossing (very small) pebbles his way. Yes, we (I) screamed. . .
Van Gogh Peaches
One of my AAUW photo group friends was giving away peaches yesterday- a perfect opportunity for me to finally get back into my still life “studio.” I have been so busy lately that I have had to put still life photography and macros on the back burner and just rely on the travel shots I’ve done throughout the summer.
I used my Lensbaby with the Edge 80 attached for these photos- and then ended up doing a version in Topaz Impression as well.
I added a texture to the original photo below to soften the black background.
I used one of the Van Gogh filters, although there were MANY other options that would have worked well too. I usually take the photos back into Photoshop and mask off portions to reduce the painterly effect, but I really liked them straight out of Impression this time.
Have a great Friday!
