Above is another version of my lightbox photo of Apache plumes and Russian sage- an inversion (not to get techy…) in Photoshop using LAB Color. Fun to do, although I tend to prefer the white background.
Inverted
Wild
We have a beautiful Russian sage (the purple flowers) at the end of our driveway- and another down by the street that grows wild. Also in front of the house we have some Apache plume- the weedy mop top. This made a very Arizona composition on my lightbox- fun!
Nosegay
A nosegay for you with flowers from our yard!
Rose Duet
Just two of our roses…
Impressions of Iris- Again
Although I have taken a lot of photos, I haven’t been posting for some reason. The iris image above is an in-camera multiple exposure shot with intentional camera movement from a couple months ago. It is similar to one I have posted already, but I’ve just gotten around to editing this one.
Volunteers? Anyone, anyone . . . ?
My father always referred to flowers or plants that appeared out of nowhere “volunteers.” Is that the right word? Anyway, a couple years ago I noticed a prickly pear leaf growing out of the ground behind our rose bushes. We left it alone, and this year it developed several leaves and a couple dozen buds. I worried that they would open while we were gone for the week, but they waited until our return. Over the last few days, we’ve been enjoying the blossoms “volunteering” to add color and beauty to our garden.
Flowers at the DBG
We spent last week in Phoenix in my cousin’s beautiful timeshare. One of the highlights was a trip to the Desert Botanical Garden which we had not visited in several years. It was the Chihuly exhibit (which we have seen twice previously), so I mostly found myself photographing flowers!
West Coast Memories
I’ve been going through old photos. Like most photographers, I have so many on my hard drives that have never been edited. This is from a trip to San Diego (Mission Bay?) about ten years ago. Our son was living there and was still single- how things have changed!
Iris Impressions
Our photo group “final” was last week, one of the two topics being “Impressionism”. Since our irises are in bloom, I chose to create an impressionist image. I used intentional camera movement layered with a standard shot and some brushwork and a texture to give it a painterly quality. I’m delighted to have a camera, warm weather, and flowers in bloom as an excuse to sit in the backyard for hours at a time.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day, everyone! Whether you are a mother, a grandmother, or just know some special mothers- wishing you a wonderful day!
Springtime
It finally looks and feels like springtime around here! Trees have leafed out, flowers are being planted, and the barbecue is going- it’s wonderful time of year!
More on Main Street
This is downtown Manchester, Kansas- Main Street. Although there are some small farms and homes within walking distance of these old buildings, the tiny downtown is becoming a ghost town. My husband remembers the building on the left as a hardware store and the telephone company on the right. Out of the frame is what remains of a building his grandfather owned- all that is left is the crumpled metal awning lying amidst the rubble.
My husband’s grandparents died in 1982, and I had only driven through the town once since then. In searching for photos of what Manchester used to look like, I came across a wonderful website- https://www.lostamericana.com/
The website is run by photojournalist Vincent Johnson who is documenting the abandoning of rural America. There is a photo of Manchester’s Main Street on the home page- taken maybe ten years ago. The buildings in my photo can be seen as well as Lonnie’s grandfather’s building next door. You can explore Vincent’s excellent photographs of America’s abandoned towns state by state on the website. My genealogist heart loves this project, although it makes me sad.
Last Pears
I *think* these are my last pears for awhile. This was actually the first setup in the still life shoot back in January when I was planning ahead for February’s cataract surgeries. SO. . . here they are! My eyes are FINALLY better (fingers crossed), so it might be time for me to do some new still life photos.
Main Street USA
Here is another image from our trip to my husband’s grandparents’ farm community in rural Kansas.
Kansas Memories
We have just returned from Kansas, where we took some time to visit the remains of the very small farm community where my husband’s grandparents lived and his father was raised. My husband’s family drove to this little town every week for Sunday dinner, and Lonnie spent weeks there during summer vacations. He knew almost every inch of town- and most of its inhabitants.
The grandparents both passed away in the early 1980’s, and since then much of the town has seen a terrible decline. The last time we drove by, we noted that their front porch was sagging and was coming away from the house. This time, we saw that the old farmhouse had burned to the ground, and only the garage remained. The downtown buildings are either gone or falling apart. Yet, in some parts of town you can see that people are still living- like on this road where there seems to be enough traffic to warrant a lopsided stop sign.
melinda anderson photography 