We encountered some friendly horses on our drive through Skull Valley last week. I’m not a farm girl by any description, but there is just something so appealing about rural scenes like this.
Arizona Browns
We took a drive in the countryside around Kirkland and Skull Valley last weekend- always fun! We saw lots of browns and tans (my least favorite colors) and very little greens on our drive. But over the years, I have developed an appreciation for the browns in the Arizona countryside, which has its own unique beauty.
Feeding the Ducks?
Here’s something you don’t see every day…
In the Water
Another photo taken at Granite Basin Lake- this time JUST the reflection. I love how abstract and painterly the weeds look reflected in the water.
Snowy Reflections
I’ve been busier than usual and recovering from my second Covid shot (not complaining!), and just realized that Spring is on its way. I have quite a few winter scenes yet to post, so expect more snow scenes over the coming week or so. Today’s photo was taken at Granite Basin Lake at the end of December.
Healing
Another in my series for my Unity class
Sources of Light
December moon at sunset
Beach Lady at Sunset
Over the last few years I’ve taken many photos of people at beaches in Southern California- and probably my favorites are my Beach Ladies. After we get our second Covid vaccinations, I hope to get out of the house, out of town, and out of state to do more beach photography!
Below is a Beach Lady watching surfers at sunset- taken two years ago
Nativity
Here is the second in my Stations of the Cross series- Nativity. I started with a photo taken of the sun rising from our driveway. When I started working on my image, I noticed a single star in the sky, which I had not seen when I took the photo. I replaced it with the “Christmas Star” (the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction photographed last December). In this photo you can just barely see Jupiter and four of its moons and Saturn with its rings blurred. And then, I of course did some creative editing! 🙂
Orange and White
This is from a couple weeks ago when there was still snow at Willow Lake. It snowed again last night, but it was only an inch or so on my side of town- and I didn’t see significant snow at Willow when we drove by this morning. I love the contrast of the white snow against the warm tones of the rocks.
Creation
I am taking an eight week class through my church where we all create art! There are painters, mixed media artists, musicians, and at least one photographer (!) coming together to have discussions based on assigned readings and then create art in response. Each week we share art with each other in our zoom meetings.
I had imagined this would be similar to contemplative photography, which I am familiar with, but it turned out to be based on Stations of the Cross, which is totally outside my experience. The class explores the metaphysical meanings of the stations as related to our own lives. This is way outside my comfort zone, but the excellent teacher and interesting classmates are making this a wonderful experience!
Week One- Creation
Til the Cows Come Home
This is a re-edit of a photo from 2014. I have such clear memories of that drive through Paradise Valley in Montana with Lonnie and our grandson, Miles. It was such a beautiful day, and five year old Miles was totally involved in spotting old barns and picturesque country scenes for me to photograph. In this reimagining, I aged the mailboxes to make the image match how I was seeing them that day. I remember noticing the cows coming along as I snapped the photo, but didn’t stay to see if they stopped or turned off before they came to the road.
Through the Storm
A view of the tree across the street through the snowstorm
Winter Evening
I had never been in snow until I went skiing in high school. For me, snow has always been something you visit, not live in. When our daughter was in her early twenties, she moved to Montana and later Wyoming. We spent quite a few Thanksgivings and Christmases with her family when they lived at Yellowstone, so I could see first hand what it was like to have real winters! And of course, now they live in Alaska. . .
But when we moved to Prescott, we got to have the experience of having snow at our own home- and I do love it. Our usual snowfall only lasts a few days and it’s really light. But this year and also two years ago, we had heavy, everything STOPS, snow- unplowed roads, no mail, no garbage pickup, and no way to get out- nothing to do but stay home and keep snow off the satellite dish. Thank goodness we had plenty of food and no power outages!
The best part of snow for me is how it totally transforms our drab neighborhood into a Christmas card! This image is from last week- shot from our driveway as night was falling.
Snowbird
Monday’s huge storm didn’t stop my backyard birds from hanging out by the feeder. During the worst parts of the storm. they would take shelter on the patio as their favorite bushes became engulfed by snow, but when the wind died down, they would be out again. I love the minimalism of this fluffed up little guy contrasted with the white snow.
melinda anderson photography 