The wigwams are not the only attraction at the Wigwam Motel- the grounds are filled with vintage cars. It’s like stepping back in time!
Wigwam Motel 2
Wigwam Motel
Back to Route 66! I visualized this image as we drove into Holbrook, where we stayed the first night of our Route 66 trip with my photo club. The last time we were in Holbrook, we stayed across the street from the Wigwam Motel (yes, people stay in these faux teepees, which have nice beds air conditioning, bathrooms etc. ). I knew I wanted to photograph it again- but convert to black and white. It was difficult to get an uncluttered view- I had to walk around the corner to be able to get a clear view of the huge “teepees” against the cloudy sky. Mission accomplished!
Tide
I can remember my first visit to the ocean as a young child- and how my mother taught me to always keep my eyes on the waves (for safety reasons). And now in my elder years I treasure our visits to the ocean, and my eyes are always drawn to the ever-changing yet constant waves as they rush toward shore. At sunset the light turns golden as the sun bids farewell to another day- a soothing presence in these times.
Sunset Surfer
We spent a few days in Southern California a week ago, including 3 days visiting beaches in the area. I told myself I have photographed too much surfing, which has produced hundreds of shots that will never see the light of day. But…the golden light at sunset at San Clemente proved irresistible, especially for slow shutter/ICM images.
Trees in the Rocks
One of the places we visited on our Route 66 trip with my photo club was the Little Painted Desert (outside of Winslow)- an amazingly beautiful spot. I was entranced from the beginning by the creases and folds in the rock formations that looked like tree branches to me. And of course the colors were spectacular!
Beauty Under My Feet
As we walked through Two Guns ghost town last week, I looked down and saw flowers growing among the graffiti covered ruins- a stark contrast to the barren, desolate surroundings. Beauty under my feet!
Exit 233
As Lonnie and I headed to Holbrook the first day of our field trip, I captured this view out the car window. It had clouded over, threatening rain, and the exit sign seemed to point up into the clouds- suggesting an earthly exit perhaps?
Route 66 Field Trip
Last week we took a fun trip with my photo club to the Winslow/Holbrook area to view explore this part of Arizona’s Route 66. This iPhone shot was taken from the backseat at Two Guns, a 1920-40’s era ghost town with ruins of a gas station, a “zoo” and many old structures.
AI (or A-One as it has been called recently…)
We are encouraging our Photo Club to experiment with new techniques (if they desire…). One of the ways we’ve done this is to have an AI gallery on our website where members can post images created with AI or composited with AI elements. I added this AI image of a woman created with CoPilot (after many, many tries at getting the prompt right for what I wanted) to my photo taken last year on a drive through rural Sonoma County. I named the resulting image “Jane’s World” after my mother and one of my favorite paintings, “Christina’s World” by Andrew Wyeth.
Apple Blossoms
We are having a late Spring, and I don’t think I’ve seen our two fruit trees produce half as many blossoms as they are this year! The bees have discovered the apple blossoms, and I hope this is predictive of a good apple crop (there’s always a first time…). I am loaning my Lensbaby 56 to a friend, so I thought that before that I would use it for the blossoms. It creates a soft glowy effect which I think works beautifully on spring images.
Morning Birding
What a sweet face this Cooper’s? Hawk has as it sits atop the shepherd’s pole waiting for birds to come out of the bushes to get breakfast from the feeder hanging below! I only got one click of the shutter through the window and off it flew! Update: Although my Merlin birding app identified this photo as a sharp shinned hawk (with Cooper’s as second choice), my son-in-law thinks it is a Merlin Falcon, and he is pretty sure. Lonnie thought it was a falcon as it flew in- and I thought kestrel or peregrine falcon because of its size, but I trusted my app! Now I’m not so sure!
Meanwhile across the yard, our Gambel’s quail family was making an entrance. The mom has discovered the Bird Buddy in the apple tree and enjoyed her breakfast for a good ten minutes as I took photos through the window.
Tumacacori in Red
We visited Tumacacori State Historical Park two years ago, which inspired me to create a series of abstracts reflecting my feelings and memories of this place and time. I was looking through this series and found many images which I’ve never shared on this blog. This one began as a multiple exposure from inside the church.
Our Town
It was snowing lightly as we left our neighborhood at noon today for a little drive. As we left our neighborhood, we could see dark skies to the south, and as we headed toward town, we could see Thumb Butte shrouded in fog. We drove up to the Resort on a bluff overlooking town, and, as I took this shot, sunshine and big puffy clouds were to the right and behind me which illuminated the VA Hospital below.
The Blur of Snow
Here’s another photo of a snowy day at the square in Prescott- captured with intentional camera movement. We’ve had such a dry winter that it was a treat to take photos in actual snow, which gives a touch of minimalism that I love in photos.
Un-Still Still Life
So when you use intentional camera movement on a still life, is it still a still life…still?
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