One of the most iconic sights in San Francisco- Coit Tower:
The Fisherman
One of the many fishermen on the pier near the Ferry Building:
2 Boys, 1 Grandma, and 1 Desert Poppy
When the grandboys were here, I decided I wanted to pick some wild desert poppies I had noticed blooming down the street in a vacant lot. Caitlin, Miles, and I braved the heat wave and walked to the bottom of the hill where we could see a few in bloom. As we walked through the weeds, zillions of burrs attached to our clothes and shoes, so I ended up with just one poppy. When we got home, I brought out the lightbox and spent a few minutes taking photos with the camera on the tripod. The boys were intrigued, so I had each take photos with the iPhone.
Miles was interested in editing his photo, so that evening, I introduced him to Snapseed! He especially liked the “glamorous glow” (glamour glow) adjustment, after trying all sorts of filters. He didn’t like the tiny rips in the petals, so he made me promise to fix them in Photoshop on my computer, which I did.
Here is his photo, edited by Miles with Snapseed (with rips fixed by Gramma):
Good focus, wouldn’t you say? And I like that glamour glow!
Henry wanted a turn as well and managed to take about 10 photos with one long click- all with perfect focus! I took the liberty of editing this one in Photoshop with On 1 and Impression software.
And here’s the one taken by Gramma- a side view with texture added:
San Francisco Architecture- Then and Now
THEN:
The beautiful and ornate Southern Pacific Building (completed in 1916) was right across from our hotel at the corner of Market and Embarcadero. This was taken through the window in Carol’s room.
NOW:
This reflections in this skyscraper seemed to create a column of Japanese Kanji running down the side of the building- fascinating!
Floor with a View
My husband had a meeting in downtown San Francisco last week, so I accompanied him for a (very) quick getaway, which consisted of one day and two nights. My friend and photo buddy, Carol met us there, and she and I had a great time visiting and walking around the Embarcadero area with our cameras.
Lonnie went to get ice shortly after we arrived, and informed me that he had found THE shot- and it was right down the hall.
THIS is what he found when he looked out the window at the end of the hall:
We were on the sixteenth floor, right across from the Ferry Building and the Bay Bridge! Yes- a great view indeed! Carol had mentioned that she wanted to do some night photography, so I was happy that the perfect view had been found- right down the hall- even though it meant shooting through glass.
Carol had brought an extra tripod for me (one of her old ones, which is exactly like mine), so we set up at the window the next night for some fun night photography. Trying to lean the tripod with camera attached flat against the glass and keep it there without slipping, in order to prevent reflections of the hallway lights during long exposures, was a challenge for me! I managed to take a dozen or so shots- and most had reflections and less than tack sharp focus. The above photo is one of the better ones (but I did have to clone out some reflections).
A beautiful city by day- and equally beautiful at night!
Fire Station
Just the Jerome fire station- decorated with the American flag.
Happy Fourth of July!
Twists and Turns
I spotted this tree by a hotel where we were staying in Phoenix and was fascinated by the twisty branches. Although I would normally edit a paloverde in color to emphasize the green bark, I thought a black and white treatment better showed off the gnarled quality of the branches.
Sunshine and Shadow
The Grand Canyon
All in a row . . .
Whenever I go to Jerome, I always seem to photograph the motorcycles parked in front of the Spirit Room- but I don’t think I’ve ever posted any of the photos. I am so NOT a motorcycle person- I don’t even feel qualified to photograph them!
But it was the beautiful array of colors and shapes all in a row that attracted my eye, so here they are:
It is a pretty simple shot, but it gave me a chance to use Topaz Glow again!
Expressive!
These are just a few of the many expressions that drifted across Henry’s face as he played a game of Mancala (thank you, Debbie!). No one could ever accuse him of being self-conscious!
Layers of Colour
Don’t you think colour looks better than color? One of my favorite quotes is “Keep calm and fake a British accent,” so this is in that spirit (nothing to do with Brexit. . .).
The above is from last week’s trip to the Grand Canyon. The hazy sky desaturated the colors, which I brought back with Lightroom’s Dehaze brush and some other adjustments. THEN I added a very slight adjustment with Topaz Glow, which is such a cool little plug-in- it does things I don’t know how to do otherwise. Very fun! The frame is from On1 Effects.
Going to Miss These Guys!
Junior Rangers!
We are having a major heatwave, so our two days at the Grand Canyon were punctuated by frequent stops to refill water bottles and stand in the shade. The highlight of the trip was the boys being sworn in as Junior Rangers by a close family friend of theirs, who is indeed a big important ranger at the Grand Canyon. The boys completed all the required pages (at different skill levels) of their official Junior Ranger books and then were sworn in front of a small crowd of curious tourists. They already have badges from Yellowstone, but this particular badge was significant because of the friend that did the ceremony for them. A sweet moment! Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of them wearing the badges. . .
And here is a shot of the canyon (I’m amazed it’s as sharp as it is, since it was too hot to carry a tripod and the railings were too hot to lean on to steady the camera!):
First Look
We just returned from the Grand Canyon and had the joyful experience of watching the boys have their first look at one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Here’s Henry taking it all in:
Happy Father’s Day!
When your family lives in three different states, it’s a rare day when you can all be together. Caitlin and the boys have been here a week, and Matt drove in on Thursday- what a joy it’s been to have both kids and grandkids with us. We are missing Justin, Caity’s husband, because he used the week to drive (pulling a trailer) from their previous home in Yellowstone to the new one in Anchorage, accompanied by his brother, Kris and the family dog, Penny.
Happy Father’s Day to the proud Papa in this photo, to the absent daddy in Alaska, and to all the wonderful dads out there!
melinda anderson photography 