Our Christmas tree is down now, but I took this shot with my Velvet 56 on New Year’s Eve day as kind of a last hurrah. I don’t know what aperture I used, but Lonnie’s hands are pretty glowy!
New Year, New Word . . .
Happy 2016!
I started my photography journey in the summer of 2010; it’s been 5 1/2 years of excitement and learning and practice and discouragement and more excitement. I am now starting the sixth year of this blog, which has become a record of my photography progress and also a bit of my life. I had no idea it would extend beyond the first year, but I’m not thinking of stopping. Things got more manageable when I stopped the whole photo a day commitment; some days my photos are just not blogworthy. I still have the commitment to myself to publish five days a week, which may not be the best practice either, since I sometimes just post the best of the mediocre shots I’ve taken lately. But my photography, like life, is a work in progress.
Pondering my photography goals and the progress I’ve made in the last year is something I do as the new year approaches. I’m happy I can point to a few areas of progress:
- Lensbaby- What a challenge that has been! I can’t say I have become a Lensbaby master, but I have produced some photos that I really like. And I love Lensbaby photography!
- Landscape photography-Although this often involves getting up early and using a tripod (two things I’m not crazy about doing), I’ve done it enough now to feel better about my skills and also enough to know it’s not my favorite type of photography to actually do.
- Showing my work- This year, I again participated in my photography club- and also showed photos at the fair and our group show at the Raven. In thinking ahead to next year, I thought one of my goals would be to have the courage to submit photos to a local gallery or two. But then, just before Christmas, two opportunities were presented to me unexpectedly, and, before I could think about it, I now have four photos in two juried shows at two different galleries in town! It’s a fun experience- and not as daunting as I thought. I don’t know how often I will want to do this, but it is nice to get the pat on the back of having your work recognized.
So then- what are my goals for 2016? I was talking to my friend Carol about what she is learning on all the photography trips she takes with expert wildlife photographers. One of the things that resonated with me was the importance of being intentional when taking photographs. I know this. I’ve read this over and over. I intend to be intentional! But somehow, I just keep clicking away- especially when I am out and about. When I am at home doing macro or still life- or just walking around the yard with my camera, I find it easier to look and really SEE. This process all too often disappears when I am out in the world. So my over-riding goal is to be more intentional.
A couple years ago, I started the practice of picking one word for the year, rather than making New Year’s resolutions. My previous words- TRUE and JOY are great words, but this year I wanted something that would have a meaning that could be interpreted broadly but also very specifically to photography. My word is . . .
LIGHT!
I love my word! It can be about bringing light into my life, living lightly on the planet, spreading light- but it also has a very specific meaning for me in photography. Photography is all about light and using it to enhance the image. My goal is to be very intentional about finding the best light as I shoot. The photographers I admire all use light in beautiful ways. I want to become better at that- that’s my word, that’s my goal!
What are your goals for 2016? Do you have a word?
Photography notes: The tulip photo above was taken using the Lensbaby Velvet 56. I was intentional (I am wondering how many more times I can use intentional in this blog post?!?) about finding early morning light and placing my tulip in the light. 🙂 I have no idea how the beams got there- they just appeared! I’m not sure if this is a quality of the lens (I have had this happen with the Edge 80)- or if I was using my new diffuser at this point and it had anything to do with that. Something more to figure out!
Happy New Year!
Thank you for letting me share my photos with you this year.
I’ll be back tomorrow to begin my SIXTH year of photo-blogging.
May your new year be full of wonder, peace, love and joy!
Upper Terraces, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park
Red and Orange
More from the Velvet 56!
Red and Green
I practiced with the Velvet 56 on our ground cover out back. I like the glow produced at wide apertures!
Christmas Past
Christmas 2015 is already a part of the past, but, as we head toward 2016, I am hesitant to let go of the spirit (and decorations!) of Christmas. I suspect our tree will stay up until New Year’s. We had a wonderful, though quiet, Christmas with our son, Matt. Lots of food and movie-watching!
The moon photo was taken Christmas Eve through our front window. Although I saw the historic full moon on Christmas, it was already high in the sky- and I didn’t attempt another photograph. Anyway, I was distracted by a fabulous Christmas gift I received from my husband- the Lensbaby Velvet 56 lens(!) and by some fun and very useful photography accessories from my kids (mini reflectors and a plant clamp for flower photography- and a thermarest seat for sitting down on hikes to take said photos!). The snowflake ornament photo at the top of the collage above was taken with the new lens, which does great macro as well as portrait photography.
Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season!
Merry Christmas!
Jingle!
Reflections of Christmas
The snow of a few days ago turned into a drizzle, which created reflections of the Christmas lights at Courthouse Square last night.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
It’s actually looked a lot like Christmas since Thanksgiving! I love my house at Christmas- all the traditional little knicky-knacky things brought out- and then there’s the tree. It’s fake, which was never our tradition, but it’s decorated with ornaments from our kids’ childhood and some newer ones picked up over the years. I started acquiring snowmen in the last ten years or so; here’s one that sits in our entryway.
Yes, it’s taken with a Lensbaby!
Caught
Yesterday’s snowfall gave me the chance to take some macro shots of the snow that was caught in the little twigs of a shrub out front. 
Edited with Topaz Texture Effects.
Life in a Christmas Card
When I woke up this morning, our neighborhood looked like a Christmas card. As a California transplant who has never lived in snow until the last couple years, I am enchanted by the transformation that takes places overnight. It snowed here a week ago, and parts of town were still covered- but we only had snow left in patches until this morning. I put on my boots and went out with my warm jacket over my PJ’s and took some photos with my Nikon- but my favorite shot has to be this iPhone panorama.
I did a quick HDR edit in Snapseed and posted it to Facebook. As usual, I couldn’t leave well enough alone, so brought it into Lightroom for some brightening and noise reduction. I then took it into Photoshop and applied some Topaz filters. First, I used Simplify to create more of a painterly look- and then Texture Effects, where I did a “from scratch” edit to bring in a texture that made it look like it was snowing.
And now it really does look like we live in a Christmas card!
It is highly unlikely that we will have a white Christmas, but we are certainly enjoying the pre-Christmas snow!
Stark
This shot was taken from the walkway leading to the LOWER terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs. I like the bleak landscape with the barren trees poking out of the snow.
Mammoth Morning
When I’m staying with my daughter’s family at Yellowstone in the winter, I never get tired of going out on the porch in the early morning to check the view- the snow, the sky, and any wildlife that might be there.
Painterly effects added in Topaz Impression, textures in Photoshop
Home Grown Abstract
It was sooo cold when I went out front to shoot these curly tendrils on my spiky plant (someday I’ll find out what its called…) with my macro lens. Although I’ve photographed them before, my attention was caught by the combination of curves and lines hit by the morning light. The colors you see in the background were present in my photograph and accentuated by the Color Burst preset in Topaz Texture Effects, turning it into a little bit of art for a Wednesday morning.
melinda anderson photography 