Upper Terraces, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park
More from the Velvet 56!
I practiced with the Velvet 56 on our ground cover out back. I like the glow produced at wide apertures!
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!
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 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!
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.
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!
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.
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
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.
My daughter, Caitlin had all sorts of wonderful gourds on the Thanksgiving table. In a brief moment of downtime, I thought to try a bit of still life photography.
This is what I got.
This is Callie the 8 year old golden, who wants nothing more than to sit with her head in your lap (although she is also a fan of swimming and chasing bunnies). I ended up putting down the camera and giving her some attention.
One of the little details that I enjoyed on our Yellowstone visit this time was the frost building up on the old windows of my daughter’s vintage home. I loved looking through the frosty glass and seeing the moon still up in the early morning.
And how about these patterns on the kitchen windows?!?
This was another time when I wished I had brought my tripod and a macro lens along with me!
