We’re at Yellowstone visiting our daughter, son-in-law, grandsons, dog, and . . . their 3 month old golden-retriever puppy, Penny!
Could there be anything cuter?
Santa Fe, again. . .
And yes, there are even more Santa Fe photos to post today!
Golden Hour in Santa Fe
I still have photos I haven’t posted from Santa Fe! Here are two Lensbaby shots taken during the golden hour of this magnificent building by the square.
Gargoyles!
One of the first things our little group photographed on our trip to Flagstaff was the Greek Orthodox Church. I was particularly entranced with the gargoyles, which adorned the roof line.
I found this one amusing, because it looked like he was munching on leaves.
I edited this one to give it a dark and foreboding look- could it be because I just saw Jurassic World?
Takin’ it to the street
As I wrote the other day, I had such fun doing street photography in Flagstaff! The gals I was with were both accomplished, experienced photographers, but what impressed me most about them was how confident and BOLD they were taking photographs out in public. I was carrying my most unobtrusive camera bag (the Lowepro Passport Sling) with the bare minimum of gear (camera, 18-200 lens, and my Lensbaby Composer pro with Edge 80). I- thank goodness- also brought a rainsleeve for the camera, which really came in handy during the downpour around lunchtime. I brought a tripod, which I kept in the car- and only brought out for a couple hours in the afternoon. My companions, however, wore big backpacks filled with gear (no clue what it was) and carried tripods as well as their (very large and expensive!) cameras.
I used to always feel self-conscious out in public with my camera stuff, especially on a tripod. I’ve somewhat gotten over it, but, introvert that I am, my shy self still emerges at times when shooting in public. But last Saturday, I found the spectacle we were creating fun and amusing. All the gear and tripods often caused a lot of attention to be focused our way, especially from young people, who I think were hoping we were doing a magazine shoot- and it made for some fun photographs.
These young guys were eager to pose for us, although you can see how cool they were being about it. I think they liked the idea that it looked like a potential album cover!
Saying Goodbye
I took my camera along to the cemetery when we attended my father-in-law’s graveside service last month, with the intention of getting some family group shots. There was a short service with military honors, and my husband was presented with the flag. It was a very emotional moment. When my husband got up to leave, he walked in front of me and paused at the casket. The photographer in me couldn’t resist reaching for the camera and snapping one quick shot.
Unfortunately, the autofocus on the camera had been turned off, because I had been using the Lensbaby previously- and, although this photo was in pretty good focus, all subsequent photos were out of focus until I realized what was going on- arrgghhh! I edited this one with Topaz Simplify and added some textures in Photoshop.
On the Corner
On Saturday, I went with my camera club on an architectural photo shoot in Flagstaff, where we had a map and buildings marked on the map to photograph. I had so much fun tagging along with two expert photographers with fancy cameras, as we roamed the streets, eventually ignoring the map and photographing mostly street scenes. The photographs I took of buildings were pretty uninspired and boring and not very good, but I had a great time with street photography.
This shot of a street musician and his doggie is my favorite.
I processed it with one of the HDR filters in on1’s Perfect Effects and then layered it with the original photo is Photoshop, where I masked out the HDR edit from some of the areas.
Leftovers in Black and White
Here are a few photos left over from various recent shoots- all in black and white:
Debbie’s Find
My Friday Find is borrowed from my friend, Debbie, who graciously allowed me to photograph it this week. You may see it again, because I have some other ideas before I return it. And my goodness, there’s that straw hat again!
This is a Lensbaby shot with added textures. I like the look that some of my textures give my walls- wish they really looked like that!
And here is the same photo (in the original proportions- I “stretched the canvas” of the top one in Photoshop) with a black and white preset I adapted from one I had gotten from somewhere. I wanted a light-ish black and white conversion, which I sometimes do by adjusting tones etc. This time I decided to save it as a preset, hoping it will work on other photos as well.
In the morning
First I saw the God-beams. . .
and then the beautiful morning light- a good day for photography!
Have a wonderful day!
A Chair and a Straw Hat
Hats on Chairs- catching up on still life challenges for The Studio Online!
If you have been following my blog for awhile, you have seen this chair many times- and if you’ve been following it for a LOOOOONG while, you seen the hat. Oh well- you’ve seen them, because they’re great props for still life photography! And, no doubt, you will see them again!
These were all taken with the Lensbaby Edge 80.
Playing with Dandelions
I think dreamy macros of flowers, weeds, or leaves are my favorite photos to take. There is something so relaxing about seeing objects so closeup, so different from the way you would ordinarily see them- and then moving the camera or changing the aperture or area of focus just a slight bit to get an entirely different view. It’s like a mindfulness meditation. And then there’s the editing- so much fun! I used different Lightroom presets as starting points in editing the dandelion macros below- I’m not sure which I like best.
Newsprint, from Clickin Moms Paparazzi Collection:
Documentary, from Clickin Moms Paparazzi Collection:
Same photo as above, kk_toucha from Kim Klassen:
kk_light and airy from Kim Klassen:
kk_litely from Kim Klassen
All photos taken with Lensbaby Sweet35 with both macro converters
Human Touch
One of the assignments in The Studio was to create a still life with an added human element. My photo ended up being predominantly human rather than still life, so the human touch in a still life is something I’m keeping on my (mental) to-do list.
Santa Fe- Seeing the Sacred
The final assignment in my lensbaby class is a photo essay using mostly lensbaby images, and it can be either narrative or thematic. One can’t walk around downtown Santa Fe without noticing churches and sacred images everywhere, so I chose to focus on this theme for my photo essay.
Seeing the Sacred
Notes:
The first image- I’m not sure what building this was!
The next two are the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis, and the third is a statue of Kateri Tekakawitha (1656-1680), the first Indian of North America to be promoted a saint. The simple cross was hanging over our bed.
The rest of the photos are from San Miguel Mission, the oldest church in the U.S., built between 1600 and 1620.
Exploring Santa Fe
Last Sunday we celebrated my birthday in Santa Fe. We walked around the downtown taking in as many of the sights as we could in one day and sampling northern New Mexico cuisine. Here are a some random detail shots gathered taken on our walk around the city; all were taken with my lensbaby.
melinda anderson photography 