Home again- and thank goodness for an easy topic for today’s challenge- BRICKS. I just lay on the carpet in the family room and looked up at the weird pattern on our brick fireplace.
Day 329- Saying Good-bye
Posting again from the Seattle Airport. . .
Leaving was hard today. Here is one reason why:
Day 328- Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to all my family, friends, and photo friends out in the blogosphere! Here is just one of the many things I’m thankful for- delicious baked goods made my talented daughter! How ’bout that handprint turkey on the pumpkin pie?!?
Day 327- Puppy Love
Our daily challenge today was “I am thankful for . . .”, and there is nothing I am more thankful for than my husband, two children, son-in-law and two grandchildren. I am also thankful the beautiful goldens that were our first grandkids. They have lost their top ranking in the family (displaced by the two sweet boys), and now Callie has the special role of comforting Miles when he needs some extra TLC.
Day 326- Where the buffalo roam. . .
My favorite drive in Yellowstone is through the Lamar Valley, where you always have a good chance of seeing wildlife. With our ranger son-in-law as chauffeur and tour guide, we were able to see elk, deer, buffalo, and WOLVES! Wolf observers with their long scopes were grouped in pullouts along the highway, as a group of five wolves (part of a pack of eleven) were being observed making their way down a hillside maybe a quarter of a mile away. My photos are not really blogworthy, but watching the wolves cavort in the snow was definitely the wildlife highlight of my trip.
We did have an up close encounter with two buffalo along the road (not an uncommon occurrence), and I thought this snow-covered face would be a good photo of the day.
f/5, 1/160, ISO 200, 86mm
Day 325- Big Horn Sheep!
Ever since our daughter moved to Mammoth Hot Springs at the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park, I have tried to get a photo of the big horn sheep which can often be found along the road in this one particular section a couple miles from their house. They are NEVER there when I go by- NEVER! But today, I accompanied Caitlin when she drove Miles to preschool- and on the way back there was one single sheep along the road- just lying there! Of course he kept his back to me, but I managed to get a profile shot!
f/`3, 1/80, ISO 200, 44mm
Day 324- Baby Bliss
Ahhh- sweet baby bliss! We are happily ensconced in our daughter’s cozy Yellowstone house with our adored grandbabies! The parents are out for a couple hours, and we are babysitting. Our best babysitting method at this point is divide and conquer- Lonnie plays with Miles while I take care of Henry. Before Henry went down for his nap, I managed to snap a quick photo of his EAR, the topic for today’s Flickr group challenge.
f/2.5, 1/80, ISO 800, 35mm
Day 323- Layover
Between flights in Seattle . . . what is there to do? Photo of the day!
By the time we get to Yellowstone it will be late, so my husband suggested that I take care of my photo of the day NOW! I had visions of a photo of my adorable grandsons in the snow, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. I managed to capture these huge multi-colored star lights decorating a shop window (multi-colored being the Flickr group topic for today).
Day 322- True Confession
Yes, I have a bouquet of fake flowers in our bedroom.
When we redecorated our house about 10 or 15 years ago, some teacher friends took me by the hand and tried to teach me about decorating with finds from Marshall’s and TJ Maxx. I somehow have the inability to see decorating gems in amongst the claptrap in bargain stores (I am much more of a sucker for expensive showrooms at Pottery Barn or Macy’s)- I just don’t have the eye. One of the things they introduced me to was decorating with silk flowers. We went to Michaels and bought zillions of fake flowers to make a huge bouquet for the living room. It looked great, but it’s time has been over for awhile. I almost threw the whole thing away in a decluttering rampage, but ended up salvaging much of it. At some point, it has to go. . .
So, today’s challenge is fake– an easy one!
f/1.8, 1/125, ISO 200, 35mm
Day 321- Soaps
Following today’s theme, here is my pastel image. I only had to go as far as the soap dish in the hall bathroom to find something that qualified. I ran CoffeeShop’s antic vintage action to give it even more of a faded, pastel look.
f/9, 1/8, ISO 200, 85mm
Day 320- Bridge at Sunset
I know this is a bit of a cliche, but I never get tired of this view at sunset. I have photographed the bridge many times- so here we are again in the golden hour.
Day 319- Splashdown
It is NOT a flying saucer!
f/9, 1/250, ISO 500, 85mm
It’s a water drop reflecting its shadow, the blue ridge plate underneath, the faucet, and items around my sink. I don’t know why I have waited until now to do a water drop again. I was obsessed with it before I got the macro lens- and then never tried it once I had the proper lens! I didn’t do anything fancy- just kept clicking away while the water dripped- and I used my flash.
Day 318- Just do it. . .
I know- these aren’t Nikes. Just going with the topic- health and fitness. . .
Putting on the shoes has been as far as I’ve gotten with the whole exercise thing lately. . .
f/1.8, 1/13, ISO 500, 35mm
Day 317- Arch
Another Flickr theme today- ARCH. Just a quick drive to our closest park yielded this photo. And look- Benicia DOES have fall color!
f/22, 1/250, 160 ISO, 18mm
Day 316- M is for Melinda
What would I do without my Flickr group giving me ideas for photographs? I have been very dependent on them lately! Today’s challenge was to find something shaped like the initial of your name! I walked around for awhile looking for configurations of leaves and branches that would somehow be shaped like M’s, and then the lightbulb went off in my brain! I already HAD an M photo from last year! Our church was remodeled, and I had taken a photo of the front of the new sanctuary- which features stained glass windows in a pattern that forms an M!
Now of course I couldn’t use LAST year’s photo- that would be cheating! Happily, we had a class at church today, where I was able to get this shot.
f/10, 1/125, ISO 250, 26mm
I am back to trying out Back Button Focus again! I set up my camera to focus with the AE/AF lock button instead of the shutter a couple days ago, but I am hedging my bets. The D7000 has some custom user settings, so I have one of them set to Aperture priority with regular half press shutter focusing, and I ended up taking photos both ways today. This shot was one I took with the custom user setting, but the BB focused photos came out fine too. I just liked the sunflare best in this one.
melinda anderson photography 