It is often awkward and always heavy to carry my camera in my purse when I go out. Today I had a hair appointment and a couple errands before meeting a friend across the bridge- and I lugged my camera with me EVERYWHERE! Here is the reward:
f/2.2, 1/800, ISO 320, 35mm
These beautiful flowers- in shades of red, fuchsia, purple, and white- called out to me as I passed Crate and Barrel. Are they poppies? Please let me know- I love them!
On this dreary, drizzly day, I decided to stay inside and take photos of something in the house. Like most teachers, I have a collection of all things APPLE. One of the glass apples by my desk caught my eye. I couldn’t decide which photo to use- so here are two.
Both are at f/4, 1/160, ISO 1000, 35 mm
When I started this blog, I knew that I would photograph some of my Blue Ridge dishes eventually. Ten or fifteen years ago, I was introduced to Blue Ridge pottery through my friend, Nevin, who has a BIGTIME Blue Ridge collection. I fell in love with these gorgeous plates immediately and agonized if I was being a copycat by buying some for myself. There is no logical reason for me to collect dishes. I have my mother’s china as well as my own- and really have no room for these. I rationalized that I would be hanging them on the walls (I did) and that they perfectly matched my navy and red color scheme in the living room (they do. . .). I just love them!
Blue Ridge was made in the late 1930’s to 1950’s in Erwin, Tennessee by Southern Pottery. It’s hand-painted with a distinctive look and a ZILLION patterns. I started buying them in antique stores but quickly moved on to eBay. I have several favorite patterns- this beautiful one is called Spring Glory and is relatively difficult to find.
f1.8, 1/500, ISO 1250, 35 mm
It is Day 60- MARCH!- and I am still doing this! Yay me!
Stay tuned for more Blue Ridge throughout the year. . .
It is Macro Monday in the photoblogging world. I have resisted getting into this routine, because of my incompetence problems with the macro feature of my 70-300mm lens. So- just for TODAY- I am in the swing of Macro Monday.
I still have the flower bouquet, so took some more photos of them- but from different angles. I can’t decide what I like best, so made a collage- a macrollage!
f/5.6, ISO 400, varying shutter speeds
All the photos were taken at 300mm with the macro setting and manual focus.
Flowers! I love taking photos of flowers. Even more than water drops. Flowers with water drops are irresistible.
But my favorite way to take flower photos is REALLY CLOSE UP!
f/5.6, 1/100, ISO 1250, 300mm
Today my 70-300mm lens loved me! The focus is pretty sharp. It worked! Whew.
Thank you, Lonnie, for the flowers! And for a photo op.
Weather Report: Chilly, with blue skies and sunshine! The predicted snow?- alas not in Benicia.
We took a drive this morning around the industrial parts of Benicia- full of photo ops! Here is one of a train. There were a couple disturbing warning signs about unmanned, remote-controlled trains- I think this was one.
f/22, 1/200, ISO 400, 70mm
There has been so much excitement on the weather scene this week- it might SNOW! This is definitely BIG NEWS in the Bay Area. We’ve heard it could snow at sea level or in the surrounding hills. Anticipation is building! There was a big (rain)storm last night, and there is possible snow early tomorrow. For now, it is sunny.
f/1.8, 1/250, ISO 400, 35mm
I am trying to learn Photoshop. I have watched training videos online through kelbytraining.com and feel like I have a beginning understanding. I decided yesterday, after watching the last video of my subscription, that I would edit today’s photo of the day in Photoshop (specifically Adobe Camera Raw, which is so similar to Aperture 3, my Apple photo software). Aperture has a great feature, in which you can edit with an external editor and the changes will be reflected within Aperture. Sweet! This would keep all my photos organized within Aperture, but I could also edit with Photoshop if I chose.
Problems!!!
The editing went fine- pretty basic- but no changes were reflected in Aperture! The magic dot appeared in the lower right corner indicating that it had been edited with an external editor- but no changes appeared. I eventually saved the file from Photoshop onto my hard drive and reimported it into Aperture.
Guess I need some more one to one training at the Apple Store. . .
I snapped a few photos this morning, trying to get my 365 project out of the way, but nothing seemed to work. Then I spotted a grouping of candles on my counter and knew that I had found my photo of the day. I hoped there would be a reflection, but I couldn’t see one until I snapped the shutter. And then there was the added bonus of a little bokeh in the background!
f/1.8, 1/100, ISO 400, 35 mm
Guess what I did today!??!?
If you guessed substitute teaching, you are right!
I have taught for most of my adult life and am in my first year of retirement. My comments after today? Teachers aren’t paid enough for the work they do.
I love teaching. I miss my colleagues and the kids (their cuteness, sweetness, and innocence make everything worthwhile). But today I was reminded of what a challenging job it is. Between the standards to follow, the constant testing, meetings, parent conferences, increased number of children with behavioral and learning problems, correcting, planning, and -YIKES-the LONG hours (don’t let anyone kid you that you are done at three) when you often can’t even take a bathroom break- it is a very hard job. Rewarding- yes, but very hard nonetheless.
I was greeted enthusiastically by many of my former students and some of my parents too- I love that! And I laughed at myself when I started to pick up the stack of papers to bring home at the end of the day to correct- nope, I don’t have to do that! I am just a (mostly retired. . .) sub now!
Don’t ever let me complain again about the pressure of coming up with something to photograph for Project 365 . . .
Clickin Moms is sponsoring an awesome giveaway for some lucky person! It’s a new Tamron Lens! Read about it here– but remember- I want to win!
We planted our plum tree over twenty years ago. I’ve always loved seeing it bloom as the first sign of Spring, but it wasn’t until I started Project 365 that I noticed how pretty each blossom is. I am amazed at how the discipline of looking for a photo each day compels me to intensely look at my surroundings! I have photographed the first buds, the first blossom, and now blossoms when the whole tree is in bloom.
f/4.8, 1/800, ISO 500, 195mm
I shot this looking up into the tree, zooming in to almost 200mm, and then cropping the image. I am wondering about depth of field- so shallow when zoomed in. I am already thinking of trying this again with a smaller aperture. . .
We are in recovery mode from the German Chocolate cake, so this week’s grocery trip involved a lot of produce- fresh fruit, GREENS (for smoothies as well as to eat with dinner), and the ingredients for soups and salads. Antioxidants, omega-3’s, phytochemicals, lycopene, whatever- we’ve got it covered!
f/1.8, 1/100, ISO 1000, @35mm
It’s a whole new day in the Bay Area- blue sky and white puffy clouds! I snapped this photo of Mt. Diablo from the top of a parking garage when we went out for brunch this morning. This photo was taken (using the Sunny 16 rule) with the 35mm 1.8 lens that was on the camera. I switched to my 70-300mm lens for the rest of the photos, but this one is sharper. Interesting. . .
f/16, 1/250, ISO 250 @35mm
Yes, that’s another parking garage in the photo. We were in downtown Walnut Creek after all!
Bad News: We had to drive the rainy freeway today- slick roads, lots of rain, and lots of cars.
Good News: The glimpses through the rain and clouds of Mt. Diablo, topped with snow!
f/22, 1/100, ISO 250, 35mm
The theme for this week’s Project 52 is LOVE, and, in our house, nothing says love more than German Chocolate cake!
f/1.8, 1/250, ISO 1600
Today is my husband’s birthday- number 62! He has always loved German Chocolate cake, first his Grammie’s recipe, and then mine (doctored with LOTS of chocolate chips). It is baking now- and ohhhh I’m starting to smell the chocolatiness- YUM! Happy Birthday, Lonnie! ❤
Photography note: I must confess that I played with photographing the batter dripping off the beater first- with no spectacular results. That is why I used such a high shutter speed and thus had a wide open aperture, causing shallow depth of field. Too shallow for this photo, in my opinion- my punishment for my obsession with drops!
melinda anderson photography 