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. . .

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

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

I have spent much more time than I should have today battling with my 70-300 lens.  We have had heavy rain for much of the day, and I thought it would be cool to capture the action of the raindrops either dripping from something or hitting something.  I should have known better.

After many, many, MANY attempts, I had the choice of either abandoning the project or uploading images with soft focus.  I think the problem was compounded by low light- it was a rainstorm, after all.  So, a few minutes ago I snapped this photo with very little effort.

f/5.6, 1/160, ISO 1000 at 300mm

When I made the same shot at 200mm, the focus was sharper, but the bokeh wasn’t as nice.  I went with the bokeh. . .