This little Muscari (grape hyacinth) is one of maybe a dozen that are blooming in the midst of an area of ground cover in our back yard. I don’t recall ever seeing them before- perhaps it has been too dry previously. A very welcome Spring surprise!
Happy Easter, everyone!
Another appointment in Phoenix meant another few days of photo ops (and restaurants…). This time we drove out to a couple lakes in search of poppy fields and were not disappointed!. This photo has two of my favorite things to photograph- wildflowers and…barbed wire.
Spring in bloom in Wickenburg. . .
I enjoyed creating multiple iterations of a Trader Joe’s bouquet of white tulips a couple weeks ago. This is one of my favorites- made by layering a couple shots of the flowers as a background.
Little darlin’, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darlin’, it seems like years since it’s been clear
Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s alright
George Harrison
After a long dismal winter, we were beside ourselves to find this field of gorgeous poppies yesterday. It still seems like winter in Prescott- still having occasional snow and lots of flooding rains- BUT. . . down in Wickenburg, it is SPRING! We stayed longer than expected, just enjoying the scenery and eventually having a late lunch/dinner downtown. What a great day!
A couple weeks ago we had a short stay down in “the valley” (what Arizonans refer to as the Phoenix area) and stayed an extra day to avoid returning home during the massive snowstorm. After a morning spent birdwatching at Gilbert Water Ranch, we spent some time walking through the Roosevelt Row area of Phoenix, the downtown art district with murals, galleries and shops.
This abstract was created by combining two images- shadows on an alley wall and a mirrored wall installation.
I’ve neglected my blog lately and am so behind in editing photos! I’m overcommitted in my photography life, plus there have been other things going on as well. So today I have an image I had saved for one photo group- and then have used in ANOTHER photo group. I have edited it several ways- here’s one for today.
This photo was taken back in 2019 when we came up on a mounted shooting competition taking place at the county fair. It was fascinating to watch, and I hope to go again sometime.
This is from last Fall’s trip to Newport Beach. The angle of the surfboard and and the curve of his arm attracted my eye as we walked by this surfer on the way down to the beach.
Spotted at Newport Beach
I’m looking back at old photos today, not just because I’ve hardly been out of the house to take new ones, but because I’m looking for a set of photos that I could say are in my photography niche (an assignment for my AAUW photography group). I have several “niches”, I guess, but in the last few years, my favorite place to take photos is at the beach. I like to take photos of beach people, beach birds, and the water itself. This photo is part of my intentional camera movement/slow shutter series of gulls in Alaska. I love the look of the white gull over dark water- and it required almost no editing.
My husband spotted this beautiful hawk in the backyard this evening. He was perched on a low birdhouse- and was eating prey. I took photos through a window, but he was behind branches and, was, well . . . eating. I ended up sneaking out the back door and brazenly going out on the patio with my camera. He heard the door and flew to the top of one of the shepherd’s poles we have in the back. He looked at me, but didn’t seem to recognize me as the source of the noise. He looked all around, and I slunk back into the house. He is gone now.
My bird app tells me this is an immature Cooper’s hawk. I hesitate to post this, because I have had commenters argue back and forth about Cooper’s hawks vs. Sharp Shinned hawks. I will say we have had Cooper’s/Sharp-Shinned hawks in our yard many times over the years, but this is the first immature one I’ve seen.
A foggy morning at Newport Beach shot with intentional camera movement
This was taken on our trip to Flagstaff last month. It was VERY cold, but the sun was out casting long shadows on the snow.
In camera multiple exposure
Spotted in Flagstaff on a cold day in early December when the sidewalks were ICY despite the sunshine.
melinda anderson photography 