Alaska Kids!

We have just returned from a weeklong trip to Alaska, where we had a wonderful visit with my daughter’s family in their beautiful new home.  Alaska is everything we heard it was and more- majestic peaks, glacial waterways, wildlife, and an abundance of wildflowers. We can’t wait to go back!

Of course the reason for our visit was these guys! They are settling into their new life and were eager to tell us about the otters and other animals they had just seen, as well as the wild berries and mushrooms growing in their yard. They will be starting school in a couple weeks, so their lives will quickly become very busy.

The photos below are from a walk we took at the Eagle River Nature Center, just a few miles from their house.

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Next week, I will share some of the photos I took of our short trip to the Kenai Peninsula and our all day boat trip to the Kenai Fjords.

Melinda6 Comments

Stopped Me in My Tracks

These beautiful flowers stopped me dead in my tracks as my friend, Carol and I entered the restaurant where we had lunch in San Francisco. We both ended up taking a few photos- the flowers were so gorgeous! We ended up photographing them from different angles- and edited them in ways that were opposite from each other, as well as opposite of our usual styles.  Carol’s photo is an impressionistic rendering- and mine is more of a standard photo, edited for clarity.  It’s as if we switched styles!

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Melinda2 Comments

Adventures in Compositing

The topic for this month’s photo club is an interesting one: each member randomly drew a piece of paper which had a section of a map of Prescott and the surrounding area on it. Our photo had to be taken within our section of the map. I believe the word creative was used in the description. Gah!

Lonnie and I drove out to my area, and he immediately spied an old windmill, which stands in someone’s yard. Perfect! It was midday with no clouds and 95 degrees, so we planned to go back.  The following week, we drove out there again about 9 a.m., and I had a nice chat with the owner of the property. The windmill was there before the land was developed and was evidently part of the original ranch. It still works, although he doesn’t have it going right now.

I had this brilliant (hah!) idea of taking photos of the windmill, a poppy, a street sign and Granite Mountain (visible from the street) and then creating a composite that would be very artsy.  I need practice in making composites- both the technical side and the creative side. I never did get all the elements into the photo- maybe someday. And neither of the two composites look at all like I envisioned. I will probably use a plain windmill shot for the photo club.

Here is my first effort. Later in the week, I’ll post my second try.

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Melinda4 Comments

At the Window

It is feeling so good to get back to doing a little still life photography! Now that the house is no longer torn up, I have some space and time to set up some stills.  I’ve been especially eager to try out a birthday present I got from my friend, Debbie- a vintage window! It’s been piled in the garage with everything else, but now I can get to it, along with some of my other still life props that were covered up.

I propped up the window on a table outside in the 95 degree heat and had a great time composing this image. I edited it using Kim Klassen’s darkday preset (desaturation, a matte tone curve, and split toning, among other adjustments).

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As usual, I couldn’t leave well enough alone, so I took it into Photoshop and Topaz Impression for a painterly look.

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Here’s another Topaz Impression version- a new one called Wispy Sketch. Love this!

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It was too hot to create any more still life vignettes- but look for this window in the future! Thanks, Debbie!

Melinda2 Comments

We’ve got FLOOR!

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A casual visitor to my blog might think I’ve been traveling all summer (Jerome, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco), but those were actually just one day visits. Most of my summer has actually been taken up with the FLOOR.

The leak which required our original flooring to be have to be replaced happened in April, and it took until the middle of May to deal with the insurance company, have the cabinets repaired, and decide on the new floor. This could not all be accomplished before our family’s visit- so we had just concrete in the kitchen and dining room while they were here. After they left, we began the process of clearing off the bookshelves and closet floors etc. in preparation for the installation.  It sounds easier than it was, since ALL the floors (except bathrooms) were replaced.

And I am happy to report that the floor is IN!

I’ve spent very little time on photography this summer, alas. And my blog posts for the last 2-3 weeks were written and uploaded a couple weeks in advance to be published automatically by WordPress, due to the fact that our office was dismantled. Things are almost back to normal now, and I should actually have time to take and edit photos.

Can I have an AMEN?!?

Melinda3 Comments

Cable Cars- Two Ways

Our hotel in San Francisco was right off Market Street, so I didn’t have to venture far to get the ultimate tourist shot- cable cars!

In color:

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Toned black and white:

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I took a long time editing the original image in Photoshop. There was some cloning out of traffic barriers and some slight Glow filters applied. But then in Lightroom, I ended up cropping out some of the area I cloned and converting the image to black and white. Sometimes I just can’t make up my mind! Lonnie likes the color version better; I prefer the black and white. Different strokes!

Melinda3 Comments

Greeting Card

“It would make a good greeting card.”

The above comment is code for corny, schmaltzy, trite- however you interpret it- in my photo group.  I, however, like making images that look like greeting cards; one of my childhood ambitions was to work for Hallmark.  I envisioned a room of artists painting pretty cards or drawing cartoons.

So, with no apologies, here is one of my flower photos that, in my opinion, would make a good greeting card. 🙂

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Melinda5 Comments