Big Wow!

For the last month, three photos of mine have been hanging at ‘Tis, a downtown gallery right on the square. I must admit I have visited them there more than once.

Below, you can see my husband, the art critic, analyzing Dandelion Dreams.

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And here are Moonburn and Daydreaming (I think I overuse the word dream in my photo titles. . .):

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This whole gallery experience has felt like I’m playing at being an artist, and I’ve enjoyed every minute.  I still have one photo on display in another gallery at Prescott Center for the Arts, and I was awarded an honorable mention for that one (I didn’t even realize there were awards). The planets must have aligned just right!

Yesterday, the last day of the show at ‘Tis,  I went to pick up my photos. The curator said I could only pick up one, and when I asked why only one, she replied “Because the other two are SOLD!” You could have knocked me over with a feather! I’m pretty stoked!

So Dandelion Dreams and Moonburn didn’t come home- and that’s more than okay with me!

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Snowbound

It has been a week and a half since our snowstorms- and I find myself marveling every day at the slowly disappearing expanses of snow that remain in my yard, not to mention around town.  I took my Velvet 56 outside to capture a few bits of weeds and leaves peeking up here and there through the snow.

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Mammoth Mornings

It’s been over a month since we left Yellowstone, but I still am going through my photos. Here is a shot of the chapel with an elk grazing outside.

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And below is a very early and very cold morning view of the Yellowstone Justice Center. Can you spot the elk in this photo? 🙂

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Snowy Roads

It is almost a tradition with us to go out driving into the forested side of town on a snowy day to see what we can see. Although we live in a relatively small town, there are definitely microclimates within the town. Our neighborhood is definitely a high desert climate, but a few miles away (and a few hundred feet higher), it is more of a mountain climate. They get more snow- and it is really pretty!

20160107-MMA_7885_melinda_anderson-EditI took this through the front windshield as we drove toward the Thumb Butte, which was shrouded in fog that morning. We only have patches of snow left at our house- but I would imagine there is still a lot of snow left in this part of town.

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Up on the Roof

20160106-MMA_7767_melinda_anderson-EditIt was snowing as I waited at the church for members of my HeartMath group to arrive. I entertained myself by taking photos (of course) and was especially drawn to a group of robins on the roof. Two were flying around while this little guy sat there, making up his mind what to do next.  I love our snow days!

 

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Snow Delay

The El Nino storms have been hitting Prescott this week. Here’s a very early morning shot of a snowplow clearing the street yesterday, making it safe for the kids to get to school on a “snow delay” day.

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Edited with Topaz Impression and Topaz Texture Effects

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Two Tulip Monochromes

I love tulips in the window light.  These are pink, but I really like the contrast when I convert it to black and white.
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Both photos were taken with Lensbabies. I think the second one was with the Edge 80- but I can’t be sure (aperture and lens aren’t recorded in the metadata- frustrating at times).

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Made by Hand

I couldn’t post this until after Christmas, because I was knitting this scarf for my daughter.  I used to knit all the time until about five years ago, when I realized that my hand and wrist issues were being exacerbated by the repetitive motion. I have a real love of yarn and handknits, and, although I was never an expert knitter, it was a relaxing and creative outlet for me. So, I dug out some of my yarn and found a scarf that I had started to knit in 2010- and, knitting only a little at a time, I finished it up for my daughter for Christmas.  I made so many mistakes, but finally the muscle memory kicked in. I know my hands aren’t up to more than a half hour or so a day of knitting, but I plan on digging into my yarn again and finishing up a few projects- a little at a time- baby steps!

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Melinda11 Comments

New Year, New Word . . .

Happy 2016!

I started my photography journey in the summer of 2010; it’s been 5 1/2 years of excitement and learning and practice and discouragement and more excitement.  I am now starting the sixth year of this blog, which has become a record of my photography progress and also a bit of my life.  I had no idea it would extend beyond the first year, but I’m not thinking of stopping. Things got more manageable when I stopped the whole photo a day commitment; some days my photos are just not blogworthy. I still have the commitment to myself to publish five days a week, which may not be the best practice either, since I sometimes just post the best of the mediocre shots I’ve taken lately.  But my photography, like life, is a work in progress.

Pondering my photography goals and the progress I’ve made in the last year is something I do as the new year approaches.  I’m happy I can point to a few areas of progress:

  • Lensbaby- What a challenge that has been! I can’t say I have become a Lensbaby master, but  I have produced some photos that I really like. And I love Lensbaby photography!
  • Landscape photography-Although this often involves getting up early and using a tripod (two things I’m not crazy about doing), I’ve done it enough now to feel better about my skills and also enough to know it’s not my favorite type of photography to actually do.
  • Showing my work- This year, I again participated in my photography club- and also showed photos at the fair and our group show at the Raven. In thinking ahead to next year, I thought one of my goals would be to have the courage to submit photos to a local gallery or two.  But then, just before Christmas, two opportunities were presented to me unexpectedly, and, before I could think about it, I now have four photos in two juried shows at two different galleries in town! It’s a fun experience- and not as daunting as I thought. I don’t know how often I will want to do this, but it is nice to get the pat on the back of having your work recognized.

So then- what are my goals for 2016? I was talking to my friend Carol about what she is learning on all the photography trips she takes with expert wildlife photographers.  One of the things that resonated with me was the importance of being intentional when taking photographs.  I know this.  I’ve read this over and over. I intend to be intentional!  But somehow, I just keep clicking away- especially when I am out and about. When I am at home doing macro or still life- or just walking around the yard with my camera, I find it easier to look and really SEE.  This process all too often disappears when I am out in the world. So my over-riding goal is to be more intentional.

A couple years ago, I started the practice of picking one word for the year, rather than making New Year’s resolutions.  My previous words- TRUE and JOY are great words, but this year I wanted something that would have a meaning that could be interpreted broadly but also very specifically to photography.  My word is . . .

LIGHT!

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I love my word! It can be about bringing light into my life, living lightly on the planet, spreading light- but it also has a very specific meaning for me in photography.  Photography is all about light and using it to enhance the image. My goal is to be very intentional about finding the best light as I shoot. The photographers I admire all use light in beautiful ways.  I want to become better at that- that’s my word, that’s my goal!

What are your goals for 2016? Do you have a word?

Photography notes: The tulip photo above was taken using the Lensbaby Velvet 56. I was intentional (I am wondering how many more times I can use intentional in this blog post?!?) about finding early morning light and placing my tulip in the light.  🙂 I have no idea how the beams got there- they just appeared! I’m not sure if this is a quality of the lens (I have had this happen with the Edge 80)- or if I was using my new diffuser at this point and it had anything to do with that.  Something more to figure out!

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