Intentional Fuji Movement

Although it is almost winter, it still looks like fall here in Prescott. Leaves are falling, but it’s just sweater weather during the day. The above photo is of our willow tree, which is still yellow and losing it’s leaves.

I am FINALLY, after a slow start, getting used to my new Fujifilm X100VI. It has taken awhile to learn which function buttons to set to which functions and then to REMEMBER where they are, to understand the film simulations and “recipes”, and to adjust to “zooming with my feet”. At this point I have customized buttons set to back button focus, turning face detection off and on (there is also bird detection, but I can’t see photographing birds with this camera), toggling the ND filter on and off (yes! it works great), and lastly choosing a film simulation.

I had given up on film simulations, because I shoot RAW and didn’t like jpegs cluttering things up in Lightroom- I ALWAYS edit my photos. But, I recently discovered that I can still use film simulations when I shoot shoot RAW, and I can have the film simulation that I set in camera come in as a Lightroom profile (by adjusting a Lightroom preference). The photo then looks exactly like it does in camera, but I can turn the film look profile off in Lightroom or keep it and edit it- still making all my own choices. I see doing this mostly with my creative photography like today’s ICM. I used Velvia, a very vivid look and only tweaked it by adjusting texture, clarity, and dehaze. Time will tell how often I use this feature.

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Apple Blossoms

We are having a late Spring, and I don’t think I’ve seen our two fruit trees produce half as many blossoms as they are this year! The bees have discovered the apple blossoms, and I hope this is predictive of a good apple crop (there’s always a first time…). I am loaning my Lensbaby 56 to a friend, so I thought that before that I would use it for the blossoms. It creates a soft glowy effect which I think works beautifully on spring images.

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Visitor

We had a dusting of snow this morning- along with a busy flock of yellow-rumped warblers! The snow was melting away as I went outside with my camera, but the warblers still swarmed the feeders as I snapped photos. This little guy waited in the willow tree (along with a few friends) for awhile, then back to the feeder.

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Lazy Hazy Days

Our weeping willow branches created a natural hazy texture over the roses and leaves in the background as the branches swayed in the breeze in front of my camera. Ahhh, the lazy hazy days of summer. . .

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Where is Spring?

Where is Spring (sung to the tune of Where is Love? from Oliver!)? We just keep getting snow- and some rain. And then it melts- and then we get more. Today it is sunny- and cold (it snowed last night). Our plants just don’t know what to do! We have blossoms and buds and leaves and a nest with finch eggs attached to our wreath on the front door, but we still get snow. Can you tell I’m getting impatient?

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Shelter from the Storm

Winter has finally hit Prescott! Until yesterday, our snowstorms had been short lived, depositing just a few inches that mostly melted by the end of the day. Yesterday’s storm left almost a foot of heavy wet snow, and today’s snow is expected to last most of the day. We are blaming the atmospheric river coming from the west.

Yesterday, our backyard birds emptied the feeders, so I took some extra birdseed and sprinkled some on the birdhouse. I was hoping for a photo like the one above, but the birds didn’t notice the extra seeds. Within an hour, however, a lone javelina came to eat up whatever birdseed had fallen to the ground.

This morning, a dozen or so sparrows, a finch, and a couple spotted towhees discovered the birdseed and flocked to the birdhouse. I stuck my lens through the sliding glass door and managed to get some shots of the sparrows through the dead willow branches and the falling snow.

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Dark Mood

Last night, as the wind danced vigorously, it lent a captivating flair to my photographs of a cosmos. Although engulfed in a sea of thoughts, my intention was to craft an edit that exuded a certain mood – the kind that strikes a chord with the viewer. How many times can the word “mood” be gracefully integrated within a single sentence? Apparently, quite a few.

The above paragraph was created with AI- the photo is all mine!

I had no idea this was part of Word Press now- I just had to try.

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Show-off

Morning coffee these days means sitting on the front porch watching the monsoon rains or sitting on the back patio and watching the hummingbird show. Today it was the hummingbirds.

We have had more hummingbirds than usual this summer and often they are vying for dominance in their territory. This morning they were zooming around so fast it was difficult to focus. Although they were focused on each other (and the feeder!), I considered they might actually fly right into me as I stood taking photos. As I write this, they are back at it again after a forced respite due to heavy rain.

I was in the mood for a soft photo when I edited this image, so muted the colors and added a blur and a paint filter over all. This is a look I like in photography- but does NOT reflect the mood of these feisty hummers.

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Volunteers? Anyone, anyone . . . ?

My father always referred to flowers or plants that appeared out of nowhere “volunteers.” Is that the right word? Anyway, a couple years ago I noticed a prickly pear leaf growing out of the ground behind our rose bushes. We left it alone, and this year it developed several leaves and a couple dozen buds. I worried that they would open while we were gone for the week, but they waited until our return. Over the last few days, we’ve been enjoying the blossoms “volunteering” to add color and beauty to our garden.

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Iris Impressions

Our photo group “final” was last week, one of the two topics being “Impressionism”. Since our irises are in bloom, I chose to create an impressionist image. I used intentional camera movement layered with a standard shot and some brushwork and a texture to give it a painterly quality. I’m delighted to have a camera, warm weather, and flowers in bloom as an excuse to sit in the backyard for hours at a time.

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