around the yard – Page 4 – melinda anderson photography

A Wintry Mix

We don’t have snow all winter long in Prescott- at least not since we’ve lived here- so each snowy day is like a gift. Of course, people who have lived here for awhile tell me to be careful what I wish for and then relate tales of the winter of _____ (supply your own year). I have no desire to experience winter like most of North America has had this year; I just would like a bit more of the pretty white stuff.

Yesterday, a snowstorm was predicted above 5500 feet (our house is at 5470), and we were predicted to get a “wintry mix”- rain and snow. It had rained steadily during the night, and about 8:00am, it turned to snow. LOTS of it!

I was without my Nikon for yesterday’s snowstorm, so I had to make do with my iPhone and my husband’s Canon Powershot SX50. The photos below were taken with the Canon. I’m trying to learn this nifty little camera and managed to take the still shots with aperture priority and the birds with shutter priority (at least I THINK so. . .).

It was a whiteout for most of the morning.

The birds didn’t seem to mind.

The sun came out in the middle of the afternoon, and by sunset, half of the snow was gone. 😦

March 3, 2015March 2, 2015

Melinda3 Comments

Snow Drops

We had an unexpected snowstorm yesterday morning! We woke up to snow falling and snow on the ground. It continued to snow until 9:00 or so, while we were at my husband’s eye appointment, but by the time we got home the sun was out and the melt had begun. I raced outside with my Lensbaby Edge 80 with macro converters and managed to capture sunshine on the melting snow on trees and plants before it was all gone.

I’m also posting another snow shot from a week or so ago, before the New Year’s snow melted away. This is one of our more quaint downtown establishments- I’ve never been inside, but it looks cute. It was shot with my iPhone and edited with Snapseed (an HDR treatment) and Mextures.

Linking up with Barb’s app-happy Wednesday at Keeping With the Times.

January 14, 2015January 13, 2015

Melinda10 Comments

Just Hangin’ Around

The latest Be Still-52 assignment was hanging bottles. Whaaat? In Kim Klassen’s beautiful vintage home, she hung a bottle with a rose in it from a hook on a door- and it looked perfectly natural- and beautiful. I was running around, hanging my little medicine bottle everywhere- and ended up with a serious case of the giggles. Needless to say, this one did not come naturally to me. I, perhaps, should have interpreted the challenge more loosely and come up with something more “me”, but, oh well, I did have some fun with it.

I wonder what the neighbors thought of me hanging this bottle in a tree?

In case you are wondering, the first image was shot with the Lensbaby Edge 80; the one outside was with my 35mm lens.

January 12, 2015January 11, 2015

Melinda4 Comments

Beauty in what remains

December 19, 2014

Melinda2 Comments

An apple, a sunflower, a cup- and more!

I finally got back to some still life last week, inspired by my new mug that I picked up at the grocery store.

A week or so ago, I entered 6 photos in the county fair. I haven’t done anything like this since high school, when I entered my crocheting. And the big news is that I earned 4 first place ribbons and one second place! Here is one of the winners, Sunflower Mystery (you might recognize it):

The other 3 first place winners were Feathered Gold (the owl feather), Point Arena Lighthouse (from a couple years ago), and Rodeo Dreams (a photo of Henry standing on the fence watching a rodeo). Dusty Jeans got a second place. A photo I took of prairie sunflowers did not place. And. . . I came home with 14 bucks for my efforts! We won’t mention that the printing and matting cost more than that. But I will re-use the mats.

It was raining cats and dogs- and, evidently, hawks while we were out at the fair on Saturday. We drove back through flooded streets while thunder crashed around us- and found this guy in the backyard.

I took this shot through the sliding glass door (which was covered with raindrops)- when I opened the door, he flew up the hill and disappeared.

September 29, 2014September 28, 2014

Melinda1 Comment

Leftovers

Here are a few leftover shots from this week- details from around the yard.

Some lonely clouds and some lavender

A patio chair and a closeup of our drooping backyard tree (can’t remember what it’s called. . .)

Front flower bed

September 12, 2014September 11, 2014

Melinda1 Comment

Arizona Raindrops

Arizona monsoon season!!! What a difference rain makes! Our brown hills have turned green, and, after this week’s huge storm, I went outside and actually found raindrops left on plants from the night before. If you look closely, you’ll some tiny refracted images of flowers in some of the drops.

Linking up with Friday Finds today.

August 15, 2014August 15, 2014

Melinda9 Comments

Hummmmmm!

This summer the Prescott hummingbirds have finally discovered us! In fact I’ve seen as many as five flitting around at a time, buzzing each other in a seeming fight for territory. Our feeder is right outside the window by the kitchen sink, so I’m constantly watching them. I took my camera outside a couple days ago and had fun taking photos as the little hummers flew around me. They got closer and closer to me, trying to scare me off- but I held my ground!

Hummingbirds can be a challenge to keep in focus- but this out of focus one ended up being one of my favorites of the session. BTW the bokeh is from the morning light shining on the plum tree in the background.

I like this darker, textured version as well.

Yes, I did take some shots that were actually IN focus!

I love this one- he was staring me down! What a bully!

August 7, 2014August 6, 2014

Melinda10 Comments

Evening Light

We had some rain late yesterday afternoon- and a rainbow.

After I took a few rainbow photos, I turned around and took these two photos of the pre-sunset light shining through the Russian sage. Always turn around!

Of course, I had to convert one to black and white.

And saving the best for last:

This was taken about 15 minutes later with my iPhone.

August 1, 2014July 31, 2014

Melinda2 Comments

Catching the light

I photographed my huge Russian sage (although not a native plant, it seems to pop up everywhere), on two different days over the weekend- and what a difference a day makes.

Here is Saturday’s photo.

And here is Sunday’s! I have to give my husband credit for this one. He looked out the window while we were watching TV (still binge-watching Damages!), and exclaimed over the light in the clouds. While he paused the TV, I ran out and captured this one before the light changed.

Both photos are textured with Kim Klassen’s textures- golden and waterfront11 on the first, 1301 on the second.

Linking up with Texture Tuesday today.

July 29, 2014July 28, 2014

Melinda9 Comments

The rain- and after . . .

We had our first HUGE monsoon storm yesterday- thunder, lightning, heavy rain, flooding (not at our house) and power outage!

After hours and hours of rain and sky drama, the rain subsided in the early evening. The hummingbirds dashed to the feeder, and all was back to normal in the high desert.

And then the storm resumed . . .

July 26, 2014July 25, 2014

Melinda2 Comments

Just a few more

On Tuesday, I posted my favorite photo of the cooperative swallowtail that had been visiting our yard. Today, I am posting three more photos and am hoping he will make a return visit!

July 25, 2014

Melinda4 Comments

Backyard Wildlife

A few weeks ago we had some drama in the front yard involving a brave bunny and a scared (and scary) snake. The short version is that, as I was looking out the window, the cute bunny in the front yard hopped, almost running, across the yard and leapt onto a LONG snake (which I had not noticed was there). In a flash, the bunny and the snake were rolling around, the snake was attempting to climb a post on the front porch, and then the snake slithered to safety inside an small evergreen tree out of the bunny’s reach. The bunny stalked that snake for two days- and then no more action.

Flash forward to yesterday. . .

Carol (who is staying with us) and I were getting ready for the day, when my husband informed me that there was a “little snake” in the back yard. I went out and was horrified to see a very large (probably 4 feet long) snake slithering around under the apple trees. It looked like the snake in the Snake and Bunny Saga. I grabbed Carol’s camera with its fancy 400mm zoom lens and clicked away- from a safe distance. When she joined us, I reluctantly gave her camera back and eventually got close enough to take photos with my 18-200mm zoom.

Carol identified our heretofore unknown snake as a Sonoran gopher snake- and, sadly, we found that he has a hole under the apple tree where he apparently- ummmm- LIVES!

To sum up, we have a big snake LIVING in our back yard. I thought the bunny had scared him away for good. So, besides birds and butterflies, we have lizards, toads, bunnies, and a snake. And at least one tarantula- but that’s a whole other story. I considered this as we sat outside last night drinking wine and enjoying a delicious grilled meal- about 10 feet away from the snake’s “HOUSE.”

I’m trying to be a grown-up about this.

July 23, 2014July 22, 2014

Melinda9 Comments

Hi there!

We’ve had the most cooperative swallowtail in the yard the last few days! It allowed Carol and me to get however close we wanted while it sipped nectar from our butterfly bushes. Carol, true to form, looked up this particular swallowtail online and determined it to be the Two Tailed Swallowtail, Arizona’s state butterfly.

I took dozens of photos of the butterfly, but am partial to this almost out of the frame shot of it checking me out as it drank.

Textured with Kim Klassen’s 2203 for Texture Tuesday.

July 22, 2014July 20, 2014

Melinda18 Comments

Friday Feather

Look what my husband found in the yard the other day (I have trained him well!)! It’s long and striped, but it’s the little fluffy part I was attracted to for this macro shot.

Linking up with Friday Finds today.

June 27, 2014June 27, 2014

Melinda5 Comments