Courthouse Christmas

It’s that time of year- Prescott’s Courthouse Square is lit up for Christmas. We walked around last night, so I could take photos with my new walk-around camera- a slick little Fujifilm X100 VI! It was cold and dark, and my fumbling frozen fingers struggled a bit with settings, but I did get a few photos I was happy with. This camera is soooo lightweight, which really helps my neck and shoulders- and it could fit in a purse or small camera bag. No, I am not abandoning my Nikons, but this camera is a little powerhouse! I just need to learn the settings better and develop some muscle memory. By the way, Fujifilm is famous for it’s straight out of camera film simulations- however as a Nikon shooter, I am not giving up RAW or spending time editing in Lightroom and Photoshop. Fortunately, I can have the best of both worlds as the film simulations come in as camera profiles in Lightroom, so you can use them if you wish.

MelindaLeave a comment

Convergence

This was the scene after sunset for the annual Canal Convergence in Old Town Scottsdale. And looking from the bridge in the opposite direction, we could see the lights on and along the water.

It’s always fun to see the new lights and displays as we walk along the canal- and it’s a wonderful photo op for photographers!

MelindaLeave a comment

Sunflowers and Silhouettes

I have wanted to experience Van Gogh in this way since my friend, Carol, did this in Paris. Well it wasn’t Paris- it was Phoenix- but it was wonderful! Beautiful images projected on walls, mirrors, and floors, along with music and quotes from Van Gogh’s letters- just beautiful!And afterward we had a Virtual Reality Van Gogh experience- fantastic!

MelindaLeave a comment

Downtown Squares

A couple months ago I went on a photo walk with 3 other members of my Monday photo group. We walked around Cortez Street and the alleyway taking photos of whatever caught our fancy. I remembered what fun it was the other day and created a little grid of some of the details.

MelindaLeave a comment

Our Town

It was snowing lightly as we left our neighborhood at noon today for a little drive. As we left our neighborhood, we could see dark skies to the south, and as we headed toward town, we could see Thumb Butte shrouded in fog. We drove up to the Resort on a bluff overlooking town, and, as I took this shot, sunshine and big puffy clouds were to the right and behind me which illuminated the VA Hospital below.

Melinda3 Comments

March Winter

Winter has finally come! We drove down to the Courthouse this morning and had a wonderful time seeing how the deepening blanket of snow transformed everything. I took a few standard photos and then had a great time waving my camera around for some winter impressionistic images.

MelindaLeave a comment

Foggy Morning at the Draw

Our second day of shooting started well before sunrise- in fact Lonnie and I did the half hour drive from Bisbee through the farmlands in complete darkness and then dense fog as we got closer. We were the first to arrive and sat in the car waiting for light and our fellow photographers to arrive. The cranes began to vocalize as the first rays of light appeared and soon were headed out to feed on the nearby farms. The dense fog made the cranes almost invisible, but this image is actually one of my favorites.

MelindaLeave a comment

Shadow Collision

Like 99.99999 percent of photographers everywhere, I am fascinated by the interplay of light and shadow. I noticed the overlapping shadows of diners from two booths, as we ate lunch at our favorite diner recently.

MelindaLeave a comment

Spooky Walk

One of my absolute favorite things about Prescott is Mt. Vernon Street decorated for Halloween! We walked along last night to view the spooky decor, which seemed to be much more elaborate this year. Above is one of my favorite houses and below is a somewhat spookier view of the same house.

Being a dog lover, I couldn’t resist this porch decor on one of the houses!

MelindaLeave a comment

Talk Like a Pirate

I’m almost a week late sharing this, but a) it wasn’t quite finished on September 19 and b) I wanted to share it with my photo group before posting it. I took this photo at the parrot show at the Yavapai County Fair a couple weeks ago and knew as I took it that I wanted to create a painterly illustration of this wonderful pirate as he moved up onto the stage and stood in front of the rigging with his macaw (one of many birds he showed us). The image was a challenge for me to create, because there was a big awning thing and a motor home behind him, and getting rid of those distractions was a huge challenge for me.

Those of you who knew me before retirement as the teacher who held pirate treasure hunts every year will appreciate what a labor of love this image was to create! Aaaarrrrgh, matey!

MelindaLeave a comment

Envy and Geometrics

When visiting the Phoenix Art Museum in November, I was captivated by the view into a special gallery below us. It brought me back to the envy I felt when visiting the home of my parents’ friends when I was a little girl. Their two daughters shared a huge bedroom with a giant roofless dollhouse on the floor, laid out like a 3 dimensional floor plan. You could move the dolls (larger than typical dollhouse dolls- more like Ginny or small Madame Alexander dolls) throughout the house, guiding them through doorways and onto beds and chairs. The girls’ dad had made the doll house, and oh, how I wanted one like it! But where would I have put it? That question never came to my mind. So alas- my Ginny and Madame Alexander dolls never had a house, except in my imagination.

Below is a view of the gallery in color and in landscape orientation. In both views, I was drawn to the geometry of the setup- and I attempted to emphasize that in my editing process. I brought both images to my Monday photo group for critique and stated my preference for the black and white. I was guided by several friends to remove some “color blocks” I had added for emphasis, and that has made all the difference in the color version. I so appreciate the positive and helpful critiques from my photo friends- especially Gail this time!

MelindaLeave a comment

Winter White 2

Our snow has melted after hanging around for a week. Today’s photo was taken in January on our trip up to Snow Bowl in Flagstaff. It was snowing lightly, and fog obscured some of the trees in the distance- creating another winter white image.

MelindaLeave a comment