Ajar

I belong to an amazing photo group in town which is full of accomplished photographers, many of whom are professionals or at least display and sell their work.  To say the least, I am a bit intimidated by the level of expertise of the group.  It took six months before I ever brought a photo to be critiqued, and it was not particularly well received.  Since then, I’ve brought two more, and I’ve learned from the experience.  I also learn a lot from listening to the critiques of all the other photos and from the speakers that are brought in each month.

Probably the most exciting thing for me as a member of this group was being able to participate an exhibit at a local cafe/nightspot. Two of the photos I submitted were selected and have been on display for over a month.  It has been a lot of fun seeing my photos framed and hanging on the wall- with price tags.  Only one photo out of the whole group of 40 some photos displayed has sold so far, which I’m told is about average.  By the way, the two photos I have displayed are Golden Feather (the owl feather I photographed in Yellowstone)and Dusty Jeans (the legs and boots photo from the Gardiner Rodeo). The display ends this weekend.

This summer, one of the photo assignments was “unique door ajar”.  When I was out and about I took a few door photos for the challenge, none of which seemed to me to be THE photo.  I ended up being unable to attend that particular meeting, so never had to make the decision of what to submit (I probably would have gone back out for more shooting. . .). Lately,  I have been spending some time going through and organizing and culling photos in my Lightroom catalog and came across some of the photos I took for this assignment. So today’s post is featuring some “unique doors ajar.”

Bedroom door ajar. . .

20140709-DSC_0752_melinda_anderson 20140709-DSC_0762_melinda_andersonDoors ajar in Prescott. . .

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And from a drive out in the rural areas nearby. . .

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On our walk

After a break in routine of several weeks, we went out on the trail again at Willow Lake and were so happy to see the water in the lake was so much higher after the monsoon rains.  There were wildflowers, birds, dragonflies, and butterflies- even little fish in the shallows- and the weeds and grasses have grown high. Other photographers are posting signs of fall approaching, but it still seems like summer here in Arizona.

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Winery in Arizona???

Having moved from just outside the California wine country, we were surprised to discover that there are indeed some wineries in Arizona. On Saturday we visited the Granite Creek Vineyards in Chino Valley with friends and were delighted find a bit of the California wine country ambiance only 15 minutes or so from home!

Lonnie and I both felt a bit of a rural Sonoma County vibe as we walked onto the grounds and wandered over to the tasting room- a very small, rustic building with just enough room to stand and hold a wine glass.  There was a band playing outside (sixties and seventies rock, I think), and people were sitting around eating and sipping wine under the trees.  Best of all, photographically speaking, there was a small barn and some outbuildings, wine barrels, and some old farm machinery lying around.  And oh yes- there was a vineyard.  We felt right at home!

I will most likely post more images as the week goes on, but here are a couple detail shots.

Old window

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Barn door

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Prairie Sunflowers

Prairie sunflowers! At our monthly photography club meeting last week, I learned that the Flagstaff area is blanketed with prairie sunflowers in August and September.  Bonito Park, north of Flagstaff, is a particularly photogenic spot as it sits between Sunset Crater and the San Francisco Peaks.  My husband and I headed up there on Saturday and found it lives up to its reputation.

Here is the meadow with Sunset Crater in the background.

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Looking the other direction, I photographed the sunflowers with the San Francisco peaks behind them.

20140823-DSC_3269_melinda_anderson-Edit 20140823-DSC_3185_melinda_anderson-EditAs we began the drive home, we enjoyed seeing prairie sunflowers in bloom everywhere.

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Monsoon

If we were in any doubt that it is the monsoon season here in Arizona, the last 24 hours have made us believers. Holy Moly! Thunder, lightning, rain and flash floods- we’ve seen them all. We’re happy to be high and dry (so far. . .) on our little hill and are watching the action on TV.  When we were out yesterday, we spotted clouds hanging over Thumb Butte (not the usual view), so we went home and got my camera so I could get some shots before visibility was gone. Storms are predicted off and on all week- wish I could send some to California!

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Ready or not . . .

My friend, Joan, is staying with us, and we are having so much fun introducing her to Arizona. Saturday was spent touring Prescott- and shopping- and Sunday was the anticipated trip to Sedona and Jerome.  I packed my camera bag with three lenses and an extra battery and planned to try some detail shots of the area, as I had photographed the places we were visiting several times. I had picked up a free Sedona guide at the airport, so was planning to bring that as well as the Arizona Highways photography guide I had recently purchased.  I was READY!

As we drove into Sedona, I looked down at my feet and saw that yes indeed I had brought the guidebooks- but where was my camera? The answer became clear that I had left my camera bag on the kitchen counter. Oh. My. God.

So it became obvious that any pictures I might take would have to be shot with my iPhone.  I relaxed, because I already have photos of Sedona.  But when we pulled into our first stop, the Chapel of the Holy Cross, I noticed something that had been missing on our previous trips to Sedona- CLOUDS! Big billowy CLOUDS! And there was a moon- kind of taunting me up there. Darn.

So today’s post is all iPhone photos- including some Lensbaby shots, because at least I had that in my purse.

Here’s the view of Cathedral Rock from outside the chapel (notice the clouds. . .).

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The chapel is awe-inspiring. After sitting quietly for awhile, I put the Lensbaby on the iPhone and tried some creative photography inside.

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Afterward, I snapped another view of Cathedral Rock, before we went into town for lunch and some shopping.

Photo Aug 17- 11 13 23 AMDespite the camera fiasco, we had a wonderful time!

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Approaching Storm

On Saturday, dark clouds were beginning to fill the sky as my husband and I toured the Phippen Museum, a few miles north of our house. One of the docents nicely unlocked the door to the deck so that I could take a few photos of the view of the Granite Dells and the beautiful clouds.  By the time we got home the monsoon storm had begun- thunder, lightning, and rain!

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Morning Bokeh- Two Ways

These days our morning walks are taking place earlier than before. We used to say that we needed to be finished by 9:00 to beat the heat. Now we say 8:00 is too late; we need to be on the trail before 7:00.  The upside is that there is some beautiful morning light!

I processed these photos first in black and white (my preference most of the time).  But I cannot deny the beauty of color in nature- even in weeds and grasses- so there is a color version as well.

20140730-DSC_2186_melinda_anderson-2 20140730-DSC_2186_melinda_anderson 20140730-DSC_2183_melinda_anderson 20140730-DSC_2182_melinda_andersonI couldn’t resist this one as well- the two of us on the trail.

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Small Town Details

We went for a drive to Yarnell a few days ago, and I had a great time photographing some random sights along the main drag.

A painter was touching up the trim outside the antique store before hanging up the new sign,

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A highlight at the end of the day was visit to the salvage yard, where the last two photos were taken.  I loved the irony of the playground sign placed next to the highway sign along with the motors and other items.

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And then there were the  random doors propped up by the road.

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All of these photos have textures added. The first two have a painting filter applied as well.

 

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Farmers’ Market

It was my first visit to the Prescott Farmers’ Market. I took my camera and enjoyed photographing the produce almost as much as I enjoyed buying and eating it!

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I did a basic edit on each photo for my layout and then took them into Photoshop, where I used the Oil Paint filter and one layer of Kim Klassen’s waterfront 1 texture. I used the Oil Paint filter, because Adobe has gotten rid of it in the newest update to Photoshop CC, which I have yet to install.  Why??? It was a perfectly good filter- and I did use it occasionally (I like to play with effects).

But the main reason that I haven’t installed the newest update is because of the Mini-Bridge.  I LOVE the Mini-Bridge! I use it every time I add a texture- it makes it SO EASY!  Plus, I have written actions for many of my favorite textures that include the action opening MB and adding a layer of the specific texture.  I haven’t always used Mini-Bridge. I learned it from Kim in one of the classes- and it made my life so much easier.  I have my Photoshop workspace set up in a certain way (modeled after the way Sebastian Michaels has his in the Photoshop Artistry class), and I made sure to add the MB icon right at the bottom where I can easily click on it. Sorry for the rant, but I can’t see why MB has to go!!! I’m not happy with Adobe right now!

Linking up with Texture Tuesday today!

 

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