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!

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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!

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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.

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SoCal Winter

As we drove along one of the main streets in Rancho Cucamonga towards our son’s house, we were treated to beautiful views of the snow-covered mountains ahead. The street had a row of palms along the median, and I was struck by the contrast of the palm trees and the snow ahead. I hunched down in my seat and was able to capture this shot with my iPhone through the windshield.

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Dressed in White

Fog and snow shrouded this scene up at Flagstaff’s Snow Bowl.

I do realize that this is the second blog post of the day, BUT I am trying to solve my image size problem on my own (WordPress still maintains it is an Apple problem). I changed the image size in my post earlier today to the default setting of Large (I have been using the Full Size setting for several years), and this morning’s image showed up correctly in emails. I’m trying again with a square image to see if it will work! You may see more posts in the next week as I test this out, so bear with me!

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Details of Winter

Head over to my blog if the image does not show up in your mail program- click here.

We had our first snow this week, just a couple inches, which has melted away- at least at our house. Yesterday we went up to Flagstaff for a doctor appointment and drove up to Snow Bowl for a bit of photography. I think the smaller details of the snowy trees were more compelling to me than the larger scene.

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Saguaros

Tuesday we made our last (fingers crossed!) trip to Phoenix for medical appointments for my husband’s back. It’s annoying and worrisome that doctors are leaving our town and that we sometimes have to make the almost 2 hour trek down the mountains for medical care. We have been spending the night each time and adding on something fun to the trips to make it more enjoyable each time.

On the way there we made our usual stop at the outlet mall for a short break- and this time I took the time to practice doing in-camera multiple exposures of the saguaros by the parking lot. Because my camera doesn’t have all the bells and whistles for multiple exposure, I often get discouraged and give up doing it in camera. However, this time I think I got a good result and enjoyed editing it pretty quickly in Photoshop.

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Wild

Last week’s poppy adventure provided an unexpected photo op. As we headed to Saguaro Lake, we came upon some of the Salt River wild horses having their own poppy adventure! We had talked earlier about the possibility of trying to find them, but we didn’t really know where to go and the poppies were calling my name. It was certainly a moment of synchronicity finding some of the horses among the wildflowers!

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Poppies!

Little darlin’, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darlin’, it seems like years since it’s been clear

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s alright

George Harrison

After a long dismal winter, we were beside ourselves to find this field of gorgeous poppies yesterday. It still seems like winter in Prescott- still having occasional snow and lots of flooding rains- BUT. . . down in Wickenburg, it is SPRING! We stayed longer than expected, just enjoying the scenery and eventually having a late lunch/dinner downtown. What a great day!

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It’s All in the Details (part 1)

This month’s theme for my AAUW photo group was Downtown Details. I wandered around downtown on a Friday morning, armed with my iPhone and looking for details to capture. Above is a lamppost sign on a Cortez Street intersection. As the wires and lamppost intersect (as do past and present), I call this one Intersections.

Below is Through a Glass Brightly (groan…), a view of a window, the lights inside, and a reflection of the building across the street.

to be continued…

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Wabi Sabi Watering Cans

Back when we were at the Desert Botanical Garden a few months ago, I’m sure my husband was a bit taken aback by my enthusiasm over these watering cans which were sitting on a ledge in a corner, almost out of sight. We were surrounded by the beauty of nature and the magic of Chihuly glass, but there is something so amazing about finding an unstaged, “found still life” just waiting to be captured by the camera! I aimed my camera with my zoom lens and took a few quick shots, feeling very lucky to have come upon this little wabi sabi scene.

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Summer’s End

As I get ready for today’s Labor Day barbecue, I think about how Labor Day meant the end of summer when I was a child. Now, most schools have been in session for a couple weeks or more. This image is from last October’s visit to Huntington Beach; summer is still in full swing in Southern California!

I am thinking of getting my Fall wreath out soon though. . .

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Sticks

I never know what to call these stick tepee things I often see on our walks- nor do I understand why they are there. But- the autumn light coming through the trees called out to me to take this photo.

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