I love retirement! I had a relaxed lunch today with my friend Anne at an upscale shopping center in her neighborhood. It is a beautiful day in the Bay Area, and we chose a table outside by the “pond.”. There were ducks and geese (well, one Canadian goose) and two swans swimming around while we shared a lunch of deep- fried artichoke hearts with aioli, pear and brie quesadillas, and winter salad. What a lovely day!
The swan was beautiful . . .
but this little guy was the cutest!
I love Groundhog Day! Groundhog Day was always one of my favorite days to celebrate with my first graders. We talked about the seasons, did fun art projects, and followed the news of Punxsutawney Phil on the Internet. But actually, the reason I love Groundhog Day is that it means Spring is near! Even if he sees his shadow and predicts a longer Winter, just knowing that we are into February reassures me that Spring is to follow- at some point! And today he did NOT see his shadow- Spring is on the way!
Today’s photo was taken during a stroll by the waterfront, where I spotted some tiny blossoms among the rocks- reminding me that yes, Spring will come.
f/5.3, 1/1000, ISO 250, 240mm
It’s February 1- Day 32! I guess that means I am 1/12 of the way to my goal of taking a photo every day for one year!
I almost blew it this morning, though. On my way to the gym, I saw a photo opportunity- wispy fog curling around trees, something I’ve wanted to photograph. But alas . . . no camera in the car! I had vowed when this project began that I would never leave home without a camera- and here I was, camera-less. I decided exercise was more important than photography at the moment, so I continued on.
When I reached home, I grabbed my camera and headed back out in search of photo-worthy fog- not too easy to find! I drove around our now sunny neighborhood hills looking for view shots and eventually found myself down by the water, where I snapped this image of a ship emerging from the fog.
I uploaded it first in color, but I really like it better in black and white. I chose the red filter option- it brings back the days when I used an actual (not virtual) red filter on my film camera.
f/7.1, 1/1000, ISO 250, 220 mm
Abstract Portrait? That is this week’s theme of Clickin Moms’ Project 52, and trying to get an idea of what that means and what to shoot has been challenging. Frankly, I’m sick of thinking about it! I actually think that the photo I took of my husband reaching for his Starbucks mug (Day 6) would probably qualify as an abstract portrait, but that was Week One. I am not particularly satisfied with any of my efforts today in terms of the assignment, but I’m hoping that giving each photo a cool title will make it more of an Abstract Portrait.
Since I made Lonnie stand on the dock in the cold, I am including this one: Man in the Fog
And here is iPhones and Coffee: Portrait of a Marriage (subtitled Mocha and Bokeh). . .
And, lastly: Self-Portrait
There- I’m done! Round of applause…
There is a website that proclaims “The best camera is the one that’s with you.” I am having to test that out today, because the only camera I had with me to record tonight’s waterfront sunset was the rather lame one I have on my iPhone 2. I wonder how it would look if taken with my Nikon . . .
While waiting to meet my friend, Joan, in Berkeley for lunch, I snapped a few photos on the street. I didn’t get anything too earthshaking, but I think this one best captures the atmosphere.
The sun shone on the Bay Area today, so we headed over to Stinson Beach. The waves were huge- this photo doesn’t do them justice.
There were birds of course . . .
But I took my favorite photo of the day at Samuel P. Taylor State Park,where we stopped on our way back. I had always wanted to try a slow-shutter, moving water photo, so I hooked the gorillapod to a fence, set the timer, and got a shot of the creek.
300mm, f/5.6, 1/4000, ISO 640
Today I had lunch with a very special group of women- the Rapunzels. We have been friends and a support group for each other since we met in a parenting class with our first babies. Thirty-six years later we are still meeting- at least once a month! We held each others’ hands during potty training, the terrible twos, births of more babies, school adjustments, the teenage years, moves, divorce, illness, and the death of our beloved member, Vicki. And now we are moving into retirement years- and grandmotherhood! I am very blessed to have these wonderful women in my life!
And why are we called the Rapunzels? Well, in our years of being stay-at-home moms, we started meeting at night WITHOUT our children so we could let our hair down!
Almost every Sunday, we head to the Sunrise Bistro in Walnut Creek- home of the best breakfasts! Today I ordered my usual- Nana’s Omelet (how appropriate!), with fruit and whole grain toast. Delicious!
While walking to my car after my late afternoon hair appointment, I looked up and saw the moon. I whipped out my camera and snapped this shot. I wish I had thought to use a smaller aperture; the moon looks almost full here, but it’s not…
Busy, busy day- but, even in a parking lot, I was able to find something to quickly snap for this project. The composition and creativity weren’t there, but, with a little tweaking here and there, it’s OK.
I’ve been experimenting with a watermark, which I can get to appear here, but I can’t seem to get it to automate on export to Flickr (I use Aperture 3). Baby steps…
We were in the Oakland hills today, and I spotted this iris. Hurray- a sign of Spring on this dreary, foggy day!
It is so (insert your own expletive…) cold and foggy here today! After going to the gym, I drove down to the water hoping to catch a view of the bridge shrouded mysteriously in fog- you couldn’t even SEE the bridge! When I got home, I opened the fridge to get milk for my cereal and discovered the milk’s date had passed- YUCK! So I went to the grocery store and drove BACK down to the water just on the off chance a great photo op was waiting for me. Well, there were seagulls, so I got some pretty ordinary seagull shots. I have been experimenting with back button focus (at least I THINK that’s what I’m doing…), so I took a few shots of the railing near the water. I like this one.
I had no coat, and it was freezing- my hands were shaking and contributing to my focusing problems. So I got in the car and made the loop to turn around when I saw a tugboat! That means a ship- another photo opportunity! So, shivering, I got out and snapped a few of the ship through the fog. Interesting results- all shots today are straight out of camera.
BONUS PHOTO:
The clickin’ moms Project 52 theme for the week is NEW- which I interpreted as BEGINNINGS. Here is how my husband likes to begin his day!
I barely had to venture out the door of the hotel this morning to find these snowy branches- Tahoe is a winter wonderland right now! And 5 degrees- BRRRRR!
They are both at 300mm- my zoom lens- at f5.6, ISO 250. The top one had a shutter speed of 1/250, the bottom one at 1/400.
melinda anderson photography 