A Birthday Walk

Special breakfast treats, presents, phone calls and facetime with kids and grandkids, and a walk at the lake were all part of my husband’s special day yesterday. And evening brought a delicious dinner and cake at Debbie and Dale’s house.

We puzzled over the big white bird we could see in a tree by the lake, but it was too far to see clearly, even with the zoom lens.After, looking at it on the computer (and asking my bird expert friend, Carol), we have decided it is a black-shouldered kite, which isn’t supposed to be in our area.

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Textures by Jessica Drossin and Kerstin Frank

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LIGHT!

When I first started this whole photography thing, I literally couldn’t see the light.  I think it took me almost a year before I was able to really see how light differs from moment to moment, from place to place. And now I am obsessed with it.

While we were in California, I took advantage of the beautiful light (and Spring flowers) when taking photos. The theme for this week’s Texture Tuesday is light, and I think this photo demonstrates how light (in this case, backlighting) can enhance a photograph.

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Textured with bent edges and florence, by Kim Klassen.

Melinda10 Comments

Something like Spring

It is Spring- or something like that- in California! We are returning from a whirlwind business trip where we managed to see most of our friends that we didn’t see the last time we were there. We talked, we laughed, we ate, we drank- it was great!

There were blossoms and flowers, and even a bit of rain.  I didn’t do a lot of photography, but here are a couple shots from when we stopped at a shopping area to load up on “necessities” we haven’t found in Prescott (think Aveda and Art of Shaving. . .).

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Yes, that’s Nordstrom in the above photo- no, we didn’t shop there.

We’re on our way home now. Funny- I refer to both the Bay Area and Prescott as home- as in, “We are going back home to visit our friends,” and “We’ll be driving home tomorrow.” I guess it’s a good thing to feel that way about two places!

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Hole-y!

I was photographing my tulips for probably the last time and came up with this whimsical shot, which ended up being perfect for one of the Flickr challenges- Holes! BTW, this is the sprinkling part of my watering can; the tulips are in the background.

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Melinda3 Comments

More Squares

I am continuing my obsession with square crops with this flower diptych. I edited both of the photos in this layout in Lightroom, then added one of Kim Klassen’s textures, bamboo, in Photoshop. Then- it was back into Lightroom for an easy diptych layout.

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Then, because I LOVE black and white, I duplicated the diptych and did and did a b&w conversion.  I like this version even better.

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Be Square

Here are a couple photos from the last week or so that didn’t make the blog.  Both have been textured and cropped to squares, which seems to be my favorite crop these days.layout JanThe first is from sunset the other night, and the second is from our walk at Lynx Lake.

Textures by Florabella and Kim Klassen.

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Warmth

One of the things I love about our new house is our living room/mancave.  We no longer have a formal living room, but instead have an open floor plan with a “great room” (we never call it that)- where we sit by the fire in the evening and watch TV.  It’s designed for comfort and warmth, with recliner couches, a fireplace with a gas log, and a TV. I have added flowers and some decorative touches to dilute its mancave-ness; it suits me as well as the male members of the family.

This photo shows my gerberas in front of a lantern (with a battery operated candle in case of power outages). You can see fireplace bokeh in the background.

25Jan2014-1699-EditTextured with ecru by Kim Klassen.

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The Quest for Light

The quest for good light continues, and when you can’t find it INSIDE- you go OUTSIDE!

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I purchased some gerbera daisies at Trader Joe’s with the intention of photographing them in my living room.  However, I started too late to get the good morning light through the window, so I took them out to my front porch.  Brilliant idea!  I will definitely be using my front porch more often for photography.

This image was textured with two layers of Kim Klassen’s anna.

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Plenty

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I took this photo as I walked back up our little hill after my walk yesterday.  Several of the birds (finches?) flew off as I approached, but these guys hung around while I took the photos. I’m using it for the Flickr challenge, plenty.

Texture is sybil by Kim Klassen.

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Little Visitor

This little bird stayed at our sliding glass door for the longest time; I’m not sure if he could see in or was studying his reflection. Eventually, another came around, and they both flew off.

Waiting to see which of my friends will tell me what kind of bird it is. . .

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Textured with several textures from Kim Klassen’s waterfront collection.

Melinda5 Comments

Knotted

My daughter and I both discovered knitting a few years ago, and I have been fortunate to receive some beautiful gifts knit by her over the years. Both of us have drifted away from knitting in the last few years- me, because of hand issues and my other obsession (photography) and her, because she is an incredibly busy mom of two little boys (as well as being a preschool director).  I was searching for photo inspiration on Flickr and found that KNOT was a topic this week. I immediately thought of knotted fringe and this beautiful scarf, made by my daughter. I think the pattern is lattice lace, and it is made with a beautiful, soft mohair.

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I searched for a quote, and found this Japanese proverb.  I’m not sure how true it is right now with the polar vortex (receding, I hope?), but like the sentiment.

I am linking up with Friday Finds today, not because I found the scarf (it wasn’t lost- I wear this scarf!), but because I discovered a new processing technique! I had already posted this image to Flickr, but this morning I added a frame, with an easy technique I learned from Kim Klassen’s Test Kitchen. I love how you can still see the image through the frame!

Textures are from Kim’s waterfront collection.

Melinda2 Comments