Through the Looking Glass

20150728-MMA_0848_melinda_andersonYesterday I went with some photography friends and my friend, Debbie (not a photographer, but definitely an artist) to a very unique spot called Eliphante, located in Cornville, near Sedona.  It was once the home of an artist couple, who created art which evolved on the land where they lived.  It is now a private museum, which is only open to the public by appointment.

We had to meet one of the live-in caretakers/guides and then walk on rocks across a creek to get there. Eliphante is hard to describe- but the words, Hobbit and Through the Looking Glass are what came to my mind.

One of the structures we explored:

20150728-MMA_0842_melinda_anderson-Edit-2

My friend, Gail, taking photos inside this one:

20150728-MMA_0932_melinda_anderson-EditDebbie went through the tunnel ahead of me to get inside this building:

20150728-MMA_0861_melinda_anderson-Edit-2So here I am- through the looking glass!

20150728-MMA_1016_melinda_anderson

 

Melinda4 Comments

Tucson Evenings

Even though we only spent two full days there, I still have Tucson photos to share!  Here are two views of the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains taken from the balcony of our hotel room.

Double rainbow and rain!

20150708-MMA_9602_melinda_anderson-Edit Sunset

sunset

Melinda2 Comments

Hummmmmmm

One of the areas we enjoyed the most at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum was the aviary- mostly because of the hummingbirds.  As we wandered around the paths, we were able to catch glimpses of many of these cute little guys.

20150709-MMA_0221_melinda_anderson 20150709-MMA_0228_melinda_anderson

Melinda3 Comments

In the Desert

Probably the highlight for me of our trip to Tucson (beyond lying by the pool and having guacamole with every meal) was seeing the Sonoran Desert.  I now get why people love the desert.  The landscape there is different from what we’ve seen around Phoenix and definitely not like the high desert climate we live in- it is BEAUTIFUL and full of life.  I would love to go back and see more.

This view is from when we stopped the car on the way to the museum.

20150709-MMA_0103_melinda_anderson

 

This is the view next to the museum.

20150709-MMA_0154_melinda_anderson-EditI can only imagine what this looks like at sunrise or sunset (these were around noon. . . and it was SO HOT! ).  Beautiful country!

Melinda3 Comments

In the Barrio

Since we moved to Arizona, I’ve wanted to visit Tucson’s famous Barrio Viejo, the historic district of quaint and VIBRANT old adobe buildings. We managed set aside a morning out of our anniversary trip last week to stroll through the area and take photos- MANY photos.  You will be seeing many more photos like the ones in this diptych in future posts!

Untitled

Melinda2 Comments

Mission San Xavier

Nine miles south of Tucson, on the Tohono O’odham reservation sits the beautiful Mission San Xavier del Bac, an incredible structure constructed in 1797, with the mission itself dating back to 1692. It is undergoing repair and reconstruction, as you can see from the photos.

I had to wait patiently for tourists to move so that I could have a clear view of the building.  It amused me how people would walk toward me and my tripod, looking straight at me and then turn, still standing in front of me, and take cell phone photos.  I started thinking about how to clone them out in post processing.  Finally, I took some shots with only a few people in the photo, and we went inside to tour the building.

When we came out, Lonnie noticed that the front of the building was clear, so I raced back to the car to get my tripod and set up again.

20150710-MMA_0627_melinda_anderson-EditI like the photo below too, because of the foursome walking toward the mission.

20150710-MMA_0592_melinda_anderson-Edit

The image below has the completed tower in the foreground, the incomplete behind.  Edited with Topaz Simplify and Flypaper textures.

20150710-MMA_0600_melinda_anderson-Edit

MelindaLeave a comment

Tucson Morning

I’ve just returned from a wonderful, quick midweek getaway to Tucson, where we celebrated our 44th anniversary at a beautiful resort. We did a couple excursions in the mornings and then spent the afternoons relaxing by the pool- my kind of vacation! I always say (correctly so) that I am not a landscape photographer- I don’t have all the best gear, I hate to use my tripod out in public, and I don’t like getting up early to get the best light!  But recently it dawned on me that, when I travel, I always take landscape photographs anyway- usually without a tripod and never in good light- even though I KNOW BETTER.  I decided that on this trip I would take my tripod and perhaps even use it in public if appropriate. Since we had a view from our hotel room of the mountains, I decided to get up early one morning and do it right. The night before, I put the camera on the tripod, attached the cable release, and adjusted the settings. I set my alarm and got up well before the sun came up; I haven’t counted the photos but I clicked that cable release many, MANY times over the course of an hour.  I really like how the rays of the early morning sun peek up over the horizon in this image.20150710-MMA_0555_melinda_anderson-Edit-Edit-2 I also took my tripod along when visiting the Mission San Xavier del Bac- but you’ll have to wait for those photos!

Melinda6 Comments

Backroad WIldflowers

My wonderful son-in-law drove me and my sweet and very patient family through a section of Yellowstone to see some beautiful country- and mostly so I could take some photographs. Although it was midday and therefore not the best light, the sky full of white puffy clouds made a beautiful backdrop- and there were wildflowers everywhere!

These were all taken on Blacktail Road. The Gallatins were behind us; the predominant mountain is Electric Peak.

20150628-MMA_8897_melinda_anderson-Edit-Edit 20150628-MMA_8936_melinda_anderson20150628-MMA_8984_melinda_anderson20150628-MMA_8966_melinda_anderson-Edit-Edit

Melinda1 Comment

Owl Baby

Several times over the last few years, we’ve seen owl babies in a huge nest waaaaay up high in a tree by the Visitor’s Center at Mammoth in Yellowstone. When I’ve photographed them, the images were never sharp, because they were too far away.  We came later this year, after the owl babies had already fledged, so I didn’t think we’d be able to see any.  However, the babies were still in the area, and one evening, I managed to get photos of this guy on the roof of one of the residences near our daughter’s.  Despite being a juvenile, he still has the fierce, don’t mess with me look of his mother!

20150626-MMA_8568_melinda_anderson

Melinda1 Comment

Missing These Guys!

20150628-MMA_9211_melinda_anderson-Edit

We are back home as of 1:00 this morning. Our travel day began with our daughter discovering a flat tire on her wonderful new car just as we were starting the trip from Yellowstone to Bozeman to catch our flight to Phoenix. We transferred our luggage and the kids and ourselves to Justin’s huge truck, which is not Caitlin’s favorite vehicle to drive, and off we went. We got to the airport with time to spare, had a quick dinner, and then waited at the gate for the incoming flight from Phoenix to arrive so we could board. As we looked out the window we could see dust clouds across the tarmac and debris being lifted into the air and swirling around. The inbound flight couldn’t land, so was diverted to Missoula. Although we didn’t see rain or thunder and lightning, it was all around Bozeman. Justin’s roof rack on the vehicle he was driving blew off as he headed into Bozeman from Missoula, and Caitlin and the kids had rain and thunderstorms the whole way home. Finally, two hours late, the flight came in from Phoenix (via Missoula), and we had an uneventful flight to Phoenix (Mesa Airport).  Lightning flashed around us on our long drive home, but no rain.  Ahhh summer storms!

I seem to have taken around 2000 photos on our trip- lots to go through! My plan to upload photos to the iPad and post from there didn’t work out too well. I think the number of photos on my 64GB SD card might have overwhelmed the iPad, even though I was only selecting a couple each time, and I found uploading seldom worked. Now that I’m on my computer, I see that my owl photo doesn’t display correctly (you can see about a fourth of it!), although it looks fine on my iPhone and the iPad; I’ll fix that next.

I’ll be posting more photos over the next week or so. You can look forward to seeing an adorable puppy, more photos of two handsome boys, a baby owl, wildflowers, a bison, and who knows what else?

Melinda3 Comments

Baby

Penny, the puppy, isn’t the only baby around here.  As usual, the house here at Mammoth is surrounded by elk for a good part of the day, and there are quite a few babies in the herd. This one was getting ready to follow its mother across the road. 

 
By the way, yesterday’s and today’s photos were edited on the iPad with Snapseed and posted using the WordPress app.  

Melinda1 Comment