travel – Page 30 – melinda anderson photography

Yellowstone Epic Horse Drive

Last weekend as part of the Memorial Day festivities, a large group of horses were run through the town of Gardiner (bordering Yellowstone) and up to new pastures in Jardine (in the hills). We joined the throng lining the streets waiting for the Yellowstone Epic Horse Drive. It was all over in a flash, and my photos are mostly of the, um, back ends of the horses and clouds of dust. However, the 2 or 3 minutes that it lasted were pretty thrilling. The next day was the rodeo- probably the most fun event I’ve ever photographed. Look for those photos soon!

May 29, 2014

Melinda5 Comments

Bear Aware

Yesterday morning we noticed some activity on the road (park employees going up the hill, throwing rocks, not letting tourists out of their cars etc.) in front of my daughter’s house at Yellowstone; she mentioned casually that it was probably a bear. The bears are hungry and know that the elk mamas have their babies hidden in various spots around the area. I always try to act somewhat cool and un-touristy about these things, but eventually had to go outside with my camera. I edged around the side of the house and came upon two young black bears partway up a tree, with the park workers patiently waiting for them to come down. When they did, the guys chased them across the road, but they kept returning, especially the cinnamon colored one, who was not the least bit afraid of humans. Within a short while, there was a group of photographers with their long lenses gathered outside- how do they always know where to go? My husband and I went to town, and were surprised to see that the cinnamon bear was still on the hill across the street when we returned; the female elk had ganged up on him and chased him off the lawn. We haven’t seen any more of the bears since then, but it was a reminder that we are in Yellowstone and in bear territory.

May 28, 2014

Melinda3 Comments

New Growth

We are on the second week of our visit to our daughter’s family in Yellowstone National Park. A few days ago, we took our traditional drive through the park with our son-in-law as tour guide. This time we drove up to Dunraven Pass, where we enjoyed beautiful views of the spring meadows and hills, the snow capped mountains, and, of course, bison and elk.

As we got higher and higher, part of the burn area from the 1988 fire was clearly visible ahead. But as we drew closer, we could see the small green trees that have grown up between the skeletal burned pines, as the forest renews itself.

A small dried weed from last summer poked its way up through the snow.

All photos are textured with Kim Klassen’s canvasback and 2110.

Linking up with Texture Tuesday.

May 27, 2014May 26, 2014

Melinda6 Comments

View From the Front Porch

Bison and their babies!

Linking up with Friday Finds!

May 23, 2014May 23, 2014

Melinda3 Comments

Owls!

Before we came, my son-in-law texted me a fantastic iPhone shot of a great horned owl that he took from the front porch here at Yellowstone. I knew from my experience a couple years ago that there was probably a nest in the very high tree by the Visitors’ Center. I photographed mama and babies very unsuccessfully back then, and I really hoped to get a better shot this time. This morning I saw the other photographers lined up with their uber long lenses and tripods, and I joined them with my 18-200mm zoom and no tripod (I do have it with me, but it’s not going to help me get any closer). I did get a couple photos that are better than last time, and they are super cropped. I’m hoping to get a better shot when they are on a lower branch or a roof.

May 22, 2014

Melinda3 Comments

iPhoneography On The Road

Our road trip to Yellowstone gave me plenty of opportunity to practice my iPhoneography skills. The road was long, but scenic, and I had fun editing shots as my husband did the driving. Of course my Nikon was my main camera, but nothing beats a cameraphone for instant results- photos edited with iPhone apps, uploaded to Dropbox during the drive and immediately available on my laptop to post to my blog.

We stopped at Hoover Dam on the way to Yellowstone- first visit for both my husband and myself. Both these photos were edited in Snapseed using the HDR filter. I also warmed them up and added a bit of sharpening and “structure.”

We spent the night in Idaho Falls, a familiar stop for us. After dinner we drove over to the falls, where I snapped this photo. I used Snapseed again for a simple edit (contrast and sharpening) and also used the selective adjust feature to add a bit of a vignette (lightening the middle and darkening the edges). On my wishlist for Snapseed is a vignette filter! I do love the selective adjust feature however; it is similar to the control points used in Nik software.

As you can see from this photo (edited with Waterlogue, we arrived at Yellowstone!

I’m linking up today with Barb’s “app” happy Wednesday. I learn so much from reading her posts and the others who link to her.

May 21, 2014May 20, 2014

Melinda8 Comments

We were just seventeen . . .

When my husband and I got to Chico on Monday, we checked into our hotel and then headed over to Peet’s Coffee, my husband’s favorite coffee place in any town that has a Peet’s (we don’t have it in Arizona). When I saw the Beatles mural on the wall down the street, I was ECSTATIC knowing that my friend, Carol was coming to town the next day. We were pretty much Beatles fanatics during the sixties- so what better photo op could there possibly be than a Beatles mural (unless it was Paul or Ringo in the flesh!)?

As I was standing between two parked cars to snap these photos, the owner of one of the cars came along and offered to take a photo of both of us with the Fab Four. We couldn’t resist!

Linking up with Kim Klassen’s Friday Finds- we found the Beatles!

May 2, 2014May 2, 2014

Melinda8 Comments

Remembering

We were in Chico, my hometown, this week, because of business my husband had nearby. It was a very brief and bittersweet visit, because I knew I might not have occasion to return, now that we live in Arizona. My college roommate, Carol drove up from Sacramento to keep me company; I have some fun photos from that visit to share with you tomorrow!

On the way out of town yesterday, we stopped at the cemetery, where the ashes of my mother and three grandparents are located. On my other visits, I didn’t take time to really notice how beautiful the grounds are- or maybe it wasn’t at the same time of year. This time I took time to soak it all in.

Beautiful oaks shade the lawn.

The artificial flowers we put in the vases by their vaults have disappeared. My mother would have disliked them anyway; she was a lady with impeccable taste!

May 1, 2014April 30, 2014

Melinda3 Comments

Going Up

I edited another photo of Sedona’s Bell Rock for this week’s Texture Tuesday. This one was taken from partway up (which is about as far as I got), and is edited with two layers of Kim’s canvasback (color burn blend mode) and a couple “magic” textures. Happy April (no foolin’ )!

April 1, 2014March 31, 2014

Melinda6 Comments

Sedona Scene

Most of my photos from Sedona are of the grandkids, but I did take a few scenery shots- here’s one:

March 24, 2014

Melinda4 Comments

They’re Here!

It’s been a wild few days in our usually quiet retirement home here in Prescott- the grandkids are here (along with their mom and dad)! Today, we drove over to Jerome and Sedona; the boys’ favorite part was getting out of the car finally and walking (running!) partway up Bell Rock.

Their exuberance at being outside in a natural environment was evident!

March 21, 2014

Melinda2 Comments

Fast and Loose

Playing fast and loose with the word, photography, I’ve had some fun playing with some of my older photos, turning them into painting-like images. Here’s that same sailboat from a week ago- with a different crop and edited with filters and textures.

And here’s a duck meet-and-greet down at the Benicia waterfront.

March 17, 2014March 13, 2014

Melinda1 Comment

It’s a sailboat!

When we lived in Benicia, I photographed the waterfront fairly often and would almost always take shots of and through the grasses (anise?) along the shore. When we visited last month, I found myself making almost the same shots. And here in Arizona, I do the same thing; there is something about grasses and weeds that call out to be photographed-at least by me. This one was taken in Benicia; in fact, there is a sailboat in the background!Linking up with Friday Finds

March 7, 2014March 7, 2014

Melinda5 Comments

Two

We spent a few hours in Benicia on our California trip last week- long enough for me to visit the waterfront and take a few photos.

The photo below is of boats at the Yacht Club, with the refinery towers looming in background. I edited this in Photoshop, using a filter to “posterize” the image and adding one of the free Flypaper textures from Adobe Exchange.

This is your basic Benicia waterfront photo, edited in Lightroom.

February 20, 2014February 20, 2014

Melinda2 Comments

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.