or… how palm trees are born…
Having fun with multiple exposures! This is definitely on the very edge of what I like to create.
Palm Tree Castle
Beach Patrol
Watching egrets on a southern California beach was new to us. We were used to seeing them in the marshes of the Bay Area, but watching them march through the waves on Newport Beach was a whole different experience. I took many more photos than I needed!
Sea Watch
This photo taken at Newport Beach tickles my funny bone and makes me smile. It’s even in the place of honor on my iPhone lock screen. If you have an appropriate caption for it, let me know!
Pelican Days
We took a quick, last minute trip to Southern California to visit our son’s family before Thanksgiving. We spent a couple days at Newport Beach, spending time each day at the beach and meeting up with the family for the evening. It was so relaxing to be back at one of our favorite spots! The weather was great, the beach not crowded, and we saw lots of beach birds. What was surprising to us as infrequent visitors was that the pelicans were on the beach, not just flying low over the water as we usually see them. We were closer to them than we ever can remember. One of the days we drove up to Huntington Beach, and as we walked on the pier, this fellow landed on the rooftop above us. Soon another joined him, and we had a great time pelican watching. I took so many photos that I not only had to change batteries, but ran out of room on my SD card!
Flower Fantasy
Blue on blue- a flower fantasy with a bit of Photoshop magic!
Lunar Eclipse- Election Day
We were up late OR got up early…
Whatever we were… we saw it… and it was magnificent! These shots don’t nearly do it justice. I don’t know if these are my best shots- too many to look at.
Feeling very sleep deprived, but it was worth it.
Camera nerds: I didn’t even know I could push my ISO so high (20,000 at one point- this was 12,800 on the right).
Leaves in Ice
A few days ago, the wind blew some beautiful leaves into our driveway. I remembered making some images a few years ago of flowers I had frozen and decided to try the process with leaves. I am currently working on creating abstracts using in-camera multiple exposures, and I find it interesting how the doubly exposed ice and leaves interacted with each other to create this abstract image.
Aspen Impressions
Memories of last year’s trek up the hill to Flagstaff to visit the aspen groves
Fall Tapestry
Fall has arrived here with cooler temperatures, some rain, and a lot of WIND! We actually turned the fireplace on last night during Monday night football (okay, I was doing genealogy on my iPhone…). We haven’t made it up to Flagstaff to see the aspens- so here’s an image from last year.
It’s All in the Details (part 2)
More Downtown Details today! Above is the light fixture hanging in a doorway of the old Masonic building, and below is the clock on the same building. By the way, these photos were taken in the morning- and the clock reads two o’clock- hence its title- Correct Time Twice a Day.
to be continued…
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…
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.
The Little Farm
A recent assignment for our photo group was an image with a “vintage” feel. I chose a Kansas barn and windmill shot with a Lensbaby Edge80. The Edge 80 is certainly not a vintage lens, but the areas of blur and the brown tones added in post-processing hopefully give this photo an old-timey feel.
Rain-soaked
We had a storm today. I mean- we had a STORM! To put it in perspective, this was NOT a hurricane- but it was similar to a very strong monsoon storm, though monsoon season is over. This afternoon at about 1:45, the rain started- and the thunder- and the lightning- and the hail- and finally the wind. I was just about to begin my genealogy meeting on ZOOM this afternoon, when the storm intensified, and a couple of the gals lost power and disappeared from the zoom screen. I had just started our check-in (where we talk about our genealogy progress since the last meeting), when our electricity went out. This was a problem for everyone, since I was the one doing the presentation and then playing a video! The storm continued, Lonnie got out flashlights (it was pretty dark), and I ran outside to capture cushions being tossed about by the wind. After about 15-20 minutes, to my surprise, our power came back on- though the storm continued.
I was able to go back on zoom, and my friends were still there waiting for the meeting to continue! All went on without incident, though it rained and thundered and blew outside.
After dinner, I went outside to our street, which was covered in mud that had washed down the hill from the house construction site across from us. This is a shot of the street below at sunset, after the rain and flooding had stopped. Everything is water-saturated, but the only sign of all the drama from earlier is the tipped-over porta-potty from the house construction down below. Normally, I would clone that out in Photoshop- but I chose to leave it as evidence of the crazy weather from this afternoon!
Simply Fall
Before I set up last week’s still life with the milk can, wheat, lantern and a multitude of pumpkins, I set up a simpler scene on a table for a test shot as I checked the focus and exposure. I soon realized that there wasn’t enough room for everything on the table and decided to move the whole tableau to the floor by the front door. After I finished editing that image, which I took to my photo group, I came across my original test shot. It is a much simpler composition and is edited fairly simply with an added texture- and (shhhhh…) I prefer this one.
melinda anderson photography 