We are having a late Spring, and I don’t think I’ve seen our two fruit trees produce half as many blossoms as they are this year! The bees have discovered the apple blossoms, and I hope this is predictive of a good apple crop (there’s always a first time…). I am loaning my Lensbaby 56 to a friend, so I thought that before that I would use it for the blossoms. It creates a soft glowy effect which I think works beautifully on spring images.
What a sweet face this Cooper’s? Hawk has as it sits atop the shepherd’s pole waiting for birds to come out of the bushes to get breakfast from the feeder hanging below! I only got one click of the shutter through the window and off it flew! Update: Although my Merlin birding app identified this photo as a sharp shinned hawk (with Cooper’s as second choice), my son-in-law thinks it is a Merlin Falcon, and he is pretty sure. Lonnie thought it was a falcon as it flew in- and I thought kestrel or peregrine falcon because of its size, but I trusted my app! Now I’m not so sure!
Meanwhile across the yard, our Gambel’s quail family was making an entrance. The mom has discovered the Bird Buddy in the apple tree and enjoyed her breakfast for a good ten minutes as I took photos through the window.
We visited Tumacacori State Historical Park two years ago, which inspired me to create a series of abstracts reflecting my feelings and memories of this place and time. I was looking through this series and found many images which I’ve never shared on this blog. This one began as a multiple exposure from inside the church.
It was snowing lightly as we left our neighborhood at noon today for a little drive. As we left our neighborhood, we could see dark skies to the south, and as we headed toward town, we could see Thumb Butte shrouded in fog. We drove up to the Resort on a bluff overlooking town, and, as I took this shot, sunshine and big puffy clouds were to the right and behind me which illuminated the VA Hospital below.
I always love how snow transforms our downtown- and how intentional camera movement gives the scene a dreamy quality. I think we should be done having snowy days; snow from our last storm a few days ago was mostly melted by afternoon. Bring on Spring!
I got up before daybreak on last week’s snowy day and ventured outside into the barely visible snow. I used the intentional camera movement technique with bigger apertures than usual in the dim light and liked this image of the neighbors’ lights glowing through the trees.
Another view of sunrise at Whitewater Draw
Just a little abstract expressing my mindset these days…
The sun broke through the fog at Whitewater Draw presenting us with an unforgettable scene. Behind us though, the cranes were still almost invisible in the early morning fog. Time for photographers to head to breakfast!
Our second day of shooting started well before sunrise- in fact Lonnie and I did the half hour drive from Bisbee through the farmlands in complete darkness and then dense fog as we got closer. We were the first to arrive and sat in the car waiting for light and our fellow photographers to arrive. The cranes began to vocalize as the first rays of light appeared and soon were headed out to feed on the nearby farms. The dense fog made the cranes almost invisible, but this image is actually one of my favorites.
I have just returned from photographing sandhill cranes at Whitewater Draw in southern Arizona. Lonnie and I went with a group of people from my camera club- and this was my very first time seeing the cranes, as well as photographing birds in flight. It was an amazing, bucket list type adventure- such a wonderful escape from stress! I highly recommend taking a break from the news, soaking yourself in nature and just watching the birds. What does BIF mean? Birds in Flight of course!
After trying unsuccessfully to capture ducks in flight the other day, I went to my comfort zone- intentional camera movement. My patient husband took custody of my tripod and long lens while I waved my camera around and took photos.
We returned yesterday from 10 days in Scottsdale where we brought in the New Year with our children and grandchildren. Almost all the time was spent in the pool and hot tub, and besides being a precious time to reconnect with our grandsons, it was a delightful break from the to-do’s of everyday life. All the images today were made with intentional camera movement and a slow shutter to reflect the relaxed days by the pool. Above are the lounges by the pool, and below are Papa and the boys watching football on the outside TV and grandson Miles playing ping pong. Ahhh the lazy, hazy days of January. . .
Looking back to last winter- I hope to see some more of this white stuff in the coming weeks.
It was soooo cold (with no snow), but that did not stop people from walking around Courthouse Square looking at the decorations. The trees and gazebo were all lit up creating a magical atmosphere for walking on this December night.
melinda anderson photography 