Long Lens Technique

Thanks to the expert tutelage of my friend, Carol, I am finally able to use my long zoom lens with the gimbal head I got for my birthday. I am working on assembling and disassembling the lens and tripod combo, as well as focusing and panning techniques for bird photography. I am far from competent, but am thrilled with my results so far!

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Quail, regular visitors to our backyard:

 

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July Sky

My friend, Carol, is visiting! After an afternoon at Barnstar Brewery and a delicious barbecue dinner, we all sat outside talking, laughing, and watching birds until after dark. As we got up to go inside, we were surprised to look up and see clouds which had not been visible earlier. Carol and I got our cameras to photograph the moon peeking out through the cloud cover and were surprised to see the colors that appeared in our images. Smoke from the fire? I don’t know.

In this shot, you can see a star in the lower part of the photo.

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The 19

Four years ago today the nineteen Granite Mountain Hot Shots (mostly from Prescott) lost their lives fighting the Yarnell fire. I remember that day well, because we were on our way to Prescott to buy a house- and all during that time the town was in shock and mourning. As this date approaches every year, tributes appear all over town. And in Yarnell, there are constant reminders. When we were there a few weeks ago, I spotted this door with nineteen purple ribbons.

Good news- the Goodwin Fire outside Prescott is about half contained, and today Highway 69 opened. We will be driving to Phoenix today to pick up my friend, Carol as she returns from another Moose Peterson trip (hummingbirds in the Tucson area), and will be so glad to take a direct route to the valley.

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Sunset and Smoke

A little impression of our sunset view last night- smoke and pink sky. Multiple exposure layered with a view of the moon from the other direction and an added texture. The fire continues to grow as I write this. We are far enough away to feel safe, but it is scary how fast it is growing.

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From the driveway. . .

A sad view indeed . . .

The Goodwin fire has been burning since Saturday, I think- and is over 4400 acres, forcing the evacuation of the town of Mayer and other small communities southwest of Prescott. And no, it is not contained or controlled. If you look closely at the photo, you can see one of the planes that were flying over the fire this afternoon. With this area’s still vivid memories of the 2013 fire that took the lives of 19 hot shots, fire is taken very seriously here. Although we are in the monsoon season, no rain is in the forecast.

A monochrome view:

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I think his name was John. . .

When we visited Yarnell with Joan and Rudy last week, Rudy spent some time talking to and photographing this delightful gentleman outside a local eatery. I snapped a quick shot and went inside, because I was hungry. Rudy ended up with a wonderful portrait, and I got this candid shot.

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Windmill Whirrrr

Different windmill- same day.

Rudy suggested I slow down my shutter to capture the motion of the blades- I like the effect! This is something Tom (my photo teacher) says to do with helicopters and propellers. Why have I never made that connection?

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Traditions

Over the weekend, we spent some time at ‘Tis, the gallery where my show took place. Yes, the Fourth Friday reception was wonderful, but the seemingly endless self-promotion part is finally done- so enough said about that! The main gallery had the annual Native American show- arguably the best show of the year- and it was phenomenal. On Sunday there was an exhibition of dances by an Apache family featuring their children, who are learning the hundreds of years old traditions of their people.

This image is a closeup of the dad playing one of several flutes he demonstrated .

iPhone image, edited in Photoshop and Topaz Impression

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