I love blue, and after taking this multiple exposure of an agave, I was happy to see the blues come out as I played with it in Photoshop.
Blue Agave
Home is where the heart is
Waterfront Impressions
Just a little memory of our April visit to Benicia. We lived in Benicia longer than anywhere else (26 years), and when you add in the 12 years of living in Sonoma County, that makes the San Francisco Bay Area our home for about 38 years! The older I get, the harder the math is getting: We have lived in Arizona 11 years. We lived in Sacramento for 6 years too (not quite the Bay Area, but not far away). Chico was home for 23 years (including my college years at Davis). Don’t add it all up- it makes a really big number! I wish my math was off…
the day after
I thought of calling this The Twilight of America, but I decided that was too pessimistic. Can I see this differently? The American people have spoken. I hope that the future is not as bleak as I see it right now, but right now I see the things I value- inclusion, educating our children to think, women’s rights over their bodies, respecting differences, taking care of the less fortunate, valuing science- being rejected.
About the image- It started with seeing the moon last night at sunset- and noticing red, white, and blue appearing in the image as I looked at it on my phone. A good omen, I wondered? This morning I overlaid a doorframe and the stars and a texture. And it expresses my mood. You can interpret it as you wish- negatively as in my first paragraph, or the moon as a symbol of what is constant in the universe, despite politics and politicians.
Happy Halloween!
Oh the things that you see while walking down Mount Vernon Street on Halloween!
Halloween Nightmare
BOO! These are just some of the characters populating our town right now!
Spooky Walk
One of my absolute favorite things about Prescott is Mt. Vernon Street decorated for Halloween! We walked along last night to view the spooky decor, which seemed to be much more elaborate this year. Above is one of my favorite houses and below is a somewhat spookier view of the same house.
Being a dog lover, I couldn’t resist this porch decor on one of the houses!
Visitor
We had a dusting of snow this morning- along with a busy flock of yellow-rumped warblers! The snow was melting away as I went outside with my camera, but the warblers still swarmed the feeders as I snapped photos. This little guy waited in the willow tree (along with a few friends) for awhile, then back to the feeder.
Willow Lake Gold
This was taken at our last visit to Willow Lake, when the fields of gold were at their peak. I was surprised and pleased that this image won first place at our photo club this month!
Forest Fantasy
Just having a little Photoshop fun- layering and blending photos
Aurora
The aurora was visible right over our house last night!
I had received a text with a photo just taken of the aurora visible from Colorado. I didn’t have any real hope of getting a photo, because last time we drove all over Prescott trying to see it without any luck at all. I knew that it might not be visible to the naked eye and that people here had seen it before by taking iPhone photos. I went out to the driveway and just aimed my iPhone at the sky in a northeast direction and there was the purple! I did not see streaks or dancing lights or any green at all, but the color was definitely there. I used night mode on my iPhone for most of the shots so that I would see the stars against the dark background and increased the exposure slightly to get the color. My hands shake, so the focus on the stars isn’t perfect.
Below is another view looking out across the street from our driveway.
By the Shores of Willow Lake
We took a two hour walk at Willow Lake on Thursday- what a gorgeous Fall day! The grasses were golden, and the trees were starting to turn from green to yellow. At one point I did my favorite camera waving moves- and this was the result!
Talk Like a Pirate
I’m almost a week late sharing this, but a) it wasn’t quite finished on September 19 and b) I wanted to share it with my photo group before posting it. I took this photo at the parrot show at the Yavapai County Fair a couple weeks ago and knew as I took it that I wanted to create a painterly illustration of this wonderful pirate as he moved up onto the stage and stood in front of the rigging with his macaw (one of many birds he showed us). The image was a challenge for me to create, because there was a big awning thing and a motor home behind him, and getting rid of those distractions was a huge challenge for me.
Those of you who knew me before retirement as the teacher who held pirate treasure hunts every year will appreciate what a labor of love this image was to create! Aaaarrrrgh, matey!
Kansas Summer
Remembering our visit to Kansas this summer. . .
Rain Dance
The raindrops on my passenger window made swirly patterns on the ocean and trees as I moved my camera as we drove along the Turnagain Arm in Alaska.
Kaleidoscope
This piece was so much fun to create- it came together quickly out of two photos layered in Photoshop and a fair bit of brushwork. My photo club’s theme this month is Prescott/Prescott Valley, and after re-editing a photo shot a few years ago, I discovered that the lake where it was shot was just outside Prescott, so it didn’t adhere to the rules. On the last day to submit a photo, I woke up with the idea and inclination to throw caution to the wind and create an abstract- so here is Whiskey Row Kaleidoscope, a whimsical view of our iconic street of bars, restaurants, shops, and art. My friend Debbie came up with the title- thank you, Debbie!
And. . . to my surprise, it won third place at the photo club!!!
melinda anderson photography 