We just spent a wonderful week in the Palm Springs area with our daughter’s family- hanging out, swimming and relaxing with our grandboys. One morning, we drove with our son-in-law to a botanical garden and had a lovely time looking at the variety of desert plants. I had fun photographing the curves of the agave leaves, which just seemed to call out for some intentional camera movement. Afterward we had lunch at the amazing Manhattan in the Desert- always a favorite!
What else can you do with flowers beyond their prime? Freeze them, of course!
With the approach of Spring, I was in the mood for Lensbaby photography. I purchased some poppies at the grocery store, but realized when I got them home that they were already beginning to wither. No matter- I love taking photos of flowers at every stage from bud to their demise. This one is my favorite.
And below is a diptych with another in the series, both shot with the Velvet 56 to emphasize the blur.
Just having fun here. . .
And here is the last imaginarius image for now. It was suggested that these would be good backgrounds/textures to combine with other images. I love the minimalism of these images on their own, but have worked a few into other images. Stay tuned!
Just another intentional camera movement image taken through my glass apple last weekend. . .
I watched a video tutorial on intentional camera movement the other day, and, inspired by a photo friend who did a whole series of ICM images in her bedroom while ill, I created a series while watching the video. I used a glass apple from my teaching days and focused into the glass, swirling my camera around, picking up other colors. I am calling my series Imaginarius, because of the imaginary landscapes and abstracts created by this process. I will post more in the next week or so.
This image started out as a raven in a snowstorm, but evolved into something else as I played with layers and colors. Maybe a raven in a color storm? A pastel raven? This illustrates that, in my world, the photo is just the beginning.
Our snow has melted after hanging around for a week. Today’s photo was taken in January on our trip up to Snow Bowl in Flagstaff. It was snowing lightly, and fog obscured some of the trees in the distance- creating another winter white image.
As we drove along one of the main streets in Rancho Cucamonga towards our son’s house, we were treated to beautiful views of the snow-covered mountains ahead. The street had a row of palms along the median, and I was struck by the contrast of the palm trees and the snow ahead. I hunched down in my seat and was able to capture this shot with my iPhone through the windshield.
The Thumb Butte sits overlooking Prescott like a guardian. I always think of it as a mother figure protecting the town, but from this angle it looks more like a maned lion to me. I’ve always wanted to capture this side view, and, as we drove on Iron Springs Road, the final leg of our journey home from California, I was able to hold my iPhone steady enough to capture this shot through the window as we zoomed by. And then we were home!
Winter has finally hit Prescott! Until yesterday, our snowstorms had been short lived, depositing just a few inches that mostly melted by the end of the day. Yesterday’s storm left almost a foot of heavy wet snow, and today’s snow is expected to last most of the day. We are blaming the atmospheric river coming from the west.
Yesterday, our backyard birds emptied the feeders, so I took some extra birdseed and sprinkled some on the birdhouse. I was hoping for a photo like the one above, but the birds didn’t notice the extra seeds. Within an hour, however, a lone javelina came to eat up whatever birdseed had fallen to the ground.
This morning, a dozen or so sparrows, a finch, and a couple spotted towhees discovered the birdseed and flocked to the birdhouse. I stuck my lens through the sliding glass door and managed to get some shots of the sparrows through the dead willow branches and the falling snow.
Scottsdale’s annual Canal Convergence event along the downtown waterfront provided so many opportunities for interesting street photography mixed with light and art- and of course, water. What are you looking at here? I’ll leave it up to your imagination!
Out for a walk last week, we took time to stand quietly and watch birdlife- mallards, Canada geese, coots, a hawk, redwing blackbirds, egrets and one heron. Using multiple exposure camera techniques, I created this impressionistic image of the heron waiting patiently for prey in the waters of Willow Lake.
Although it is winter now, it seems like yesterday that our backyard birds were hiding among the leaves instead of enduring freezing temps and dodging raindrops and snowflakes.
This is another in my Bird by Bird series.
melinda anderson photography 