what I've been shooting this week #2 ...

It is cool enough to get outside a bit more and I am enjoying it - butterflies, hummingbirds and everything blooming. Our September soakers have brought everything back to life again. My poor lemon tree that never seems to know what season it is, is blooming right now. No more words, just some images from this past week. So happy to welcome autumn!

As always, if you have any photography questions, I will be glad to help. I can't seem to figure out how to put a sidebar link for my flickr, Instagram and pinterest accounts. If anyone can help, I would appreciate it. My lack of computer skills frustrates me but then I remember, I would rather be taking pictures.

Hope you have a happy week!

PADD...

I think I may have PADD. For those of you not familiar with this affliction, PADD is Photographers Attention Deficit Disorder. Let me give you an example of my morning. I woke up with the best of intentions of things that must be done today. I decide I need to start my day with some breakfast, which I often skip. My go-to is a bowl of Special K with fruit on top. I grab the strawberries from the frig and take them to the sink to wash. As I am running the water over them, I look at the basil plant on the window sill (thank you, Trader Joes, you had it just when I needed it). I think about how good it smells and how happy I am that it has been protected from our week of freezing temperatures. I get a knife to cut the strawberries. I look at the basil again and see the way the light is coming through the back of the leaves. It is a gentle light but the veins of the leaves are so pretty. There is light coming from the sides and a bit from behind me too. I grab my camera to take a few quick shots. Luckily, the macro is already on and the camera is close by so I am only distracted for a few minutes.

I cut the strawberries and put them on my cereal. I start thinking about the light on the basil leaf as I pour the milk on my cereal. I decide to bring the basil into the living room to check the beautiful morning light from the east. The light changes quickly so I want to check right way. I move the plant around the room but don't see the light I am hoping to find. I look out the window and decide that I would find just what I need there. I take the plant outside, with camera in hand. It is cold. I am only in my jammies. It is really cold. I decide that I can get a quick shot. I put the plant where I think the light is best and realize that isn't the right light. I decide that I am too cold to play around any more with this so go to pick up the plant. I realize that the shadows playing through the leaves look like Tinker Bell. I know that if my daughter was here, she would completely agree. I know if my son or husband were here, they would be shaking their heads. I can't walk away from Tinker Bell, no matter how cold. I take a quick couple of shots and head back toward the door. As I am looking at my LCD screen, I realize I forgot to adjust the ISO so go back to take another quick shots. It is cold.

I am finally, inside. It is so cold out there. I have to shower and get dressed. I notice the cereal, now soggy. I figure it won't hurt to wait another minute while I get the card downloading. I put the card in the computer and start thinking that it would be fun to put a Tinker Bell quote on this photo. I google Tinker Bell. I find out that her name is not Tinkerbell, as I thought, but Tinker Bell. I start reading Tinker Bell quotes, trying to find my favorite. My card has downloaded. I have to take a peek at the photos. I know that I still don't have the shot that I was "seeing" when I first looked at the basil plant but I can try that again later. I find the Tinker Bell quote I want to use. I take a second look at the photos and decide which one I like best. I second guess myself. Does this really look like Tinkerbell? I think it does. I pull up the photo in PS and start to work the text. I play around with fonts. I have too many fonts. I really need to find a way to organize them. I decide that this one (2 Peas shenanigans) isn't exactly what I had in mind but it works. My daughter likes the word shenanigans so I figure since she may be the only one who would agree this looks like Tinker Bell, it is the right one to use. I do a quick process and add the quote. I size it for flickr.

I start wondering if other photographers are like this. I should ask. Maybe, I'll write about it on my blog. If I don't write it now, I know I never will.

That cereal looks bad.

I am still cold.

Yes, I think it's PADD.



********************hint:

a little gathering of nature for Christmas...

Pine bough from our Christmas tree, red berries from the nandina bush, pine cone from my birthday picnic on the mountains. Annabelle texture from the 12 Days of Texture by Kim Klassen.

thank you, Kim Klassen...

As a photographer, I feel like my creativity ebbs and tides. Sometimes I am on a roll, sometimes I feel like things are getting repetitive and stale. Friends introduced me to textures last year. Thanks to Kim Klassen's lovely textures, I am able to jump start my creativity by playing around in Photoshop. Kim is hosting the 12 days of textures right now. Check it out.
I can't stop photographing jingle bells.

texture tuesday...

Leaves from the mountains. Gourd from the store. Weathered table from years of use and abuse. A little bit of late afternoon autumn light. I think I found some autumn in the desert.

I am continuing to try to learn more about Photoshop. Participating in Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday seems like a good way to do that. Thank you, Kim, for your generosity.

photoshop...

cracker jack texture by Kim Klassen

I have a love/hate relationship with Photoshop. When I first started with digital, I didn't want to alter my photos at all. They were what they were. It took me long enough to even think digital was a good idea so altering my photos was never going to happen. I saw photos that were altered so much, previously lovely children almost had an alien plastic doll look with eyes like no one had ever seen. I knew I wasn't interested in that. I saw photos of middle aged women without any smile lines. I knew I wasn't interested in that. I saw photos that had the look of all my faded photos from the bad film of the 70's. I knew I wasn't interested in that. Then I realized that I could change my photos to black and white. I could make them just the kind of black and white I loved - dark blacks, white whites and lots of contrast. Then I realized that I could tone them a bit to look like different eras of black and white film. All of a sudden, I was cropping, sharpening and even popping the color once in a while. I still didn't know much about Photoshop but I could do a few things.

Adding textures to photos has intrigued me for a long time but I really didn't know how to do that. Friends led me to Kim Klassen, queen of the textures and extremely generous with her creations. All of a sudden, I actually liked playing with Photoshop. It was fun to take a photo and then alter it with Kim's textures. It became art for someone like me who can't draw or paint.

These days, I do love Photoshop. I still rather spend my time behind the camera instead of in front of the computer but I do have fun. And I have to admit, once in a while, I change a photo to look just like those faded pictures from the 70's.

ahhhhh, peaches...

I wait all year for peaches. I eat them on my cereal, for snacks, for dessert and sometimes, if WB is lucky, I will make a pie with them. For me, I am happier with just a ripe, juicy peach. Nothing else needed.

Fooling around with Photoshop and textures. I really don't have a clue but it sure is fun. Aurora texture by Kim Klassen.

poor neglected blog...

Winter came back for just a quick goodbye yesterday. It was wondrous. The rain was steady all day and some of the night. We hunkered down with a fire, good food and lots to read. Okay, I was reading and poor WB was working on our taxes. Because wet city reflections are hard to find around here, after it got dark we headed downtown. I don't have much more to say about these photos but I couldn't get enough of the reflection and sparkle.
























{I used a 16-35 lens at 2.8 for these.}

a change in plans...

This morning, we bundled up early to go watch the blue herons. It is nest building season and we love watching them fly with branches in their beaks. We left the house and headed west. There in the sky was another sight. The herons would still be there next weekend.

We were going to chase balloons.



While I keep my eyes peeled to the sky, WB is excellent at translating:

"Turn this way."




















"I need to get beyond those wires."

"I need to have my back to the sun."




















"I like the colors on that balloon better than this balloon."















He always manages to get me in just the right place and at just the right time.

a bowl of tomatoes...

While I was taking pictures of tomatoes yesterday, all I could think of was "The Four Seasons", a movie from the '80's. There was a character who was an obsessed photographer, working to get just the right shot. "For a year and a half, all we talked about was zucchini. Then for another year it was green peppers - that was a nice change."

I am always surprised when I hear people who enjoy photography say that they have nothing to shoot. My problem seems to be just the opposite. Everything catches my eye. Too much catches my eye. I notice the shape of the lamp. I see my husband's hands as he works in the garden. The light falls on the clean stack of dishes. Or I walk by a bowl of tomatoes.

I am hoping, unlike Anne in "The Four Seasons", that I will be able to move on from the tomatoes. Should not be a problem since we will be eating these tonight.

better days...

Imagine my delight when I saw this old truck in the snow. We desert dwellers don't get to see snow very often. Finding this truck made my photographic heart sing with excitement. When I got closer and saw the inside, also covered with snow, it was even better. I could have stayed for hours. I'll be back again some day to photograph this beauty in the sunshine.

a few images from December...

and a toast to the new year:


Happy New Year, everyone!

reflecting on giving...

Mother Nature gives and gives to me. I only hope that by trying to capture her with my camera, I am giving a bit in return.

phototgraphy fun with holiday lights...

Don’t you love the lights of the holidays? They give a lovely glow and set the mood for the festivities. I am pretty much a white lights kind of girl. I don’t especially like them to flicker or race. I just like the quiet, peaceful look. That is not to say that I don’t appreciate seeing all other kinds at other people’s houses, because I do. We have what our kids call “old school” lights across our roof – the big bulbed multi-colored lights. I would rather have a peaceful white there too but I bow to tradition.

Starry lights
It is possible to get a star effect on holiday lights without using a filter. Set a very small aperture (higher number, I know, I know, SO confusing!). For these photos, I used an aperture of f/22. Because you are using such a narrow aperture, you will need to have a long shutter speed which will mean a long exposure. Your pictures will be blurred if you handhold these shots, so use a tripod or some other steady surface. A table, a chair, a stack of books, a step stool, anything that is flat and steady will do. Obviously, tripods are easier because of the mobility but don’t let the lack of a tripod stop you. Set your camera to aperture priority and set the number to f/22. The camera will figure out how fast to make the shutter speed. Be sure not to use a flash. That will spoil the whole effect. Bracket your exposures, trying different settings. You may have click to make these photos larger to see the star effect.

Even the traffic lights are a lovely Christmas red and green.

Look at the star effect on the lights on top of the armoire. These are just ordinary small white lights.


Crazy lights
The holidays give us lights that we don’t normally have available the rest of the year. It gives us a lot of opportunity to play.
This first image is a shot of the tree in front of our downtown library, taken in a standard way.




















This image uses the zoom technique. For this shot, I had my camera on a tripod and zoomed in and out with my lens while the shutter remained open, again for four seconds. To get your shutter speed slow enough, set a small aperture (remember, larger numbers) and keep a low ISO number (which will also help prevent a lot of grain). I was using a 24-78 zoom on this but any zoom lens would work.




















This is a shot of a front entry. The zoom light effect is from color lights across the roof line and little white lights around the arch and on a small tree.

For this one I twirled the camera while my shutter remained open for 4 seconds. You can see the streaks from the big bulb kind of lights and the smaller white ones.





















Hope you have a chance to play around with holiday lights. You'll never know what you will get.

shoot the moon...

There is a full moon tonight. Did you know it is a "blue moon"? There are actually two definitions of a blue moon. The more modern definition is the second full moon that occurs during a month. The Farmers' Almanac definition is an extra full moon that occurs during a season. One season normally has three full moons. If a season has four, the third full moon of that season is considered a blue moon. For 2010, the time between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, will have four full moons. Tonight's is the third so it is called a blue moon.

If you are interested in learning more about photographing the moon, I was a guest writer with the Mortal Muses. You can find my article here.

Even if you don't plan to photograph the moon, take a step outside tonight to enjoy the view. It never gets old.

an unexpected visitor for dinner...

We are so happy to be eating outdoors again. The weather is perfect and we enjoy the visitors that join us. My first step was to cut some sage to use on the table. I was completely influenced by this lovely table that Jain shared. I have had this sage but for some reason have never cut some to enjoy on the table. As I was cutting it, there were others who were enjoying it even more.


I just took a little bit to enjoy on the table.



I wasn’t very happy with the light when I first photographed this table. When I decided to try again, I was surprised to see that we had an unexpected visitor. Can you spot her? (hint: look at the top of the flowers in the vase.)





We enjoyed this table after dark.

And during the blue hour.



And you would think this is the end of the story. It isn’t.

I brought in everything off the table except the vase of sage. I decided to leave it outside. Because we sometimes have bobcats that visit, I decided to put the vase on the table that was under the patio roof so it wouldn’t get bothered. Imagine my surprise the next morning to see a hummingbird at the vase enjoying her breakfast. I startled her a bit when I went outside with my camera but soon she was back allowing me to shoot as much as I wanted.
It was as if I set up a photo shoot with a hummingbird; perfect light, perfect distance and even a comfy place to sit. If I had only known it was this easy…


The sage was gathered on Saturday. It is still on the table four days later and the hummingbirds are still enjoying it. I can't get over their tiny little feet!

Please join Susan and the other tablescapers for some lovely tables at Between Naps on the Porch.