Painting with Flowers

 


Did I mention I am taking a photography class? I think I did not... well, I am and it is really fun. It is an online class from PPSOP. Last week part of our assignment was making photos where we intentionally move the camera during the exposure. It was so much fun.

One way is to do a little wiggle, jiggle, etc to make a Monet-inspired look like the picture above and these ones:








Another method is turning the camera to make a spinning or spiral effect.








Then there is moving left-right, up-down, or in totally random ways.








Instead of moving the camera, you can change the focal distance using a zoom lens.








You can check out the whole set here.

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Experiment - Reverse 50mm

Oh blog, I did not forget you. It is strange, somehow now that I am not "working" my schedule is even busier than when I was. Maybe I am trying to do all the things I have been wishing I could do when had to work instead. I am not sure but I am having lots of fun. Ok, I miss the paycheck part of my old job, but that is it. Working full-time (though pro bono) for The Mommies Network plus photography have given me a sense of purpose and direction I have not had in years.

On the photography front, I have been learning, challenging myself, and experimenting. Last night I was reading a photography book I just bought, Understanding Close-Up Photography, and the author talks about when he first discovered reverse mounting a lens. He used a 50mm and just held it by hand backwards against the camera. I was thinking, "no way!", so I had to try it.




Who would have thought, a macro lens from my $70 50mm portrait lens?!




The amazing thing to me was not just that this worked, but that these pictures came out as good as they did with me holding the lens, using no tripod, and shooting this inside at night with no flash (and pretty crappy lighting in the room as well).




I did adjust the white balance on all but the yellow flowers since the light in the room has a yellow hue that turned the white to a sort of sepia color.




Now I will have to add reversing ring to my ever growing wish list of camera supplies. This is when that old paycheck would come in handy.

The full set is, as always, on my Flickr account.

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Red Rock Canyon

Just southwest of Las Vegas (you can see the casino's on the strip it is so close) is Red Rock Canyon. It is what I think of when I imagine Nevada. It gets its name from, you guess it, the red in the rocks and mountains. It is the same red that is all over Valley of Fire.






Red Rock Canyon also has cactus.










Tucked away in the canyon is a waterfall and stream. In the area fed by the stream are wonderful trees with green and yellow leaves. In a place where moisture is abundant, a tree is just part of the scenery. In the desert, that same tree is an oasis of green and life.

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Valley of Fire

Just north of Las Vegas is a wonderful state park called Valley of Fire. I had heard my sister talk about it a few times but we never got around to going there until our last trip to visit them. I am kicking myself that we never went sooner, and hoping we will go again.

To say it was amazing would not come close to capturing the feeling as you first are able to see the pink-orange landscape. If I ever wondered what it might be like to stand on Mars, I think I have a good idea now.






The girls had fun climbing around the rocks and inside the caves and holes.







The day ended with a spectacular sunset.

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While they look at Geocache treasure...

... I take pictures. It makes a good cover too. I just do not get that excited over the actual cache part of geocaching. I love that it gets us out to new places we have not been before. Here are some pictures I took of the girls while geocaching in Sacramento.

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Fun with leaves

One thing I have missed since we moved here is Fall leaves. Most of the trees here are pines, firs, and Eucalyptus. Even the trees that do lose their leaves, like our fruit trees, can't really tell what season it is and when to drop their leaves since the weather is so mild. Our poor plum tree still has half of its leaves and January is nearly over.

So, it came as no surprise to me that the girls though raking the leaves at Grandma's house was great fun.









Even playing in the green-waste bin was fun.





You may notice that Autumn is missing from these pictures. She's gotten too that age where she won't let me take her picture. So, no pictures of Autumn in Autumn this year.

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Islay Hill

If I am going to the beach, I love a clear blue sky. Not when I am taking pictures. We took a hike up Islay Hill one rainy day and I was in photographer heaven. The views were amazing and the sky was a wavy ocean of grey.



Just down the other side of the hill we came upon this cross.



The railroad tracks curving through Edna Valley.

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Rough day

Today has been thoroughly depressing. My team was laid off today. The fact that I lost my job is actually not what is depressing me. I know there are lots of exciting things out there for me to work on and we planned for this so the financial aspects of it are not devastating. What is making me sad is leaving a company I really enjoyed working for and a team that I loved being a part of. I am so bummed that I will not get to continue working with my colleagues. I know I was not going to stay in this job and with this team for my entire career. It just feels different when you make the choice to make a change versus when someone else makes it for you, and by surprise.

My blog is going to change a bit going forward. I will still be blogging pictures but now that I do not have my work blog, I will be blogging geeky stuff that I used to blog there.

In the mean time, I am going to enjoy some time with my family, the beach, and getting my garden ready for this year.

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Zebras, elephant seals, and windsurfing

Not windsurfing zebra or elephant seal though, too bad. I am once again months behind in my pictures. I am mot sure how I keep letting that happen but it seems to be the norm rather than the exception for my 2008 pictures.

Back in October we spent some time up in San Simeon. Here are some pictures from our day.









Laura wanted to take pictures too.





Did you know we have zebra here... I mean ones that are not in a zoo? We do. It was a trip the first time I saw them. W. R. Hearst brought them here when he had is private zoo at Hearst Castle. Now they live on the hills next to Hwy 1 along with the cows (and eat from their troughs).

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Toilets

I am always looking for fun and unique picture opportunities. I really enjoy taking time to appreciate things that we overlook every day. So, to say I was excited when my friend, Henry, told me about a big pile of old toilets walking distance from my house is an understatement.

There is a group that takes out older, water-wasting toilets and puts in low flow toilets. At least some of the removed toilets are all out in front of their office near my house. Laura and I went over to take pictures and had a great time.

This one was Laura's favorite because it had butterflies on it:



My little photographer:



I noticed they have different toilets out there now and I am going to go back and take some more pictures soon.

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