July 31

I can't say I'm wild about this subject matter. It's not my usual photo for sure. This bug (pale praying mantis?) sort of fell out of the tree and landed on our windshield, pretty much inviting me to photograph it. I like the windshield colors; they're really abstract. And the bug has nice contrast against the windshield wipers. The finger thingies look sort of neat too. And it has lips! I don't know though...I have a feeling I might look back at this one in disgust!

f/5.6, 1/100, 170mm, vivid

July 30

 These are some sort of nut tree (I think) orchard in Dixon. The fruit part was sort of fuzzy and apricot-shaped, but they were all cracked open a little, so I think it's really a nut. I have no idea what kind though; maybe almond. If not, it's a defective apricot!

I tried this photo with several different angles. The vanishing point lower right was by far the best. It's a little over-exposed in the foreground. It's a better photo enlarged (click on photo to enlarge it).

f/4.5, 1/125, 18mm, vivid, polarizer

July 29

I found this huge cactus patch a few miles from my house. Most of the cacti had already finished blooming, but this cactus is a late bloomer, with such a pretty colored flower too!

f/4.8, 1/10, 85mm

July 28

So I guess this is one way to fill the blank sky we get everyday here! These crows were all sitting on the sunflowers having a breakfast feast. I think it was a truck that scared them away, but it might have been me; it happened kind of fast. On the left horizon you can see two hot air balloons coming over the hills in the distance. There must have been ten balloons descending on Winters this morning.

f/4.2, 1/800, 62mm, vivid

July 27

I tried again for my glowing field photo today. This photo was taken about 20 minutes earlier than yesterday's, and the light is totally different! I only wish I could have gotten a deeper blue in the sky.

If you zoom in to the center of the horizon line you can see the Sacramento skyline.

f/22, 1/6, 19mm, vivid

June 26

When it comes to photos here I feel like a fish out of water. And that's almost literal, because when I didn't know what to photograph in Olympia I could always count on a water scene. Here it's fields in every direction. So I'm adjusting. I don't know what is planted in this field; it looks likes weeds but that's not the case. I've got a lot to learn about things here.

This would have been an awesome shot five minutes earlier...I was just pulling out of the parking lot in Target and saw the sun setting. This is looking east toward Sacramento. The city and the field were both glowing just minutes before, but it took me too long to set up. I like that you can see the Delta Breeze on some of the plants in the foreground. Expect to see a shot similar to this in the near future...I plan to try this photo again in the just-before-sunset glow.

f/22, 2.2sec, 18mm, vivid, WBsunny

July 25

This was the first morning since we've moved that I got up and headed out with my camera, and it was a really fun morning. There were a bunch of hot air balloons landing in a field west of town so I sort of chased them down. This was the brightest of the bunch. Turns out it's a group that goes up regularly out of Napa, but when the weather doesn't cooperate there they float over Winters instead. I did use my polarizer here. I have better sky color in other photos but I liked the balloon best in this one. Also liked the ant-like people who are helping bring it down.

I met a fellow photographer here this morning, and she suggested watermarking photos during our coversation, so this is my first attempt at a copyright watermark. f/4.2, 1/200, 72mm, vivid, polarizer

July 23

We're used to slugs on the pavement in the morning, but snails are another thing! I was surprised to find this little snail outside my front door this morning. Guess we have snails living in our yard?

I really didn't intend for this to be photo of the day, but I do like the angle, and I like how the snail is hiding behind the flowers. And the truth is, I hardly have time to spend on photography still, so it's a shot of my front porch today.
f/5.6, 1/125, ISO800, vivid

July 18

Here's my excuse for such a bad job keeping up with photography and posting to the blog lately. This is our living room on Day 3 of the move. (Kitchen took priority!) I'd say we turned the corner on boxes yesterday, so we should be mostly settled by the weekend.

f/3.5, 1/25, 18mm, ISO800

July 16

This tree shades our patio all morning. What are these puffy pink blossoms? They look like a Dr. Seuss creation.

f/5.6, 1/500, ISO800

July 12

Working the till at an antique bookstore in Ashland, Oregon. This is a Shakespeare town, and we were lucky enough to find the missing book to our Shakespeare series at this store. No tripod at the time, so it's as clear as I could get for a handheld photo.

18mm, f/4.5, 1/10

July 11

Today we drove along Highway 101 in Oregon.  We had some really amazing scenic views!  This was taken just after lunch.  The beach we stopped at was called Neptune.  The cool thing about Oregon is that the entire coastline is publicly owned.  This spot was a state park.  I'm glad the clouds frame this shot at the top.  I also like that my one large rock outcropping breaks the horizon line...maybe I could have gotten a sligthly lower angle even.
f/4, 1/320, 18mm, polarizer

July 10

 On the road this week...moving to California...

We went for an evening walk along the Willamette River in Corvallis, Oregon, where we're staying tonight.  This is a classic sort of shot for me to take.  I'm wondering what I'll do in the central valley without my old standby, the reflection shot...

f/5.6, 1/125, 35mm

July 8

Sort of hazy today but at least I got a seat on the side of the plane with the Mt. Rainier view!

f/5.6, 1/400, 55mm

July 7

I intended to get a photo of Big Sable Lighthouse, but I didn't realize that you can't drive to the lighthouse but have to park in a lot and hike four miles to it. So I nixed that idea, because I don't have time to do that today. On the way in to the State Park I saw this old tree so I thought it might make a nice photo. Lake Michigan is right on the other side of the dune, but really the sky was more interesting today anyway. When I drove by this tree the first time the sun was really bright and the white branches really glowed; I was waiting for the sun to come out from behind the clouds all the way, but it was actually getting cloudier so it's not as bright as I wanted.
f/5.6, 1/400, 18mm

July 6

Andrew waiting to go innertubing this morning. He's trying to flag down Bill and Jay, who have gone fishing. It was sort of hazy this morning but I think the colors are pretty clear. I'm really unhappy with my angle. I should have been a little lower down the hill so the tree branches would have framed the shot better.

f/5.6, 1/200, ISO100, 200mm

July 5

 Up here in Ludington, Michigan the milkweed is just starting to bloom and the monarch butterflies are arriving daily. I thought this was a pretty cool photo because I caught the butterfly landing on the milkweed flower, so the body is pretty much in focus and the wings are still a blur. That's Hamlin Lake in the background, and in the upper right corner, the sand dune is part of Ludington State Park. I originally had my aperture open and set the ISO to 200 to get a quicker shot, but I switched the aperture for a different photo with bigger depth of field. I'm glad I left it that way for this photo, because I think 1/160 gave just the right amount of motion on the monarch wing.

f/9, 1/160, ISO200

July 1

 Another day with seagulls. Today we were at the State Park. I wanted a flying seagull photo but I wasn't successful with that. So I guess this was my favorite from today.  I like the reflection, and the gull has some personality.

f/5.6, 1/640, ISO200