4/29/09

111/365 inspiration


All my bookshelves are packed so I'm rediscovering my photo inspiration books that were in the office so they didn't get packed. So visually stimulating .... I really need to break out of my house and try some new viewpoints!
Thank goodness for the library too - books keep me sane.

110/365 photos and more photos


This is one of the 7 bins of photos that I sorted through, organized, scanned and am still editing in the computer. Think I ended up with over 6,000 pics. Pat, I know you have more - better get started!
The project was both a joy and a trial - so much pleasure remembering events and travels; so much bother trying to figure out when things happened and how old the boys were in any given picture - and so time consuming to scan.

109/365 working hard



A self-portrait of a standard daily activity. Still working on my photos and digital scrapbooking. Thank goodness the computer wasn't packed before the move fell through - in addition to keeping me in touch with the world, it's my entertainment. I actually convinced Dan that I need a newer, more memory computer to handle the graphics and photo editing stuff I do - ordered it yesterday. Yay!

108/365 Sunbathing



Dan's off to Kingman again, the weather is sunny and beautiful, I'm tired of sitting inside among boxes, so outside I go. Starting the newest 'family book club' selection. Pretty serious stuff!

4/24/09

106/365 Oleander


Once again, up early and since the wind was calm, I was drawn outside to the few flowers that have opened. This is on our oleander tree. Remember the fuzzy pods from a couple weeks ago? That was the oleander tree pre-bloom. We have wind advisories for later in the day so I'm glad I got my picture taken early.
Dan will be home from Kingman tonight and I'm SO looking forward to having him home for the weekend.

4/23/09

105/365 Patterns


Just this morning one of my photography newsletters was making the suggestion to watch for patterns for photos. I went to the Strip to meet a friend for a drink and voila! while I'm sitting in traffic (again) I notice patterns and whip out the trusty camera. Luckily I had the telephoto lens and was sitting there long enough to catch a segment with no cars or people in the way. This is the fence between the Strip and Bellagio shot across a couple lanes of traffic.




Since I was in the neighborhood, I wandered into the Bellagio conservatory - tulip season is past so they'd filled most of the garden with daisies and azaleas - not nearly as pretty as all the masses of tulips. But I was able to get this little "fountain" that was off to the side with a few little tulips and hyacinths left.

spirograph III


spirograph III, originally uploaded by ben matthews :::.

Here's another great flickr artist. He calls his photos lightpainting. Made with long exposures and a flashlight or sometimes a neon tube. Sometimes he's in them, but mostly it's shapes and designs made from light. In reading his comments, sometimes he combines as many as 8 or 9 images of 3 minute exposure each to create a finished photo. Really creative! If you want to see more, check his flickr photostream by clicking on his name under the photo.

104/365 Bottlebrush


These are the coolest looking flowers with those bright flourescent green tips - and a big draw for hummingbirds. Used my macro lens for this closeup. Tried a variety of DOF options, this turned out the best.

103/365 Texture



I love the texture on this tree trunk in our yard. Since I couldn't sleep and was up at 5am, thought I'd take the camera outside and was drawn again to this pepperberry tree.

102/365 Tigger & moving


Though she hates the hubbub of moving, she certainly has attached herself to this blanket the movers left. It's currently her favorite place to snooze.

4/20/09

101/365 Cactus Sculpture


Went for a walk in the neighborhood Sunday and found this cactus that looks like a person - it's huge.

100/365 waiting to be packed


We had to halt the packing at this point and these hadn't made it into a box yet....














The house half packed; just enough to be inconvenient but not enough that we have to live in a hotel. Is that the positive in this?

99/365 Work or Play?


The eternal question. Do I do what I want to do or what I should do? Pictures holes to be filled are calling to me.......but I really think I deserve a glass of wine first......

98/365 busy Dan


With every move Dan packs all our electronic stuff - partly because he wants to be sure it's done right and so that he can remember how all those cords attach. And there are a LOT of cords!

97/365 Hot Here


No pictures for day 95 & 96 - getting ready to move.
A sure sign that summer is here - time to wash all the bedding, pack away the flannel sheets (white ones) and bring out summery, cool stripes. Since our new washing machine is smaller, washed the king comforter & blankets and everything that wasn't packed.

4/19/09

A site to check out....

http://aviary.com/halloffame


Through the site Worth1000 I found this shareware photo editing site - it's a great place to try out photo manipulating without the expense of a full blown program but still get great, creative results. If you don't have pictures of your own, download a couple from flickr or yahoo pics that are not copyrighted and play around. This gallery page features some great examples of creative picture making.....wander through at your leisure / pleasure.

As the email explains, we've run into a glitch with the moving - it's been a little stressful this week so the 365pic thing has taken a back seat. Might try to post a couple that I did manage to take tomorrow.

4/13/09

94/365 nuthin but net


Hammock net. DOF (depth of field) practice.
As we're getting ready to move this weekend, I'll keep the camera handy and try to remember to take time to find a photograph. It may be a slim week of pics though....
Dan went to Kingman last night and starts work this morning. He'll be back Wed. night to help get ready for the movers.

4/11/09

92/365 Big Brush



A close up of a big 3" brush I bought in San Francisco a year ago (wow, that long ago already?) and then only have used once or twice....time to break this baby in!

92/365 Paint Tools



Gathering together my watercolor paintbrushes stirred memories of how much I enjoyed dabbling with paints. As soon as we get settled I simply HAVE to get back to this. Certainly not one-a-day, but enough to get those creative juices flowing.

This took a surprising amount of effort to get the focus right, get some depth of field - my first hand held efforts were SO out of focus, then the light was bad......

The tripod has become a permanent fixture in our home decor.

91/365 Yearnings



Starting to get organized for the upcoming move so tackled cleaning up my "art" area. Took down paintings I've done......











cleaned up paint tubes I've bought.

90/365 An Oldie



Cleaning house today and dusted this oldie but goodie. I've had this ceramic elephant tchochke (?) since before Dan - that means well over 30 years. Sheesh - where DID the time go?

89/365 Ouch


Went to get the paper this morning and these thorns caught my eye. Wicked! We didn't plan this planting well because in the summer this plant is hidden by huge decorative grass clumps so we really enjoy it most in the winter when the grass is cut back.
I've always loved the purple edges to these 'bunny ear' cacti.

4/9/09

88/365 Unusual Clouds


These clouds were SO weird looking - smooth, flat, sandwiched grey to white. I saw them on the way home, called Dan & made him go out and look, then pulled over, pulled out my trusty camera and snapped away. Don't think I've seen any quite like this before.

Been lazy about actually posting once a day but this demanded immediate action!

4/5/09

86/365 Kingman


We went to Kingman Saturday to explore and see if we could find a house to rent. Dan made 6 appointments and believe it or not, we actually found a house. We may be moving as early as this weekend (4/12) but if not, next weekend for sure.

Here's a 'mural' I found painted on an antique store downtown.




Dan's new office: Frontier Communications! Yes, it looks like a neighborhood post office. It's out in the sticks, all by itself, surrounded by cows and desert.

This is what Kingman looks like from almost anywhere. Flat surrounded by mountains. 1-story houses. Desert. An occasional rock cluster or hill. This was taken from in front of Dan's office.
I checked - no Barnes & Noble, no Borders, no Costco, no Michaels, no Penneys or any mall-type stores. OMG!



85/365 Hoover Dam; Theme #35: bridge


On our way to Kingman, we go over Hoover Dam. The new bridge is under construction and will be done late 2010. It's immense and so amazing to see these monstrous concrete partial arches. The arches will ultimately support the road. Those 2 tall silver towers to the left support all the cables holding up the arch while it "sets".







Here you can see the 2 sides of the bridge and all the cabling holding the arches temporarily in place.

84/365 NEW JOB


Frontier Communications, Kingman, AZ
His tentative start date Mon 4/13/09
Our one-year job drought appears to be at an end and we're happy, happy, happy.

4/4/09

83/365 palm trunk


I decide to treat myself for lunch today at work and head off to my local McDonalds. As I'm sitting in the parking lot eating and enjoying the sunshine, I glance over and there is a fabulous, chunky, spiky, textural palm tree trunk. I find my camera under the seat, step out and take a few shots - love those sawtooth edges!

82/365 theme #300: Spring


Spring is starting to show a little around here. This is from the lemon tree in the back yard. It's been SO windy this week and I had to wait several days for it to be calm enough to capture this close enough. And it smells heavenly - strong like lemon pledge.

81/365 Warped



There I was, sitting at a traffic light, waiting when I noticed this severely warped telephone pole! Then I'm scrambling for the camera, quick before the light changes......

Got camera, get weird stuff like this!