A Quick Trip - day 145

DailyShoot theme: 5 MINUTES FROM HOME

Interesting photo prompt - I immediately thought of the little botanical garden but wasn't sure exactly how far it was. It was close and I figure with time adjusted for sitting at traffic lights, I was within the limit :) I had my macro lens on today so the type of shots were different - next time I'll have to take my tripod too so everything is crystal sharp.

Day 145 outtakes

My quick trip to the botanical garden today seemed to find beautiful leaf profiles. Also, this square of the wildflower was my alternate POTD - couldn't decide but finally picked the other one because I liked the extra red in the background.

New Pencils -day144

I bought some new toys! At the Strathmore demo a couple weeks ago I had the chance to try Inktense watercolor pencils and fell in love. The lo and behold, a sale flyer shows up in my in box - 1 day only - so off I run (drive) to the art store. Then to make the day even better my order arrived from Amazon with my new lettering/alphabet book, so last night I just had to play.

Yellow -day143

DailyShoot theme: YELLOW

This is the view over the neighbor's fence. I know scotch broom is the bane of existence for people with allergies, but I always liked its odd smell and love the bright splash of yellow along the highways (and back yards).

Vista -day142

DailyShoot theme: VISTA

Didn't have time to go down to the beach today for a larger vista, but did make it over to the disc golf course again for a mini-vista. I like the contrast of the blue building tucked back in there.

Tools -day141

DailyShoot theme: TOOL

My first thought was down the path of hammers and saws, etc. But as I pulled out my art journal today, I realized my tools are the pen, paintbrush, journal, scissors and glue. So, here are MY tools of creativity!

Dendrobium -day140

Visited Ernie & Gail today and as we were sitting and chatting, Gail said "Did you bring your camera?". I, of course, had. She spotted the sun hitting her orchid with perfect back light. I hopped up and took a couple shots which I think turned out well. Thanks Gail!

Fence -day139

DailyShoot theme: FENCE OR WALL
As I was driving down to the beach for a walk, I passed this perfect picket fence. And perfectly beautiful yard, manicured and filled with gorgeous colorful flowers. Although I took some wider angle shots of the whole yard, they didn't turn out well, but this little corner gives you an idea.

Rhody Buds -day138

I went back over for my weekly visit to the botanical garden - there's so much in bloom and so many interesting plants, I'm just fascinated. There was a group of 4 watercolor ladies painting the pond today - sunshine + lovely plants + artistic interest = paintings!

These are a couple more I took today that I also liked. These leaves are huge and so textured - very cool and the yellow and purple were a combo hard to resist.

Waiting -day137

DailyShoot theme: WAITING
Kathy and I met to go for a walk today. I was a few minutes early so took the opportunity to take this "waiting" photo! My usual waiting activity.....read a book. The walk was invigorating, a nature-filled pleasure, and such a great chance to visit and talk and talk and talk.

Radiating Lines -day136

DailyShoot theme: RADIATING LINES

It is actually sunny out today but the flower seemed too boring just on its own, so I used my spritzer to add water - ironic, isn't it?

Centerpiece -day135

The carnations I bought over a week ago are still going strong - I broke up the bouquet and filled these 4 small vases to create a casual centerpiece. I used them to stage a couple of 4th of July red/white/blue dinner tablesettings - you'll see them on YDH in July. Always trying to work ahead...... Then, because it wasn't terribly exciting, I played around with textures again. Guess a boring picture doesn't become magically interesting just cuz textures are added. :)

Collage Art Done -day134

Finally finished this collage and really like how it turned out. I made the frame from foam core and covered it in a textured, handmade paper and painted the recess area a dark green so there'd be some separation between the image and frame.

Robb day133

We hung out with Robb & Cindy today - Cindy and I went to yard sales while the guys were biking; then we went to lunch; then to explore the new Chinese garden; back to our place to review their China trip photos; then it was out to dinner; then home, tired and full. Thanks for a really fun day!

Robb is my POTD as he was clowning around at the Chinese garden. I posted a different shot (Safeco field) on flickr in case Robb didn't want his mug all over the internet. Here it will only be on a tiny part of the internet! :)

Framed -day132

DailyShoot theme: FRAMED BY DOOR OR WINDOW
I tried to think of an unsual interpretation to this theme and decided to visit my botanical garden again. I pushed my way in and crouched in this shrub, making a leafy window frame. I like that the azalea is the only spot of color.

Day 132 Outtakes

Yesterday the beach, today my botanical garden. (like how I call in "mine"?) Love the unusual color and petal on this iris!

Took several versions of today's theme "framed by window/door"; these didn't make the cut.

Driftwood -day131

It was such a beautiful day, I went to the beach at Lincoln Park instead of my little garden. Noticed this driftwood and worked on trying to capture the motion of the little baby waves.

Divided -day130

DailyShoot theme: DIVIDED

This was a challenging subject and I don't love the photo, but I didn't have any great ideas. Obviously, this is one of my many photo storage bins divided by event/date.

Art -day129

During the walk in the disc golf park with Eric yesterday, I was also in scavenger mode and found this moss and all these little sticks that looked like good natural collage materials to me. I'm thinking some of it will work into this ongoing piece.....

Reflections -day128

A walk through the disc golf course with Eric and these reflections caught my eye.

Vertical Lines -day127

DailyShoot theme: VERTICAL LINES

Placemats and a wine glass for something different................

Spring DOF -day126

Daisies I have in a planter on the deck.

Black -day125

Playing on yesterday's theme of "white", I decided to shoot "black" and I'd had an idea to do a self portrait for awhile, so I meshed the two. Took about 40+ shots - it's hard to get myself in the frame, in focus AND with a good expression. Thank goodness for remote shutters! Think this one turned out nice (lighting is just from sitting near a window).

White -day124

DailyShoot theme: WHITE
I knew just what to do when I saw today's theme. I had this bouquet of white carnations and mom's collection of milk glass to try a small still life. Loved the idea; the execution was more challenging to manage the shadows and have everything show as white.

What is it? -day123

Walked to the disc golf course and found this gnarly, funky tree branch. Very cool!

More Flowers

Here are a few more shots from the garden visit that didn't make the "cut".

Iris -day122

It was time to revisit my little "personal" botanical garden. Found a few miniature iris in bloom and lots of wildflower things that I don't know the names of. The grounds crew was there today so it wasn't as peaceful and quiet a visit as usual, but still such a pretty walk.

sculpture -day121

Walking near the library in downtown Burien, I looked up and there's this cool sculpture at an information kiosk. Took this looking up into a cloudy, but bright, sky so it's all in silhouette.

Snoqualmie Pass -day120

Took this picture as we were headed home across Snoqualmie Pass. We were zooming along at 70mpg so I think this turned out pretty well! SOOC (means straight out of camera, no photoshop, etc). It's such a pretty drive.

Wine Barrels -day119

We went to Chelan this weekend to visit Tom & Cindy - first time Dan has been to their place. It was a beautiful drive, gorgeous sunny weather, yummy food and perfect hospitality. We went to check out the vineyard where Tom works (Hard Row to Hoe) and these barrels were outside. We got lots of wine tasting - really delicious and fun - THANKS TOM!