Category: Nature

Lens-Artists Challenge #250 SKyscapes or Cloudscapes

This week Amy of The World is a Book challenges me to select a few cloudscape photos.

Having had a long period of drought, I value a cloudy sky. I especially like those puffy white clouds that I can imagine all sorts of stories. Usually, the summer skies can be a bit drab. Beating hot sun, and not a cloud in the sky. At that time a nice cloud cover is welcome. Sunsets and clouds are beautiful. A cloudy winter’s day can give me a feeling of moodiness. Clouds with the anticipation of rain can be welcome. Or if it goes on for too many days, it can make me want to stay in bed longer.

I often take a photo of the clouds with the thought that I might want to exchange a boring, bland sky for a cloudy one. It never happens, but I do have a fun library to look at when it can to this challenge.

Puffy clouds to imagine stories

What can you imagine is happening?
Something is up in the clouds
Can you see it?
A Sedona sky at sunset

Clouds at the shore

Maui Hawaii at sunset
Maui Sunset Cruise
Sacramento Wildlife Refuge
Laguna Beach before it rains
McKinley Park

Sunsets and clouds

Sailor Bar off the American River
Wonderful cloud formations in Sedona Arizona
Another from Sedona, Arizona

Clouds take their place in landscapes

Another taken from the car on I5
Bodie Ca
Mono Lake
Traveling down I5 to Southern Ca.
Laguna Beach Ca

Clouds in winter

Sacramento winter
This moody Livermore sky would work for a scary Halloween theme

Airplane View of clouds

That is all folks. When you go outside be sure to look up! Or out, or down!

My photo collection has over 200 cloudy images. It is fun to go back and review my collection. One of the perks of participating in these Lens-Artist challenges. What are your thoughts?

Lens-Artists Challenge #247 Back Lit Photos

Anne-Christine tells me that “backlighting is a great way to create stunning, eye-catching effects. Here are a handful of specific images you can make with backlighting: Street and portrait silhouettes, bird-in-flight silhouettes, portraits, and macros with beautiful background bokeh, landscape silhouettes, and sunset/sunrise landscapes.”

Glass

I always enjoy looking at glass objects. I found some of these images in stores, in windows, and in displays.

I first saw an example of Chihuly glass at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. The first and third photographs are examples displayed at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento.

Chihuly Glass
Seattle Underground Tour
Cary House Hotel in Placerville Ca

The next two stain glass signs are located on my sister-in-law’s property in Indianapolis, Indianna. They are created from images of the property.

Animals

Wild Turkeys strutting their stuff
A spider has cast its web at the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve
Great White Egret found at UC Davis Arboretum

The Oakland Zoo features some interesting exhibits like fruit bats and primates.

Flora

Pets

Here my grandson is holding his pet Love Bird Peaches.

I can’t believe my grandson will be 26 years old this week.

Canine Companions starts training early.

Learning all about the leash.
Fun watching dock diving at Petapalooza years ago

Black puppies are particularly hard to photograph. Lighting is key. Libby was an English Black Labrador Retriever and my very first dog. I waited 40 years for her! It has been 4 years ago this month that we parted.

This is Liberty Love at 8 weeks.
Here is Moxie! Backlit.

Lots of images benefit from backlit lighting. I hope that you may be inspired to look at the world from a new perspective. Positive, beautiful and peaceful.

Lens-Artists Challenge #243 It’s Tricky

This week, it’s Donna’s turn to host the Lens-Artists Challenge: It’s Tricky! If you’d like to fool us, this is your week. Otherwise, I hope I can inspire you, or trick you into joining the fun.

Water Reflections

Glass Reflections

Spherical Reflections

What do you see?

Movement

Ghostly Images

My dog Charlie will always be in my heart!
Who is crossing at the crosswalk?

The Great Escape

I am always on the lookout for images that can be seen in a different way. Sometimes I play with my shutter speed control. Sometimes the image unfolds throught a reflection on glass or water. Sometimes, the image is just a happy mistake. It all depends upon how you look at your surroundings.

Lens-Artists Challenge #235 Shadows and Reflections in Monochrome

Patti challenges me to explore monochrome images that feature shadows and reflections. This is a photo challenge, indeed. When out with my camera, reflections on glass, water, and shiny objects cause me to look for composition ideas. Shadows have the same effect. Adding monochromatic images is a new aspect for me. In the late 1960’s I started to use color film. With my first Imperial Debonair box camera, a 1940’s Voigtlander very manual 35mm rangefinder, and a Yashica 35mm camera I used black & white film exclusively. So I became aware of what images would work in b&w (and shades of gray). Contrasting shades, strong shapes, interesting lines, and of course shadows. It was not until the 1970’s that I switched to Kodachrome. Looking at many of my images it seems that I prefer them in color, but I did find some that worked as monochromatic images.

When I lived in New York I always made time to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This image was taken on my last trip in 2014. The first image I processed in b&w Adobe monochrome

Taken at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
No processing going on here. It was a cold, dreary, snowy day perfect for visiting a museum.
This was taken at the same time, but this time I used standard Adobe color processing. It still is a monochromatic image.
Mirror Lake in Yosemite National Park
This image was taken in Truckee Ca. in the fall.

My first dog was Liberty Love, a black Labrador Retriever. I knew that photographing a black dog requires careful lighting unless you want to end up with a big black blob. Side lighting is needed to see the texture of her fur. I processed most of these in Adobe b&w. In some photos, I just desaturated the color.

Though I still like to see her with her warm brown thoughtful eyes. I miss you love!
Shadow of cliffs at Half Moon Bay. What do you see?

Black and white photographs are monochromatic since they are all shades of gray. The following photographs are monochromatic because they are all shades of one color. Mono means one, and chroma means color. This can be achieved during processing or not.

Marysville, Ca.
Nevada City, Ca. antique shop
American River on an early January morning with the fog just rising
The town of Bodie, Ca
Shadow friend’s picture in Kauai

I have been challenged, and I hope that you enjoyed my exprerience.