Category Archives: Photography

Photographs I have taken mixed with a few technique lessons and suggestions.

An Artist Date

Posted on by
Reply

cabbage

One of my favorite books is,  The Artist’s Way,  by Julia Cameron. It’s a very inspirational book about blocked creativity. In her book, Julia  tells us that the we must continually fill the well of creativity to avoid being a blocked artist. One  of the ways of doing this is with a weekly  Artist Date. Thursday is usually my best day to do this, because generally it’s a free day for me. When deciding where to take myself for the Artist Date, I choose a  place that speaks to my creativity and makes me feel happy inside. Yesterday I went to a local market to doing a little fruit and veggie shopping, but yesterday I really took time to look around and absorb the rich colors.

peppers-2

I took photos with my cell phone camera and tried to be discreet. I wondered if the employees might think I was from the health department inspecting their produce. I was really amazed at the rich colors, and even more so when I got home and looked at the photos I’d taken. I have included a few of them here.

Red-onions

necterinesChoosing the market for my Artist Date was perfect. Perhaps the next time you go to the market, you’ll slow down a little as I did and take time to look at the colors. Nature really is amazing. I wonder where my next Artist date will take me?

A Beautiful Sunrise

Posted on by
Reply

Morning-Sky
Most mornings I get up early, before the sun, to write in my journal. I sit facing a large window that allows me to see the sunrise. This morning, It looked like we were in for a beautiful one, and I was right. I quickly grabbed my camera and went out to the front patio and this is what I saw. It was a very exciting start to a new day.

Martin-Tree
Not long after, a work crew arrived to take down the pine tree you see above. I was sad, because that tree had been in our yard since the late 70s. It was one of our earliest Christmas trees. I felt like I was losing a friend. The reason we’d made this decision, was because the roots were lifting our stone wall, and cracking the sidewalk. The roots were also raising the ground behind our house making it difficult for water to flow to the drainage area. I posted a photo of the problem in a previous post. It was definitely time to have the tree removed.tree-is-gone
Here you can see what our yard looks like now. It certainly is different. We aren’t quite sure what the new plan will be. Perhaps a huge hummingbird garden, or several grouping of ragweed for the Monarch butterflies. For now we will think about it, and once it  is completed, I’m sure I’ll be posting a photo.

Touring Kolob Canyons-Zion National Park

Posted on by
2

Cloudy-mountain-1Even though today was a rainy day, we went for a drive with good friends and toured Kolob Canyons, which is in the more isolated northwestern section of Zion National Park. This section is less crowded than the main canyon, but as you can see in the above photo, there are spectacular views there as well.

Mountain-and-cloud2I started photographing in color, but quickly changed back to monochrome. I really do like the look.

smith-miningLater, back in Virgin Utah, where we are staying, I photographed this replica of a mining company. I was fascinated and took the photo below of the water sluice that was part of the display.

watershootThis is my third day taking photographs in monochrome and I’m still enjoying it, which surprises me, because generally I love bright colors. Tomorrow we are going to tour Zion National Park, and because of the red rock and blue skies, I will probably switch over to color. I’ll make that decision tomorrow when we reach the park.