Surfing in Austin Texas? Our son was raised in Southern California and grew up surfing. He also authored the book,Surf Stories by Ryen Phillips. A fun read, especially if you enjoy surfing tales. For those of you that enjoy outdoor cooking, he has also written Let’s Talk Outdoor Cooking. It has some great recipes and I especially like his stews. It is available for Kindle at Amazon.
He and his wife moved to Austin, Texas several years ago. They wanted to stay near the water, so they bought a sailboat and began sailing on beautiful Lake Travis. The photo below was taken from their boat. Continue reading
Tag Archives: California
Enjoying a Walk at Lake Mission Viejo
Mission Viejo is a wonderful place for walking. This morning I wanted to walk our little white dog, Annika somewhere different. Continue reading
A Day in Seal Beach
Last Thursday I went to Seal Beach to spend the day with my mom. We both love to read, so we visited the library which has a beautiful rose garden. I took the above photo of one of the lovely rose bushes.
This wonderful little statue was also on the library grounds. He almost looks real.
After a thorough look around the Friends of the Library second hand book store, I purchased two wonderful gardening books at a total cost of $1.50. What a bargain. Mom bought several mystery novels, also at bargain prices. It was a fun day for both of us.
Monochromatic Photography
I have a fascination with monochromatic photography right now. My photography class took a field trip last Friday to see the Edward Weston photography exhibit at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California. Most of his work was done in black and white, and I love it. I couldn’t wait to do the same. I took the photo above on my morning walk, and the one below is a close up of a spider web in my neighbor’s yard. I’d been eyeing it for several days, and this morning I took out my cell phone and snapped a picture.
This is Luna. I took his photo in an ice cream shop we stopped at during the field trip. He was a beautiful dog and not at all interested in us, as you can see.
This last photo is the bark of a tree I saw at the Bowers Museum. The original was in color, but I was able to edit it in black and white. In fact all of these photos started out in color, and I changed them to monochrome. It really is amazing to see what you can do with a digital camera. This wasn’t my first time trying monochromatic photography. Two years ago while in Zion National Park, I took quite a few photos in black and white and loved the affect. I wrote two posts, Monochromatic Photography, and Another Monochromatic Day. Take a look if you would like to see those photos. Edward Weston was a world renowned photographer, and I had fun trying some of his techniques. He of course did not have a digital camera, and we learned that he didn’t manipulate his photos with editing, which makes his photography even more amazing. The exhibit is well worth seeing.
A Day Trip to Sacramento, California
Wednesday I had the opportunity to fly with a good friend, to Sacramento for the day. Continue reading