Leading Lines and other stuff

I spent a couple of days with George at East High school photographing his kids - and as always, it was an uplifting experience. I am always awed by the energy and intelligence of these youngsters and in this case their compassion with a group of lesser ability kids.

George has intriguing and thought-provoking things around his classroom, here's one for you.

Then leading lines were waiting in the hallways - had to do it!

Perfect Fall Weather

The last several days here have been perfect fall weather - mid to high 60's with sunshine and a slight breeze.  Leaves are turning and falling, kids are out raking them into piles ("$2 for raking your yard?"), Murphy rolling in the yard and coming in with bits of grass and leaves all over his back!
Leo stretches out in the sunshine on the back deck and spends the day sleeping off whatever he did at night!

I watched the wind blow the leaves Sunday before the weather changed and I felt like a little boy in a fairy tale with miraculous fairies all around me moving the leaves. What a wonderful time to be alive.

The moon greets me every morning when I get up so here it is for you!

California Dreaming!

I'm reviewing my photos from our trip to Sea Ranch last Feb specifically for rock formations that can be possibly used in an upcoming show. As with any photo review, the emotions and smells come back as I look at each photo and I am asking how to incorporate those into the photos so the viewer has a chance to more fully experience the photo...jury is out but we'll see what comes of this.

In the meantime here are a couple that I love - shapes and light and dark and suggestions all combined together.

Murphy and the Hawk

Murph and I spent a few hours on top of Goose Egg Island (hill) at the refuge yesterday afternoon. I didn't feel like tramping around and wanted to see what I might see just sitting in one spot. Often I have seen harriers and owls fly by the hill so thought I might get a chance with a couple.
Not to be, tho'.
A Rough-legged hawk greeted us as we drove up the hill - probably the same one I have seen there many times. We parked and waited a while before we slowly walked back toward him to see if we could get within photo range - and we did.

Murphy looked elegant in the setting sunlight, watching the activity out on the marsh. Cloud formations formed by wind stuck around for quite a while and kept changing until I took a photo of one I liked!  A warmish breeze blew out of the SW and kept the mosquitos away.  Very nice!

Fall at the refuge

Fall at the refuge brings color and shapes that support our troubled souls - one should spend time there without any need to see wildlife - just being there is sufficient!

Murphy and I walked around for a couple of hours out in the marsh area that is now dry enough to walk through, altho normally wet. We didn't see any wildlife but we did experience the vastness and the colors that create the marsh in the fall.

Here's a classic shot - the bald eagle sitting in the dead trees as you enter into the refuge.

Big skies are the order of the day - just sit back and let them fill you.

I am a sucker for singles.

Murphy in the salt grass - it is a resilient, salt-absorbing plant that fills much of the wetlands.

Haze in the valley is seen behind the bulrushes and grasses from the refuge.

Hey Hawk!

How do you get a hawk to turn around and look at you when you want a photo of him?  I just holler - "Hey Hawk!" a couple of times and he/she turns to see what idiot is making that noise!  Works every time so far!

Sometimes it happens

Cruising the dikes with Murphy yesterday at the refuge, clear skies meant very few hunters or traffic out there. Then I saw it - the perfectly framed photo!  A Western grebe in one corner, grasses encircling it on the top side and their reflections on the bottom - the perfect natural frame!

Then the challenge is how to present it so you see what I saw - what to remove, what to accentuate, etc.... All the questions I ask myself as I work with the RAW image.

Here's the end result that reflects what I saw - hopefully you will see the beauty also.

Wonderfulness

Do you know that wonderfulness is a word - at least by the Free Dictionary definition it is.  Wiki doesn't think so.
The word came to me as I looked at this photo - a rose from our garden that Diana picked and put in the vase on the glass table against the red wall. It comes to me as I look out at the natural world as it prepares for the change in seasons.

Sunshine and water

Thinking ahead to a cold January - March reminded me of our trip to Sea Ranch last February.  Our hosts took us to some knock-down gorgeous places - just don't turn your back on the ocean!

Here are setting sun and water performing as only they can together.

Winter on its way

Diana, Murphy and I spent a great afternoon/evening at our friends cabin in the Uinta's Sunday evening.  Good food, great company, a brief snowstorm and beautiful fall scenery all greeted us. Murph enjoyed walking the roads, smelling everything and just being outside.

Wandering through the marsh

MJ and I took a stroll through the Refuge Wildlife Center yesterday, they have a series of well made paths and the bulrushes are tall enough even I can hide behind them. Not much wildlife - a Harrier and Redtail watched us for a while along with a few ducks on the ponds. The colors are so beautiful now, that mix of green, gold, orange and yellow that pleases the eye and seems to go on forever sometimes.
Murphy smelled coyote scat right off so he was very cautious until we arrived at an area he knew quite well - then off exploring like the old Murphy.

Here's a few of the views that caught my eye:

Open spaces

I am fascinated and energized by open spaces - they restore my soul. Here's several favorites from my Moab trip with John Paul Caponigro that are worth just looking at.

Mesa Arch - we waited for the sun to rise but the clouds got to the La Sal Mountains first so we went off to get other shots.

A windy dusty day added a drama not otherwise available.

The white caps are white rock, not snow.

Other worldly landscapes.

Finally rain!

Lots of promises from the weathermen the last few weeks but today the rain came - nice and gentle with low clouds. Murph and I went over the mountains to his pond at Summit Park hoping for some snow to romp in, but nada. Just a good long walk - he is doing his old things of running back and forth and venturing off on his own a lot - so good to see him recovering.

Great colors, lots of variety and shapes and forms.

Loving October

My sister Sharon wrote today -  I love October because NOTHING is expected from anybody (i.e. no holidays other than Halloween, etc.)  And we can just enjoy each day for what it is...  

From the sunrise through our trip to the wildlife refuge - Murphy and I just enjoyed the day for what it was - beautiful and a great day to be alive.

Tulle

Our friend Carey spent last week with us and she and I went through all the photos from her art show in 2011.  What a trip down memory lane that was! 

Here's a couple of photos that I really like that include tulle - a wonderful decorative tool and a very exotic photo subject.