Gerry's Place

Around the house

2012-02-07T16:52:00.002-07:00

I find a lot of beauty in and around the house. These three shots were all taken within 5 feet of each other, different times of day and different lighting.

Diana's photo is meaningful to us as she is now back studying! To be a Master Gardner! For the 3 years that she want to the Episcopal seminary this was how I saw her much of the time - reading with a highlighter in her hand.

Leo, our Tuxedo cat, is always elegant to capture; and the steam from hot water as it drips through coffee grounds for my morning coffee makes a nice abstract.

Enjoy!

Morning has Broken, part 2

2012-02-06T18:17:00.001-07:00

When we were in Hawaii over Christmas, I posted a morning has broken pot with a wonderful sunrise. In reality, there were wonderful sunrises there 7 out of the 8 days we were there. Here is one morning when I took photos from a few different spots to see what it all looked like.
Enjoy!

Looking for Treats!

2012-02-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here is the well-known Labrador stare that attempts to hypnotize the subject into giving the Lab more treats! He used it on his Grandma today and she started to give him a piece of her bagel!!
Warning - don't look directly into his eyes or you will be assimilated!!

And one more time!

2012-02-04T14:21:00.001-07:00

The Farmington Bay refuge again today - no eagles this morning, just herons, kestrels and harriers along with a big black labrador dog! We took a long hike, startled the GBH and he made three circles around us squawking all the time! A beautiful day, and surprisingly calm compared to the wind in SLC.

You think you have problems walking on ice - try it with 4 legs!!

The wonders of telephoto make it look like the heron is flying through the trees.

Old animal tracks in the ice.

The ice breaks upon itself in very interesting patterns.

A young harrier.

A stunning day at the refuge!

2012-02-03T17:17:00.001-07:00

Diana, Murphy and I had the afternoon off today, so we decided to see if there were any eagles at the Farmington Bay wildlife refuge. No, there were not! Perhaps they were off up to Henefer and fishing in the Weber river for the afternoon - who knows.
But, the Northern Harriers gave us a performance that will be hard to beat! First one of them showed us what he does to just hang in the air while looking for food - and he not only did it once, he did it three times within camera range!
Secondly, two harriers had a brief battle - and I was fortunate enough to capture a few frames of it! You know how birds turn upside down and then right themselves - yep, they really do it!

Finally a couple of wonderful scenes - a feather caught on a branch and the ice cracking across the pond, plus a pair of Kestrels on their nest - very homey shot!
Enjoy!

Now for the dogfight!

Scenery is always captivating:

Finally, a real set of homebodies!

Late sun

2012-02-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

This evening the sun highlighted a leather basket on the wall that held branches with red/orange berries on them (and a few spider webs!). I caught it and tried some different views of it. Here's a couple that I liked.

Key West Sunrise

2012-02-01T20:30:00.001-07:00

In January 2009, Diana and I spent a week in Key West, Florida. Our friends had talked about it so much that we wanted to experience it for ourselves. It was wonderful and we would go again (and again).

Not only the warm weather, but the light and the water - just so much beauty! Plus, just sitting at a coffee shop you get to see a whole bunch of characters that live there - very interesting!

But today, all you get from me is a sunrise that I got up early to shoot. There was a tourist from Germany also out with his camera, but the clouds were a bit challenging. This drama did show up and I was fortunate enough to capture it when it did.
Enjoy!

Water Dancers

2012-01-30T19:05:00.001-07:00

I shared this photo a little while back, and since then, one of my favorite art critics and historian looked at it and thought there might be some 'dancing' occurring. With that in mind, I made some small additions in Photoshop and present it here now as "Water Dancers"

Beautiful hunter

2012-01-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

This past summer we had many Sharp-shinned Hawks visit us in search of food; some successful and some not. Here's one sitting in the grape vine waiting until the right moment to attempt to catch his dinner!

Tulips again

2012-01-27T22:20:00.001-07:00

Once again I return to forms and shapes and light with color. Something about this arrangement of tulip petals, randomly arranged by nature, with a bit of pollen scattered on the tabletop below some of them - a visual treat!

Living Planet Aquarium tour

2012-01-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

I met Mom and company at the Living Planet Aquarium Monday afternoon for a tour. I'd not been to this facility before and from the outside, it is not very impressive - but WOW, inside watching the otters play and the penguins show off and all the snakes and alligators and frogs and everything - it is quite a treat!
I wanted to share a few shots, since you cannot get these in the wild, usually, without paying a lot of money or being very lucky!
Everything was shot without flash, usually at 3200 iso and often close to 1/6 sec handheld. I'm amazed that so many turned out good. I love the alligator!

Jellyfish

Mom loves to watch the kids!

A beautiful grouping of colors and shapes.

Ominous!

Playful!

Flowers - life and death

2012-01-23T19:43:00.002-07:00

Diana bought tulips about 2 weeks ago; they have lasted quite well. The colors are wonderful and I love the juxtaposition of the life and death of the tulips; there is so much beauty in each phase! Here's what I saw:

Tulips in pastel glory.

Sun on the snow

2012-01-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

The storm broke for a day and the sun shone - very brightly on the snow. Makes you think about how to take a photo when so much brightness is usually somewhere in the frame.
Murph and I went back to the refuge again - as usual, a few gems showed up, some repeated from another time and others just waiting for us. In addition to the birds, there were some nice landscape shots.

The Rough-legged Hawk caught us on the way out.

Peaceful and beautiful.

This gives new meaning to the phrase "Ice Fishing"! There is no open water within 100 yards of him!

American Kestrel - male (orange on the top of the head).

The ubiquitous Canadien Goose - such gracefulness, almost swan-like in his pose.

Rainy Day

2012-01-21T17:52:00.004-07:00

I wanted to see the Wildlife Refuge in the rain (yeah, pretty dorky, I know) so went up today before the snow came. You never know what you will see!
A Great Egret fishing, one Bald Eagle in the shallow water and lots of Harriers with a few kestrels were all out in the rain, doing their thing! A delightful day, even if the front of the lens got water on it and softened the photos a bit! You can see the rain drops hitting the water in the photos.

Coyote again!

2012-01-18T16:51:00.001-07:00

I took a drive through the wildlife refuge today before the storm comes in; no eagles at all! Lots of Northern Harrier's, a coyote and a raven working the flats, and a wonderful Rough-legged hawk that posed a lot!

Follow your intuition

2012-01-17T16:47:00.001-07:00

It was close to lunch today and I had a strong feeling to take a ride out to the Great Salt Lake and around. I put it down to my desire to escape from the cube, but, since I had taken my camera, I went anyway!
Two coyotes wandering around were one of the prizes, and the sticks in water reflection is another.

Follow your intuition (and take your camera with you)!

Sometimes the simple views

2012-01-15T20:57:00.001-07:00

Are the ones that work best. I work too hard at finding the "perfect" photo sometimes and just want to relax and share the beauty that I saw. Here's a view from the front yard yesterday evening looking west.

Diana at work

2012-01-13T08:06:00.002-07:00

I don't publish very many photos of Diana on the blog, one because I am forbidden to publish most of the ones I take of her!!! and two, she, like most women, does not like any photo I take of her!
But here's one of her at work - she was the celebrant and preacher at the Christmas eve 7:30 pm service.

Sunset on the Cathedral of the Madelaine

2012-01-11T22:44:00.001-07:00

Saturday afternoon, I shot a wedding of friends at St. Mark's Cathedral. As we left the Cathedral of the Madeleine loomed large against the early evening sky with a warm sun on it. I love the spires against the sky and the colors of the roof and stone.

Cathedral of the Madeleine, Salt Lake City

Hawaii Sunrise HDR

2012-01-10T18:35:00.001-07:00

HDR is the acronym for High Dynamic Range, the descriptor of photos like this that have a wide range between the darks and the lights. Cameras don't handle these situations very well normally although there are a number of techniques to use if one doesn't want to use an HDR function in the software.

I used Photoshop CS5 Merge to HDR on this, still learning all the tweaks but getting closer. Kai and Maile are exploring in the foreground, a classic morning during our stay in Hawaii.

A different view

2012-01-05T20:40:00.001-07:00

Still reviewing Hawaii photos and came up with a couple of different views for you. They are the unique moments of beauty that are there just for a moment but can be captured.

20 seconds of exposure

2012-01-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

Back in sunny but dry Salt Lake City and reviewing photos from Hawaii; here's one that I like from our early morning at black sand beach at Punaluu. A 20 second exposure smooths out the water but also shows some star movement.

Stuck in LAX

2012-01-03T11:28:00.002-07:00

We left Hilo yesterday evening on a United flight; unfortunately the flight left about an hour late due to mechanical problems and today we are stuck at LAX until early evening. Flying is different today, it seems, with full airplanes almost always and that translates into challenges if your flight gets delayed. So we are relaxing here and making the best of it.

Yesterday was our last day in Hawaii and it was truly the most beautiful! Warm, sunny with billowy white clouds made a wonderful exit day for us. After packing up in the morning, we went to Volcano National Park - first the art center there that has a really high quality collection of many diverse artists and media. Next we stopped to look over the Kilauea crater, a spectacular view from the stop to witness the steam vents.

Birds, clouds, VOG and just beauty were the order of the day!

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-01T18:32:00.001-07:00

Rick and I were up early this morning to be at the Punaluu Black Sand beach for sunrise. We arrived in the dark, and had fun with some time exposures and stars. The transitions in light kept us hopping as we photographed from 6am to 7:30am. A number of good shots and here's a couple of them.

Volcano puffs of VOG.

Saturday Market in Hilo

2011-12-31T20:50:00.000-07:00

Today we went to market in Hilo, and what an experience that was! The photos do not do it justice, of course! The press of people, colors and sights of the goods for sale, the many languages in conversation, laughter and then there was a band playing country music - "All My Ex's Live in Texas" was going as we walked up. Contradictions in color and culture and yet it all flowed together. Here's a few shots from that fun.

Orchid beauty for sale.

Taken from the trees in their yard, no doubt.

Yummy!

Street corner evangelist - the wonder is how his voice didn't give out.

Hiding on a side alleyway.

Blowing bubbles for babies!

A snowman watching for the next Tsunami!

Next a stop at the JODO SHU Buddhist temple - it is an old church that combines both the pews from the Christian service with the Buddhist shrines and attire. No one was at home, and we wandered through the grounds capturing flowers, old graveyards and dishes stacked on the stairs!

Clear and sunny

2011-12-30T11:50:00.002-07:00

A clear night with stars and no rain - the only downside was that the pigs were out and that made the dogs bark for a long, long time! But they all finally went to bed.

A couple of shots from this morning, the cloud has two 'eyes' like an other-worldy creature looking at us.

North to Honaka'a

2011-12-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

The day was sunny and warm - the "morning breaking" shots in the post below heralded a wonderful day. Up the coast, stopping at the various beaches and parks as we felt moved to. A wonderful surfers park first, with several nice surfer shots; then on to incredible waves and rocks intermingled with people and flowers. Another day in paradise and beauty surrounded us everywhere!

A couple of different forms of staying on the board!

Rock path through the park.

The little girl sat on the board in front of the guy until close in when he picker her up and put her on his shoulder for the last few yard.

I just love the various lines and shapes and colors that make this.

We believe this is an African Tulip tree - very tall canopy tree on the coast.

View from the road - very young lava and ocean.

The breakwaters are massive, as were the waves today.

Kids fishing out on the lava rocks with massive waves all around.

Young lovers in the shadow of the lava and waves.

Wind and climate shaped these trees.

The sky on the way home.

Morning has broken!

2011-12-29T12:22:00.002-07:00

Sunrise to begin a wonderful day today, Mylea and Kai (lab) came along on my morning photo tour.

Volcano and Kurtistown, HI

2011-12-28T20:39:00.001-07:00

We are staying in Kurtistown, so this morning I walked around a bit on Luhi Road and, looking back, got a great view of Mauna Loa - all under the auspices of the young bull that was closely watching!

This afternoon, lunch in Volcano, just down the road, then a tour through a rainforest preserve and then the garden at Volcano Garden Arts where the flowers were my main focus. A grey day but wonderful light so if you don't mind a little drizzle there are some wonderful chances for photos.

Enjoy!

Punaluu Black Sand Beach

2011-12-28T10:29:00.003-07:00

We left on a tour Tuesday morning - made it about 2 miles to the Hilo Coffee Mill before time to stop and have coffee and snacks and pet Lele, the resident cat! It was raining hard and the forecast was for rain, but we were headed over the volcano and down towards Southpoint, the southernmost point in the USA. Sure enough, as we reached the summit the weather changed and it was sunny and dry all the rest of the time over there. Thank you to Rangerette Carey!
What's up for today is mostly scenic, landscape photos. The mist, the Vog (Sulfur dioxide fumes from the volcano that are not really great for your health) and the layered landscapes are very seductive for me. Plus the turtles at the beach - they are beings that one can just sit with.
Enjoy - I captured a Brazilian Cardinal and some other neat shots, but too many for the post, so later.

Off the back deck of where we are staying

The hillsides with grass coexist with pure lava with nothing.

Down the hill toward Southpoint and Punaluu.

Wonderful.

An artistic arrangement by nature.

I love the contrasts - lava, palms, sky.

Playing in the lava - the boy had a small creature in his hand when I walked by that he was just observing.

Again, the contrasts, light, dark, soft and hard.

These two photos of the old pier that a tsunami savaged contain lines and action that I enjoy.

The VOG drifting southwesterly and mixing with the cloud bank - it will give you a headache right now!

Hawaii Day 2

2011-12-27T13:01:00.003-07:00

We had a very relaxing day today, Carey made breakfast for us and we sat and got acquainted more with the dogs. Alternately sunny and raining, but always a feeling of being surrounded by warmth. Later in the morning we visited the Hilo Zoo, which has not only animals but plants of all types and is free to enter! Wonderful fun watching the kids watching the animals!

Then dinner last night at Kiluea Lodge, and then to bed! Here's a few shots from the day.

White Bengal Tiger.

Looks like it is thinking "Whatever!"

Christmas in Hawaii

2011-12-26T13:08:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas to all! Diana and I are in Hawaii, having traveled most of Christmas day. We are on the Big Island, staying in a friends place in Kurtistown, south of Hilo. Rain on the roof last night, our friends greeted us with flowers and food and wine! Wonderful to be here and with them again.

A few shots from this morning - Kai is the lab! Despite having loved up to Diana last time we were here, he was very wary of both of us, but I broke through his reserve by throwing a ball for him this morning. We'll be touring this week, with Ranger Rick as the tour guide, but for today perhaps just a visit to the Hilo Zoo and then dinner at a place in Volcano, just down the road.

Enjoy!

Road through the hills.

12/26 sunrise with Kai in the foreground!

Looking for the tennis ball!

Welcome bouquet on our bedside!

Classic lab position.

Refuge Wonders

2011-12-23T17:14:00.002-07:00

Murph and I spent the morning at Farmington Bay Wildlife Refuge, driving and walking around. The day was clear, a bit cold, and we arrived about 9:30. We were greeted immediately by the Bald Eagles, then multiple Northern Harriers, small birds and a Red-tailed Hawk on the way home.
Hoarfrost was still on the grasses and teasels where we walked, and a female pheasant startled us as Murph dashed through the grasses!
To make up for the goofball in the last post photos, I am putting up a lot of photos from today. The Harriers were very curious and gave me several great photo ops. I am so excited about the quality of photos from today, that I could not restrain myself and posted them.
A day like today is a wonderful reminder of how great life really can be. Later in the day I sat on the back porch listening to robin-song, and watching grasses blow in the wind.
Enjoy!!

Eagles are the greeters in the winter sitting on this old tree.

Did you know that Coots can walk on water?

Young Northern Harrier checking us out.

Oquirrh mountains through the haze.

Pied Bill Grebes resting in the reflections of marsh grass.

Motionless in the air, the Harrier watches his prey.

Very flexible arms!

A mature Harrier flies by.

Inscrutable bird of prey.

Time to leave!

Teasels backlit by sun.

Saltgrass with hoarfrost on it.

Startled ducks escaping from the mad dog and photographer in the weeds!

Ice formations on branches above a stream in the refuge.

The Coots are making tracks across the ice - the duck doesn't seem to be very worried.

Small songbirds in the sun.

Well, hello to you!!

Young Red-tailed hawk posed for his 2011 portrait!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-12-22T06:50:00.000-07:00

65 years young yesterday - a wonderful day. The sun shone brightly for the first time in weeks and it snowed a bit in the evening. Sean, Lisa and Brodie came over for a birthday celebration featuring Mom's potato chip hot dish just like when I was a little kid.
Sean grabbed the camera and took photos to show how much fun it was - here's a few of them. Thanks, Sean!
Now onto the rest of my life!

Big Sky country

2011-12-19T22:34:00.002-07:00

The southeast corner of Utah (northeast of Az) is vast and wonderful place, full of spirit and light and energy galore! Here are some shots done in late evening on the way home from Sedona.

Butterfly

2011-12-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

This was created out of a photo taken at the Butterfly Conservatory in Key West, Florida - memories of warm weather in a January!
A wonderful place where classical music is played and butterflies roam around you, sometimes stopping on you. Awe-inspiring and memorable - we loved to watch the kids when a butterfly would land on them.

Backyard Beauty - Winter

2011-12-17T22:36:00.002-07:00

The garden is sleeping now, we've prepared the beds for winter and all is quiet. Still the mice and the birds are around, as evidenced by Fuzzy's 'gifts' on a regular basis.
Bleak as it seems, there is a wonderful light - low winter light angles - and shapes and colors that spot the landscape if you are willing to look. Here's a view first from the kitchen window, then the details of various beauty in the area you are looking at.

The Eyes!

2011-12-16T17:48:00.002-07:00

Carmen, our 3+ year old friend, came over and played with us today. I caught a couple of shots of eyes - hers and Murphy's. Different expressions but how can you resist those eyes???

Wish we were there!

2011-12-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

When you see a photo like this you often say - "Jeez, I wish we were there!" There is just out of Honomu, HI, and was shot by our friend Rick Rosen this morning. He had this to say:

"Carey and I had a real treat this morning as we were finishing breakfast. This rainbow emerged gently, then grew in intensity. I ran up the hill to get this OMG shot. Rick"

Thanks Rick for sharing the beauty with us today.

Fuzzball

2011-12-11T11:34:00.001-07:00

Fuzzy has a thick winter coat now, but he is just as playful. He runs out front to chase dogs, for Pete's sake! Fearless at times, he loves to show off as he did for some of these photos.

Total Eclipse of the moon

2011-12-10T18:46:00.001-07:00

Up this morning drinking coffee and reading and I got a text message about 6:15am from friend Sean! "The Eclipse is happening NOW!"
I had read about it but forgot, so I grabbed my camera and went to see what was there. There was a lot there and I captured a bit of it (albeit poorly, in my judgement - all shots were at 3200 ISO and some as low as 1/6 sec shutter speed while I handheld all of them, pressed against the neighbor's flagpole for support!).
Here's a bit of the action - incredibly amazing to witness and you can thoroughly understand why ancient peoples thought the world was coming to an end!
Thank you Sean!

Street Corner sights

2011-12-09T10:40:00.001-07:00

A fairly common sight in our neighborhoods, and I think most of the shopping areas and high volume traffic intersections almost have these folks. Are they really what they say they are or is this just another response to the times and a new type of job? Hard to know and I know my willingness to give $ is based on the individual and what I call gut feeling. How about you?

Dancing Kids

2011-12-04T17:07:00.001-07:00

Mom and I visited the Festival of the Trees, an annual event in SLC that has hundreds of decorated trees - and wreaths, doors and anything else that can be decorated!!
The highlight of our time there was watching these kids dance! Such exuberance, such desire to please, such innocence - what else?! They are so natural and Mom loved watching them.

Lots of Refuge stuff

2011-12-02T21:22:00.001-07:00

A cool but calm day after the incredible windstorm yesterday. Murph and I decided to visit the refuge before the next front blew in, and we were able to enjoy mostly sunny weather.
Today was a kestrel day - seems like every time I turned around there were kestrels. So I've included a few of them. Also, a Northern Harrier. If you ever get the chance to watch them hunt, spend some time and you will be amazed. They are a large bird, but can turn on a dime and drop on their prey. I captured a couple of shots showing the distortions they go through to do this.
Pintails and goldeneyes found a bit of open water, as most of the marsh was frozen. The solitary eagle held sway on his throne, and the white-faced ibis continue to frequent the marsh. Plus the wonder of the grasses - always a mystery and beauty that is unsurpassed.
Enjoy.

looks mean to me

White-faced ibis - colorful and striking.

Ibis

Ibis - awkward but beautiful

Northern Harrier stopping in flight, turning and diving on his prey

What are you looking at, buddy??

Have you ever...

2011-12-02T09:45:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wondered what it looked like inside of those things that stick up in the refuges? I know that they are nesting places but had never taken a close look until this one caught my eye.
Since I did not have wading boots on, I did not check if the eggs were whole or not, but they look like they did not hatch.
It was a hazy day, and there was lots of muted beauty around. Here's one that I perpetually photograph, as it is very intriguing to me.

Price Church with the BIG cross!

2011-11-28T16:18:00.001-07:00

Diana and I were down in Price this weekend since she was the supply priest for Ascension St. Matthews Episcopal Lutheran Church service on Sunday. The church building is a very interesting building and seems to fit well into the desert environment. I sat in church and watched the sun create shadows of various fixtures - cross, lights, etc. - on the walls.
Here's a couple of shots of the church building.

Desert Rats

2011-11-27T07:00:00.001-07:00

Diana and I are in Price, UT, this weekend and we were treated to a tour of some of the scenic sights around Price by Don and Mary Phillips, Price residents and lovers of desert exploration.
Among the places we visited were the Crandall Mine Memorial, memorializing the 6 miners and 3 rescuers that died there.
We enjoyed the vistas of the Wedge, were pleasantly surprised to witness a group using powered parachutes to view the land from a short distance above, and were intrigued by the mysteries of the Buckthorn Canyon pictographs and petroglyphs among others.
There is so much to see in this country we will be back. Thank you, Don and Mary.

Thanksgiving and the Heart of Gratitude

2011-11-25T11:51:00.001-07:00

Here's a video from a TeDx presentation that exemplifies today's title.

Plugins

2011-11-23T21:55:00.001-07:00

I've become more interested in Lightroom and Photoshop plugins as I'm exploring ways to bring out of a photo what I felt was there. Tonight I worked with Topaz B&W plugin - below are both the before and after.
I watch what my wife and her friends buy in cards and think - I can do that (and have fun at it). That's part of my impetus to experiment. Plus, I love the mysterious part of it - in many photos it is easy to see what the subject is and I want to be able to introduce some mystery in some of my photos.

Going through the files

2011-11-22T20:28:00.001-07:00

I went through the files from last Saturday's trip to the wildlife refuge and found a couple more shots that I liked. American Kestrels were quite abundant, and I saw two catch voles and begin to eat them while we hung out. Several of them were sitting on tall grasses, thereby having a much shorter distance to travel to get to their prey.
Always there are horses on the edge of the refuge. Here's one with a quizzical look at me.

What is he saying?

2011-11-21T19:09:00.001-07:00

Animals eyes do a lot of communicating - what do you think Fuzzy is saying with his eyes in this photo?
He has his winter coat - very fuzzy now. He has left us a mouse for a present every morning for the last 5 mornings.

Post storm capture

2011-11-20T17:10:00.001-07:00

Murph and I went out to the refuge Saturday morning - just after the snow storm blew through. Lots of beauty around, and I captured a little bit here. The Northern Harrier checked us out, clouds and rays over the land, and grasses in sunlight highlighted by blue sky - a dreamy kind of day.

Other view of the refuge

2011-11-14T20:18:00.001-07:00

Murph and I met duck hunters while wandering on the dike Sunday, some walking and some riding. The view north was spectacular, and I captured a little bit of that below.

The white grain elevator sure stands out!

A (very) small boat covers his decoys and stuff.

The little brown lab has a life preserver on and is 13 weeks old. He was a cutie, just bouncing along the path.

Sunshine at the refuge

2011-11-13T19:23:00.001-07:00

After two stormy days, the clouds broke this afternoon and the sun shone on the birds and water at the refuge. Still lots of duck hunters, but a relatively peaceful day out there. Murph and I walked a couple of miles down a dike, played with white-faced ibis, and he ran and ran. Always nice to tire out the lab.

Kestrels on the way in, an eagle eating a fish with two ravens in close proximity trying to steal some, a red-tailed hawk with its classic cry, duck hunters, and ibis.

Busy Backyard

2011-11-11T21:09:00.001-07:00

A beautiful day today, and it warmed up to about 53 in mid-afternoon. I fed the birds, and then Fuzzy's new friend, a beautiful black and white shorthair kitten came over and let me pick her up and hold her for a few minutes! Wow, what a treat! Pictures of her to come.
A few minutes later, I heard noises in the Russian Olive tree - looked up and there was a small flock of Cedar Waxwings! They then came down to the grape arbor and posed a while. A young Robin joined the fun also.
Later, after a couple of errands, I looked out and there was a Sharpshinned Hawk on the fence. They are so fascinating - they will sit and sit and sit and then move explosively to try to catch a bird. What a treat to be able to watch.
Here's a few from the day:

Cedar Waxwing in the grape arbor.

Hello there

2011-11-09T21:01:00.001-07:00

Hello there, moon and bright planet (Jupiter I believe). You are rising over the mountains every night and getting bigger each day. You illuminate the deck and backyard, and our cats love to play in your light.
Thank you

A Murmuration of Starlings

2011-11-04T08:49:00.003-06:00

This is your moment of Zen today. Just glory in it!

Dreamtime

2011-10-31T20:25:00.000-06:00

We spent the afternoon on Antelope Island with our friend Carey. Sunny, light wind, and incredibly beautiful - and quiet.
The landscapes have a dreamy quality to them, that even though I normally love high contrast, I really enjoy these. It is what the Great Salt Lake is at many times - kind of a dream time, a world out of place with our society.
Western Grebes and Clarks grebes were migrating through in large flocks; swimming near each other but not mixing. A group of grebes swimming together is called a "water dance" and that describes the birds.

Backyard Beauty

2011-10-29T18:41:00.002-06:00

Wandering through the backyard this afternoon as the sun slants from the southwest and illuminates things that I haven't seen before - Clematis and grapes-leaves. A wonderful time of year and it is very hard to keep up with the beauty.

Posting from the refuge

2011-10-24T20:59:00.004-06:00

Last Friday morning, Murph and I went out to Farmington Bay Wildlife Refuge; we hadn't been there for a while and wanted to catch up on what was happening.
Well, what was happening at 8:30am was duck hunting - a war zone, it kind of sounded like! So we took a walk on a dike that looked like it had no hunters on it and enjoyed the sun. Lots of mosquitos and lots of grebes. The grebes are a lot cuter than the mosquitos!

The colors on the Wasatch are spectacular - the cold weather and rain due this week will probably get rid of all the leaves, but in the meantime, WOW! We also spooked a blue heron who flew in circles around us for 5 minutes squawking all the time :-). A wonderful time to be alive and outside.

The fish was just too big for this guy!

White pelicans soaring over the marsh.

Murphy looking for coyotes.

The blue heron

Coming in after a morning of duck hunting.

I love their red eyes!

Classy 90-year old!

2011-10-23T14:38:00.000-06:00

Mom's place had a Halloween party Friday, and in the process was provided a hat that matched her outfit - I got this side shot and she looks pretty classy, don't you think? 90 years young!

Moonrise

2011-10-22T21:30:00.000-06:00

Sometimes all you have is the sky, trails of clouds, color and the thin, sparse crescent of the moon that still lights up the deck early in the morning.

Big Brown Eyes

2011-10-20T20:37:00.000-06:00

Here's my buddy Murphy, looking so pathetic and forlorn and pleading for a treat!
He does this often when we are at his Grandma's.

The finished items

2011-10-18T17:06:00.000-06:00

Here's what the finished photos looked like - I don't think I will use that green again as it bleeds over onto the subject and is hard to remove.

Dogs and Halloween

2011-10-17T19:33:00.004-06:00

Saturday eve I spent at Murphy's "Doggy Day Care" for their annual Halloween party. Folks bring their dogs in, most of them dressed up, and they and the dogs have a good time. Fun to see the dogs interact in an environment that they are comfortable in; often we wonder what they do all day. Murph hung out with me, and then he would visit other dogs, and people (especially if they had treats) and then come back and lay down by me. I had a continuous stream of dogs visiting me, from small ones that fit in my hand to a great dane that was twice as big as Murph. Really a great time with all the dog energy!!
Here's a few shots from the night. Yes, there were a lot of Bassett hounds around.
I shot them all on a green background, which I then desaturated to get a nice grey.

Fall, continued

2011-10-16T06:41:00.000-06:00

Our incredibly beautiful fall weather continues and with it all of the opportunities with light. Here's a rose that caught my eye - softened beauty.

Lazy fall days

2011-10-15T07:57:00.000-06:00

The days are getting shorter, the light is changing (and is the fall fantastic light), hummingbirds are gone, a new batch of arugula is sprouting, time to plant garlic, roses are coming out in full force, the Meyer lemon tree is flowering, bluejays are hiding peanuts everywhere - a wonderful time of year.
Here's a visitor doing a yeoman's job of pollinating what flowers are blooming now..cute little devil!

October moon

2011-10-13T19:48:00.001-06:00

The full moon this month according to the news, was a small moon compared to the super moon in March or May. Whatever it was, we've essentially had a full moon for about 4 days now - it looks very full despite not being full. And it lights up the night and accompanies me to work in the morning!!
Here's a shot from my way to work this morning - slightly stylized in Lightroom.

Pointing

2011-10-10T20:11:00.003-06:00

Pointing fingers can have a very emotional impact - such as "Don't point your fingers at me!", and, when we are kids, the 'finger of blame"!
I love my mom's hands - 90 years old but not so impacted by arthritis and wear and tear. But definitely old person's hands. Here's a color view and and black and white view of her pointing finger! I think when I was very young this would have struck fear into me.
Today it was about pointing at a Witch riding a bicycle that was suspended in the air!
Which one do you like best?

Magpie - Redtailed hawk dustup

2011-10-09T14:10:00.002-06:00

Sitting on my deck yesterday afternoon, and I was watching this redtail in a tall tree. Normally we don't see redtailed hawks here, just Coopers and Sharpies, so this one interested me.
Sure enough, a magpie soon flew over to the tree and landed below the hawk. After a couple of minutes of the magpie changing locations, he flew at the hawk and we have the sequence below. After this occurred the hawk spread his wings and glided away.
Quite interesting what you can see in the city.

The Official Sign

2011-10-07T07:18:00.001-06:00

The official sign that cold wet weather is here is shown below! Both cats curl up on the chairs in the living room, Diana has provided towels to try to keep down the detritus, and they will spend the night inside! Amazing, 'cause in warm weather they are not around much at night (unless Fuzzy brings in a mouse or something to play with and wake us up)!
Anyway, it is fun to see these creatures of habit repeat the same habit every year.

Uinta trip

2011-10-06T05:53:00.002-06:00

The last time Murph and I were in the Uintas there were lots of sheep moving through. They get a bit lost in the vastness of the open areas as shown below. But they do smell!
Kestrels were playing on the road markers, usually reserved for mountain bluebirds. We saw 4 of them flitting back and forth and one posed for us for a bit. They are beautiful birds to just watch.
After the snow storm last night, I would guess the roads are a bit slick up there today.

Blessings from the garden

2011-10-04T20:24:00.001-06:00

While the weather this year has been different - cold, wet spring and long warm fall - we have been blessed with abundant produce from the garden. There was a while, tho', when we thought we would be eating fried green tomatoes all winter! But nature prevailed and ripened the heirlooms and we have feasted on them - us and many others.
The heirlooms are so tasty and vibrant, often sweet and just melt in your mouth. They are well worth any additional effort (not much) to grow. You are well rewarded - mozzarella, tomato slices and balsamic vinegar make a feast!
Here's a couple of shots of a basket of them - Diana has taken the Roma-style, sliced them and baked them with olive oil - wow, what an addition to crackers and cheese!

St Francis Day - The blessing of the animals

2011-10-02T17:16:00.001-06:00

Today, St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral celebrated St. Francis Day, with a ceremony that included the blessing of the animals. Cats, dogs, (all sizes, shapes and colors), mice, rabbits and other furry creatures, were there to receive a blessing from a clergy person. A wonderful potpourri of humans and animals - and both seemed to be well behaved during the service.
When there was clapping, one dog started to bark. This was especially appropriate as we welcomed our new dean, who is an animal person also.
Murphy came along, and was pretty well behaved. However, at one point on the way back from the blessing he decided he really didn't want to go any further - and when Diana pulled on the leash, it came off over his head! Quite cute, if frustrating. Below you'll see what he was doing most of the service - he is very adaptable!
The young baby was in front of us and playing peek-a-boo with Diana and I - look at those blue eyes!

Sunset - Moonrise

2011-10-01T20:05:00.002-06:00

Finally clouds are arriving here in the valley after two weeks of cloudless skies. Weather is changing, cool front on its way in and hopefully some rain over the next few days.
With the clouds always there is some drama in the sky - and there was tonight. Here's a few shots of what I saw, and look closely to see the crescent moon in the photos. Wonderful way to end a day!

GSL Shoreline Preserve

2011-09-29T08:15:00.004-06:00

After a team breakfast yesterday in Layton, I took some time to walk the boardwalk at the Shoreline Preserve off Gentile street. As you can see, it is fall in the wetlands, and both the grasses and the light show that.
The grasses/rushes/cattails are very tall this year, thanks to the very wet spring/early summer. The green, yellow and gold mix is entrancing and worth taking your time to just observe.
There was also a plane buzzing around and it came close enough to photograph - looks like the pilot was having a good day doing circles and ups and downs.

Hand, flower, tomatoes

2011-09-27T20:42:00.001-06:00

The last couple of times I've hung out with Mom at her place, we've gone out on the patio and just enjoyed the wind and sun and weather. Also, some wise soul planted cherry tomatoes and flowers out there, and Mom always loves picking the tomatoes and eating them.
Here's a shot of her 90 year old hand with a flower and tomatoes - we sat and looked at these for a few minutes before she began eating them.

Fall Color

2011-09-25T21:25:00.004-06:00

We met Lisa and Sean on the Duschene Ridge road this afternoon in the eastern Uintas. A wonderful fall day, great colors and shapes and just incredible to be alive to experience the beauty, vastness and magnitude of the land.
Here's a few that I liked from today.

Bye Bye Hummers

2011-09-23T09:51:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year, with today being the first day of fall (not that the birds and animals care). Last weekend we had 7 to 10 hummingbirds constantly refueling, talking and chasing one another. Today we are down to two, and they may leave at any time.
Kind of lonely - we got very used to the chatter and the buzzing. Walking up to within one foot of the feeder and standing still would always get one to come look at you.
But time moves on and we wish them a safe journey and will welcome them back in the spring!

Flowers for the soul

2011-09-20T06:47:00.002-06:00

Sometimes we all need the comfort and healing that only beauty can bring - the beauty of nature as expressed in the flowers it provides.
Our backyard provides many such soul-comforting opportunities - here's a few that I found yesterday as the sun started to hide behind the trees next door.

Carey's Rose

Prayer

2011-09-19T07:42:00.002-06:00

We've been lucky this year to have quite a number of praying mantis in the garden. They've grown big and show up at the oddest times. Here's one that posed for me on the umbrella on the deck - then he disappeared, winging his way across the yard.

And another view: (Looks like a skier!)

Uinta's in September

2011-09-18T06:48:00.004-06:00

Murph and I traveled up to the Eastern Uinta's yesterday after the rain Friday. The roads were good and not very many folks around. Also, not many animals - other than sheep!
On the way, the maples showed their red - they looked like someone had reached down from the sky with a paintbrush and bright red paint and painted only them! What a vivid statement.
On top, the clouds were low, light was variable, and colors were saturated. A great day for just being there plus the opportunity to capture beauty.
Here's a few of my favorites from the trip:

West Desert

2011-09-16T16:56:00.001-06:00

Anywhere in the desert west of SLC there are innumerable photo opportunities just waiting for your eye. Lines and shadows and light and dark are favorites of mine so here's a couple of ones that jumped out at me for fun.
The B&W has reminders of old motion pictures in it for me.

Bailey's birthday party

2011-09-15T06:54:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday, just after the sudden downpour, Bailey had her first birthday party. Lots of fun, food and kids playing. Bailey was so energetic and seemed to be enjoying everything very much. Here she is playing with the colored balls, and Ozzie watching over her.
Also there was a former resident of Kensington Ave, Leah. She has been to New Zealand and many other places in her young life, and I always love trying to capture her expressionful facial features.
Kensington Ave is the happening place!

Miscellany

2011-09-11T18:05:00.002-06:00

Here's a couple of different views - one an 18 mm wide angle landscape and the other a 200mm closeup. Is there a common style between them? - not that I can see myself, but then I am not sure I would. How about you?

Feeding time

2011-09-10T07:47:00.002-06:00

It is the time of year when hummingbirds are moving fast and furiously; the food supply disappears in a day or two instead of a week. 5 to 10 birds are around at any time, including the rufous who attempts to dominate the feeder. There is another feeder on the other side of the yard, where the intimidated birds can get food away from the intimidator!
For the experience of a lifetime, we walk up to within a foot of the feeder and just stand there quietly. The birds show very little trepidation, often checking us out VERY closely (long sharp beaks). They do their thing right in front of us and treat us to a show and experience of all senses, being that close to them.
I've had more fun watching them this year than trying to capture them in pixels, but here's two that I got watching me. The camera is at chest level and I just fire away as they come in to feed - do battle. This was shot at 3200 ISO, and 1/20 sec - it was getting dark.

A rufous hummer.

Moonlight

2011-09-09T08:39:00.001-06:00

The moon is a wonderful, mysterious visitor these evenings, and I had a couple of ideas that I wanted to try.
Since there are telephone poles in the viewing space, I brought one in as a counterpoint to the moon and as some starkness in the moonglow.
The prayer flags hang from our roof over the deck and a little bit of work in Lightroom brought out the colors as I saw them in the moonlight.

No Comment

2011-09-08T07:18:00.000-06:00

Two views

2011-09-07T21:02:00.000-06:00

One of the most beneficial parts of the garden are some of the insects - specifically the praying mantis. We found a gaggle/herd - whatever the egg container is called - and placed it in the garden. The little tiny ones are very cute, but the larger ones are beautiful. Here's a couple of different views of these guys, they liven up the foliage for us.

A walk in the drylands

2011-09-06T16:22:00.001-06:00

Murphy J and I took a long walk yesterday out by Farmington Bay Refuge. In many areas, the ground is dry, so we were able to walk quite a ways without 'mudding up'. The patterns on the ground are fascinating and worth a study in themselves. We also found three eggshells - from birds that had their nest on the ground and the eggs had hatched.

A red-tailed hawk checked us out on the way home to see if we were edible - Murphy spent a bit of time in the pond cooling off after the walk. Here's a couple of different items from the walk.

Home

2011-09-04T16:52:00.000-06:00

As much fun as it is to travel (usually), it is very nice to be home. The last two days have been pretty slow around here, as we found ourselves still in ocean mode. The weather has been blue-sky, no clouds, and in the mid-80's, with cool morning breezes. We'd love about two months of this, interspersed with ocasional rain.
Diana does a wonderful job of setting up the front of the house so it is very beautiful. Here's what it looked like.

A few more from the beach

2011-09-03T15:14:00.000-06:00

I've been going through my trip photos today, deleting and looking for those that I like. Here's three that I enjoyed.

I've attempted a lot of shots with these 'hairy' trees to capture what I saw - most of them have been unsuccessful. But perseverance will overcome!

1833

2011-09-03T08:14:00.000-06:00

1833 miles round trip - way too many miles. We loved having Murphy with us, but the amount of driving was really not worth it.
Very nice to be home, tomatoes are ripe, blackberries are luscious, Fuzzy was very glad to see us and the temperature has dropped! A couple of shots on the way home - the biker had his dog well trained.

Wondering

2011-08-31T22:37:00.000-06:00

Waking up this morning, I felt that I had no further photos to take in Manzanita. I'd taken my postcard photos and my art photos and I felt completely empty. A little later in the morning, I read a post by Scott Bourne - posing the question to photographers - "What if you concentrated on making only meaningful shots?" Lots to think about there.

We had dinner at a favorite place tonight, The Nehalem River Inn about 5 miles from Manzanita. Run by a young couple, the food was excellent, and the environment fit our needs wonderfully - overstuffed chairs, soft jazz playing, sun setting as we ate at our window table. Very well done.

Then a walk to the beach and I did find some inspiration there. Looking for essences and finding flows and patterns and shapes and color. Meaningful to me, at any rate. Part of a desire of mine to be more aware of the patterns and flows in life.

Another day in Paradise!

2011-08-30T23:05:00.000-06:00

Starting with a beach walk with Murphy this morning, a sunny day with wine on a patio, lunch that included 'creamy'clam chowder and the best smoked salmon around (Karla's smokehouse in Rockaway Beach, just down the road) and ended with Diana, Murphy and I on the beach as the sun set. More photos than I normally show, but we really enjoyed a lot of different views today. The sign and the horses are from Nehalem State Park, again, just down the road. And yes, we are enjoying ourselves!!

Evening at the beach

2011-08-30T07:18:00.000-06:00

Murphy and I went for an evening walk on the beach. A cloud bank was blowing in again, with the soft, bubbly clouds and a little bit of sun color on the bottoms. The breeze was good for kites, and I found another very nice complete sand dollar. On the way home I tasted the Oregon blackberries - and boy, were they good!

Sun and surf

2011-08-29T20:08:00.000-06:00

The sun came out about 2pm - burned off the fog and lit up the landscape and beaches. We relaxed and took a drive to some places we have been before; had lunch on the deck of a cafe in a small town named Wheeler.
The amazing thing is that while wandering the beach, I found 9 complete sand dollars - normally I'm lucky to find even one! They're outside drying off now.
Murphy enjoyed the beach both in the morning and this afternoon; we may go again tonight. I think I will have plenty of photos of him by the time we go home :-)

Each beach has its own ripples and patterns; it could be a lifetimes work to document them - but what a wonder!

Finally, the ocean

2011-08-28T22:05:00.000-06:00

We left Baker City, Oregon and meandered up the freeway to Manzanita. A vintage car rally sent us off from Baker City - I took shots of each car, but will only show the one that is closest to my heart - '57 Chevy!
The trip through the Gorge was enlivened by windmills - what a contrast to the softness of the grass and the flowingness of the hills. Mt Hood made a brief appearance through the haze. We managed to get lost in downtown Portland, but then found our way out.
Once in Manzanita, we took Murphy to the beach - if you wonder if he liked it just look at the photos of him!
Fog and low clouds made sure no sunset tonight; however, the cloud, light, water and sand dynamics were soft and inviting; I got a couple that I liked!
Nice to be cool again - I know we will sleep well tonight!

On the road

2011-08-28T07:49:00.000-06:00

We drove to Baker City, Oregon, yesterday; got a late start from SLC (12:30) so got in about 9 MDT and 8 PDT. The hour change was welcomed this morning!
A long, hot, beautiful drive, fields and fields of corn along with some other crops. The change from desert to farmed land is quick and startling. A brief rainstorm came along, enough to mess up the front window, but not much else.
Wide open land, big sky country - soothing to the soul as we drive along. We stopped every 2 to 3 hours to let Murphy run around and then for dinner in Boise (Outback). Roads were excellent and, other than an occasional one-lane due to construction, made good time.

We stopped outside of Boise - got a couple of land/sky photos. Also brought one from home of Fuzzy grooming himself as he watched us pack up.
Off to Manzanita today - looks like another blue sky day.

I kept coming back to this substation outlined by dark storm clouds. Finally took a photo and decided perhaps B&W would work. Kind of boring but I liked it :-)

Vacation week

2011-08-26T19:30:00.000-06:00

This week has been about cleaning up odds and ends - finished up the driveway Wednesday, had painters over Thursday and Friday to redo the front and back concrete decks and ceilings, lawn care with fairly hot weather, a family morning at the vet today - Murphy, Fuzzy, Leo, Diana and I. Amazingly, all has worked out well. Plus had an excellent Sicilian dinner conducted under the auspices of the Slow Food organization on Wednesday and met some very neat folks.
We leave for Manzanita, Oregon, tomorrow morning for a week. Murphy is coming for his first visit to the ocean - this promises to be exciting! Finally completed all the chores and just have packing left, and am feeling like I can relax a little.
Photos are from back deck and front yard - simple but beautiful.