Snow Beauty

With and additional 10+ inches of snow overnight, there are a lot of snow scenes today. The snow is light and fluffy and fun to walk in. Unfortunately for Murphy, it now comes up to his belly and he does not like walking in it - running through it is another deal and he loves that, dipping his nose into the snow as he runs.
Here's one shot this morning that I really like - shot with auto white balance shows the blue in the snow.

Sunshine in the snow storm

We've received 10 to 12 inches of snow at our house so far today, a grey day where it never snowed heavily, just constantly. First real shoveling effort of the season - 'course for a Minnesota boy that feels good!
I wanted to bring a bit of sunshine into the day, even if only on the blog, so here they are. The church is the Catholic Cathedral of the Madeleine, that sits on the north side of South Temple street and always calls me to raise my camera!

This is a sunny day in the early October, looking back up the Wasatch from the entry of a canyon. There had been a bit of rain, therefore all the green, along with some coolness accounting for the change of color of the oak trees.  Once again, the clouds and the light are fascinating to me.

Inside shots

Cold here in SLC - comparatively speaking. Middle and lower teens these last few nights, and the cats have hung out close to home. Which is good and bad - nice to see them, but they get bored very quickly and then cause trouble - especially Fuzzy!  Leo had to escape from him several times yesterday.

Diana's morning tea makes a wonderful picture, backlit by the sun.  The slight counterpoint in the top left was done while cloning out a bright spot (in Lightroom). I set the size of the clone circle very large and it moved over and picked up the top of the cup and a little steam.  Looks like a reflection and nicely breaks up the large black area without distracting.

Diana spotted this mouse running across the front bench outside (thank goodness). He's the size that I regularly find in the cat's food dish in the morning - partly eaten.

Leo wants to stay in but not be hassled by Fuzzy; here's one of his places to hang out.  He is a very regal being.

Thanksgiving

We did a traditional Thanksgiving this year, hosted by our god-children's parents. Good company, excellent food and a good time together.  Plus rum punch, courtesy of our dear, departed friend Stuart Smith!
Here's a couple of photos that represent yesterday's event for me.

As far as some of us are concerned, there is no substitute for the traditional cranberries - out of the can, jellied and with the marks of the can still on the side!  YUMM!

Laurie had prepared the table beautifully, with a stone heart on each plate! With the afternoon sun, it was very inviting!

And finally, (for this post anyway), Thanksgiving is about being with the ones you love. Here (goddaughter) Jane and her Mom snuggle together before Jane had to go off and work.

On the Deck

I've recently seen a couple of books and several articles/blog posts about shooting close to home. As most of you know, much of what I shoot is in my backyard - or on my deck. The beauty that surrounds us is often missed in our daily rush and our focus on doing or accomplishing something.  But we really are human Be-ings, and just being there often opens our eyes to those moments of beauty that are present, even if fleeting.
Here's a couple of moments that struck me; Fuzzy the day we brought him home and he is laying in my hand, so trustingly, snoozing away: and then the sun on a potted plant on the deck. I hope you enjoy them also.

Roses in Snow

We received 6 to 8 inches of snow (that remained) last night, our first real snowstorm of the season.  Many tree branches broke and the rest appeared as a winter wonderland, albeit with a bowed back!
I find much beauty in the juxtaposition of life versus snow - as in the picture of Carey's Rose, below. It's colors remained true and it shone despite the greyness of the day!

Experimenting

I rented a 300mm f2.8 lens along with a 2X extender, which gives me a 600mm capability.  Murph and I went out to the refuge and experimented; although the day was so windy, there was not much flying.
I've been reading Art Morris' blog, Birds as Art, where he swears by the extender.  And after a while you have to try, right?
Here's three pictures to give you a sense of what it does.  The first picture is the standard 300mm; the second is the 300mm with the 2x on it; and the third picture is at 400mm with my 80-400 lens. The difference in the landscape pictures is quite noticeable; and with birds/animals it is often just phenomenal.  I hope to catch a few birds in the backyard today - in between snowflakes.