Day 152 – The Huntress

Nina was bound and determined to get whatever lizard or small desert creature had escaped into this roll of chicken wire.

She tried dragging it around and digging under it.

But . . . no luck.

Day 151 – Last shots

Nothing I shot today was worth posting and I missed working with my lights, so when I got home tonight I set up one soft box and had some fun. There wasn’t a lot to choose from, but I found an onion and a partial head of garlic.

With the soft box alone – just to camera right.

I used my reflector to get rid of some of the back shadow. This next shot is the same set up but I used a gold reflector to put some fill light behind and along the top of the onion and garlic. I especially like the warmth it gives the onion.

This next one is with a white reflector to provide back-fill. Not as warm as the photo above.

Then I brought in a plate . . . light in same spot (camera right) with fill provided by white reflector.

I finally got tired of produce and shot this fan my wonderful mother-in-law got for me on one of her many trips abroad.

I’ve mentioned this documentary before. If you have the time, I highly recommend watching it. Jeff Ross was my photography instructor last semester. Great guy and great teacher.

Day 150 – Pollinators

I went out shooting this afternoon and focused in on these flowering shrubs. I was surprised at the different kinds of pollinators doing their thing. Moths too!

Weekly Photo Challenge – Summer

It used to be that summer to me meant beaches and barbecues. But since I’ve moved to northern Nevada, it never really feels like summer until I can put on my shorts and hiking boots, pack the dogs in the car, and head up to the trees.

Hiking through the woods at Spooner Lake. Good for the eyes, good for the psyche.

Day 149 – My roses are not flawless

But they have the most wondrous perfume.

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

~ William Shakespeare, Sonnet 130

Day 148 – Birthday Present!

Yes, I’m spoiled rotten. I know it.

Sweetie gave me a Canon EOS 7D EF-28-135 IS USM kit for my birthday. I’ve had my eye on one for a while and I’m really, really happy with it. It’s much heftier that my Rebel T1i, and has a wider range of capabilities. ISO starts at 100 and increases at 1/3 stop intervals up to 6400. Very, very little noise at the highest ISO (one of the comments I read over and over and over again about this model). Also, 100% field of view means the photo I compose in my viewfinder will be the photo the camera will produce. No unknown stuff around the edges. I took it out for a whirl today. Here are just a few of my shots. Very little processing done to these, just a bit of sharpening of the RAW files.

Close-up of a buckle on my leather jacket.

Rose in the backyard.

Nina on a walk-about in the backyard.

Jezebel by the light of the living room window.

This was my only flash photo…Maya by the front door. Exposed for outdoors with flash used to equalize the indoor lighting.

Day 147 – One last visit and then home again

My iPhone came in handy today. Today I went to the hospital taking the same walk I’ve taken multiple times in the last six days.

The hospital is undergoing a major expansion (due to be completed in 2015).

It’s not a straight-forward way in. This is just the first hallway one has to navigate. It’s quite the winding road to get to the elevators.

Only a right and then a left turn to go . . .

I took the elevator up to the 7th floor and spent the morning with Dad. I found out they’d found a bed for him in the rehab center on the first floor, so with any luck, this was the last trip I’ll have to make to that floor. Dad’s got some major hurdles ahead of him, but first on the list is regaining some control over his right arm and hand, and getting stronger.

Dad’s cousin and her son came to visit late in the morning, though cousin is too casual a word to use for her. She and Dad were more like brother and sister, and thick as thieves for their entire lives. I left, stopped at the store to get bread and paper plates, and spent one more afternoon with my family. Sister-in-law dropped me off at the airport.

I didn’t want to leave. At. All. But I needed to go home. And Dad is in good hands.

I used my Business Select free drink ticket to order a stiff drink. Sweetie picked me up and whisked me off to dinner which included a big glass of wine.

Time for bed now.