I’m back!

Wonderful vacation and tons of photos . . .

I’ll be doing a lot of processing this weekend and will share. And I will try to catch up with all of you as well!

Morning coffee at the Hotel Lombardy, Washington, D.C.

Arlington

Wednesday was a full day. We traipsed all over the National Mall, but our day started at Arlington National Cemetery. The sky was overcast with an occasional sprinkle.

Nothing prepares you for the rows upon rows of headstones.

Civil War Tomb of the Unknowns

We witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

It really is a beautiful and peaceful place.

But sad.

After walking through McClellan Gate we turned to head back to the visitor center

. . . but stopped short when we heard the slow mournful beat of a drum.

An officer’s burial.

A final salute.

Desert Creatures: Out of hibernation

It has gotten consistently warm enough that the desert lizards are coming out of hibernation. I found this handsome male Yellow-Backed Spiny Lizard bopping around out front yesterday evening. Here he is sunning himself on a rock under the Russian Olives we use as a windbreak.

He is a BIG boy.

He got tired of the crazy lady with the camera and scooted into the Aussie tree.. Still, he wasn’t too skittish and I was able to get pretty close. I love the turquoise on his throat and abdomen. I am also fascinated by lizard mouths.

Smoke Trails

Last night I met with three other members of my photography group to shoot smoke trails. It was the first time I’ve ever done it. Aside from nearly getting smoked out of our leader’s garage studio, we had a great time. The first two were shot using my Speedlite. The others were shot using Michael’s studio strobe (after Susan let me use one of her Pocket Wizards).

Cap

I had the house to myself last night, so you know what that means! I was looking to explore broad soft lighting but at the same time decided to try shooting myself in a ball cap, just to see what challenges the brim would provide.

Ah! Lipstick! Better…

One, sans cap. Pretty pink nails.

And one with Nina, for fun. She was squirmy and didn’t cooperate for the timer!

Something new in my photographer’s toolbox

I’d heard about this mystery process called scanning negatives, and I knew my CanoScan 4400F had the capability. I’d even glanced at the little thing-a-ma-jiggy that holds the negatives. I finally took it out for a whirl yesterday.

Way cool.

No, seriously.

First husband (daughter’s dad). 1981. Willamette River. Portland, Oregon.

I miss Oregon so much, but I digress…

I took this photograph with my spiffy, new (at the time) SLR. I barely knew what I was doing, but this one came out pretty good. I wish I’d kept up with my photography, but we were young and poor and film developing was not cheap.

A whole new world has just opened before me. Toddling off to buy some film. Any recommendations from my film photographer followers? I love black and white too, so any recommendations would be most welcome!