I get to see a lot of storms push through here and many of them are pretty impressive. Black and white is even more dramatic. The one thing about digital that’s really nice is the ability to shoot LOTS of pictures of nothing but the sky.
Grand Valley Cloud Works
I love my view in Western Colorado.
Mt. Garfield & Clouds
Shot with my new 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. Not getting it exactly right yet, but I’m having a blast.
I was going through my photos the other night and ran across this one. There’s a bee I didn’t know I’d captured. He’s on the upper right side of the photo.
Look what I found in the driveway yesterday! Not one—TWO—pink blooms. I never see the buds, so when they show up like this, it’s such a wonderful surprise! I went out again, later in the day, to take pictures in longer, softer light and they had closed up.
There’s a bug enjoying the bottom bloom, too.
I begin a new adventure on Monday when I report for work at a new job. I was awarded a part-time internship at a local accounting firm. This is what I have trained for and will finally have the opportunity to use that training. The dichotomy of the job search is that if you don’t have experience, you can’t get a job. If you can’t get a job, then you can’t get the experience. So, I’m excited (and a little nervous) to start and to learn. I know I will learn a lot.
I didn’t do it alone, either. There were so many people pulling for me, helping me, and teaching me. I owe so much to the people in my life—not just for this instance—but for all they’ve been and done in my life that brought me to this place.
Today, between other tasks, I took my camera out and put in the last lens I bought a year ago or so. It’s different. It’s a fixed lens and I wasn’t really sure what to do with it. I think it will take nice closeups, like the images below. Today I took pictures of cactus blooms, a pine cone, and a huge, open dandelion seed pod. (Is that what it’s called?)
I think they turned out really well and I can’t wait to take more.
Sunrise 031314
The sun is migrating from the south side of The Grand Mesa to the north side. Today it seems to be about halfway on its journey. This morning the sky was pink and I snapped this picture just before the sun peeked above the top of the mountain. Spring’s on its way!
I’m looking forward to great things in 2014 and I can’t wait to see what’s next!
I hope your new year is as good as I expect mine to be!
Happy New Year! 2014
May your blessings be many this Christmas and throughout the new year.
Merry Christmas!
Since going on that Monument hike, I’ve wanted more opportunities to play with what I learned about night photography. Last night, the opportunity finally presented itself when I wasn’t busy with something else.
Here’s one of the first pictures I took. There’s lots of light in the neighborhood but I still needed to leave that shutter open for a while. Most of my shots were from three to six minutes. Three minutes was the least amount of time I needed to produce something usable; six worked best.
Snowy Night, November 22, 2013
I love how the lights turn into stars. I also enjoyed how light played on the snow and fence below. It’s also cool how soft light shines out of the house on the far right. Except for the light on the snow by the fence, the rest I didn’t see until I brought the picture into Lightroom.
Snowy Night, November 22, 2013
When I crawled out at 4am, it was still snowing. There were fewer lights then, but it was already brighter than the night before. In this picture, a streak of light running up the road, is barely visible. It extends from the white garage on the left to just past the house on the right with the star light—and it cuts through the car in the driveway. During the time the shutter was open, a snow plow drove up the road and through the shot. In this long exposure, the light on the vehicle was captured as it went past, but the snow plow doesn’t show up. What fun is that?!
Still Morning, November 23, 2013
At about 5am, I grabbed the camera and wandered out in UGG boots and bathrobe to take a picture of the road in front that winds up the hill. Again, the lights look like stars on sticks and I love that look. It’s clear from the ruts in the snow, traffic wasn’t much slowed last night by the weather and the paper hadn’t yet arrived this morning. It also became clear that I need to get something to protect my lenses while I’m standing in active weather.
Still Morning, November 23, 2013
This was fun. I enjoyed the opportunity for a creative way to end yesterday and begin today. I’m not fond of being cold, but I do love changing seasons and weather. I especially love waking up to the first big snow of the season.
This is a such beautiful place to call home.
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