Impromptu

I'm trying to challenge myself with photography. It doesn't always turn out the way I would like but there is always something to learn.

This afternoon, Amber gave me 3 little wildflowers that she picked on the way to the park. They were tiny, what most people would barely look at but I took them home. I attached the macro lens and put the little flowers in water and played around with it.

I put the gorilla-pod on but it didn't work, I was too close. So I improvised by propping the mini tripod against my chest and moved the flower into focus. I was by the kitchen sink so I used the off-white curtains as a backdrop.

These are the ones that I liked.

This reminds of a impressionist painting.

I loved how the petals were tinged pink.

I used my hanging avocado green dish towel as the backdrop.

The underside.

The flower beckons...

Abstract

The bouquet that Carlos sent me for Mother's Day is in full bloom so I whipped out the macro lens to get very close. I like these shots although I need to try again with a tripod. These are not as sharp as I'd like but I still like the blurry ones.

The side of the loveseat makes a nice backdrop.

Love the color, lines and texture. I just need to work on the sharpness.

Garden Jaunt

I'm posting like a crazy woman to catch up on what's been going on. Not really but more than usual. One afternoon I had a hour free so I headed to the garden at the Madrona Marsh to take some pictures. As I was walking towards it, I noticed that the greenery seemed to be wilting because of the recent heat and thought I might have missed the spring bloom but armed with my macro lens I can see things magnified.

I took this picture in Feb and just thought they're unusual.

And look what they turn into! Pretty neat and funky.

I could stare at them all day.

Close up of one of the buds(?).

I guess it shows that you never know what's out there until you look carefully. :) Enjoy it.

More photos later....

50 Steps: Master Bedroom/bath edition

Today I'm squeezing another blog post before we head on out for our snow trip.

Yellow Dice. A cheap toy item that Tyler bought years ago redeeming tickets at Chuck E Cheese or Boomers that Josh has taken a liking to now.

Another 50 step photo shoot but I limited myself to the master bedroom and bath. Not that hard since we have lots of clutter and the kids add their items too. Uff. :)

Pokey that is mine, surprisingly and not the kids. :)

I probably could limit my photos to this room and have plenty to share with the world for several months. Maybe I shouldn't post all of them at once but there is always something to shoot.

Greatest eyeliner EVER and it lasts a long time too.

I used my 100mm macro lens on these photos. So peruse at your leisure....

Afternoon

I spent an hour yesterday afternoon roaming the Madrona Marsh which has experienced a record year of rain and boy does it show. Lots of birds such as ducks and others I can't identify take advantage of the water.









It is nice to have this nature preserve tucked away in the heart of Torrance to enjoy.

Rainy Weekend

The rain took a while to get here but it came down in dramatic fashion Sunday. Lots of wind gusts along with pouring rain and some blackouts along the way.

We happened to be eating lunch at King Taco when the power went out. Thank goodness we already got our food but some unlucky customers couldn't order and I'm not sure if the people waiting for their orders could get their food.

We then headed over to Insight gun range. It was our first time shooting there and it was packed. I guess the weekend and the rain brought extra people in and it was an hour wait. Ha, but I come prepared and brought my Vellamo socks to work on. :) I'll post pictures from the gun range later...

The swings at the park become a pond.

This morning (Monday) there was a break in the rain when I took the kids to school so I hauled the big 100mm macro lens out to find some rain drops. I found much more and had fun although the ominous clouds coming in cut my shooting time short.

Two big branches broke off this tree in the park.

Keep dry in SoCal because there's more rain coming!!

50 Steps

As an attempt to practice photography, I'm starting a 50 step project. Since I spend a lot of time in front of my computer and I always can't get out to interesting locations for photos, I will limit myself to 50 steps (approximate more or less) which is pretty much the house and yard.

Screen Door slider.

Next time I will count how far 50 steps will take me but for the meanwhile, today is my house with lots of backyard photos.

Top of propane set with dead spider.

Here is the 50 Step Flickr set. Please take a look and let me know what you think. I'm looking forward to adding more very soon. I don't want to upload all the photos I took today but look for more 50 step pics soon!

Stroll

Another leisurely stroll home through the park and neighborhood. Today was a nice change from the bright, sunny days to gloomy overcast skies.  I took some pics of the same things to see any differences in mood and details.

Lots of leaves on the ground which would make a great pile to jump into.

Dewdrops.

You can see the full set on my Flickr page. Thanks for looking and comments are welcome!

Photowalk

This morning I took my 60D out for a walk in the neighborhood. I've been neglecting my macro lens so I used it today to try to capture a few of the changing fall leaves.


Nature's Christmas tree with beautiful colors and ornaments.



My neighbor's Judy succulent plants. They really enjoyed the rain recently and have blossomed and grown.


Next to the same plants I noticed drops of water on the underside of the plant. I'm really happy how the photos came out on them with the manual focus.





What I like about the macro lens is that I can discover the tiny details that I might miss normally. Enjoy the full set on my Flickr site.

Experiments

It's officially summer! The boys are very excited. Hector and I are in the midst of discussing plans; nothing set in stone yet.




Photos from last week. I was playing (experimenting) around with lights and filters. I don't have Photoshop on this computer yet so you will see how dirty my ring is if you click on the picture to enlarge. I am also claiming the excuse that diamonds are extremely difficult to photograph.

Here goes nothing:

My engagement ring. Reset in a Verragio setting on our 5th anniversary because my gold setting was bent and scratched from recklessness. Platinum is awesome but still gets scratched. Time for a cleaning and polishing.
Used manual settings, macro lens and crosshatch filter.

Next up is my 10 year anniversary band. Much better photos IMO and I really like the reflections. All were taken on the kitchen counter.

Some apple strudel muffins that Tyler and I love. It's a recipe Tyler gave me for Mother's day when he was in the 2nd grade.
The gift that keeps on giving.

Arigato, Mr. Roboto.

Inspired

I've been taking pics of everything lately. Here are my best.

Such a happy boy, especially in jump mode!

Serious warrior mode.

Playing with a starburst filter.

I love how the small holes in the lamp look like snowflakes.

Taken this morning. Unidentified berry/pod.

Really trying to use manual setting and fiddling around with light. No photoshop at all. The color just pops.

All photos taken with Canon Rebel XT, 100mm macro lens.

Have a great weekend and Father's Day!

Friday Field Trip

It's fun to meet up with a friend that you haven't seen for a while. Add a mini photo field trip to an area you've never explored and yummy cupcakes to make a terrific day.

Veronica like to take pictures and practice our photography so this time we headed over to Belmont Shores to find a cupcake shop. We used the GPS and that thing will get me there but it doesn't have common sense to get me to the nearest major street and then direct me from there. Nope, it decided to direct us through the local neighborhoods that had us turning and twisting and it definitely added about 15-20 minutes to our travel time. Bah! But we made it before the cupcake shop opened so we walked down the street toward the ocean. What a cute neighborhood. Lovely Spanish homes with great landscaping. We had fun with the variety of flowers and plants in the yards.

But then there is the cupcakes. Oh my, about 12 different flavors that looked so yummy. I ended buying half a dozen because I had to share with the kids. Hector doesn't have a sweet tooth at all. If they made a salty meat cupcake that would be another story. I had the butter toffee cupcake which was divine.

Very cute boutiques sprinkled among some chain stores and lots of restaurants especially Lebanese so that was intriguing to me. I have to make a mental note to try it.

Veronica and I always find something to shoot and talk so time flies by. We always say we need to do this more often and I'm gonna make sure we do.

Such concentration at basketball.

A cute litte prize.

Tyler busy digging a hole.

We ended the night with the school fair with the kids. They rode down the big inflatable slide and played a few games but mostly enjoyed time with their friends and playing on the school equipment.