Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Painting with the computer

 I have always noticed this dilapidated house near the freeway for a while now. I had my camera. What did you expect me to do?

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Thank you, my patient children

I have awesome kids. They humor me, in my quest to find subjects for my photography...

First we went downtown, where they had no trouble keeping themselves occupied:
 balancing on rocks ("I'm a goat mom!")

 playing with a roly-poly (they're sooo cute, mom!)

and playing with an imaginary soccer ball (look mommy, I'm kicking fast!).

When my daughter decided that she had enough of "walking and stopping and waiting until mommy is done taking pictures" (haha) we went to the Railroad Museum. Talk about a photographer's paradise...those pictures deserve a post all to themselves.

Monday, June 27, 2011

St. John Vianney Church

Created using 3 DSLR images and tone-mapped to bring out the details in the shadows. Pretty nifty, eh?

Sunday, June 26, 2011

HDR photos

I tried my hand at creating some HDR images today. I had more fun with this technique than I thought I would. The following are just two of the ones that I created today. In both sets, the top photo is the original:






Thursday, June 23, 2011

Coloma

After dropping my daughter off at a friend's pool party and my son off at camp, I had 3 hours all to myself. I ventured to a semi-ghost town, Coloma, the 1848 Gold Discovery Site. The weather was agreeable; even so, I wondered how the miners and dwellers in this area withstood the heat in wooden cabins, with not so much as an air fan to bring the delta breezes into their homes. 



A Step Back

I have decided to expand my photography repertoire. I've claimed my husband's DSLR camera (not that he uses it anyway) and played around with it. I have to get used to the rectangle again - ha! - and the dimmer colors (darn the atmosphere!). It's a lot heavier than my IPhone, but it allows me take really good pictures in very low light, unlike my IPhone which doesn't pick up any detail in shadows.

Here's to growth:



Saturday, June 18, 2011

My Morning Nirvana

I took off by myself this morning. It was nice to have time to myself and capture the moments that are too soon lost...

like this cyclist on the bridge (one of many, believe me),


the colors of the area...


One of them told me that they started fishing early that morning and they started about a mile upstream. 


This sign made me laugh. 

It reads: $5 fine for driving over this bridge faster than a walk, $25 fine for driving more than 20 head of horses, 50 head of cattle or 200 sheep, hogs or goats over this bridge at one time. 

Outdated, me thinks...

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Multifarious

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. ~John Muir, 1913


Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they're looking for ideas ~ Paula Poundstone 


Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature. ~Gerard de Nerval

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Caption Needed

I had a great day out with the kids today. My little sprouts were so good about letting me take pictures while we were sightseeing that I felt they both deserved some ice cream. 

They are so goofy...

Monday, June 13, 2011

Robot Boy

My son had an eye doctor's appointment this morning. No surprise here, everyone else in our family wears glasses. The only difference is, he wants to wear glasses...I took this picture of him and he was tickled by it, giggling and saying, "I look like a robot!"
Yes, you do son...yes you do... 

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Of Summer's Colors

I love colors, especially the colors of fresh produce. Today was awesome because I was surrounded by it. Even better, I was able to eat a lot of it. My husband laughed when I told him that if I could, I would eat fresh fruit all day, everyday. Just so you know, he is one of the sort that only eats blueberries for the health benefits (!) because he thinks they are too tart. Oh, well - I tell my kids, "More for us! Hahaha!" (in my best evil laugh)

My son declared that, "Strawberries are awesome!"  On this, I totally agree, although ripe Ruby Grapefruits and Rainier Cherries are so very close to the level of awesomeness that Strawberries hold in my book. Enough about my obsession over summer fruit - enjoy the photos!