I managed the first of what I hope to be many trips to the coast this year. It was warm and sunny in Brookings, unlike the Rogue Valley. Shot with the Lensbaby Sweet 50.
Bluberries
It wasn’t a great week for photography. Though we did get some breaks in the weather it was still cold and the winter landscape mostly uninspiring. I found myself grabbing whatever was close at hand and taking a few shots just to check off the box. Yesterday, after a full day working at the Genealogy Library, I just picked up the camera, pointed it out the window and took a shot and called it done. In fairness, I had intended to go to the rose garden after my shift but it had started to rain, which was not in the forecast, so I was not only tired but a bit exasperated. In any case the blueberries turned out pretty well in spite of my bad attitude. Hoping for better things this week with a change of scenery coming the next few days.
Birdcage
The upside of being forced to shoot in the studio every day is that I am remembering all the things I have gathered for just such an occasion. the birdcage was inspired by a class I am working on called “Inspired” by Denise Love, my texture guru. It took awhile to get all the pieces together for the shoot as I had to create my own background using paint and water color paper. I do like the way it came together and I am reminded I have a lot more videos in that class to inspire me.
Pomegranate
It has been incredibly windy this week so I was forced into the tiny studio for most of my daily images. Eight days in and I’m already wondering why I did this to myself. But I’m hoping as we get into spring and better weather and better subjects things will go more smoothly. It’s really about making photography a priority which is hard to do when other alligators are nipping at my heels. Anyway, this pomegranate was shot using my Velvet 28 which, though wider than I usually prefer, focuses as close as two inches which makes it perfect for this kind of closeup shot.
365 Days of Lensbaby
Today is the first day of my new 365 days of Lensbaby project. The objective is to take at least on photograph each day using one of my many Lensbaby tools and lenses. Today I initially set out for Lithia Park but quickly realized I was going to have a long hike to where I wanted to photograph, assuming I could find a parking place at all. So, I made a new plan and headed to North Mountain Park. My favorite thing to photograph at North Mountain Park this time of year is birds but, unfortunately, Lensbaby, has not yet branched out to telephoto lenses. So, it had to be Macro. I captured several pleasing shots but I just loved the simplicity of this one. It was captured using the Lensbaby sweet 80 on my Canon M6 with a 2x macro filter. Some might argue that extension tube might be a better choice because it doesn’t put more glass in front of the lens but with Lensbaby you are looking for blur anyway and I just got the macro filters and have to put them through their paces. I probably should have tried the same shot using extension tubes but didn’t think of it at the time. I don’t expect to be posting images every day on this site but I am going to try to do better with getting the best image of the week posted.
Lavender
I took the Southern Oregon Lavender Trail yesterday and while some of the fields are not yet in full bloom, I found plenty of good things to photograph, including this young lavender sprout found at a nursery out beyond Williams.
I love the blurred background in this one but I added a texture just to see how it would look and it added a richness and depth I wasn’t expecting.
Mt McLaughlin
This week’s adventure took us to the mountains to check out the status of the Lakes. Sadly, in spite of all the rain, the reservoirs still look a bit like mud puddles and the marina at Howard Prairie is still high and dry and the boat ramps all end up on dry ground. But, with the clouds it was difficult to get a decent picture so I decided to make lemonade and let the clouds be the star, with a little help from our local snowcap which still has a little snow to contribute to the water supply.
Unfortunately, when I upgraded Photoshop so that it could recognize the images from my new camera it messed up my plug-in software that helps make the clouds stand out. Two and a half hours later I still don’t have it working right but I did find a work around so I could use the software. (This is why I never update Photoshop unless I absolutely have to). I am also sad that the purple and yellow flowers in the foreground don’t show up too well in this image.
Clearwater Falls
Last week’s photo adventure took me to the North Umpqua River which boasts an impressive array of waterfalls along it’s tributaries. My favorite of the four easily accessible falls I visited was Clearwater Falls. I may have to go back and explore some segments of the trail that follows the river for 69 miles.
Charleston Boat Basin
I’ve decided to have a summer of short road trips around Oregon as I am still not comfortable with getting on an airplane or joining a bus load of random travelers from around the country. So, I kicked it off this week with a couple of days at the coast. The Charleston Boat Basin is always a favorite photo destination. This trip I found calm winds and near perfect reflections. I was attracted to this scene because all the boats are blue. I softened it ever so slightly with a Chalk Smudge overlay in Topaz Impression.
Lithia Park
I was advised to check out the Rhodies in Lithia Park so I made a point of getting down there as I usually forget until it is too late.