Spent most of the weekend down in bed not feeling well. Finally, arose on Sunday evening and went for a small jaunt out to Sunol. I have decided to explore the Little Yosemite area. It is spectacular and I will return many more times in the future.
Continue reading for my second choice photo…
Boy after way too much vacillating, I have decided to enter photos into two county fairs this year, Alameda and Marin. I went around polling everyone I could find and received many conflicting opinions. Therefore, I just had to go with my gut feel. After my portfolio review last month with Michael Seewald, I went with his opinons. This bridge image was controversial among reviewers but I like it so it is going to both fairs. Taken on a rainy day at Tilden Park Botanical Gardens on New Year’s eve last year.
Keep reading if you want to see more of my image choices…
Went out twice this weekend to Uvas Canyon. Last week, I had to submit entry forms with a list of images for the Marin and Alameda county fairs. For the Marin county fair, the deadlines were a little later. Therefore, I added a ‘Swanson Creek’ title in black and white that I do not have yet. So, out I went to get a fair image. On Saturday, the sun was shining (a rare occurance at Uvas Canyon) and this image had blown highlights. However, Sunday was partly cloudy so the light was perfect. At this point, I think this is my final image for the Marin county fair.
On the other hand…
>This week had a very nice surprise. I found out that ‘Bugling Elk’ is a finalist in the Kodak National Park contest. While enjoying my mild conceit session, Chip and I had fun daydreaming about which National Park we would visit if the image wins the grand prize.
After running a lot of errands today, went out to Uvas Canyon. It has been too long since I visited the park. As usual at Uvas Canyon, I never get far from the parking lot because I keep seeing shots. Even though I wanted more color, I worked exclusively in infrared. It was fun to see the difference that infrared can make to this familiar location.
I had a hard time deciding the cover image…
Went to Scottsdale for a long weekend with a group of girlfriends. Had a wonderful time. The first nite, we took an evening tour of Taliesen West designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright.
The image on the left was taken in the sculpture garden at nite. This was a handheld shot taken at ISO 3200. I did run Noise Ninja to remove some of the noise but the image quality was surprisingly good.
For one day, we took a day trip to Sedona…
Went with Aphra to Mount Diablo on a quest for California poppies. I had been to Mount Diablo one time before but realized that I hardly scratched its surface. Most of my shots came from a small meadow close to the summit. The consensus is that we are still a few weeks too early to see the big displays of poppies. There were small patches of poppies, lots of lupines, owl’s clover, and other wildflowers that I do not know.
Went out for a short hike to Sunol. I was just pecking around looking for something to catch my eye before my appointment later that afternoon. Some days, I am not in the mood for shots. Since there were beautiful blue skies with fluffy white clouds, I decided to try a sky shot. I had read that infrared of blue skies went black and to add clouds for drama. I would say success.
For one more shot, please continue reading…
For the last day of Mother’s visit, we went back out to Sunol for a hike. We decided to visit little Yosemite. Little Yosemite is about a mile from the parking lot whcih I have not visited for quite a while. Seems that everyone had the same idea, the parking lot and trails were full of folks and their dogs.
I like the next picture a little better than the cover picture…
Mother and I went to the Berkeley Botanical Gardens to see the rhododendrons. I have made other visits earlier this year but was too early. This time they were just a little past peak. If you can get to Berkeley, the blooms are worth seeing because they are on bushes that are as big as small trees and some of the blossoms are as big as your hand.
To see the other photos of this outing, please click…
DorothyPhoto 