Sleepy Kitty

Sleepy Kitty staying so still so I can get a lovely picture. Good Kitty.

Golden Steps

Late at night the water steps glow from the lights in the walk way. During the day, these steps look very ordinary with water tripping down them. At night, the lights and water create a magic that will slip away at Sunrise.

Visit Nikon Sniper

Hi Everyone,
Go on over and visit Nikon Sniper for a wonderful video.
http://nikonsniper.blogspot.com/2010/02/test.html
Have a joyful day,
Ruth

Alien landscape

Just out side my door on a windy, rainy night this alien world was shot from my front door. Crazy, wild rain, dueling light sources and a tripod create this mysterious scene.

Dancing light

Light dancing on the water. I keep trying to capture this elusive play between sunlight and water.

Monsoons

Hotly debated is the issue can a desert have a monsoon season. The wind and rain pummeled our poor ficus trees. I think the trees would vote Yes.

Tiny bubbles

Same picture cropped differently. Ever feel like your life has taken a similar turn?

One with 2 heads or...

Optical illusion created by the camera. One of the strange things that cameras do is called flattening a picture. With my eyes, I can easily see there are 2 ducks. The camera tends to squish these into a flat image. Sometimes this is used to advantage by creating illusions of people standing together that are actually far apart. Or if anyone has ever tried the experiment that looks like someone is holding the sun in their hand. Great example of what I mean:
http://abstract.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/163494/ or
http://www.cardinalcenterforhealing.com/craniosacral/craniosacral-therapy.jsp

Looking back...

Looking back at last year I found that then I had my ducks in a row. This year I am struggling at getting my ducks to line up. A lot has happened this year. Now, I am still job hunting. It would be easier if I was willing to work Sundays.

Cave Paintings?

In the park these were very obviously sidewalk chalk graffiti. Cropped, the possibilities expand, maybe they are cave drawings. Has anyone considered the possibility that ancient cave paintings were created by teenagers sent to the back of the cave to be punished and drew on their bedroom wall to irritate mom?

Looking for Love

Lani, at Still Impressions, finds hearts and takes pictures of them. Here is an example of her blog:
http://stillimpressions.blogspot.com/2010/05/you-dont-miss-your-water.html
I found this heart in a most unlikely place in the arm pit of a saguaro cactus. Who would think for looking for love in a prickly arm pit?

Action

Challenge of the week is an action shot. Humming birds are active. I was delighted when I cropped the picture down to just the humming bird that it was a better shot than I viewed with all the cloudless sky and trees. I am amazed when cropping can dramatically change a picture. A little Hue/Saturation helped the sky to be a bit bluer.

Standing Tall

I was looking for something to remind me what I need to be doing this week. I saw this picture I have of the heron at the park and I knew. This week I need to practice Standing Tall. That inner conviction that I have value and worth is the key to Standing Tall.

Summer Rains

So brief. So welcomed. So beautiful. Droplets from a summer rain adorn a rose in the park. On my large monitor at home, you can see the air-pockets trapped beneath the water drops. The texture of the petal create places were air resides but the water can't seep into these tiny crevices. I wish I could share the wonder I feel when I see droplets on a petal.

Backyard patterns

All these patterns reside in my backyard. I am sometimes astounded when I focus the camera on one little piece. The camera crops out all other information and your eyes have to devote there efforts on that without all the other distractions.

Breaking Rocks

People underestimate the violence and survival instincts of plants. This small palo verde tree put down its roots in the crevice of the rock, as it grows it is literally breaking rocks to find a space to live. Very awesome. Don't mess with a plant.

Alive

Sometimes I look for something to remind me about being alive. I had breast cancer 10 years ago and I am celebrating being alive. You can sign up for the Komen Race 10/10/10 at http://ww5.komen.org/ If you would like to join my daughters team email me at Ruth.Mower@gmail.com and I will send the link.

Escape

Duckings can be amazingly fast. One of the photography tips for improving your skills is to take pictures of motion. I usually don't so this will be an interesting assignment to play with.

Monster links thanks to all the added info. Just copy and paste to visit the original article:

http://digital-photography-school.com/10-quick-easy-and-intuitive-tips-to-improve-your-photography?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DigitalPhotographySchool+%28Digital+Photography+School%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Let there be light...

Every once in awhile a picture has a quote jump out at me when I see the picture. I can imagine the first day looking a bit like this.

Making tracks

Every once in a while I feel a need to examine where I have been. What kind of tracks am I making on the lives of others? Where are my tracks leading? Do I like where I have gone?

Where am I going?

Have you ever felt that everything is a little out of focus and your walking somewhere but you're not sure where you're going? I think I have felt that way for months. I take refuge in photography. I read books by photographers, check out other photographer's blogs (http://nikonsniper.blogspot.com/ or http://phxdp.blogspot.com/), work on my own pictures, and search for other ways to use my pictures. Right now I feel like I am just plodding away, like these feet, with no idea where I am headed.

I love Photoshop

Taking pictures of glass has some interesting challenges with flash. It is amazing what I can alter in Photoshop. Photoshop is magical.

Suggested change:

Thanks

Thanks to my awesome daughter-in-law. She came and shot wedding pictures too. Her help made all the difference. Thanks.

New Adventure

I will be shooting my first wedding later today. I read this sentence and think how odd photography lingo really is, imagine going to a friends wedding to shoot somebody. Well, I think I will have to change my words so I am going to take pictures to preserve the memories in little snippets of flash. I am actually feeling excited about this new adventure.