Yellow - The Color of Spring

by Deanna

Touches of Spring was my choice for this month's theme. OK I know the image above doesn't resemble Spring at all, but if I was at home right now this is probably what I would see out of my window. If you have seen any pictures of mine on Instagram or Facebook in the last week you would know that I am in Arizona soaking up the sunshine and enjoying the warmth. Except 90+ is just a wee bit warm for my body, but it sure hasn't stopped me from enjoying my moments in the sun. Rub on that sun screen and off I go.

Today I'm all about the color yellow. Yellow is the color of egg yolk, ripe lemons, some animals, many flowers, a few birds, butterflies, clothing, furniture, etc. It;s the primary color between green and orange in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wave length between 570 and 590 nm (nano meter, not "never mind").

Since I have been in Arizona I have seen yellow thru my lens wherever I went. So this post is more about images of yellow than words.

I discovered animals in yellow....

Butterflies and bees in yellow....

I know the flower isn't yellow but that bee buzzing inside is sure yellow.

Lots of flowers in yellow...

I have been visiting friends in Arizona (specifically, Phoenix) for several years. It's my getaway when winter has been around too long at home. When everything is still very brown at home, I fly to the land of the sun to envelop myself in the vivid colors that heal the remnants of winter in my bones.

I'll admit when I first visited Arizona 20+ years ago I did not appreciate the desert with it's beauty. My mindset was "how can anybody like living around rocks, desert, and cactus."  Well, needless to say, my mindset has certainly changed over the years. I now find those cactus, those rocks, and those deserts beautiful. 

Even birds are yellow out here....

And then of course, there are the stunning sunsets...

Even tho I am missing the massive blooming of the cactus by about 2-3 weeks, I sure haven't been cheated out of any beauty.

My Happy Place

by Deanna

Everyone has a happy place. Some maybe a cozy chair by the fireplace, another's may be their summer cottage at the lake,  Mine happens to be my back porch.  You have probably heard me say this more than once, but it bears repeating year after year, summer after summer.  It was my idea to have someone construct our screened porch about 25 years ago, my sweetie was perfectly content with the concrete slab we called a patio, but my dreams went further. Since it was my idea/dream and at the time I was working full-time, which meant there was money in the pocket book, I boldly said, "I'll pay for it." Well, 25 years later and thousands of mornings, noons, afternoons and nights spent there, I never ever regretted that bold statement.  The peace, the quiet, the views I see from the back porch is where my happy place resides.

When I went to Texas in April with my friend, Jeanne from "Butterfly Metamorphosis" she had just purchased a Tamron 150-600mm lens. The sights she could capture with that lens made my jealous little heart pitter patter.  I held off buying that lens almost 2 months, yes I said months, not years (at my age you don't wait years for anything!) and finally after a 2 month deliberation I sallied (ie: an outburst or flight of passion) up and ordered it from Amazon. Now, at this point you must be wondering what does this paragraph have to do with the one above - my happy place?

Exclamation forth-coming.  My happy place, which also includes the land surrounding said porch, is filled with birds, bees, blooms, and small animals all of which I can now capture with this lovely 150-600 mm lens. Which increases the happiness 10 fold or I should say 600 mm fold.

I walked out into the back yard this morning and found this....

A Robin just finishing his morning shower,

A hummingbird ready for more nectar,

 
A Yellow Finch perched on the feeder,

A bee nosing it's way inside a Penstemon, 

A rose blooming,

And what would my backyard be without Cinder and Toby. They enjoy the porch and the backyard as much as I do. Grey hairs are coming in abundance on Cinder's face, but she is still as spry as ever.

And Toby stopped to smell the flowers.... PS they both need a good grooming.

I am sure you have that special place that makes you happy. We would love to hear where your's is.

Life Is A Grand Adventure, Go Live It

Oh my goodness, I have been in the great state of Texas since last Wednesday afternoon and to say I am having a great time is a definite understatement.  I grew up in Dallas, but left at the age of 20, way before my passion for photography and viewing my surroundings in a whole different manner was born.  Being back here and enjoying the sites and sounds around me once again is definitely a whole new and delightful experience.

I registered for a class sponsored by the Dallas Arboretum entitled "Photographing the Wildflowers of Texas" with a former photographer from Southern Living Magazine.  Wow, sign me up. No hesitation there.  So instead of a bunch of words, I am just going to show you the extreme beauty I have been surrounded by for the last few days.  I won't be leaving until Thursday evening to return home, so I still have a couple of days left to savor the sights.

One morning the fog was thick and created such wonderful images....

And then there is the animals....

And the flowers....oh my goodness, the flowers.

This morning we drove around an area that is filled, I mean filled with blooming bluebonnets. But without internet, yes, I am sitting in a coffee house creating this post, I did not have the time to download the 500 more images sitting on my camera.  So check my personal blog in the next week to see more of the beauties of the Texas Hill country.

Focus On You

This photo "Swoonin' Over Swans" took my breath away. What an amazing capture of grace and beauty. Oh, and the light coming through those wings showing the individual feathers is glorious. Well done, Elaine. Thank you for sharing this magnificent swan with us. You can see more of Elaine's gorgeous photography on her Flickr site here. 

Focus On You!

by Carol

Oh dear - I am a sucker for a doggy! (or any other animal for that matter!)

Janice Johnson honored our gallery this week with this heartfelt image of Lexi! I can feel the love - Janice's love for Lexi and Lexi's love for Janice. What better to translate through a photo than LOVE?

You can see more of Janice's work here in her Flickr photostream.







Thanks so much for contributing, Janice and keep up the inspiration!

Let's Talk to the Animals

by Deanna

With summer almost upon us, the children out of school, it’s time for some summertime fun.  One of my favorite summer outings is a trip to the zoo.  Here in the Chicago-land area we are fortunate to have 2 large zoos, Brookfield and Lincoln Park, along with a host of smaller wild life refuges so if you are an animal lover like me, and especially if you like to take your camera along, I thought I would offer you a few tips on taking pictures at the zoo. 

Tip #1

The absolute best time to go to the zoo to capture the animals at their most active, is to go as early as you can in the morning.  Be the first in line before the heat of the day takes hold and the animals become quite lazy and tend to hunker down for their afternoon siestas.  The morning light is always at is finest and a bonus tip is if is just a drizzly kind of day, don’t stay home, the animals are usually much more active on a cool drizzly day, plus there will certainly be less crowds.  The colors become richer and not washed out or deep shadowed as when there is bright sunlight.  If you are not able to go early, another good time is to stay later in the day, when the light is less harsh and the animals are active again.  And if possible find out when the feeding times begin, then you will really see some action.

Tip #2

 Don’t be afraid of shooting through glass.  Yes, there tends to be problems with glare but a couple of ways to avoid or lessen the chance of glare is to place your lens right against the glass and for heavens sake don’t use a flash, talk about glare, you will have it in spades.  If you are still seeing glare when holding your lens near the glass, use your hand to shield some of the glare.  One of my friends once told me our hands are the handiest tools around.  (snort) And wearing dark clothing will help to avoid glare as well.  A lot of glass is tinted green, but no worries if you are using Lightroom or Photoshop you can manipulate the colors through these programs in post processing.  Shooting in RAW is a big bonus when you need to manipulate colors and even changing from color to black and white can give you some beautiful shots if the tint is too obvious.

 

Tip #3

 Shooting through wire is tough, especially if the wire is very close together.  Honestly when it is too close together I just give up, but if the wire is further apart you can manage to get a descent shot.  Step back a few feet and have your aperature wide open (the lowest number) and see if that works.  And if the wire is a distraction in the background you can always mask out the animal or subject and add a dark background.  Again changing to black and white and dropping in a dark background in post processing is another option. However many times by having your aperature wide open usually softens any distracting background and depending on the colors, it may even enhance the image.

Tip #4

Always be aware of the backgrounds, it can be as important as the subject itself.  Try not to have man-made objects in your images but sometimes it can’t be helped.  As you look through your view finder look all around, look at the corners and sometimes by simply moving your body you can capture a better image.  And then there are times that returning to the subject later might just be the trick.

Tip #5

Be patient.  You can’t pose animals like people, no sit, no smile, no walk towards me.  It just not gonna happen.  You have to wait until that moment appears, always have your hand on the shutter button and be aware.  Keep both eyes open….I know I have a habit of closing one eye, but I am working on that.  And before I forget, it is probably a good idea to bring a zoom lens.  I usually take my standby lens, Tamron 16-300.  It is great for just about any shot outdoors.  

I encourage you to take a trip to your local zoo, talk to the animals, and have fun with these tips.