Photography

It's no secret that photography is my passion. I could pick apart the photo below for photography blunders, but that is not why I posted it. This is a capture of my friend (and photography partner) doing what we do and that is why I posted the photo. I love what the photo tells you, without telling you. So, this is what my life has been like for the last month...high school senior portraiture, and it's a BLAST!!!

Foxtail Fiasco

Most of you will recognize that the photo below is wheat. Aw wheat, it supplies most of the world's dietary protein and food supply. A field of wheat, green or amber, is a beautiful sight, especially if the wind is blowing. You know, like in the song...amber waves of grain! (photo courtesy of Internet)

Then there came foxtail...I had never heard of foxtail until I moved to California. Foxtail is the evil cousin of wheat. Oh it's quite beautiful as wheat and is useful in flower arrangements, but foxtail has a disturbing side. Foxtail will release it's flowered spikelets when brushed up against it. The spikelets dig their way through clothes and shoes. They hurt!!! Long haired animals are often victims of foxtail embedding themselves in their fur and then their skin causing infections. Oh foxtail, you're a menus! (photo courtesy of the Internet)

As photographers, my partner and I like to find great locations for photo shoots, and this beautiful field of volunteer wheat was just the ticket (on city property)! With no regard to our subjects discomfort, we had her sit in the middle of this field (after all, you have to be tough if my partner and I shoot you). It was going to make the most beautiful photo. She took her time settling down in the wheat as it was poking her (get over it, missy!). Oh how exciting it was for my partner and I to have an opportunity to shoot this portrait (high fives and chest bumps). The color and lighting was phenomenal!! As you can see it did make a nice photo.

Yeah, we got one of those rare opportunities of being at the right place at the right time. But, oh!! What is this? Ouch!! "Cherie, is this a field of foxtail?" I love Cherie, because she always laughs with me, and at me, and laughs just about everytime with her answers, "yes it is" she said (LOL). I looked down and I had one million 99 thousand and 52 foxtail flowered spikelets in my shoe (and inside my pant legs). Courtesy of my partner, Cherie, you can see the result of rare opportunities (she took photo below). The foxtail spears on the ground are what I had already pulled out of my shoe, and as you can see I have many more to get out (I'm still working on getting them out). Poor Cherie had to throw her socks away as they were all embedded with the spikelets! And, our subject, the one that we had no regard for, for her comfort, was a real trooper as she was in flipflops!!! (Click on the photo below to get the real picture!)

Ouch, ouch, ouch!!!

OJ and Blossoms

We used up the last of the oranges we had (either from our tree or locally grown by friends) this morning for OJ. It was delicious and will be the last fresh squeezed until next year. Just as we used up the old we have brand new blossoms on our dwarf orange tree in our back yard. As you can see it's barely 6 feet high (use fence for comparison).

Look closely and you will see a baby orange beginning to develop

Orange blossoms are most fragrant and once we step outdoors you are surrounded by it's sweet and pleasant smell. I love orange blossoms!

The bees are busy at work...get close to the tree and you hear nothing but bees buzzing!

We are blessed, aye!?

My Maycin...My Bud!

Remembering...Maycin 11/08/08

Remembering...

This is Margo at 3 weeks old. Oh the sweetness of a newborn.

Happy Easter

Lace took the photo...I tweaked it a bit!

Happy Easter!

NLCC Mexico Outreach Team

These are my brothers and sisters...they are most likely in Mexico this very moment as I write. They made a decision to be the hands and feet of Jesus during their Easter Vacation. Jesus gave the Great Commission to "...go and make disciples of all the nations..." Matthew 28:19.

NLCC MOT you ROCK!!

GASTROPODS

I still have a few more photos of Eastman I'd like to share, but we are going to take a break from that and talk about GASTROPODS.

Snails are GASTROPODS, meaning "Belly footed animal." My life has come to this, I'm photographing a mollusc destroying my plants! Where's the Corey's??

I refuse to name him...this creature of great destruction!!

No...again I say, no! I will not...I will...not...name this...slime producing, common mullosc GASTROPOD! I don't care that he's looking straight into my eyes with his poor vision that can only make out light and dark. I won't, I tell you...I won't! Does Gary sound like a good name?

Truly, people...I need to get a grip...I need to get a life...I need to get a grip on life!!!!

More Birds @ Eastman

I do love to photograph wildlife, but I don't always get the close up I want. One day I hope to have a zoom that will have the capability to get closer. But for now, I'm quite happy with what I have. Anyway, we had just set up camp and sat down in our chairs when it seemed the wildlife just came right to us...putting on a show. We couldn't believe all the birds and so many that we don't see down in the Central Valley where we live. Cliff kept asking me if I could see the yellow bird in the tree above us...of course I could see the yellow bird. "Then take a picture of it...quick before it flies away!" The only thing was, I was taking a picture of the bird below, not the one he was looking at.

After I took the photo, I showed him on my viewfinder the yellow bird I capture and was quite pleased with myself. "No, no...that is not the bird I'm talking about. Didn't you see it? It was a bright yellow. Really pretty...nothing I have seen before." So, in the same tree, we both tried to find the "yellow" bird Cliff was talking about, and when we both spotted it, I was hoping I'd be able to get a picture before he flew away. He was so bright with an orange/yellow head...almost tropical looking. Anyway, he is below. (Note to self: you must find a good bird book to identify these lovely creatures!)

Then quite a distance from our campsite, about 100 feet if not more, this lovely brown and royal blue bird lit in the old gnarly oak tree.

Enchanted Forest???

Enchanted forest? The Fiddleneck were so inviting until we got to the edge of the hill and saw...the...ENCHANTED FOREST!

Oh how wicked it looked...those limbs reaching downward as to grab anyone foolish enough to enter (much like Dorothy). The darkness beyond was enough warning that this was not a place to enter lightly...

So we took some photos before taking the challenge to conquer our fears...of wicked tree limbs and dark places.

Taking portraits of other people I can do with a fair amount of ease, but taking photos of us with the camera beyond my arms is not my forte as you can see above and below.

So, I asked my main man, my loving honey bunny, my very own cowboy to take the photo as his arms are much longer. He is always successful in taking photos of us. After all this might be our very last photo as we enter the frightful path to the black unknown. I envisioned our camera lying on the ground and someone picking it up, taking it home, loading the photos on their computer and seeing this last photo. The one that told all...the last kiss with the watchful eye because something was out there!!

But, as tales be told, that is not what happened. In fact we did not enter the scary, frightful, wicked, enchanted forest... Sometimes you just gotta go with your gut feeling! Okay, okay, so we are the biggest scaredy cats you ever did see! I said it! It's out! Our reputation is ruined.

Morning Walk

Still campin'...Eastman...we went on our morning walk right as the sun was rising. The wildflowers were unbelievable (the yellow ones are Fiddleneck)! We are definitely putting a camp trip on our calendar returning next year at the same time. Anyway, getting back to our walk...the sunlight was resting right on the tips of the flowers lighting our path. The photo below is one of my favorites.

Have you noticed anything about Clifford on this walk yet? I mean, what he has been doing? Keep looking...

Nope, he's not posing for the camera!

Maybe some of you local family and friends have figured it out. Where we camped is rattle snake country, but the tall grass and flowers were so inviting regardless of the danger. We just delicately stepped through it all. Didn't see a one, although we were told by a Park Ranger later that a horse was bitten by a rattle snake that weekend. Good thing there was a vet camping with the horse trail club.