Tag Archives: Macro photography

PS Challenge – May 11, 2017

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Wow! Time is sure blasting by. In the short time since my lovely ride retired, I’ve only been out shooting once, but we’ve been working on the yard and having a blast (although my sore and tired muscles might disagree that it was fun!). Watch for the pictures of our accomplishment soon!

For now, however, I offer this shot of an Asian Lily taken in the Garden Department at the local Home Depot. It’s an exposure bracket processed in Adobe Camera Raw, PhotoShop, and a Nik Color Efex filter that I created. I’ve learned there’s more tools in ACR than I thought and they’re wonderful!

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

The PS Challenge is Underway!

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My apologies for the long break between posts. I’ve been busy shooting, but I took a little break when my friend and photo buddy, Richard Hawkins, lost his battle with cancer. Many of you are familiar with one of Rich’s best pictures.

Richard and I were out with the wild horses a couple years ago. I had just made a few images and turned around when he grabbed this shot of me. Shooting with him was always fun – he had a great eye for images and helped me look at things a little differently. Rich bought a 1964 Olds 442 just before he received his cancer diagnosis. He dated his wife in a car just like it many years ago. At his first car show, he won the ‘under construction’ category. He also asked me to take his picture in the same pose he was in when he had his original 442. I was very happy to do so. God Bless You, Rich – my cameras and I miss you.

On to the images from this month. I picked up a point and shoot camera, a Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II, to enhance my camera bag. I’m learning the capabilities and limitations of this tiny little camera (it’s only 3.75″ wide, 2.5″ tall, and a narrow 1.25″ thick), but it makes marvelous images. I’m getting very nice landscape images, as you can see, and there’s potential for close up and macro photography, once I learn the camera a lot better. The PS challenge can be either ‘point n shoot’ or PowerShot, depending on my feeling that day.

I made this image just south of Woodfords CA. That’s CA 89 on the left. I made this image with the PowerShot.

I’ve driven by this section of the East Fork of the Carson River several times, and finally stopped to make the image. Great sky and great light!

The beauty of the PowerShot is the ability to stop and jump out for the quick shot. This image was made from the side of CA 89 (the Carson River is just behind and downhill from these trees) in an area where a wildfire burned a couple years ago. The tree on the left was completely burned but the other two were only burned on the bottom half. I hope they survive.

The last PowerShot image for this post – the West Fork of the Carson River in the middle of the Carson Valley. The Town of Genoa is visible at the base of the mountains, and Duane Bliss Peak is reflected in the river.

As much as I love my PowerShot, it will never replace the big camera for many things. The PowerShot will bracket exposures and focal length, but the big camera does it much better.

This is an HDR combined from an exposure bracket of the West Fork of the Carson River, in the mountains. There’s lots of ice in the stream still, as this section of the river gets very little direct sunlight in the winter months.

Another HDR of a usually dry wash feeding the East Fork of the Carson River.

This is the Bower’s Mansion, an historic structure on the west side of Washoe Lake, just south of Reno.

The Eagles are long gone, except for the nesting pairs, and the other Raptors are slowly leaving the area as spring approaches. Smaller birds are returning, so we have subjects to shoot and new challenges in shooting. Small birds are more likely to move as you approach, so a long lens and quick reaction to spotting them is critical.

I found this Western Meadowlark on a fence post in the wildlife viewing area on the south end of Washoe Lake. Chilly morning, so it was trying to fluff up and stay warm.

This Western Meadowlark landed on a branch near me, and posed nicely.

These Black Tail Deer are part of the Town of Genoa herds, although these 4 can be found a couple miles north of town on Foothill Road.

I’m not sure they were more worried about me or something to the right, but they held still long enough for me to make this image.

I had the opportunity to try a new technique I saw in Outdoor Photographer magazine – the wildlife panorama. I usually try to get my wildlife images as close and detailed as possible, but I love the concept of combining wildlife and landscape photography. Watch for more images like this.

I found these 4 another day, but they moved into a grove of trees as I approached. New challenge to get a good shot through the trees. This one moved in and stopped, not exposing more head for me. Changing my position wouldn’t have helped, as other trees blocked the view.

Spring is here – evidenced by the blossoms on some of our fruit trees. These are from the Flowering Plum in the corner of the backyard.

First close up of the year – almost a macro. Each blossom is only 3/4″ in diameter. As more flowers bloom, I’ll shoot more macros. Hopefully, the wet winter will cause the desert to bloom, and not delay too much the mountain meadows blooming.

Welcome Spring and the changes it brings. Thanks for reading this blog!

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

Sharpening continued…and other fun stuff!

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In my last post, I introduced the sharpening process and described my first footsteps into its intricacies (yes, I had to look this one up to make sure).  The study is going well, but there’s an amazing amount of information to digest.  I am surprised by the number of tools available.  Unsharp Mask, for example, has its roots in film photography, where wet-darkroom magicians would use a duplicate negative to create a mask to increase the apparent sharpness of a photographic print by increasing contrast along edges.  From the descriptions I read, it was quite a process.  Other digital sharpening tools in Photoshop include Smart Sharpen and Shake Reduction.  Of course, the flip side of digital sharpening is the introduction of digital noise.  (Noise is the grainy appearance of a photograph, and is beyond the scope of this blog, so we’ll save it for another day.)  Lightroom and Camera Raw’s sharpening and noise reduction tools work the same way – very easy to use, and the Nik filters have Define (for noise reduction) and Sharpener (for sharpening).  My head is swimming.

In a feeble attempt to keep myself somewhat sane (those who know me will attest that it’s as good as we can expect) while I’m learning sharpening, I’m still out there looking for great subjects and trying new techniques.  Here’s a few pictures from the last couple weeks.

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Okay, this isn’t really a new technique for me, but it’s fun and worthy of continued exploration. For this image, I overlaid a picture of the Ward Charcoal Ovens onto a picture of a wood floor (beautiful texture). I’m looking for a little constructive critique (CC), please!

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This is a Merlin, and it’s the latest capture in my quest for new raptor species. (Recall that I also got a Northern Harrier and a Rough Legged Hawk this year.) Merlins are in the Falcon family, and only get to about 12″ tall with a 25″ wingspan – just a little bigger than a Kestrel. This little one was in a tree in my neighbor’s yard and, uncharacteristically, sat for me for several minutes.

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My lovely bride was with me the other day and she is an excellent spotter. She saw this Great Horned Owl in a tree as we drove by. Some of my friends thought it was a Long Eared Owl, but my resident expert on bird identification confirmed Great Horned (thanks Larry!).

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Because I like to explore with different filters during processing, I used a vintage colors filter in Nik Silver Efex for this interpretation. This filter is one of my favorites

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Okay, this is a new technique called focus stacking. I mounted the camera on a tripod and locked it down. I took 5 images of these crabapples on a tree in our backyard, each image using a different focal plane (focusing at different levels) and blended them in Photoshop to create this image with all the crabapples in focus. I’ll refine my focus stacking workflow and use it on flowers this summer!

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While I was making images for focus stacking, I made this image of an ‘about to drip’ from another crabapple tree in the backyard. When I downloaded these images to the computer, I noticed the inverted tree in pretty good focus. I tried to get closer, but I would have bumped the tree and dislodged the drip. I’ll take it for now, but will look for other drips to shoot.  Aren’t optics fun?

Well, that’s it for this blog.  Stay tuned for more info on sharpening, focus stacking, and macro.  Until next time – enjoy!

PHOTOROGR

I’m just about to burst…

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I’m so excited about my photography right now that I’m just about to burst!  I know, it’s been 3 weeks since my last post and I’m sure you’re all asking, ‘if he’s so excited, why so long since his last post?”  The answer is simple – I’m having too much fun to make a post!  The problem with that, however, is the backlog of images to share.  I still have two posts worth of images from my trip home last month – stay tuned for them!

We’ll get to current pictures in a minute because there are fun things I want to share.  First, I’m waiting for my new lens, the Generation 2 Tamron 150-600, to arrive.  I’ve been shooting with the first generation 150-600 since it came out almost 3 years ago and have always loved the results.  The new lens has better optics, faster autofocus, and a shorter minimum focusing distance (by almost a foot!).  I found a nice home for my old lens (the new owner has already made some great images, and has nicknamed the lens ‘Godzilla’), so I’m without a super telezoom for the short term.  My withdrawal is almost as bad as when my camera body fried a circuit board last June and I was without my 7D for a time.  I’ll get through it – I promise.  With the raptors returning to the Carson Valley, I’m excited to try out the new lens!

Second, I’m launching my exploration into Shutter Priority (Tv) mode.  For the last couple years, I have shot primarily in Aperture Priority (Av) mode, which controls light using the aperture opening.  Aperture size impacts depth of field, or how much the image is in focus from the foreground to the background (large openings = shallow depth of field, small openings = deeper depth of field).  For wildlife shots, especially birds, I shoot wide open.  Large aperture openings also allow fast shutter speeds, capturing detail and freezing motion.  I don’t worry about the background being in focus because I want to highlight the bird or animal in the image.  For landscapes, I use smaller aperture openings to have more of the scene in focus.  I shoot my landscapes from a tripod, so shutter speed is not really a concern.  I use Manual mode for my landscapes, allowing me to control exposure with either shutter or aperture priority, looking for the best settings for the particular subject and conditions.

What prompted me to explore Tv mode?  Sports photography!  One of my son’s friends has two little boys who play flag football.  I took pictures at a game last Saturday (they won – it was very exciting), and asked a friend/mentor to critique my work.  His comments were very helpful, pushing me to explore the wild world of Shutter Priority.  Here’s a couple pictures from Saturday.

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He had just intercepted a pass and was running into the end zone for a touchdown!

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These little guys take the game seriously – look at the intensity (or maybe fear of getting hit) on their faces!

As you can see, the focus is just a little soft.  I shot these in Av mode, so a shift to Tv mode will give me a faster shutter speed to freeze the action better.  I’m excited to give it a try!

A couple weeks ago, I went to Mormon Station State Park in Genoa to take pictures of Treffen Lake Tahoe, the Porsche Club of America’s cruise around the Lake Tahoe area.  The tour made a lunch stop in Genoa.  Go to my Treffen Lake Tahoe page (https://photorogr.com/treffen-lake-tahoe-2016/) to see my pictures from the day.

My retired guy ATV group made the ride up Mt. Patterson the other day.  Here’s a few images from the trip!

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I took this on the drive up, with my mobile phone. Note the smoke low on the horizon.

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This is the view looking west from the top of Mt. Patterson. It was mid-day when we arrived and I wasn’t happy with the light. I made the image anyway and am pleased with the result.

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The view to the north. Lots of smoke low on the horizon. The signage going up the hill described Mt. Patterson as ‘Mars with vegetation.’ I love the colors in this mountain.

On the way to Mt. Patterson, we passed the turnoff to CA 120, the Sonora Pass Road, and I just had to go back and drive Sonora Pass.  The leaves are starting to turn, and the PHOTORANGER loved the drive.

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The PHOTORANGER at the summit of Sonora Pass.

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Fall colors, on the east side of the Pass.

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Hopefully a sign of a good fall color year.  I found a great book on fall color in the Sierras, with excellent information on where to go.  Fall color exploration, here I come!

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I was amazed at the amount of water still flowing.

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The mountains had a fresh dusting of snow.

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This panorama was stitched from 8 images, then processed using a couple Nik Color Efex Pro filters. Some of my mentors/friends think it’s a little overdone. I like it!

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The scenery was stunning, everywhere I looked.

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I made several images of this mountain. I like this one for the trees in the foreground.

I didn’t forget to make images of the yard.  Here are a few.

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Remember the discussion of Aperture Priority above? This flower was shot with a wide open aperture and close up filters. The foliage in the background becomes a pleasing blur, while preserving the detail in the petals, stamens, and pistils. When I master focus stacking, the petal at the top will also be in focus.

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I finally found a Daisy bloom that hadn’t been molested by the rabbits.

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I love these Roses, but they are proving very challenging for me. I am constantly fighting the monochrome of the petals and work to introduce meaningful shadows to separate the petals. I was drawn to this composition by the dead bloom at the bottom of the image, in contrast with the vibrant blooms above.

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The last image of this post. I took a quick trip into the Pine Nut Mountains, just a couple miles east of our house, one evening last week. The sun was going down and was shining through some clouds. I’ve never made an image like this, so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m not totally happy with the result, so I’ll be working to improve my image capture processes in these lighting conditions.

That’s a lot of fun for me.  I promise that I’ll get the images from my trip done and posted.  They’re worth the wait – I promise.

Thanks for reading my blog.  Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

Working on getting closer!

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Recall that I started an exploration into macro and close up photography a couple months ago, and posted Up Close and Personal on June 6.  I’ve continued this exploration, introducing a couple new techniques into my process.  The challenges I described in my previous post are still there, but I’m getting a little more comfortable with the solutions.  In the last couple weeks, I’ve started using my flash off-camera to better control how I highlight the subjects, and I’m experimenting with diffusers and reflectors to help control the light as well.  As always, the first time I tried the flash I got excellent results.  Subsequent efforts have been a little more challenging – the result of thinking about what I was doing and not just doing it.  Since I described the technical stuff a few weeks ago, let’s get right to the pictures!

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This is a Day Lily in our front yard, and was one of my first images using flash. The flash really brought out the colors and helped with sharpness.

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I took a drive up CA 4 to Ebbett’s Pass last week. This Sunflower was along the road…

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…and this Sunflower was in the same little patch, but had some wildlife wandering around.

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My lovely bride is very happy that this Hydrangea is finally blooming. Another of my initial flash images.

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This Anderson Thistle was near those Sunflowers. Many regard this as a noxious weed, and rightfully so, but it can sure make a pretty picture.

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I love how this Prickly Poppy turned out. For some, I took the processing a little too far. I did it on purpose to bring out the details in the stigma, styles, pistils, anthers, and filaments, and the lines in the petals. (Oh yeah, I love my wildflower book.)

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This is a bloom on a Butterfly plant that appeared beside my Shop Building a couple years ago. As you’ll see in the next couple images, I had a little fun with this plant.

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Another bloom from the Butterfly plant. The flash was under the bloom and I rotated the image to make it appear a little more natural.

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And I got real wild with this one. I desaturated (removed all the color) everything but the yellows and oranges in the center of the flowers. It’s a technique I’ve always wanted to try. Did it work well in this image? Probably not, but the experience of doing it made it worth the effort.

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I think this is a Black-Eyed Susan. Could it be the inspiration for archery targets?

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Another view of the Hydrangea.

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This is a pod cluster on the Heavenly Bamboo in front of my Shop Building. We were a little unsure when we planted this, but it is a beautiful plant and tough as nails! I used the flash on this, too.

I have another new technique for macro and close up – watch for it in my next blog!  Meanwhile, just Enjoy!  PHOTOROGR

Water Water Everywhere…

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My lovely bride and I made our annual trip to our grandson’s birthday a couple weeks ago.  This year, we decided to celebrate the centennial of our national park system by visiting Crater Lake National Park on the way.  Everyone should go to Crater Lake – but beware, you can’t take a bad picture there.

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This pano was taken from the west side of the Lake.

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Also from the west loop, this pano includes the caldera (volcano within a volcano) inside the main crater.

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From the south side of the lake. Love the clear blue water and great reflection of the clouds!

After a wonderful day at Crater Lake, we drove to Portland and had dinner with our niece.  The next morning, we spent some time in the Columbia River Gorge checking the views and the waterfalls.

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World famous Multnomah Falls. This was our first time there, and we understand why this is one of the most photographed falls in the world!

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Wahkeenah Falls, just west of Multnomah Falls. Also very spectacular!

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Another view of Wahkeenah Falls.

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Shepherd’s Dell. A smaller fall than the others, but worth the short hike to get there!

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We found this small waterfall on one of the trails. The branch at the top left caught my eye, and I used it to frame the falls.

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Latourell Falls. The rocks are the best feature of this site.

The Columbia River is spectacular, as well.

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A view looking east from historic US 30. This road was built about 100 years ago, and is a marvel of engineering. I think all transportation professionals should have to study how this road was built. This road was built with emphasis on the journey, not the destination.

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The Columbia River from the aptly named Vista House!

We drove along the Deschutes River – one of the images I shot there.

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And my favorite waterfall – White River Falls, in central Oregon near the Deschutes River.

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I wish we had been there earlier in the day for better light, but I think it worked out.

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The state park has several excellent views of this beautiful waterfall!

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I am going back to this waterfall – I promise! When one lives in the desert, one forgets how fun it is to see water flowing in July!

I’ll close this post with a few flower macros!  I’m really having fun with macro photography!

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Found in a park in Richland WA.

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I had help from my grandson taking this picture. Look close and you can see the bee in the center of the flower!

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I shot this on the side of SR 22 on the way to Portland!

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Macro and some creative editing.

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On one of our non-photo stops, a nice person working in a store told me about these Poppies and mailboxes at the edge of town. I found it, and had to make the picture. Not macro – but a great image!

Water water everywhere!  We had a great trip and really enjoyed the scenery.  I didn’t try any new techniques, instead reaching into the toolkit for those that I’ve been developing.  Thanks for following my blog – until next time!  Enjoy!!  PHOTOROGR

Summer is here…

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…and it’s getting hot outside!  Thankfully, the Carson Valley cools down at night, which helps keep the house comfortable!

I’ve had an exciting couple weeks since my last post.  I received an email from a museum in Roseville, California, asking if they could use some of my panoramas in their train diorama.  I’ll let you know when the display is ready!  I have note cards at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park.  They’re the big size, so go get them.  I also got a call from a company looking for a picture for a proposal.  The image came out great and I wish them luck with their proposal.

I got out and did some long exposure/HDR stream shots.  They’re so much prettier when the vegetation has leaves and a little color.  I also spent last Sunday at Heritage Park in Gardnerville, shooting the Car Show and The Great Race lunch stop.  The pictures came out great, but my Canon 7D broke and is at the Canon Repair Center.  We hope it’s not fatal!  While I don’t think it broke because I was taking pictures of foreign cars and those made by the Evil Empire, I’m not ruling it out!

Take a look at the Heritage Park Car Show page for pictures of the car show, and The Great Race page for pictures of the race cars!  There are links to The Great Race website on both pages.

So, here’s a few images.  Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

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This is a Columbine flower. When I master ‘focus stacking,’ it’ll be a better picture.

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West Fork of the Carson River.

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More Carson River…

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The moss on the rocks and branches really made this picture for me!

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Great Race racer – Lincoln Continental – now that’s a great cruising machine!

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1966 GT350-H…rare and gorgeous. How would you like to drive this across country?

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My friends, Mike and Sharon Silvera, won ‘Spirit of the Show’ with their 1911 Chalmers! What a gorgeous car!

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Another friend, Mike King, with his classic Woody! Check out the rest of the show cars at the Heritage Park Car Show page!

Up Close and Personal…

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Desert flower!

Well, my exploration into Close Up and Macro Photography has begun in a big way!  Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun!

Rob Sheppard begins his book on Macro Photography this way, “…This truly is a different world for most people and most photographers.  When you and your camera get in close to things, what you discover can be amazing, unique, and remarkable.  We simply don’t usually spend time looking at most things around us with a close-up point of view.”  A few pages later, Rob describes this paradox, “By going small, you can go big, very big.  How is that possible?  By getting in close to the small things, that smaller majority, we actually see more of the beauty of the world.  The world becomes a bigger place!”

Not only am I developing a new view of the world, I’m developing a new set of photography skills as well.  Depth of field (DOF) is very different when you’re working in close.  Shoot a landscape at a small aperture opening and DOF goes for miles.  Shoot a flower at a small aperture and DOF is measured in centimeters and fractions of inches.  Hand held shooting is possible, but keep your expectations low.  The definition of ‘good light’ takes on a whole new meaning, however.  For example, mid-day light is very harsh and unforgiving to the landscape photographer and gives me fits when shooting wildlife.  Go for the small subjects, and mid-day light can be your friend.  For me, Macro and Close Up brings a new set of challenges, but it reinforces the same basic photography concepts by forcing me to use them in a different way.

Enough technical talk for now – let’s get to some pictures!

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I found this little fella’ working our new Catmint in the backyard.

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My lovely bride likes it cropped a lot closer…thoughts?

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This is a Macro of a Rose in our backyard. I gotta say, I’m putting fewer miles on the PHOTORANGER since the flowers in the yard are blooming!

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Red Hot Poker just starting to bloom. When it’s fully bloomed, the tips are red and the rest of the bloom is yellow. This is one of my favorite plants!

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We found this California Poppy at Topaz Lake. One of my few successful hand held macro shots!

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On the Thornless Hawthorne in our backyard. These flowers are gone now.

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When I started being serious about Macro, I rented a Macro lens and went looking for subjects. I drove Monitor Pass and found these beautiful flowers. Don’t ask me what they are – they’re just pretty!

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This is a Peony from our back yard. I made multiple exposures and merged them in Photomatix. With our flowers, that’s always dangerous because the wind moves everything. I got lucky this time!

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I found this Peony at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park.

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Not a Macro – a Close Up! This is a headlight on a 1927 Willys Knight that I saw at a car show over the weekend. This is an HDR image processed in Photomatix.

Well, it hasn’t all been Macros and Close Ups.  I took a ride with my old retired guy ATV group the other day.  We drove east of Carson City to Silver Springs, then south towards Fort Churchill.  Just south of Buckland Station, we turned left into the high desert and unloaded the ATVs.  A short 11 miles later, we arrived at Hooten Well and took a break.

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This is a panorama looking west towards Cleaver Peak. The desert is green, but it was a very hot and dusty ride!

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Cleaver Peak with remains of one of the stone structures in the foreground.

Our ultimate destination was Salt Cave.  Native Americans used them for shelter and decorated the ceilings.

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…and I had to shoot them in Macro…yes, I need to work on my DOF and focusing…

My plan is to continue to be up close and personal for a while, with the occasional landscape and panorama.  HDR is a great tool, and I’m getting more comfortable with it.

For my LinkedIn friends, please consider endorsing me for Digital Photography.  Thanks in advance!

Until next time – Enjoy!  PHOTOROGR

I’ve slowed down a little – could you tell?

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There’s nothing like a three week break between posts to demonstrate how much I’ve slowed down in my shooting.  Just to be clear, though, it’s only my shooting that has slowed down!  I’m spending more time studying new techniques and continuing work with those I’ve already added to my ‘toolkit.’  Also, it is Spring so I have to spend a little more time at home working on the yard and taking care of business in general.

I’ve continued my exploration of in-camera High Dynamic Range (HDR), as you will see below.  As explained in a previous post, HDR is the process of combining multiple exposures to utilize the best parts of each image for best detail from shadows and highlights.  After figuring out the settings, it works much better than I originally thought.  I noted an interesting part of the in-camera process the other day.  While reviewing several sets of exposures, I saw that the camera floated the ISO setting to obtain the underexposed image.  When I manually create multiple exposures, I usually float my shutter speed to create the over- and under-exposures.  I never adjust the aperture because of the impact to depth of field.  In addition, I’ve been exploring the Nik Efex filters and the variety of options available in Photomatix Pro.  I made these pictures at the Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park, with the Sierras as the background.  They will demonstrate better than words.

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In-camera HDR with minor adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). Another problem with in-camera HDR is that the file is in JPEG format, which limits post-processing options.

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This image was made from the same set of exposures as the one above. I combined the exposures in Photomatix Pro with additional processing in Nik. I received feedback from another photographer, telling me I needed to change my camera settings to minimize noise and also be careful of chromatic aberration. I’ll discuss these topics in future posts.

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This in-camera HDR was processed in ACR.

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Also in-camera and processed in ACR.

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I should have shifted a touch to the left to keep Jobs Peak from hiding behind the wheel spoke.

My lovely bride and I are members of the Friends of Dangberg Home Ranch, and I’ve been working with the Curator on some note cards for them to sell.  Here’s a couple of the options we are discussing.

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I took this image several years ago when I didn’t know what I was doing photographically. There are those who will argue that I still don’t know what I’m doing, but I’ll leave that alone for now. This image was shot in low resolution JPEG format at the wrong time of day, but I was able to work it enough to make this image – formatted for a large note card.

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Just for grins, I made it monochrome and applied a sepia filter. This will probably not make the cut for the final note cards.

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Better light and better angle. Jobs Peak is visible in the left side of the picture.  This one will be on the note cards.

The Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park teamed up with the Carson Valley Arts Council for an event called Something in the Wind.  A kite group from Oregon came down and put on a wonderful event.  The wind cooperated, sometimes just a little too much.  Here’s a little of the color from the two day event.

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These spinners were on poles – very fun and beautiful.

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Can you tell we had good wind? The spinners came down soon after I made this image.

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Lots of colorful flags, too!

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And then there were the kite fliers – all shapes and sizes! This little guy worked his kite pretty hard.

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The bubbles were quite the hit on Sunday!

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Kites are very beautiful these days!  A far cry from newspaper and sticks that we used.

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The kite folks put these in the air and tethered them, and they flew all day!

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This young man walked by my booth and proudly announced that he just turned 7 and he got this box kite for his birthday! I enjoyed seeing a father and son spending time together.

I stopped by my favorite Owl venue and captured this Barn Owl!

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Looks like a young one by the puffy feathers. I shot this handheld, so it’s not the best focus (camera shake from me and my hands – the low light and long shutter speed also contributed).  A cutie nonetheless.

The nice wet winter brought lots of flowers to the desert.

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This is the introduction for my next shooting technique – Macro Photography! Stay tuned!

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The mountains west of the Carson Valley.

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Shot from the road, looking up hill. But the flowers are gorgeous!

I’m really looking forward to my exploration into the world of Close-up and Macro Photography.  Thanks for looking at this blog.

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR