Week 38 - 365 Day Photography Challenge

Day 260 - Common Sage

Very busy week and I almost discontinued the challenge before the year was up. One of my on line friends who joined us in this challenge got bored and stopped. And there just seemed to be too much to do besides photography. But then it occurred to me that one of the reasons I do this is because of that boredom. If you want to get to Carnegie Hall you have to practice. And my schedule has not allowed painting much. But in the end days of summer the landscape garden has allowed opportunities.

Day 261 - Favorite Geranium

This year's experiment with potted geraniums under the studio window was less than highly successful but as cold weather approached I found there were a couple I really wanted to bring into the studio and winter over. Love the color of this one.

Day 262 - Fall Sunrise

And there is something about fall weather that has really inspired me to frantically try to remember where it was I put the camera. This sunrise after a rainy night was spectacular. And then there was the somewhat futil attempt to capture the full Harvest moon. Clouds got in the way but the sunset was to die for. The photo below was not featured in the challenge this week officially but I feel I must give it a place here.

Sunset over Moreno Valley

By the time my photography buddy, Jessica Duke, and I had set up our tripods on the shores of Eagle Nest Lake the sunset above had faded. Photography in fading light is one of those areas I need to practice and one of the reasons I am doing this challenge for the second year. It gets me out with the camera trying things I am not that comfortable with - like all the adjustments on my tripod.

Day 263 - Thunder cloud over Eagle Nest

And the fading light has a whole other set of issues like where all the adjustments on your camera are. And how does this lens manually focus once you find the little lever for manual focus. And trying to not rush the exposure. Kept hoping for lightning while the aperture was open but no such luck.

Day 264 - Harvest Moon?

And all that preparation and setting up the tripod, etc. did not yield a photo of the Harvest moon. Clouds got the way. But then NASA has taken plenty of pictures of full moons. I like this one of the moonlight edging the clouds with gold as well as illuminating the foliage in front of my camera. This was definitely an experiment. I widened the focus on my wide angle lens in an attempt to get a more honest light reading. You can always crop I told myself, and then did not want to.

Day 265 - Foggy Morning

Rainy nights make for foggy mornings. There is something about a foggy morning that seems to demand a black and white treatment for me. Perhaps I should make myself try something else.

Day 266 - Dance of the Flowers

And as the week drew to a close I was bemoaning that I had no more pictures to post. I grabbed the camera and was doing my routine preflight check of battery level and exposures left and was surprised to find there were images on the camera. It had been so absolutely busy I forgot my exploration of a friend's green house. I really do love orchids. There are more of them in the folder for this next week. And today I am off to Raton. That once long and boring drive has become a must for the camera.