Week 12: As Far As The Eye Can See

wide angle

Happy Easter from sunny Las Vegas.  I am here with 11 friends to celebrate the year 2016...exactly 50 years since we were born.  It has been such a great time, we are planning to visit Jamaica together next year to celebrate 51 (who says we can only celebrate round numbers?).  Thank goodness for income tax refunds!  This is my first time in Vegas and frankly, the city has not really appealed to me.  I am really enjoying the time we are all spending together...listening to music from our high school years, chatting around the hot tub and in the Uber cars (yes, I have), gathered around the kitchen, while toasting our birthdays with the cool shot glasses Anthony had made which memorialize "El Grande 50," last evening on the never-ending bus ride back from Fremont street and even on the horrible, hot eight mile hike to see the Hoover Dam.  But I really don't love the crowds, the drunk people everywhere or seeing young children where young children really should not be.  

I invested $6 in penny slot machines and after winning up to $50, in the end, I came out even.  I did cash out $14 ahead but later in the evening my back and feet were so sore that I needed to sit down and the only seats in Fremont Street were in the casinos.  I am not sure what we are doing today but after yesterday's and Friday's marathon walking I think some people (me included) might like to just sit around the pool.

About the photos this week, each one was taken with my new wide angle lens.  Last Friday in the final email from Aperture Academy about the two day workshop I was signed up for, the list of suggested equipment included a minimum 15 mm wide angle lens.  I did not have anything near that so I made a last minute purchase and it was worth every penny.  I would not have been able to create these photos without it.

The Valley of Fire is about an hour north of Las Vegas but it seems like you could find it on the moon.  Who knew that rock can be red and orange and pink and purple and yellow in addition to the normal rock colours.  In addition to the awesome land formations and the phenomenally blue, blue sky, we were lucky with our timing and cactus were in bloom.

The sharp formation at the top of this photo is called Gibraltar Rock.  You will see if from a different angle in a later photo.

This is Nike Rock as the sun was rising behind us.  We couldn't get the whole area lit up with the sun because our shadows appeared soon after this.

This little cave has been named by photographers but I can't remember that name.

Stark, beautiful landscape in the park.

Pretty cactus flowers on a hill.

The low sun made the oranges so much more orange.

This was our sunset spot for both nights (we had a 20 minute hike out in the dark after shooting).  We were crossing our fingers hoping for some clouds in the sky but Mother Nature did not come through.  This place is called Fire Wave.

We tried a different angle to capture the tiny little bit of wispy cloud left in the sky but still no luck.

Sunrise at Gibraltar Rock and Crazy Rock (the purple lines are the base of Crazy Rock).

A little arch around the corner.

Some beautiful cactus.

Some pretty flowers.

This might be my favourite cactus flower picture.

This is the path that leads out of a slot canyon.

This is the slot canyon.

I used my wide angle lens for some photos in Vegas too but this is already a lot of photos.  Happy Easter everyone.

Week 11: I Surround Myself With Brilliant Friends

Ask a friend for an idea

I met Donna on my first day of University (just a few years ago).  She was one of my housemates in our townhouse residence at Erindale College (now called something else) at U of T.  We have remained friends over the years and this past week, she and her son made the long drive to visit us. 

 A couple of weeks ago when I posted about the light table, Donna suggested that the food colouring thing would be cool on the light table so I told her she could try it.  We got her set up the other day with the light table, my glass baking dish, the food colouring and a lot of newspaper.  It looked so cool that I decided to do it for the assignment this week.  So I didn't quite ask a friend for an idea as much as I stole a friend's idea.

As it turns out, I don't love my photos as much as I loved the ones on the back of Donna's camera but I would do it again...practice makes perfect and there are many colours with which to play.

Speaking of university, this one reminds me of slides we had to study in histology, pathology, embryology or some other -ology I cannot recall.  I never was able to find what I was looking for.

The part on the lower left reminds me of Earth.  I am not sure what we are approaching...it's kind of squishy looking so maybe impact won't be too devastating.

I've got nothing for this one but I liked the way it kind of looks like crinkled foil wrap around the edges.

Questions answered...five bucks a piece.

This is how Dr. Seuss would draw the Eiffel Tower I think.

Just a mess of colour.

I liked the simplicity of this one.

This one seems like it is rushing somewhere.

And this was sunset at Pointe Des Chenes on Tuesday evening.  Sadly that meant our visit with Donna and Blake was almost over.

Week 10: Birds, Ice and Waterfalls: A Perfect Trio

bird

Sorry, it's another chickadee.  I was busy during the week so I didn't get any shooting done.  Friends of ours arrived on Friday so I  visited (read: talked non-stop) instead of getting the camera out.  Donna loves her camera too so on Saturday we made a trip to Whitefish Island to feed the birds but the birds were playing hide-and-seek (more like hide-and-hide).  Only the chickadees and some crows/ravens showed up but it was gorgeous and sunny so we didn't mind too much.  It did mean however that I didn't have my photo for the week if I didn't use a chickadee.

We were discussing whether the huge black birds we see here all the time are ravens or crows.  We had no idea what the differences are but Donna had helpfully brought her bird book with her.  The main thing we could see is that the crow's tail is flat across the bottom and the raven's tail is scooped.  I inform you of this not because I think you will be interested but because by next week I will forget which is which and now I will have this note to remind me.  Genius!

After that beautiful afternoon, we drove to St. Joseph Island for Gilbertson's pancakes.  I can't believe I haven't ever been there before.  We got there too late to get the tour in the bush but we did have time to talk to the man in the evaporator room.  What a fascinating process the making of maple syrup is.  We saw about a million deer so the drive home in the dark was remarkably slower than the drive there.

On Sunday we made my annual trek to Whitefish Point to see the ice caves (even though I was pretty sure there were no caves this year).  The ice certainly wasn't as spectacular as in previous years but it was beautiful in its own way and we spent quite a bit of time exploring and taking photographs.  The point is sandy so as the ice is forming, sand is caught in it and as it melts, the sand becomes more prominent.

This one reminds me of toasty meringue.

 From Whitefish Point we headed to Tahquamenon Falls with our tripods.  Unfortunately, the sun decided to shine more brightly through the clouds, so we weren't able to get the falls to be as smooth as I would like.  Here are some getting closer each time.

As I write this Donna is doing something really cool on my light table.  I will copy her idea and you will see those next week.  I am so excited.

Week 9: Let There Be Light!

on a light table

I got myself a small light table this week.  I have been wanting one for a while and the act of putting this topic on my list for the year guaranteed that I would get one sooner rather than later.  It arrived Thursday evening and I had some fun with it yesterday and again this afternoon.  What I learned:  

1.  I need to work on ideas for arranging items in different and appealing ways

2.  I still need quite a bit of light above the light table for the photos to work

3.  Slicing fruits and vegetables thinly and evenly is impossible

4.  Cat fur adds nothing creative to light table photographs

I found the website of an artist who is selling her photos - many of them taken on a light table - and it all looked so easy.  I should have known it wouldn't be...those photos were quite expensive and now I know, for good reason.  Well, now that I have the table, I can practice more.  I just need to find something that will slice produce thinly and evenly.

We begin with some flowers.  I bought a bouquet specifically for photographing but of course, it was more difficult than I thought.  The daisies wouldn't sit flat and I couldn't think of what to do with them.  These frilly flowers wouldn't sit flat either but I just went with it.

When I tried to cut off a bulging part on the back of a daisy, the petals all fell off so I made use of them.  Lining them all up was very difficult and when one got moved, it was almost impossible to fix it without moving everything else.  I discovered that I do not have a very steady hand.

I did like the fern however.  I took a variety of shots but this off-center one was my favourite for some reason.

I tried some marbles (the flat ones from our Mancala game) but truly, I can't tell if these are in focus or not.  I'm not sure if the glow around the edges is from the light or poor focus.

We always have candy in the house...

I have a bag of coloured feathers for some unknown reason.

Then out came the produce.  First we have a ghost onion.  I think this would have been much better if I could have sliced it much more thinly.

You can see how uneven the kiwi was cut (although it looked nice and even to my eye) in the gradations of green.  Less light comes through the thicker parts.

 I liked the angle on this next photo because it shows the light glowing up on the edges of the veggies.  I should have changed my aperture to get more of it in focus but oh well.  Next time.

And then I got out the hummus and enjoyed a little snack.