Photo Field Trip

Today, I spent the morning getting caught up from spending two weeks out of town and I spent the afternoon with Mr. Curls. Now that I've had a couple of days to decompress from traveling, I was in a much better mood and we had a really lovely afternoon together.

A big part of our adventures today included driving all around town and out of it, doing some hunting for things for me to take pictures of for my photography club. I'm still getting the hang of my new camera and I've been less than thrilled with how it takes pictures in low light. I'm sure I can adjust the settings to make them come out better, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. It's a shame, too, I really like the elements and composition of this photo, but I'm not ecstatic about the photo quality.

On the bright side, I quite like the spot Mr. Curls took me to get the photo. We'll have to go back.

Bishop Castle

Mr. Curls and I are both native Coloradans. This means we should've known better than to plan a trip up to see Bishop Castle (Google it!) in March. We especially should've known better than to plan a picnic for said excursion. But, with the gorgeous run of weather we've had lately in the lower elevations, we forgot that the weather in town and the weather in the mountains are two different kettles of fish. As we drove higher and higher up the mountain in Mr. Curls' Jeep, the snow got deeper and deeper.

"Hmm..." he said.
"Indeed," I said.
"We didn't really think this through, did we?"
"Nope."
Then he reached over and turned up the heater to counterbalance the draft coming through the Jeep's battered rag top.

We finally arrived and, after a brief jaunt to check out the picnic area, we promptly decided to picnic in the Jeep instead. Then, after lunch, we bundled up and roamed the castle, pausing often so I could get pictures.



It may sound weird, but I'm kind of glad for the misadventure. In part, because it just makes a funnier story that way, and in part because I got to see how he reacted to things going awry. When plans go sideways, that's when you really get to know people. Most anyone can be pleasant when things are going smoothly, but, throw a wrench in, and sometimes people get all bent out of shape and unpleasant.

Happily, Mr. Curls just shrugged it off, made a couple jokes, then gave me a hug and went tromping around the castle with me like it wasn't cold and windy at all. Then he got into the whole picture idea and even used my camera to get a few shots of his own. I also got to see his rock climbing skills in action when he climbed up the wall on one of the staircases to get a photo. Though, when he started speculating about how he could scale the outer wall of the castle, I asked him to kindly not 'cause seeing him climbing that high without any gear would scare the crap out of me. He was nice enough not to traumatize me.

If you have a chance to check out the castle, I definitely recommend it. It's a one of a kind. However, I'd highly recommend waiting until May-ish to make the trip.

Under a Neon Moon

This pic. comes from the "cabin" at my parents' property. Going camping wasn't my idea of a good time, but I like the way this photo turned out - neon lights are fun.

The Blue Picture of a Red-Tailed Hawk

This comes from a photo I originally wasn't too pleased with. But then I cropped and adjusted the color a bit, and now I quite like it. Sometimes a little bit of editing is magic.

Campfire

I'm not 100% happy with how this came out, but I'd say I'm about 90%

Hand Held Door

Part of me really likes this picture. I love the details of the door - the handprints, the weathered wood, and the flag. Part of me, though, isn't sure about the photo as a whole. It feels like the composition is off, and I don't know how to fix it.

Downtown Lamp Post

Big Love

I like the metaphor of Love being the biggest graffiti.

Ice Dancer

Between last night and this morning, we've been having fog and freezing rain. Summer is officially over. My flowers are dying beautiful deaths.

The Moth and the Mailbox

One day a while back I found this little guy behind my mailbox. I grabbed my camera and caught him. I'm not much of a black & white photo person, but I'm thinking this'd make a good one.

Stray Dog #3

Here's an Isla Mujeres stray. The facial expression seems very mournful, or is it more a bored look? Mysterious dog.

Speckled Moth

There was a moth behind my mailbox. I lucked out with the black and white on black and white.

After the Storm

I'm not usually a huge fan of centered photos, but I like this one. This was right after a mild storm, and I liked the look of the dark bird and shelter against the blue-gray sky. A limited color palette can be fun sometimes, and here it feels like it's just half a step away from being black and white.

Stairwells and Shadows

Here's another Florida picture. The bachelor's quarters on Whiting base have a cool cinderblock thing going on in the stairwells. I dug it a lot.

My 1st Photo Contest

Last night was Photo Club night. Each month they have a photo contest and I entered for the first time. The theme of the month was Macro/Insects. I got an honorable mention :)

Geometry On Geometry

I love shadows.

By the old carriage house

Here's another picture from downtown. I like the angles of it.

This is why there's dog hair on my bed

This week I goofed off on the photo-taking front, and so, instead of my usual fare, I give you a portrait of my dog. Her name is Sherman (in honor of Sherman Alexie) and she's a pre-owned beastie I picked up from the pound. The white streak on her nose is only on that side. She's special that way.

Scarf on the Bridge

I thought it was pretty cool when I saw someone had left a scarf hanging from the bridge. I thought it was even cooler that they'd left a blue scarf on the red bridge on a day with a bright blue sky. Go complementary colors!

Before They're Flowers

I never really thought about sunflowers much until last spring. I decided I wanted flowers and bought a whole bunch of seed packets and planted them. The sunflowers were only one of two types of flowers that actually grew. Now I love them.