The kindness of the moon and clouds

I couldn't resist heading back out to spend time with the moon after walking Sparkle.  I didn't go alone, though, and took out 70-200 with me to see what it could do under low light. Hand held!  I'm more than pleasantly pleased, and it felt great to be carrying this big lens again. Thank you to a dear friend for sending it my way. x

Midnight Drambuie Session

My fascination with the LED lights continues, and tonight I finally put down the iPhone because I just needed more control. Having not yet investigated all of the excellent capabilities of the iPhone, my speak is still with my good 'ol Canon Ti and 50mm.

Last night's LED takeoff incorporated an empty wine glass for effects. Tonight it contained Drambuie for the sake of investigation and experimentation, but also for warming consumption.  A DSLR in hand and a filled glass are centering indeed.

I really like the mood of these shots and their painting quality. I'm reminded somewhat of the gorgeous mix of water and light in 'Elements'. The alcohol works with the LED lights to create distortions and lovely smears of color. Minimal processing was used with the RAW files (which I'm using more consistently).

*Note: Looking forward to a productive workflow in 2016. Commit to blogging well. :))

#lights, #LEDs, #night, #alcohol

The Red Star 8.08.15

Melt with you

Isn't it amazing how reflections paint such pretty pictures on pavement?  We were on our way home following my youngest daughter's birthday party, and I was captivated by the scenes as we approached traffic lights and road signs.  I took full advantage of being a passenger and enjoyed the photo opp.  Love the color palette and feel in this one.  

Corn Maze Encounters

I made a late drive tonight with my youngest daughter to the Night Corn Maze LSU AgCenter's Burden Center.  It ran from 4 to 9 pm, and I didn't know if it would be worth it to get out there at 8 PM.  She really wanted to go for it, so I followed her lead.  As we drove down the road and neared the corn fields, I saw a bright light illuminating the area and heard children's voices coming from within.  I had to stop the car when I saw silhouetted figures standing on top of hay piles with corn stalks rows in the foreground.  I grabbed my camera and scooted my vehicle into a good position to grab some shots.  The bodies climbed, tumbled and triumphed over and over again as I looked through my viewfinder more than psyched to be witnessing this scene.   I took only a handful plus, and had to keep moving on because my daughter wanted to get in there herself.  We found our way to parking beyond the fields, then walked across an area where a bonfire and small stage had been set up.  There were some food and drink tents, too, where it looked like folks could grab some marshmallows and sticks.  Our feet kept us moving right through to the entrance of the Corn Maze where my daughter stopped and hesitated.  After a thought or so, we entered and navigated together trying to find our way to the mountain of hay.



Routing our way past a few scarecrows, other adventurers, and some dead-ends and wrong turns, we finally made it to the mountain.  I thought it was an impressive structure with a height of at least 8 feet high and width of five or six hay stacks.  With a rope on hand to give you support as you aimed for the top, and an 'LSU AgCenter' flag flying as a beacon, it was lots of fun to make the little climb.  My daughter did it on her own first and triumphed with her hands up in the air.  I gave it a try, too, and it was very cool to take a 360 view of the corn fields from the higher perspective.  Sliding down the hay bales to start all over again was lots of fun!


Once we hit the ground, we head right for a destination spotted from up high.  Sponge Bob!!  A big stand up figure was on the outer edge of the corn fields with others acting as targets of a sling shot activity.  My daughter did surprising well with set up and execution, and hit a target or two on a few of her turns.  Another woman, there with her young son, was kind enough to insist he takes turns with us.  We really appreciated getting to go more often.  As it ends up she is a preschool teacher and works across the hall from a neighbor friend of ours, so it'll be nice to have the opportunity to connect again.

Night dancers

The lights had always fascinated me as they shimmered and danced.  Immersed, I felt cool relief and a sense of companionship in the dark.

Repentance Park Night Fountain

I attended Repentance Park Ribbon Cutting on April 2 with my 2 daughters, and my 5 year old was so excited about the space that she begged me to take her back that same night. My 10 year old was inspired by her happiness running through the water, and decided to join in. Despite the cool air, they both had such a great time!

Learn more about this park created by Baton Rouge's Downtown Development District and Mayor Kip Holden.  "Repentance Park is Complete"

With an hour in the rain

Every week my youngest child takes gymnastics, and during that hour I've decided to walk the levee with my dog.  Tonight after the skies opened with heavy rain, I was car bound.  With a camera on hand and a love for luscious rain moods, I had fun with the wet palette of light and colors.

Things that'll get me running outside

Besides the glory of an early morning fog slowly settling into the trees and open spaces, a color drenched sunset and big, glowing moonrise will get me running outside for a look.  We had both tonight,
and I was out there enjoying as if they would never happen again.


The view from our backyard deck.  Give me some more of that blue with the dwindling, rich orange and pinks.

The Wolf Moon

Thank you, Moon.

I hadn't been inspired to pick up my camera for at least a handful of days until I peeked out at the moon tonight.  The clouds filled the sky and drifted across the glowing moon creating a pretty backdrop for the silhouetted tree.  I took a few photos, hand held and propped against a table like I've done in the past.  Technically I needed a tripod, but I couldn't take myself away from the few moments I had.  I just appreciated the fact that despite the cold that I was out there with my camera again enjoying myself.

Thank you, Moon.

And these are a few of my favorite things

I am soaking up the big crosswalks, bicycles, and speed while I can.  Only one week left before my return to the the States.  Maybe it's time I look into moving into a city.  Love.

Chofu arrival

Chofu arrival

It took us a little over 24 hours to arrive in my husband's hometown of Chofu, a Tokyo prefecture.  After all of that travel, it felt so good to be greeted by family at the local bus stop and with them again.  :)

The scream

12.30.12:
 No words, just strong emotions that need to be released before anything productive comes out of them. Any moments of anger, frustration, pure disbelief in society's illogical reasons to justify stupidity, I find myself coming back to this image.  A scream falling on a friend who's either accepting of the shared pain or dreading that they are at the receiving end just for reason of location.  The scream.  It's out there to be heard.

In my color tonight

This is my color tonight
on the eve of my 46th birthday

of my passions
my sadness within

my love and desires
the happiness gifted me

of what I sing
of what I miss

and what will never be filled
emptiness has a color
 
of what I can give
of what I can touch

and where I want to go
comfort has a color, too

beauty
depth
tender

It's all in there
it's all in me

in my color tonight

the orb keeper

the orb keeper

keeper of the glowing light
in the darkness of your reach
knowing my deepest sorrows
and what heals my soul
you revealed a secret
in that timeless moment

I have it with me.

Candy cane light

Took a new route last night while on our walk, and ended up on a stretch of road with a few Christmas decorations.  I had been playing around with lights and camera motion lately, and aimed to fill the frame with the shapes.  These experiments are much more entertaining to me than just photographing the lights as is.  I like the way these came out with the spirals, hearts, squiggles, and horizontals.

Beyond dead ends

Our walk last night brought us to the dead end right by the entry to the farm fields.  My young daughter was with me, and we stopped to listen to the sounds of the night.  We were surprised to hear frogs so late in the season, but maybe the warm temps brought them out for a bit.  Sparkle tugged to keep moving on, but with the ground wet from a light rain and the stroller, I didn't go further.  We sat, observed, then took a few flash shots of the dead end sign.  At first I wanted to stay stabilized to avoid camera shake, and then I had to let go of that as my daughter leaned on me for hugs.  I liked the results of shooting with flash, then intentionally moving the camera up and down or back and forth.  Of course my daughter wanted to try it, too, and the second photo above is hers.  It's one of my favorites out of the set, and got me looking at the tree in the background.  I then started shooting trees without the flash moving the camera up or down to 'paint' with the light and shapes.   Out of a handful attempts, I like the one of the pine the best.  It might be the darkness or just the novelty of it all, but it's something that will get me out there experimenting again.

Girls rule the night playground

They tumbled, they roared, they giggled, they turned.  My daughters and friends hit the church playground after the annual Thanksgiving feast, and set themselves free in a space they declared their own.  I stood near the brick wall and the large classroom windows that projected fluorescent light outside.  The dress colors were illuminated against the night as they ran, and I don't think they ever stopped for more than a moment. 

I especially liked shooting their motion with a stationary object nearby, and the lighting worked out to give us just what we needed.  I'd like to head back with the intention of using a wider range of shutter speeds and exposures to feel a better control of the blur.

Close Encounters

Cue Richard Dreyfuss and the famous 5 note melody.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind - The Conversation

Moon play

 

I stepped outside around 11:30 with my dog and looked up to see low lying clouds floating over the tree tops filtering the moon light.  It looked like I could touch them, and I loved the play of light, wind, and clouds as they passed by to my right toward the west.   Sometimes a halo orange/sepia formed and other times the faint appearance of the spectrum.   After laying on the ground, waiting, watching, shooting, and enjoying,  I was able to nearly capture the "night rainbow" of my experience.