Collection

December 29. Old girls like walks too. Tina out in the pasture during a break in the rain.

December 30. Rain brings good things - like extra large puddles.

December 28.Orange country. This is on 216 between Woodlake and Lemon Cove. Our world is turning insane green - and it is early this year.

December17. The 4th day of Christmas. Girls having fun - priceless. Denise and I had a girls day in town! Shopping, lunch and some fun in Pier 1 imports. It rained all day and is supposed to rain for a week.

December 14. My first day of Christmas - bleak.

December 8. A beautiful gift from Gina and Maya.

December 9. Flint Feet.

November 24. Rio Samba. My favorite rose. And blooming so late in the season too :-) The sun never came out today. The clouds banked up against the foothills and it didn't get above 43 degrees here today. Later in the afternoon the sky brightened a bit and I got the camera out. It's supposed to get really cold tonight so I wrapped all the pipes and covered the ferns. I should have picked a bouquet of roses.

November 21. Our first winter storm. I love my field with a view! Over the past two days, we had an inch of rain where I am in the valley and lots of snow in the foothills and mountains. Finally time to settle into winter and I hope it brings lots of storms.

November 20. Tina. It rained last night and most of the morning. When it stopped I took the dogs out for a romp in the field. The leaves were so pretty, and I loved the soft and misty light.

November 17. Again with the leaves! Recipe: Setting sun, dark background, tile and a ladder. This evening I set the tile on a ladder and used the orange grove as a dark background. I love the light coming from behind as it really brings out the detail in the leaves.

November 8. Rita in some morning light. I love the light this time of year. After the rain last night, this morning was just beautiful. The red maple is shedding now and I asked Sam not to rake those leaves - gotta save them for some photo opportunities this week!

November 4. Vino. I had the retired gang out in the field this afternoon and Vino decided to help me out with the PAD project.

November 5. Red skies in the morning sailors take warning. I wondered what the warning was - then later in the day realized that it was over 90 degrees! Broke some record - and my spirit just a little............sigh...........and bleh. It is supposed to be cooler tomorrow and I sure hope so! I'm heading up to the AKC trial in Madera. I haven't traveled to a trial in a year and I am looking forward to it.

October 30. 245 Drive. I loved the stark simplicity of this scene. We had a little bit of rain last night and this morning; when it cleared the skies were just spectacular. So after I finished with classes we went for a drive up the 245. The weather was cool, in the mid 60's and I was just so lovin it!

October 28. Fall Rose. The roses are really beautiful right now. I have been loving the textures in this old table and especially in the late afternoon sun.

October 26. Dancing leaves. I focused on the leaves again today and tried to get them on the tree, but it was windy and I had the 300 on the camera. So I picked a couple leaves(they were on a stem together) and put them on the table like I did yesterday. I was taking some shots and the wind lifted the leaves up off the table. They actually stayed in up in the air for a few seconds and I got several shots. I didn't photoshop anything out - it just happened that way. Leaves gallery: http://stardogs.smugmug.com/Still-Life/Leaves

October 24. Sorghum field. This kind is grown to feed the dairy cows - they chop it up and add to silage. Here is a link to more inof: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorghum I took this picture on the way to town today - a day off and I went shopping :-) Trying to get back into the groove of creativity again!

October 10. Dove at the bird bath. I am finally getting birds at the birdbath - many months after I put it in. I worked all day - yes still cleaning. This evening while I was fixing dinner I looked out and saw a bunch of birds at the feeder. The evening light was falling right on the feeder and looked pretty promising. I ran and got the camera! I was only about 30 feet away and well hidden by the house but the birds heard the shutter click and spooked at that. UGH. I don't think I am cut out for photographing birds :-) I need that 1.4 extender too, and a blind and a lot of time on my hands to sit around and wait them out. Well, I tried. At least I got to use my camera.

October 2. sunrise. When I looked out the kitchen window this morning and saw an orange glow I knew I had to run out there and try to capture that moment. What a glorious morning. It may be hard to find color in the land this time of year, but the skies are alive lately! Something that we don't get much of around here ~ so very inspirational. Even though I have done nothing but work lately and little time for creativity, my eye is always looking at the light. Winter is around the corner and the workload will let up. Fall gallery: http://stardogs.smugmug.com/San-Joaquin-Valley/The-Land/Fall-2010

September 26. Pizza Run. Funny title for a landscape I know. We were on the way into Woodlake this evening to get pizza and the sun was setting. It was one of those huge red glowing ball sunsets that we get sometimes. Reminds me of the desert and it felt like it today as temps were back into the high 90's. Bleh. Anyway, the sun was throwing that red light everywhere and the land was beautiful! This is on a back road into Woodlake and just a couple miles from our place in Elderwood. Glad I took the camera and wide angle lens attached. Summer gallery: http://stardogs.smugmug.com/San-Joaquin-Valley/The-Land/Summer-2010