San Antonio's Riverwalk Through the Lensbaby Sweet 50

I spent 5 days this month in San Antonio at Click Away 2015.  This was a photography conference put on by Clickin Moms photography forum.  One of the photowalks I took was exploring different types of creative focus, including the use of Lensbabies.

I have the Composer Pro with the Sweet 35 and Sweet 50 optics.  These optics give a circular area of focus radiating into a blut.  You can control the area of focus through tilting the lens and the aperture setting.

I've taken one class at Clickin Moms, led by Caroline Jensen.  And then I took this boutique session at Click Away.  I haven't completely gotten the hang of the Lensbaby yet so I've joined a monthly blog circle.  This is my first post for this circle.

Here are some of the photos that I took along the Riverwalk.

This is my first attempt with the macro tubes with the Lensbaby.

The star lights in the Marriott Rivercenter lobby.  I deliberately blew out the windows in the sky because I liked the reverse effect of light sky and darker stars.

Underneath the Commerce Street bridge at the Rivercenter.

Traffic jam, Riverwalk style

Enjoying the evening

Loved all the bright umbrellas along the Riverwalk

Gothic skyscraper

Aztec Theater

More bright umbrellas.

If you enjoyed what I have to show this month, please check out Kaela Elliott's blog.

November Blog Circle - Dramatic Light

Blog Challenge - Humanizing a Nonhuman

When I was taking Shooting 101, the Best Darn Beginner's Course Ever, from ClickinMoms, I needed a subject for my class assignments.  I don't have kids, the dogs don't always follow directions and Mark just gives me that look.

I have a plastic, pose-able giraffe that I got from a vendor at work.  I've named the giraffe George and my Facebook support group loves when he makes an appearance.  Well, George has made a couple of appearances this month.

George, admiring himself in the mirror

Then this past weekend, George went with me on the ClickinWalk photowalk.

But I just can't trust George to behave himself.  This was at dinner after the photowalk.

What's a person to do? (sigh)

If you have enjoyed seeing George, check out to see what Janecke has up her sleeve.

Monthly Blog Circle - Motion Blur

This month's blog circle theme is motion blur.  If it was in October, it would be easy - shooting airplanes taking off and landing at the airshow.  But I'm posting something just a little slower - actually 2 posts.  I took one in July but I figured it was close enough to count and the other I really did take in August.

In July, my mother and I took the Agawa Canyon excursion train ride in Ontario.  It leaves out from Sault Ste Marie, ON and travels into the rugged Ontario backcountry.  We saw some really beautiful scenery.  And as I was trying to take photos from the moving train, I would wait until we didn't have trees close to the track to blur in the photos.  Then I got to thinking what would it look like to try and capture the blurring trains.   Well, I had a bunch of outtakes but this one I really kind of liked.

In August, we took the ferry across to Bolivar Peninsula.  A flight of pelicans flew across along side the ferry.  This is actually a crop of the photo I originally shot, isolating one of three pelicans.  And you can see that I was actually panning to take the shot.  It's not much of a blur because of the pelican's speed in relation to the ferry - but it works.

I hope you enjoy.  And for more motion blur, please visit Andrea's site.

August Photo Blog Circle Challenge - Smartphone Photos

This month's theme for the Photo Blog Circle Challenge is "smartphone photos".  In June, I ran out of battery on my DSLR so used my phone to continue taking photos at the Slay Family Reunion.  This is a picture of an absolutely gorgeous breakfast sandwich that my cousin ordered.  It's not a great photo but it's the memory that counts in this case.

For more smartphone photos, continue with Andrea's blog.

Monthly Photo Challenge - Beautiful Ugly

The challenge for this month was to capture the beautiful ugly.  I know there are going to be macros of insects and other ways to take ugly objects and make them beautiful through the photo capture.  For me, my ugly is The Beast - cancer.  It has taken 2 of my immediate family, greatly impacted the health of my mom and is winning the battle with my uncle.  I've also lost 2 of my grandparents, another uncle and have an aunt who is also a survivor.  Yes, it's an ugly beast.

In early May, I saw the beauty behind this beast - several hundred people coming together through a local American Cancer Society Relay for Life.  For those not familiar with Relay for Life, it's held at a track or other venue that's conducive to walking laps.  Team members walk - some teams actually have true relays.  Each team is supposed to have at least one person walking all the time.  It goes from 7 in the evening to 7 the next morning, 12 hours.  And the teams all find unique ways to raise money for the ACS.  My company location had a team and our team sold pulled pork sandwiches and baked goods.

A big part of the Relay for Life fundraising is the purchase for luminaria in honor or memory of loved ones impacted by cancer.

These are just some of my family and friends that have had to fight The Beast.

There is something moving about seeing all the luminaria and hearing the roll calls or the other ways that family and friends that have fought The Beast are honored.  It makes me cry every single time I participate.

For more views on making ugly beautiful, please check Tabitha's post.

Monthly Photography Challenge - Looking Through the Glass

The monthly challenge for May was "Looking Through the Glass".  I hoped to get 5 images this month but got 3.  Hey, it's 2 more than last month.

For my first photo, I shot through the windshield on a rainy morning after I pulled into the parking lot at work.  I thought the lights through the rain drops looked really neat.

The next one was my old man dog, Oscar, through the side view mirror.  I was out looking for Texas Bluebonnets and driving down this country road when I happened to glance in the mirror and saw Oscar thoroughly enjoying the spring day.  I had the towing mirrors on because I was camping in my trailer this weekend.

The final picture this month was taken while camping this past weekend (it's been great camping weather this month!!!) and took a photo of my favorite subject, George the Giraffe.  He's my favorite because he usually stays still while I take his photo, always has a smile and doesn't talk back!

All photos this month are straight out of the camera.

I hope you enjoyed these.  And for more fantastic "through the glass" photos, check out Heidi's blog.

Project 52 - Week 2

I've joined a Project 52 group of photographers on Facebook.  But I thought I would post my photos here as well.  I missed Week 1, but started with Week 2 - so does that mean I'm doing a Project 51?  LOL

This week's theme is Trucks.  So I took these photos of my old blue truck.  It's only 10 years old and has over 175K miles on it - just getting going good, yeah right!

George the Giraffe was trying to drive the truck - good thing he can't reach the pedals!!!

Interesting Perspective

I'm in the Clickin Moms blog circle #14.  This month we were supposed to shoot a photo depicting "Interesting Perspectives".  Here is my submission for the blog circle.

I thought this was going to be a shot of the stripe along the trailer but when I went out to shoot this, I found the gecko admiring his reflection while sitting on the stripe.  So I took this shot by shooting from the rear of the trailer along the length of the side, thus the interesting perspective.

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment.  In the meantime, please check out Heidi's post at Maehill Studios.

Trip To Big Bend

December 22 – We got the Jeep loaded, then I took the dogs to the kennel for their vacation. We had to wait on one package to be delivered so that it didn’t sit on the front porch for a week. And then we were off! We made it as far as Junction before stopping for the night.

December 23 – The Jeep barely made it from Junction into Ft. Stockton on one tank of gas – ok, the Jeep is not aerodynamic. We stopped in Marathon for lunch and to get some supplies, mainly a gas can just in case.

(Mark in Marathon)

We got to the park about 3:00. On the way south, we decided to check out Dagger Flats Auto Trail to see how the road conditions matched the descriptions in the guide book. We went in about half way then decided there wasn’t going to be much to see this time of year. And Dagger Flats was rougher than I thought it would be, but ended up being the only one that was worse than the descriptions. We then stopped at Panther Junction to check out road conditions for the rest of the unpaved roads. The ranger saw the Jeep and said the only one we might have trouble with is Black Gap Road. We then headed for Sotol Vista Overlook to see if we could catch the sunset. While up at the Overlook, the wind picked up and there were enough clouds that there wasn’t a decent sunset. A cold front was moving through. Brrrr.

(The view from Sotol Vista Overlook)

December 24 – I had this view right outside my door at the motel (Chisos Mining Company Motel). I just set up my tripod in the parking lot and started shooting.

(Sunrise as seen from the motel)

After starting the day at Kathy’s Kafe, we decided to start our day in the park on Old Maverick Road. We stopped at Luna’s Jacal,

and then on to Terlingua Abaja

Everywhere I saw Santa Elena Canyon, and I have really developed a fascination with this particular formation, so we headed there next.

After Santa Elena Canyon, we stopped at the Desert Mountain Overlook,

(There’s the canyon again!!!)

then on over to Castalon.

Lunch was a sandwich on the road. We headed up the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, stopping at almost all the major overlooks to see what we could see. First up was Tuff Canyon where we checked out the west overlooks.

My second favorite formation after Santa Elena had to be the Mule’s Ears.

At the Burro Mesa Pouroff (lower trail), I got out and hiked the trail up into the wash to check out the views.

And then another stop at Sotol Vista.

(Check it out – Santa Elena is in there yet again)

From there we headed up to the Basin. I was totally amazed at the difference from outside the Chisos to inside the Basin – how much the plant life changed.

We stopped at the Basin store so that I could get a hat and gloves – I had left mine at home and it was pretty cold in the mornings. Then I got Mark to join me on the Windows Overlook trail.

We saw a buck and doe near the weather station on the trail.

It was too early to check out possible sunset shots, so we headed on the road toward the Rio Grande Village. We took the Boquillos Canyon road all the way to the canyon. I hiked the trail down to the river but not all the way into the canyon – some dummy left her hiking pole in the Jeep and I didn’t want to be on the trail after sunset without it.

I did ok on the trail but would have been more comfortable on some of the steps down with my pole. (I hate bum knees!!!) I couldn’t believe how beautiful the Sierra del Carmens were with the late afternoon sun hitting them. We finished the day with Mexican Food at Chili Pepper’s

December 25 – Merry Christmas!!! We started with breakfast at the Gas Station Café. From there we took the Indian Head Road out and hiked out to find the petroglyphs.

There was another couple also checking the area out so we were helping each other find the carvings. We took FM 170 west through Lajitas and over to Presidio, again stopping all along the way to see what we could see.

(River pulloff at Lajitas)

(Contrabando Movie Set)

(HooDoo or Little Penguin)

(Lower Madera Canyon)

(River Rafters)

Unfortunately, Warnock was closed so we couldn’t stop there. We went back into the park to hit Sotol Vista to check out the sunset again. Mother Nature put on quite the show.

We shared the overlook with a professional photographer and his wife. It was interesting for me to talk to him while we were shooting side by side. We finished the day at High Sierra in Terlingua Ghostown.

December 26 – We decided that this was going to be off pavement today. We hit Paint Gap Road,

Grapevine Hills

and then headed north to Old Ore, taking it south towards Rio Grande Village.

I wanted to hike out to Ernst Tinaja, but it was about 5:00 when we passed it and I knew it would be getting dark soon. We stopped at the Rio Grande Village store for a pit stop before finally heading back out of the park.

December 27 – On the way to Glenn Springs Road we found these guys hanging out on the shoulder of the main park road.

We drove down Glenn Springs Road,

detouring onto Black Gap Road just far enough to check out Glenn Springs.

This was one area where we actually saw water in the park (other than a little in Terlingua Creek and the Rio Grande of course). We continued down Glenn Springs to where it met River Road.

We took the River Road west

stopping at Solis for lunch and to admire the river

then on to Mariscal Mine

before heading back east toward Rio Grande Village. We then headed west, touching base with Big Bend Chat’s own moderator, Richard. I wanted to do a little of Lost Mine or the Basin Loop, but by this time it was getting cloudy and colder because of the wind, and I didn’t know what Mark would do for that time, so I forgot that. Because it didn’t look like we were going to get a decent sunset due to it being cloudy, we decided to head back to the motel for a shower before meeting Richard at the Lodge for dinner. Of course, as we are driving back into the park, the sunset was fantastic!!!

The very last of the sunset was disappearing as we pulled into the parking lot – if we had gotten there 10-15 minutes earlier, I could have gotten some good shots from the Windows Overlook. And yes, Richard and I live 15 minutes apart, but we had to travel almost 700 miles to have dinner with him J

December 28 – We had to say goodbye to the Big Bend. After our last breakfast at Kathy’s, where she told us we were now locals after breakfast 4 out of 5 days there. We headed north up FM 118 to Alpine and then on up to I-10 where we headed east.

All told we hit all the paved road in the park, drove down at least partway Dagger Flats, Old Maverick, Croton Springs, Paint Gap, Grapevine Hills, Old Ore, Glenn Springs, Black Gap and River Roads. I also hiked on Burro Mesa Pouroff, Boquillos Canyon, Indian Head, the ranch at Paint Gap, Windows Overlook, and explored around Santa Elena Canyon and Glenn Spring.