Ramble Ramble ...

Spring is just around the corner. I am watching some purple house finches try to build a nest in a wreath I left on a hook on the porch. Rich wants me to take the wreath down, but I enjoy the morning visits by the finches and their song is quite beautiful.

I climbed the ladder and took a look. I guess they are just sitting there in the mornings and not building a nest. So I am going to leave the wreath until they move on or I feel like replacing the it with something else.

This morning I watched a dozen deer on the hill above the house. This is fairly new thing. I used to have cattle in that pasture and all summer I rotate pastures for the mules so I rarely see deer but I do often see their tracks.

This morning it snowed and the ground is white but it will melt.

Sunday I met up with another photographer and we hiked along the Kickapoo River in the KVR. We hiked the Wintergreen Trail and I had to laugh when the gent made a comment about him getting old. We'd just climbed down a bluff and I had pranced back up following a deer trail.
Yes I said pranced! I felt really good on Sunday!

Anyway this fellow, Brian, said he needed to catch his breath.

He and his buddies were talking about how they were getting to that age where they had to worry about things like heart attacks and such like. So I asked him what age is that? He said he was born in 1965. I burst out laughing. I didn't want to offend him, but I did then tell him that I was 9 years older. He just smiled and shrugged.

I learned a lot from Brian about infrared photography. He'd just been to a 'class' out in Utah for 9 days and was excited to share what he'd learned with another photographer.
The sky was perfect, blue, sunny, and dotted with clouds. Perfect for our IR cameras to pick up some IR wavelengths of light.

Brian had some incredible shots that he posted on Facebook that are in the colors of reflected light. Most of what I took became black and white shots.

My favorite shot of the day was this one I took with the non-converted camera with just a filter on it.
I see a face in the bluff...a Warrior! Do you?

Monday morning I felt the effects of all of the extra activities I'd done since playing soccer with kids on Friday afternoon. And when I say I played soccer, it wasn't just a little running here and there.
I literally played like a kid. Yes, I had to catch my breath a few times ... I even got tangled up with a 9 yr old and we tumbled and rolled on the slightly muddy field.
When I got to be goalie I actually prevented 4 goals.
Saturday was an all day sprint of finishing Sven's outdoor pen and moving all those heavy windows out of the corner of the shed.
Sunday was hiking in the morning with Charlie and then hiking in the afternoon with Brian along the river.

Monday morning came along. I felt stiff all over. My feet hurt, my hands hurt [osteo arthritis], my head hurt. And I found a tiny tick in my neck. Shame on me for not changing clothes after climbing around on the bluffs.
I literally took the day off.

I read a book, watched some videos about Infrared Photography, and did nothing but chores and laundry.

However on Sunday I did find Skunk Cabbage! So spring is coming even if it is snowing outside.

And I leave you with that.

My week begins today.
Lots to get done!

IR Photography ~ No you shouldn't do that!

Well I decided to read instructions and try out some IR photography again.

IR is for bright sunny days with lots of blue skies and green leaves.

The colors are really quite different when using an Infrared Filter.

The above shot is from last summer on a hot day. The leaves are white, the blue sky is dark and the clouds are bright.
Heat reflection is what changes to white.

However I like to use the filter on items that aren't typical for IR photography.

Like animals.

A Gaggle of mules resting near the water tank. The exposure was 1/4 second at 1000 ISO with an IR filter on it.

Mica resting up near the equipment/training shed.

On these two shots, I let the pinkish colors come through. However, IR photography makes for fantastic black and white shots.

However the shutter speed is much slower so it isn't that great for shooting live subjects.
But I had to try.

Below.
WhoDunnit resting in the sun.

And then as it is meant to be used on a landscape.

The greens are white, anything that is warmed by the sun reflects a white color.

And there are always the long exposures that allow for interesting effects like this shot at Jersey Valley last fall. The sun lit up a small section of trees and the reflections were awesome.

But what the heck, if you don't experiment, you don't find new avenues of expression.

Fun in Photography

Yesterday was an adventure in photography.

About a month ago, I sent my Nikon D40 to a 'good' home.  I had found a family that had both a mom and children that had a photography 'itch' and wanted to learn with something a bit more challenging than a Smart Phone or a point and shoot.

The oldest girl had saved up her own money to purchase a small Canon pocket camera to take photos for 4H last year.  

We finally arranged a time that we could all get together and take a 'farm hike' and explore photography together.  I brought some of my older cameras and we headed out.  The youngest got my nearly indestructible Fujifilm point and shoot.

Everyone enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine.  Each of the kids saw and photographed the world differently. 

It was fun to watch them explore the world through the camera lens.

Of course I brought my little toys to help them figure out how to do macro shots of very small items.  They have invited me back for when they hunt morel mushrooms and to help them identify wild flowers in the forest.

The kids told me about the categories they could enter in 4H, so we talked about different kinds of shots they would like to do.
Mom casually mentioned that they could really use a good 4H leader in their group.  I raised my eyebrows.

I haven't been involved in 4H for over 20 years.  

Hmmm.

I always love visiting their farm - my hubby buys hay from them and sometimes I go with and enjoy the views from their incredible ridgetop farm.

Mom said that we'll have to do this again.  I agreed.  All of the kids caught the 'Shutter-Bug'.  

We talked about sunrises and sunsets on the farm also.  I can only imagine how spectacular some sunrises are.  
Their farm sits above the Mississippi and has valleys on each side of it.
On many mornings, they look down on mist covered valleys as the sun comes over the horizon. 

I know I will look forward to our next Photo-walk and adventure.

I can only say that spending hours with enthusiastic young people really made my heart sing with joy yesterday.

I'm looking forward to doing it again.