2BD26 : Scavenger Hunt

This week, Kim sent us on a scavenger hunt with daily prompts.  For most of these, I was able to work up pictures that fit from my photo archives.  Some of them even worked for more than one prompt.  Enjoy!
 

Creative Reflection
Have I mentioned that I LOVE our new granite counter tops?  And peaches!

 Bold Color - Creative Reflection

Someone I Love - Creative Reflection - Water

Countryscape - Wilderness

Alaska from the Train

Light

“But the way you captured the light is amazing. Did you use real gold thread for the sunbeams?” 

― Annabeth in The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan.

Water 1
Beautiful Lake Louise in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada.

Water 2

Cooling my Feet in Lake Louise - Ahhh!

2BD25 : Capturing Our Furry Friends

Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own 

and makes it larger and better in every way.                    

                                                           --John Muir

This week, Kim encouraged us to get to know our cameras better by taking pictures of our "furry friends."   Since I posted a photo of my darling Newfie a few weeks ago, I decided to post a few of my favorite non-pet animal pics.   

At the top of this post, is an Elk encounter in Banff, Alberta, Canada, in July.  One evening, my friend J and I went for a walk and found this beauty munching supper by the train tracks.  I was trying to catch the sun on the velvet of her antlers.   Shooting wildlife has it's own set of challenges.  This scene happened at the edge of town.  We identified an escape route, or protected place in case it decided to charge.  Then we took a few pics.  We were the first to see it, and soon after many other people came along to also take pictures.  Many of these people were getting foolishly and dangerously close to this wild animal.  Since we did not want to witness a stampede, we got outta there before things got ugly. 

This is a goat on the Brantmeier Farm in Monroe, WI, from a few years ago.  It's been sitting in my archives just waiting for a good opportunity to get published.  ;-)  I used some of the settings in LightRoom5 to tone down the green grass in the background and a few other adjustments. 

July 2013 Photo-Heart Connection and 2BD23

Sunlight through the Aspens in Banff, Alberta, Canada

Kat Sloma hosts a wonderful practice each month called Photo Heart Connection.
Deepen the connection between your photos and your heart and soul by participating in this monthly review of your images, to find the one that best connects to your heart.

This summer, I had the great good fortune to take a trip to Banff in the Canadian Rockies.  It's been on my bucket list for years, and I finally got to see it with a very close friend of 30+ years duration (Yes J-- I'm talking about you!).  ;-)   This picture comes from a short walk through the Cave and Basin historic site in Banff, where a natural hot spring was discovered.  Banff became Canada's first National Park, created shortly after Yellowstone in the US.  They say Banff is THE most visited national park in North America.  It is certainly beautiful!

I started working up this image for a 2BD23 lesson, but decided I liked it so much, I wanted to make it the Photo-Heart Connection pick/pic for July.   The sun is different in the mountains--I'm not sure how to explain it--thinner, more fragile?  Closer?  In many of the pictures I took there, I got these lovely sun flares.

The guide we had for this part of the tour is very passionate about his job as Parks Interpreter, the park, the wildlife, the plants, the hot spring, the ecology of the place.  He spends much of his free time hiking and taking photographs.  Visit Banff Moments for some of Amar's beautiful work.

My friend Janna had just asked me to do something with some hand-dyed wool yarn she acquired.   She doesn't do that kind of handwork, so I offered to crochet her a scarf if she sent me the yarn ...  While I was thinking about what kind of pattern to use, this beautiful scene came into my view ...  and I thought a lacy scarf inspired by this photo of sun through aspen leaves would be lovely ...  We'll see if it actually works out that way! Ask me again in 2 years ...

The quote is one of my favorites from Rumi.  "Let the Beauty we love, be what we do."  To me, it means, Life is short : Make your passion your life's work ; Bring Beauty to this world.   As I listened to Amar talk, and I thought about my own developing love of photography, and making this scarf for J, these words seemed like the most appropriate match for the photo. 

The simple processing on this image :
1) Background Photo
2) In Lightroom 5, Kim Klassen's Summer Haze Preset
3) In PhotoShop Elements, Text - Windsong Font; Soft Light blend mode, 100% opacity
Font color chosen from one of the aspen leaves.
4) Copy Layer 3

 Here's the cropped version with more focus on the light.