A Dramatic Afternoon

Only in the photographic sense was yesterday afternoon dramatic...On my way home from design class, the late afternoon sky was filled with cirrocumulus clouds (or maybe they were stratocumulus.... you be the judge!) which made the pre-sunset sky much more dramatic than usual. As I drove around looking for a good vantage point to photograph the sky (without all those nasty telephone wires in the way), I spotted a huge tulip tree in someone's yard. One of California's most beautiful winter sights, these trees can make anyone smile. I loved especially, the new buds.  Before the blossoms open up, the buds are fuzzy little pods, and in the second photo you can still see what's left of  the fuzzy covering as it reveals the new little blossom.

The last photo shows the sunset sky as I neared home. I thought it was just spectacular!

Winter Garden

I'm sorry if you live in a cold, snowy place. I'm sorry if you had a blizzard this week, or sub-zero temperatures, or you simply see gray and brown and yellow each day...

I used some of the photos I shot today in LA to make this layout. I love California!

No Fast Food Here

This week on my favorite scrapping website, Two Peas in a Bucket, I participated in a scrapping challenge:  to create a humorous layout. I don't know how humorous my layout is, but it seemed funny at the time!

A week ago Sunday, my sister Lynne and I traveled about 4 hours north of Los Angeles, to the Central Valley, to attend the birthday party of a favorite cousin.  The GPS on my iPhone told us that the trip would take nearly 5 hours, but in reality, it was less than 4. So, we got to the little town of Dos Palos about an hour early. Not wanting to show up at an inconvenient time, we decided to find a fast food restaurant. The idea was to have a snack, relax, and maybe check my email on my computer which I had with me, and which I would easily be able to do via the internet that McDonald's conveniently offers its customers. Ha. Ha ha. When we drove into town (actually 'town' is slightly optimistic. I think I would call Dos Palos a leetle village), we were amazed that there were towns like this in California.  I truly don't want to criticize a struggling little Central California town... after all, if it weren't for those darned Delta smelt fish, the Central Valley would be awash in money, produce, and culture. But, since the Valley is as dry as a bone, and still recovering from drought and environmental overenthusiasm, the little town looked a little worse for the wear.  We drove to what we think was the center of town, and lo and behold, right on the corner sat a large old-fashioned hardware store, complete with old-fashioned old timers. They sat right in front of the door, gossiping and probably chewing tobacco and spitting (I didn't actually see any spitting or chewing, it's just a guess). We called to them from our car, asking where was the closest McDonalds. The reply was quick and to the point: "No fast food here!". Really? No McDonalds, Taco Bell or Burger King? No Subway or Jack in the Box? What kind of town was this? They recommended either the Taco Grotto or Butch's Drive-In. We picked Butch's.  It was actually quite good, although McDonald's at least has a restroom, which is more than I can say for Butch's place.

So, I made a layout about our little adventure, and using some photos I took of the more 'colorful' parts of town, put together something like this:

If you like, you can click on the image for a much larger view!

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Bruce and I spent our last day in Palm Springs Thursday up on the top of Mount San Jacinto... we traveled the famed Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, which climbs nearly 6,000 feet in 10 minutes. It was awesome in every sense of the word! Incredible views, beautiful mountain scenery (such a change from the desert oasis of Palm Springs), soaring pine trees, deep blue skies, snowy mountains and valleys, and very thin air! I was exhausted after hiking less than a mile, and climbing a steep path back up to the lodge after our little hike.

You can click on the image for a closer view of my tiny photos!  Also, you can visit this link to get more information about the tram.

Palm Springs.... Again!

We're back in Palm Springs for a few days, working on the book, enjoying some peace and quiet. I took a few photos today, I thought you might enjoy them!  That's all I have to report!

Love the roadrunner! I love my new zoom lens too, I can see every feather!

Rural Utah

I've been anxious to start scrapping some of the photos I took in Utah before I tackle some other projects.   I love the feel of these photos I took in Nephi and Spanish Fork, Utah last Tuesday when I took Amy down to her doctor's appointment. She was very patient as she sat in pain the car while I traipsed around taking pictures of pinto ponies and weathered barns.

It feels good to be scrapping again. I admit, I've been in a bit of a creative funk for the past couple of months.  Lots on my mind, lots of busy-ness, and not a lot of creative energy. I have several ideas for some new layouts, keep your eye on this spot in the next few weeks.

On the Way Home

I can't believe I haven't blogged since Saturday... I've been so busy! But I took lots of pictures, and had lots of adventures to share & create about.

Monday and Wednesday I spent my afternoons at Brigham Young University with the Industrial Design students, doing a presentation about toy design, and introducing their winter quarter toy design project. I'll be returning in 8 weeks or so, to do the final critique. It's been so much fun! There are 7 seniors in the class, so they are experienced and knowlegeable designers.

Tuesday I drove Amy down to Nephi, Utah, about an hour and a half south of Salt Lake for her followup doctor's appointment after her knee surgery. It was a beautiful day, and we had a wonderful time visiting and just being together. We met her mother-in-law at the doctor's office, and after the stitches were removed, we all went out to lunch. Shanon is a doll, Amy is very blessed to have such wonderful in-laws!

I took this photo just outside Nephi. I love the pinto ponies, and any time I see a herd of horses I just have to stop.

I'll be back in the next few days with some layouts and maybe some more photos and details about my trip. But for now, I'm just looking forward to being home tonight with my sweetie!

Snowy Day

Did I say something about little snow?

I lied.

Hello from Utah!

I arrived in Utah yesterday, to spend a week with my kids, grandson, and to do a two-day presentation at Brigham Young University. I'm really excited about the presentation- I'll be sponsoring a 7-week toy design project with the Industrial Design department. It is for the ID senior class, and I'm sure they will enjoy designing and creating something as fun as toys! So, Monday and Wednesday I'll be lecturing and conducting a brainstorm. Then they will pick their projects, and during the next 7 weeks I'll be reviewing and guiding from afar, then in late February, I'll come back to Utah for the final critique. I did a similar project in 2006, so it's been awhile.

My daughter Amy (the recent bride) had knee surgery last week, and so I wanted to spend some time with her, helping out & just being there for her as she recovers. She is pretty much bedridden, and although Jon is a terrifically attentive husband and nursemaid, he has to work & go to school. So, Mom to the rescue!  I'm staying at son Alec and Alicia's home in Draper, and they have lots of room for me, and spending time with grandson Jackson is great!

 I'm sure I'll find some time to take some photos & collect some memories for scrapping. I'll just post this photo I took from Alec's front porch this morning. Lovely Utah mountains! (Alas, but with very little snow!)

January Sunset

One of the awesome features of my *new* Nikon camera, is a whole slew of new auto features, called 'Scene'. These settings optimize common tricky light settings, such as candlelight, night landscape, food, dusk, and a few more. I was really excited to see 'Sunset' as one of these settings. Since I love taking sunset photos, and knowing how time is of the essence when taking a sunset or dusk shot, taking the time to figure out the manual settings would be too much for my pea brain to figure out in a hurry. My old Nikon (using the auto settings, which I rarely ventured away from) took lousy sunset photos, because the light meter wanted to let too much light in. I found my sunset photos were often washed out and dull.

Tonight, there was an incredible sunset over Moorpark. I first saw the magnificent sky when I was shopping with Annie, but taking a gorgeous sunset photo in a parking lot with the Target store blocking much of the view, left much to be desired. Driving home, while most of the saturated color had left the sky, I was still impressed enough with the light to stop my car on a bridge, and shoot what was left of the sunset, with the light reflecting in the arroyo below. I did punch the saturation just a wee bit, but not much. I loved how the inky blackness of the wash and surrounding area made the water look like a blue mirror.

Sometimes it's nice to just create a simple layout, letting the photo take center stage, and all the glory. I mean, what else can you say? Just what it was, January Sunset.  I've included below the incredible sky over Target, showing how even the mundane can be glorified with God's light show!