Look at This Great Cactus
This cactus has been in our family for about 38 years. It has grown from three inches to three feet. I was sitting outside yesterday feeding the dogs when I looked over and saw the way the sun was hitting the cactus. You know me and shadows – I cannot resist a good one when I see it! The only problem I had was how to present it – color or black and white? Well, you can see below what I decided.
Beautiful Cactus
One Last Time, I Swear!
I could not help but add this one last photo and make a trilogy from my beautiful whie orchid. Looking at the back, you can see more beautiful colors. I love the magenta, the green and the yellow along with the texture they create. All the buds have bloomed and they will now start falling off one by one.
The End of the White Orchid
I hope it will bloom for us again in the future. I had an orchid like this once before, and after two years it died. That may happen to this one. I do not have a green thumb, so I will let Willie care for it from now on. It was a nice Sunday afternoon. I looked at a lot of my lynda.com videos and did some work on my website. I am trying to make the home page more “google” friendly. I think I have it now. Be sure to check out the New Moon tonight!
27/365
Beauty Through Depression Glass
Do you see the light shining through the beautiful colored glass and the gorgeous crystal beads? They are a part of some very pretty wind chimes. Look at the blue and the dark green and the yellow. The sound they make is very beautiful too. They are made from Depression Glass. This is someone else’s artwork that I have documented for you. I hope I captured for you what I saw when I came across them.
Beautiful Colored Glass
Every week-end there is a big outdoor market in the parking lot at Golden West College. There are a lot of vendors and just about anything you can think of is sold there. I have been there a few times mainly to take photographs, once as an assignment for a photography class! You could easily spend two hours walking around. It is a good place to go exploring if you do not mind all the people!
26/365
Foggy Day at Huntington Beach Pier
The Huntington Beach Pier Plaza is where an outdoor maket is held every Friday afternoon. About one block from the pier we could see that it was shrouded in fog. There was not much happening at the market. I bought some asparagus that we had with dinner - delicious! They sell different things there; the typical fruits, vegetables, breads, cakes, but also jewelry, flowers and surfboard shaped rugs, among other things.
HB Pier on a Foggy Afternoon
My Classroom at GWC
It was a warm day yesterday – high of 83 degrees! The dogs played outside a lot because Willie was out there watering and trimming plants. I don’t know what he does out there all day! Anyway, I had class last night so I thought I would show you a photo of my classroom. They are up to date with all new 20″ iMacs. The school takes very good care of us students! I got there 30 minutes early so no one else was there yet.
Fine Arts Bldg. Room 202
The only problem now, with these big monitors we need stadium seating so we can see the instructor and what is going on at the front of the room! I am sure there are many students who like it this way so they can do their own thing. I know – a silly choice of photo for this post – but, oh well - I like to show you variety and what my life is about!
24/365
Diehard Huntington Beach Visitors
At this time of year there are many visitors to Huntington Beach. It was very warm yesterday, upper 70’s, low 80’s. The next few days will be that way too. This photo is looking north from the pier. Looking at the photo closely, you can see a kite flying, a surfer carrying his surfboard, many surfers in the water and way in the back on the right are people sitting on the sand. I bet if I take the same photo in December, it won’t look much different! Doesn’t the water look silvery and sparkily?
Huntington Beach Shoreline
Oh well! Willie likes to go down to the beach to walk around. He used to be an avid surfer, every Sunday morning, but he hasn’t done it in a long time. Maybe one day… There is a great dog park at the beach also, several blocks north of the pier. It is fun to take the dogs but they get so dirty. You have to plan because they definitely need a bath when we get home. I have Flash class tonight. I am hoping to learn enough to integrate some flash into my website!
23/365
Bolsa Chica Wetlands
I drove over to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands yesterday, part of the area formally known as “Tin Can Beach,” so I could take some photos. It is a beautiful area now that meets up with the ocean at two different locations. It is also a bird sanctuary so there are many birds in the mornings and evenings. I went around noon so there was no activity going on, just beautiful sun and a lot of quiet. Part of the land is being built on, mainly 300-400 new homes taking over a large portion of the area. A very sad thing to see happening. I think they call that progress?
Beautiful Wetlands at Bolsa Chica Beach
Anyway, as you can see by the photo, it was a beautiful day in Huntington Beach. It seems I say that quite often and that is the reason we live here! I went to school last night to get some help from one of my instructors then Willie and I went out to dinner at Woody’s Diner. We sat outside with the dogs and they behaved very well. It was a very nice evening. We invited Larry and Shelley, but they were not able to join us.
22/365
There Really is No Rest For Bridget!
Now it is official! I say this pretty much describes my life! How many of us get to see our name up in neon lights? Up at Bella Terra Mall is this women’s clothing store. However, I don’t quite understand what the name has to do with clothing. I will need to go in and ask them. They were not open when we were there.
This Says It All
Yesterday was the first day of Fall. It is cooling down in the evenings and the days are getting shorter. We went up to the mall after dinner and walked around a little bit. I had my tripod and used my telephoto lens on my camera. I have to take a lot of photos to get one I want to use. It was hard to balance the neon lights with the lighting on the front of the building. I was happy with this one. I hope you agree.
21/365
White Orchid – Round Two
Doesn’t this orchid look beautiful in back and white? I wanted to show you how much this orchid has changed in the two weeks since I first photographed it (4/365). I like the black and white very much; it almost has an infrared look to it. Looks like if I had waited one more day a fifth flower would have opened! Well, I like presenting it this way.
Blooming White Orchid
Sunday was a beautiful day here in Huntington Beach. I was up late last night watching the Emmy awards. I am very grateful for my DVR and we very, very seldom watch live TV. I am a fan of television, but not commercials. I don’t really have time to add any new shows to my watch list. I won’t bore you with the homework, etc. I did yesterday. Even I am getting tired of hearing it. Maybe my life is too boring to have a weblog. Oh, well – I enjoy the photography and that is why I do it!
20/365
Saturday Evening at Huntington Beach Pier
There were many people at the pier last night. Willie and I got there about 7:00 as the sun was beginning to set. There was surfing, volleyball and some fishing going on. This photo shows part of the pier and a few surfers in the ocean (the black dots in the water). It was a beautiful evening except those clouds back there are hiding Santa Catalina Island, 26 miles across the sea! Huntington Beach is Surf City, USA!
Huntington Beach Pier
Larry came by and got some stuff out of the garage yesterday. One of these days we may actually be able to put a car in there! No Santa Anas – maybe today. Kyla is back to her old self now running around and barking at Donnan a lot so he will play with her. I am happy for that. Is there anyone out there looking at any of this?
19/365
Two Homeless Ducks
These two ducks have been in my backyard for over six months. They move around from place to place and have not been able to find a permanent home and settle in. They do not bother us or the dogs and we think they are kind of cute. They don’t seem to like being stuck in a corner. One day they will find their place; they have a lot to choose from. My advice, stay away from the dogs!
Two Homeless Ducks
I realize this photo is not showing any real photographic talent, it is just a photo taken in my backyard. However, I wanted to share the ducks with you. It was a beautiful day yesterday. It almost felt like there were some Santa Anas starting up. Makes it feel like Fall – I love that feeling. We will see what today brings. There is always updating my website, this blog, doing math and working on some Flash homework. I guess I could throw in some housework. My life is so exciting!
18/365
StarShower Amphitheater at GWC
There is a beautiful outdoor amphitheater at Golden West College. A lot of events are held there, such as plays, award ceremonies, graduations, etc. I have seen women exercising there, walking up and down the stairs with their hand weights and the police academy students doing drills. It is a very nice place for students to congregate. As you can see from the photo, it is very well maintained. GWC is a great place!
StarShower Amphitheater
I went to school early last night so I could photograph it. I knew the sun was starting to get pretty low at 5:15 P.M., and I was able to get a nice contrast with the sun shining through the many trees on campus toward the amphitheater. Flash class was interesting last night. We learned about movie clips and putting them into objects to create animations. I still do not know what I am doing! Kyla was a little under the weather yesterday. She ate a little dinner and we will keep an eye on her today.
17/365
My Mother’s Martha Washington
Isn’t this a beautiful pink geranium? I believe my mother told me at one time that it is a Martha Washington. If I am wrong, hopefully someone out there will correct me. My mother died in January so I guess you could say I inherited this plant from her. There is beautiful contrast between the pink of the petals and the green of the leaves. I do enjoy photographing flowers.
Martha Washington Geranium
We have other geraniums in our yard, but I don’t know much about plants and flowers to know what they are. My mother knew all that; she was the one I looked to when I had a question. Willie takes very good care of all of our plants and my mother went to him at times if a plant needed help. Well, I spent a few hours updating my website yesterday but it still needs more work. I should be able to get some help from my teacher tonight. I need to move up higher on search engines!
16/365
Hanging Donkey Tails on My Patio!
We recently got this Donkey or Burro Tail plant, sedum morganianum, and it has been doing great hanging on our patio. I guess what attracted me to it yesterday was the late afternoon sun and the shadows it was creating, both on the plant itself and the background. I think you will agree that it made a very interesting photo. There are some pretty tonal qualtities that were created. How would it look in black and white?
Donkey Tail
I am really enjoying taking these photos each day. With a challenge like this, I can really see what I am attracted to and what I want to explore more of and photograph. I enjoy looking back through the ones I already have on the site and think of how I might be able to improve some of them in the future if I were to photograph the subject again. So far, there is not much to change. I am very happy.
15/365
Lunar Effects?
Did you see the moon last night? It has had a big influence on our lives, from music to poetry, romance and many of the mysteries of life. Do you believe that the phases of the moon affect our lives? Studies have shown that they really don’t. Anyway, it was a beautiful night last night and I enjoyed being outside. I was concerned that it might be cloudy and I would not be able to get my shot. I am happy with the image.
Clair de Lune
Willie took the dogs for a long walk at the park. I wish I could have gone with them, but I had too much to do. I had a great day yesterday and it was a beautiful day in Huntington Beach. I was on the computer a lot, working on my blog, and of course my math. I have a busy day today, so until tomorrow…
14/365
Another Wall of Shadows
I am beginning to think I should start a series of photographs on shadows on walls. While out walking the dogs yesterday we came by this wall with a tree in front of it – a very common occurance. The sun was at a perfect angle and I loved the way the shadows fell. Lucky me, I had my camera with me. I thought it would be very striking in black and white so that is how I am presenting it to you. What do you think?
Shadows
I spent a large portion of yesterday working on the photos from the housewarming party. I really needed the break walking with the dogs. I also needed a photo for today so it worked out great. I will spend a portion of today working on math (you are probably getting tired of hearing that) and I need to do some real estate work for some friends. Did I ever mention I work a little in real estate?
13/365
Bridget Casas
