Suburbia

 

 

These beautiful homes, mashed together like sardines in a can, all separated by walls of fencing, as if that would create a sense of privacy instead of a sense of shared space, of neighborliness.

Happy Birthday, Princess

 

The Color Purple in Miniature

 

 

Doe and Fawn Galore

 

 

 

 

The other night, I was thrilled to have the chance to catch shots of deer in a freshly cut hay field! By the time I got home, it was late and I only had the time to choose the best photo of the bunch and get it posted here. Tonight, going through the photos again, it wasn’t too difficult to see that I managed to get more than one good shot.

 

The challenges were many. The sun had already set, so the only light remaining was all I had to work with. It tended to mute the colors quite a bit. Plus, the deer were far from the mindset of ‘posing’ and that added to the muted colors. Even so, there wasn’t a need for a lot of tweaking beyond contrast.

An Evening Stroll

 

A Quiet Sunday

 

 

Saki is a hoot. From early on, he began to mimic eye expressions. When he sees me smile at him, he will half close his eyes to return it. When I give him a big “aw,” he’ll give me his puppy-dog eyes. This time, those puppy-dog eyes happened when I asked him to look at me for this photo.

I haven’t played with landscape shots much, so I thought I’d give it a try. Out of the three I took, this was the only one that wasn’t drastically foreshortened. Perhaps it was because the cloud passing overhead and the resulting variation in lighting that rescued this shot.

The third photo is yet another variation on lighting, this time converting harsh noon sunlight into a warm, highly contrasted photo.

It’s All in the Details

 

 

August Blooms

 

 

Odin’s New Friend

This is little Miss Chrissy, a long-time admirer of Odin’s. When her parents would take off on the four-wheeler, she’d always ask to come by my house so she could see Odin. Finally, they stopped and we met when they saw me outside one day, and Chrissy got to meet Odin up close. She can about walk under his belly! When she relaxed enough, her father put her up on Odin’s back to sit, and she posed nicely for a photo.

New to August

The shapeless yellow flowers of some sort of a fern was a nice surprise to find. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on them to see how they all develop.

As pretty as the purple is on the second flower, the yellow ‘things’ in the middle are quite eerie, made more so by the strong shadows.

The little flower in the last photo was another nice surprise. Very geometric and varied. This is the only one I found, and another one I’ll keep my eye on.

Dog’s Days of August

 

While Odin sweats almost constantly, bleaching out his color even more than the sun already does, Hiro cools himself by chasing the bubbles he makes wading in the mud puddle. Silly dog, but cooled.

The Last of the July Greenery

 

The last three black-eyed susans are captured for prosperity’s sake. Their bright color makes them easy to find, though they are lonely.

The tiny daisies have been spouting out all summer, but none have looked as perfect as these. To give you an idea just how tiny they are, the large daisy is the size of my pinky’s fingernail.

As if the calendar isn’t enough of an indication, the heads on hay are a stark reminder just how close the end of summer is.

Odin, My Pride and Joy

Young Expressions

The boy swimming had just reached the end of his fourth lap or so, and the camera caught the look on his face as he challenged himself to make it to the wall. His struggle paid off. He rested a few minutes, then went on to do four more laps.

It didn't help that I kept cracking jokes while Cody was working with the young colt to ride him for the first time. But, as we laughed away, Cody continued to lay over the saddle and flop around while the colt's expression never changed. It was a quiet, boring first ride.

The last photo is proof that we all experience the same thing differently. Most amazing of all is the one head that is so far above the crowd with the empty look. Things must look really different to him!

Expressions

I caught Kenny Loggins (top) in concert in Little Rock last year. He has always been my favorite musician, and I greatly admire his approach to singing: He plays his voice like an instrument, and fills his music with emotion and clarity. That I was able to capture that in a photo is priceless to me.

Horace (middle) is a corker of a man. He is the animal control officer in a small town here in Arkansas, and he absolutely loves dogs. He works tirelessly to find homes for all the strays he picks up.

Michael (bottom) captured himself with his concentrated expression. He was leaning down to adjust his camera's settings when he accidentally hit the shutter. He captured his quiet intensity that I love so much.