'All the Leaves Are Brown'.....(well almost)

'All the Leaves Are Brown....'  

(well almost!)

This was taken at a beautiful little park close to home.   It was a lovely place to enjoy a peaceful few minutes.....except for all the other photographers roaming around doing exactly what I was doing!

Moose Mistake!

Moose Mistake!

YES, you are seeing a blurry, out of focus picture, and NO, it is not your eyes. I was driving over the Alpine Loop early this evening, (very narrow, curvy, two lane road), and I glimpsed this dark shape out of the passenger side window. It was a huge moose walking several yards away from the road. My camera was on the passenger seat, still set for slow speed, bright sunlight. I slowed down, but had to keep moving because the moose was moving. I held the camera at arms length and shot through the closed window while making sure I didn't run off the road. (I know, stupid!) When I looked at the image on my computer, not even expecting to see the moose in the frame, I was surprised that I kind of liked it. Can you have an animal abstract? I don't know, but I loved the effect on the trees, and I could never duplicate this if I tried, because I don't know how it happened! (Of course I did crop and straighten it.) Which brings me to another point and a little secret that is not really a secret. I am grateful and so appreciative when my friends compliment me on my photography, but what you don't know is that for every photo I post, there are probably 200 that get deleted!! Stands to reason that the more photos I take, the chances are that a few will be good, some times it's just luck, and maybe once in a while, it might be talent or skill!!

Mt. Timpanogos Temple

Mt. Timpanogos Temple

I live about 10 minutes away from the beautiful Mt. Timpanogos temple. Just before sunset the front of the temple and background mountains are bathed in warm light that makes Angel Moroni on top of the spire and the blue stained glass window glow. An extra bonus today was this beautiful sky. NO extra color saturation needed. You'd think I'd have a ton of photos of this temple, living so close, but I don't. Problem is, that unless you are shooting in the winter when there are no leaves, the front on the temple is almost entirely obscured by trees. Many of the leaves have now fallen, so today I was able to find a vantage point that showed a bit more of the temple. (Just below where I've cropped the photo is a parking lot full of cars.)

Mt. Timpanogos - First Snow

Mt. Timpanogos - First Snow

Another photo I took a couple of weeks ago after an unusually early snow storm on Mt. Timpanogos. Fall in Utah doesn't get much better than this!

Evening Kayak Ride - Lake Powell

Halls Bay, Lake Powell

Two of my grandchildren enjoying an evening kayak ride.

Lake Powell Sunrise

Lake Powell Sunrise

I love getting up early, before the family chaos begins, to enjoy the beauty of sunrise at Lake Powell. I love how different each day begins, depending on the weather, the clouds, the time of year and the direction I point my camera. Yesterday my photo, (last post), was taken before sunrise, facing away from the sun, capturing a calm, peaceful scene. Today I turned my camera directly at the sun as it made a spectacular entrance that created vivid colors and contrasts between the sun rays and mottled shadows. (Many normal lenses like the one I used here, will create sunbursts, sunflares, and colorful bokeh when pointed at a bright light source.)

Lake Powell - 2016

Lake Powell Sunrise - 2016

I've just returned from spending ten glorious days 'off the grid', no cell phone, no internet, no email, living on a houseboat at Lake Powell for our annual family vacation. Ten days building family memories....wake boarding, jet skiing, kayaking, spear fishing, reading, relaxing, telling ghost stories around the camp fire, and eating enough junk food to last a year. I am so blessed to have children and grandchildren who all love each other, and enjoy being together. Oh, and did I mention being surrounded by beautiful southwestern scenery. This shot was taken from the houseboat, at sunrise. (And looks better when 'clicked' larger.)

Cascade Springs, Utah

Cascade Springs, Utah

Gold, rust, burnt orange, red, yellow, green.....fall colors are my favorites. I wear these colors, I decorate my house in these colors, I drive a car painted one of these colors. I think this would be my favorite time of year, except that my mood is somewhat dampened when I remember that this beautiful season will eventually turn into a gray, white, colorless winter, at least here in northern Utah! This is another shot of Cascade Springs near Mt. Timpanogos.

Mt. Timpanogos Between Fall and Winter

Mt. Timpanogos Between Fall and Winter

Same place, earlier in the afternoon, and a different spot up the road from my last post. I thought of this quote by John Muir on the day I was taking these photos: "The mountains are calling and I must go."

Mt. Timpanogos, Utah

Mt. Timpanogos, Utah

We've had some wild weather here in Utah for the last few days, but after the rain, the wind, and the tornadoes, (yes, here in Utah), Mother Nature gave us this!

Duck Creek Village, Utah

Duck Creek Village, Utah

Inclement weather and a drizzly, cloudy, foggy, dark day....great for showing off fall yellows and creating moody, misty photos.

Aspen & Sheep, Cedar Breaks, Utah

Aspen & Sheep, Cedar Breaks, Utah

Just got back from a great ATV trip with friends, and drove home by way of Cedar Breaks, hoping to get a few photos of the spectacular fall foliage. Unfortunately it was raining and windy, but the sheep didn't seem to mind! I have seen a lot of aspen trees in fall, and this is about as good as it gets!

Fall in Utah

Mt. Timpanogos 

Fall color is GLORIOUS in Utah mountains right now. This is what I call the 'backside', (north facing view I think), of Mt. Timpanogos. This view is about a half hour drive from home. Lucky me!!! (For you Utah photographers, I just discovered this shooting location and I love it!)

Where's Karen?

Where's Waldo? Or in this case where's Karen??? This front door shot became one of my rare selfies. (It was taken in Santa Fe where we spent a few days celebrating our 46th anniversary.)

Peach Pie

I don't like to cook, but I do. I used to bake bread and make pies, but not so much anymore. But once a year, every year, I make a fresh peach pie from scratch for my husband, with peaches from our own trees. And today was the day. It is truly a time consuming labor of love for me, as I manage to dirty every mixing bowl, every measuring cup, and end up with flour and pie dough on most of the drawer and cupboard knobs and all over the floor! So after all that, I had to treat myself with a taste just to make sure it turned out alright, before serving it to my family for Sunday dinner. (That's my story and I'm sticking with it). And it turned out delish, even if I do say so myself!! And the best part....... left over peach pie for breakfast!!!

A Bird in the Hand......

Nice being out in nature, just me and the birds.....well not exactly. The location where I took this photo might be a bit misleading. This little swampy area sits in between a shopping mall parking lot and an 8 lane freeway. The birds love it!

Tahiti - Moorea

Tahiti - Moorea

This is a weekend where many of us are able to take a break from the everyday routine, and travel away to places far or near, while some of us take 'staycations' and travel to far away places in our minds! I'm completing a photo book of our 18 months in the South Pacific Islands several years ago, and ran across this photo. There is nothing more spectacular than sunsets in the South Pacific. This was taken from our hotel in Tahiti, looking toward the beautiful island of Moorea, my favorite tropical paradise.

Busy Bee!

Look closer to see how busy this little bee really is!

Magnolia

"Softer Than a Summer Night" 

That phrase just popped into my head when I was looking at this image. Who remembers what song this line is from??

Pink Cosmos

The humble cosmos looks lovely when surrounded by a beautiful summer garden.