Category Archives: photography

Flyers

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A dove took off, being forced from the birdseed by a covey of quail.

When I looked through my old photos from last January’s intro to photography class, I found quite a few of birds in flight. I remember trying and trying to catch them flying and found it was almost impossible. So, it was surprising to see a few that were okay. If you missed my post Wednesday, I posted old photos of Red HERE.

I found this view of a stately predator to be fascinating.

Doves in flight.

Quail sound like jets planes taking off.

Harris’s Hawk landing on a mesquite tree.

A Harris’s Hawk flying from a Century Plant.

A hawk I caught right before he flew off the neighbor’s roof.

This is a framed photo of birds in flight that is hanging in our living room. Gary Gruber has a lengthy career as a photographer that includes street photography, public relations, landscapes and more. We worked together back in my PR days and I remember helping him in his booth at a juried art show in La Quinta. Now he has photography in a gallery in Palm Desert. You should spend some time looking through his photography on his website HERE. His work is stunning and will brighten your day! Here’s a photo from his Birds on a wire tab.

Happy Friday! Any exciting plans for the weekend?

Old photos of Red

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I’m sad to say I haven’t had a Red or Mrs. sighting in a few weeks! Where did they go? Maybe they aren’t enjoying the cold weather with lows at night down to 30 degrees and highs in the low 50s during the day? Just like me. I’m not liking it either. This Red photo is from last March.

I took a few photos of squirrels and quail over the weekend. I was looking at them in Adobe Bridge. Then I thought, I wonder what else is on this card? I discovered it was from my intro to photography class I took January through May last year. In that class we weren’t allowed to crop or make changes. The professor’s point was for us to learn composition and our camera’s settings. I spent a few hours opening last year’s photos in Adobe Camera Raw and improving what I had originally captured. I discovered some photos of Red and friends that needed little touching up.

A new photo of a quail and squirrel I took over the weekend.

Here is one I took a year ago of birds in flight at my Bird Buddy feeder.

Old photos of Red and his House Finch friend. Here’s a series of them looking this way and that.

I had fun looking through old photos, cropping and brightening them up. I have a few more to share in upcoming posts.

Hopefully it will warm up and Red and Mrs. will return. Red was a bachelor when I took these photos last January.

Do you have a favorite photo out of these?

What are you working on as a new project for the New Year?

Unusual weather

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This is not our usual weather for sunny Arizona. How does 49 degrees feel like 33 degrees? I went outside today to take photos. It does feel cold. I wore my heaviest coat.

I struggled to come up with something to post, which is not like me. I realize it’s because after coming home from our Christmas Hawaiian trip, both my husband and I got sick. I’ve been down for several days. Not much has been happening in my life.

It was hubby’s birthday this week and we cancelled our birthday dinner plans with our friends from Palm Springs who moved one mile from us in Arizona. They called several times to see how we were feeling. Finally, the scoop was that they are taking their kids on a cruise soon and they don’t want to get sick. We decided to postpone the birthday dinner celebration. If we are contagious or aren’t contagious and they get sick in the next few days, what is the upside?

We did take out Chinese at the only decent Chinese restaurant around us and spared strangers from our coughing fits!

Here are some photos I took of our gray day:

The view out my office window. It’s difficult to see through the rain drops.

Our crocodile. It looks like he enjoys the weather.

Looking out the front door.

Our backyard aliens or geckos left by the previous home owners. I know they are geckos, but they look more like aliens to me.

The first year we were here, we had snow! This coyote was playing in the snow and ended up on our wall!

coyote on wall
A coyote hanging out on our wall.

It is snowing in Sedona which is less than three hours away, but at a higher elevation.

What is your weather like today? Is it normal for this time of year?

Odds, Ends and Quail

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I have only seen Red and Mrs. a few times since we got back home from Hawaii for the New Year. I was disappointed with the photos I took. They were blurry, fuzzy and altogether not good. While I was taking photos of my quail, Red showed up and posed for me on the pink flamingo. I kept trying to snap photos, but my camera wasn’t cooperating. There was a large “E” on the screen.

Then I exchanged the camera battery, thinking that might be the issue. It wasn’t. I glanced back at my laptop to see the dongle plugged in with a card reader. The SD card wasn’t in my camera. No wonder the photos of Red weren’t going to happen.

Red flew away. I had to be content with quail photos.

A female quail acting as “look out” in the tree. This is normally a man’s job.

A male doing his job.

Then he flew up into the tree from the rock.

While in Hawaii, I received an email from my photography professor. He said the class is no more. I had registered for Spring semester which was to begin this month and run until May. There were five others in the class along with me. The class is by invitation only, so there’s no signing up if the professor didn’t think you’d be a good fit for the class. He told me before I joined that everyone is dedicated to learning and improving in photography. That everyone is on the same learning curve, just at different points along the way.

I’m sad the class won’t continue. But in the meantime, I’ll continue working on my learning curve, wanting to improve my photography. What’s really sad is that professor said after 26 years of working at the college, he was sent an email coldly telling him he was no longer employed.

I’m starting off the New Year with a very light calendar. No more ladies’ group, newsletter, photography class. Even the neighborhood coffee has ended. With all this free time, I’m going to get back to my focus on writing. I have several projects and manuscripts that need my attention.

What would you do with a cleared calendar?

Is there a project you’d like to start on or continue?

Happy Javelina and New Year!

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We’re at home from our family Hawaii trip that I shared photos of HERE and HERE. I’m now in my real life wild kingdom and enjoyed a visit by a squadron of javelina.

I counted three or four babies, two moms and a handful of males. I took photos with my Nikon and telephoto lens, but the best photos and videos were from my iphone. I got amazingly close feeling confident our fence would hold. I had thrown a few handfuls of birdseed out for our quail, but the javelina discovered it and soon took over.

I wouldn’t want to get between these two guys!

Babies. I especially like peewee redhead!

Another look at two babies.

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2026 for all of us and our wildlife friends!

What are your plans for the first weekend of 2026?

Views from the Pool Bar

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I put a birdseed block across from the pool bar yesterday. I enjoyed sitting quietly in the second chair from the left to wait and see what happened. I like hanging out to shoot photos of critters because I’m at eye level with them. They don’t seem to notice me when their appetite gets the better of them.

Here are photos I took from the pool bar, bird blind:

A mourning dove was the first to bite.

Then came a solo quail.

Pretty soon, the quail had friends.

Another quail shared the block.

Squirrel!

Red came into the yard a few times, but he’s been so quick it’s hard to get photos. Here’s two I managed to get:

I liked how the morning light hit Red’s crest and legs.

Here’s a profile pic of my handsome guy.

I hope you enjoyed my pool bar shots of dove, quail, squirrels and sparrows. Red too!

Which photos did you like best?

Hawks, Red and the Moon

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This is a moon shot I took seven months ago with a Century Plant. I ran out of space on my current SD card, so I went through some in my camera case to look for one with space. I enjoyed looking back on photography from my “intro” class. I was surprised with some decent shots, which I will share here.

I found this photo of Red as a slim young guy.

Three hawks on the same Century Plant as in the moon photo.

A fluffed up Harris’s Hawk.

Another Harris’s Hawk. I heard a hawk yesterday. They have a distinctive call. I realized that it’s been a long time since one visited our yard. I do see them swooping overhead every time I drive.

Then wouldn’t you know it? Just as I thought I haven’t seen one for a while, one flew into a tree in our backyard. I tried to get a good photo, but he is behind some twigs and leaves.

Here’s the photo I took yesterday:

I have a better lens now then the one I used for most of the earlier photos. I don’t know if you can tell the difference or not.

Happy Friday! What exciting plans to you have for the weekend?