Category Archives: photography

The Final Project

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It’s time to turn in my final project for photography class. I’ve been taking photos of sea glass that I’ve shared along the way HERE and HERE.

Sea glass has both Meaning and Memory for me (FYI, that’s the theme of this semester’s final project.) My memories are from summers at the beach which were my favorite days of being a mom. As for meaning, one is that change always happens. For example, the purpose and original form of bottles change through time. Bottles turn into beautiful glass pieces tumbled in the sea. We also change — but it doesn’t mean that we no longer have purpose or beauty.

I took photos for the past few months of sea glass. Outside by the pool at different times of day. On glass tables by the pool, inside in jars, glasses and on glass with light coming from different directions.

For this project, I looked through photo albums and found pictures from our summers at the beach. Every year, I took photos of our kids and used them for Christmas cards. I scanned old photos and improved them using Adobe Camera Raw. The quality of the old photos taken with film are fuzzy compared to the new photos using a DSLR. But they have memory and meaning as well.

Here are the photos for my final project:

The Palm Springs gang on a beach day.

In the original photo, the hand looked like it was boiled bright red. A little Adobe Camera Raw and it’s more natural looking.

One of my favorite sea glass photos.

All that’s needed for entertainment is sand, the ocean and big stick.

Two more sea glass photos I took by our pool in the morning light.

I never heard the end of making my kids sit on this rocky outcropping. They asked me, “Why did you make us sit on an ashtray?” I didn’t know that this was a favorite place to smoke for locals. It was covered with cigarette butts!

Our daughter with a fist full of sea glass.

College age kids.

The final sea glass photo taken on a glass table with a light underneath.

I hope you enjoyed my final project.

Which photos do you like and why?

My backyard wilderness

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This is a view of our backyard with flamingos, doves on the fence and a bright red spot in the cholla cactus on the other side of the fence. That red spot is Red! It’s where I believe Red and Mrs. have built their nest.

Here are a few photos of my backyard wildlife:

A bevy of quail appear every time I put out some birdseed.

This sparrow was all fluffed up when we had seven days of rain! I put a rain gauge in the backyard and we got more than three inches. That’s a lot for the desert.

The Gila Woodpeckers are the bullies of birdseed. They also can hang upside down. Look at the grip this guy has on the Beavertail Cactus art.

Here’s looking at you, kid!

My backyard bunny and friends.

Harris’s antelope squirrel making his move toward the birdseed. I bet it’s not a coincidence that our hawks are Harris’s hawks. Any bets the squirrels must be named after the same guy?

A little out of focus but a better view of Red on the nest.

Happy Thanksgiving! Is anyone traveling for the holiday?

Sea Glass Anyone?

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I’m trying a few ideas for my sea glass project that is due the Thursday following Thanksgiving. What I did was bring in a glass table from outside and put a lamp under it. That way the light is shining up through the table and glass so it looks backlit. The only issue I have is the glass table is a smoky brown and I think it changes the color of the glass.

It seems heavy green and yellowish — which I’ve tried to tone down in Adobe Camera Raw. The photo below I played with in ACR and changed the colors. I’ll be back to the drawing board with more ideas to take sea glass photos that come out in a better color.

Here are the colors of sea glass that I prefer. I took these a few weeks ago out in the sunlight.

I have a few more days to play with my sea glass and try to get some unique photos. Then I also need to work with my scanned images from our beach days to tell a story about hunting for sea glass and summers at the beach with the kids.

I found sea glass on Etsy and there are artists who make jewelry from sea glass. Something else that caught my eye was bird art using drift wood with sea glass birds on it!

Cute.

Which sea glass photos do you like and why?

Did you know that Arthur Miller married a photographer?

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I was reading Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” as part of my DIL’s syllabus for her AP English students. I had agreed to read along with her class. I wrote about that HERE and HERE. In the introduction to the play, there was a mention of Inge Morath who married Arthur Miller after his divorce to Marilyn Monroe. I had never heard of Morath. I didn’t know Miller married a photographer.

I had to prepare a presentation to share either my photos with my photography class — or introduce a photographer to my classmates. I looked at Inge Morath’s work and thought “this is it!”

Below is information I used as crib notes to share with the class. I talked off the cuff, but glanced down at the material for reference. I’m not posting my favorite photos of hers, because they are not in the public domain. The Inge Morath Foundation owns them. Instead I’ll post links to her work so you can explore them on your own.

I especially like her iconic llama photo she took for Life magazine, her bicycles in China and her photos from movie set of The Misfits — where she met her husband-to-be Arthur Miller. Miller wrote “The Misfits” for his wife Marilyn Monroe.

Here are the Inge Morath notes*:

Inge Morath (1923–2002) was an Austrian-born photographer known for her intimate and expansive portraits of people and cultures across the globe, who became one of the first female members of the Magnum photo agency. After surviving WWII, she worked as a photo editor before becoming a photographer in 1951, and later co-published several books with her husband, playwright Arthur Miller, whom she married in 1962. Her work includes documenting the sets of films like The Misfits, and capturing intimate portraits of artists, writers, and everyday people. 

  • Early life and career: Morath was born in Austria in 1923 and grew up in Germany during the Nazi era. She became fluent in several languages, and after the war, worked as a translator and journalist. She began her career in photography after working as a photo editor for Magnum, where she learned by studying the work of photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson.
  • Magnum photographer: Morath became a full member of Magnum in 1953 and was a pioneering female photographer in the male-dominated agency. She traveled extensively for her work, documenting life in countries like the Soviet Union and China, often preparing extensively by studying local languages and cultures.
  • Work and style: Her work is characterized by its cosmopolitanism, literary influences, and the intimacy she achieved with her subjects, whether they were famous artists like Louise Bourgeois or actors on a film set. She was known for both large documentary projects and candid, poetic moments, such as the staged but famous “A llama in Times Square” photo, which she documented for Life magazine.
  • Marriage to Arthur Miller: After meeting on the set of The Misfits, she married playwright Arthur Miller in 1962, with whom she had two children, Rebecca and Daniel. They collaborated on several projects, including the books In Russia and Chinese Encounters. Morath continued her own projects throughout their marriage, and she and Miller were married for 40 years until her death in 2002. 

Links to Inge Morath Foundation and Magnum Photo Agency.

*I had copied and pasted pages of information about Inge Morath. I was editing it down to something manageable when AI popped up with the condensed version. I’m terribly anti AI, but in this instance it was a welcome aid! I guess there is some use for AI after all.

If you looked at Inge Morath’s photos, which did you like and why?

What thoughts do you have about AI? Do you think it’s useful or a crutch?

There’s no place like home!

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My first day back home and I was thrilled to have visits by Red and Mrs. They haven’t been fed in the week that we were away, so I was afraid they left. My husband reminded me that they live in the wild. All of our birds have to find their own food — unless I’m home.

Mrs. the cutie pie was first to arrive after I put out the seed block. The seed blocks usually last four days. This one was gone within 24 hours. The birds must have been hungry. The pouring rain didn’t stop them from feasting.

Red and friends munching away.

This wet momma quail was hanging out under a bench to get out of the rain.

Can you see the rain on the barrel cactus spines?

The last bits of the seed block enjoyed by quail, sparrows and Red.

No, the quail aren’t fat, but fluffed up their feathers to protect from the rain.

Red with his House Sparrow buddies braving the rain.

What’s happening with your winter weather?

If you have a favorite photo, which one is it?

A Carefree Visit on Easy Street

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This is a view of the park we have in the center of the little town of Carefree, population 3,672. There’s a playground, the Carefree Desert Gardens and one of the largest sundial’s in the country. Friday means that I visit Carefree for the farmer’s market. I look forward to that each fall when the weather cools down and I can buy fresh veggies. (All photos are from my iphone, except for the one of the sundial which I googled and snagged off the internet.)

The Carefree Sundial located on Easy Street in the Carefree city center is 35 feet tall. Oh yes, it works!

This is the slide at the playground. I was surprised one Friday morning to see my outgoing, social neighbor with her little fluffy white dog Rascal going down the slide over and over. Rascal going down the slide that is, not my neighbor.

There is artwork throughout Carefree’s city center. I’ve taken a few photos of the sculptures found throughout the circle on Easy Street.

We purchased this sculpture for our house, of course in a more practical size. It was made by a local Carefree artist and only 10 of the smaller statues were made.

A bit of Carefree history.

The Carefree city center has water features, too, which is a welcome sight in the desert. My DIL, who went with me to the farmer’s market on a visit commented on how water is a priceless item in a desert, hence it’s prominent feature in the town. Words of wisdom.

I hope you enjoyed my tour of Carefree and the sights on Easy Street.

Happy Friday! What plans do you have for the weekend?

I had to add “Carefree Highway” from Gordon Lightfoot to this post.

A Free Bugatti?

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Here I am minding my own business, taking photos of quail and working on my photography presentation due Wednesday (today). Then I checked my email and I’m receiving dozens — no make that hundreds — of emails about a free Bugatti.

What’s a Bugatti, you ask? I googled it and this is what I found:

Everyone on the spam list is replying all with “remove me” to more colorful expressions that begin with the letter “F.”

I was on the phone with my son and told him what was happening. I’m trying to block the sender and move them to my junk folder. But they come in faster than I can click.

One reply made me laugh out loud. “This looks legit. Can I send you my bank account number and mother’s maiden name?”

But I’m literally receiving hundreds of emails every hour. I mark them junk and block or mute the sender. They’re coming into my Apple email folder and the culprit is from China. Not good. I’m worried I could be hacked.

I may turn off all my email devices like laptop and phone until tomorrow!

More QUAIL:

“Where’s she going?”

What a beauty this poppa quail is.

Here he is again! I think…might be another guy.

Busy times on the birdseed block. I can now navigate the stairs that go down to our sunken pool bar which I used earlier this year — prior to my broken ankle — as my bird blind. I can now take photos on level again with the critters.

Have you been spammed like that with hundreds of emails? Have you been hacked? How did you handle it?