Maui photographs ... a start.

First glimpse of the islands

Day lilies, Lavender Farm 

Protea, Lavender Farm 

I just returned from a wonderful vacation in Maui with my friend Kerrie.

I've unpacked, done the laundry, and  just started reviewing the photographs I took.   So many beautiful places there,  it's hard to know where to start processing, but the flowers caught my eye.  These were taken during our visit to AKL Maui Lavender Farm.

While I was waiting ...

I've always carried a book in my car for days when I find myself waiting ...  a doctor's appointment, years ago waiting for kids after school, waiting for a store to open, for a friend ... having a book to read always made that "wait time" go by faster.

Now with my iPhone I always have a book, a camera, and many apps (way too many apps).   I use my "wait time" now and play with the apps, trying new ones.  This photo was taken at a UCSD medical building in a very polished lobby.  I used a B&W app to convert the photo and was happy with these results.

The photo to the right was taken while sitting in the ophthalmologist's office, eyes dilated and waiting for someone to come in.  I used the Hipstamatic camera and then a PhotoFx app to distort the photo.  Probably the way I was seeing the world that morning   ;-)

Jewelry assignment

I'm in another class with Carol Leigh -- the assignment I just completed in the macro photography class is "jewelry".   I guess I need challenges, so decided to photograph these acrylic beads!   Jumping right into the assignment, I didn't read Carol's notes about the importance of cleaning jewelry (actually probably anything) before pointing the macro lens at it.   The first round of photos I took were full of dust spots!   Not just a few, but major dust spots.

Back to the drawing board, or actually the kitchen sink.  Washed, dried & polished both the hand and the beads, and was happy with these two photos.   Thanks Linda H. for the idea of using one of my glass hands in the photo.

Kokomo and Monroe

I spent a great day at the Safari Park with my friend, Yoli.  She's also a SD Zoo volunteer, however, we were at the Park today as "tourists", not volunteering.   We both enjoyed watching the gorillas and were at their area in time to see the keepers throwing treats down to them.  Today's treat was magnolia leaves, sometimes it's lettuce and lots of other green veggies, or carrots and tomatoes.    This is always a great time to see the baby, Monroe (now 8-1/2 months old).    He was watching Mom eat the bark off the branch, then he started to do the same.   Kokomo continues to be a good Mom.  Here are  my favorite photos from the morning.

Flowers!

Any which way but up!  

There is an assignment on Carol Leigh's Creative Edge Alumni group to submit "white" photos.  I couldn't pass up these white ranunculus at the market and today began photographing them.   I love the way the stems curve -- these disorderly flowers have such delicate petals, but unruly stems.

Here's my favorite two from the day.  I'm not submitting these because the photos aren't all white, but will get around to some macro work tomorrow.  Meanwhile, hope you enjoy these photos.

Company last week

Little Italy area, no yellow submarines, just this yellow car
in front of a very yellow building.  

A friend from Portland was here last week for a visit -- Linda is also a photographer and has also taken many classes from Carol Leigh.

We planned outings each day to different parts of town.  I decided to set up a challenge and  used only my iPhone as my camera.  I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of shots I was able to get.   These are just a few.  Some are straight shots, however, the yellow car was taken with the  Hipstamatic app.  Enjoy!

I love shooting reflections in buildings.  

Self portrait  ;-)

That's Linda on the left.  We met another photographer from Carol Leigh's classes who lives in SD -- that's Fay on the right.  We had a great time in Balboa Park on Wednesday, with a wonderful lunch at the Prado restaurant.