Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Lithia Park

(The best impact is full screen against black!) :) It was a good thing I went crazy with my camera yesterday--I took hundreds of frost pictures! I looked out today and though I could tell that it was frosty and cold, it was merely a dusting. Of course that's still beautiful to see but it's not the same as the spiky formations that showed up yesterday. (I'll be posting a picture for HFF, if not sooner! :D) Once I got outside and began my walk, I soon discovered my special present for the day. Tromping along I became aware that my feet were having a conversation with the ground! "CRUNCH - CRUNCHO - CRUNCH?" "CRUNCH! CRUNCHITY - CRUNCH-CRUNCH!" I stopped. So did the conversation. OH MY! I took a step. "CRUNCH!" Eyes wide and grinning, I tried for two. "CRUNCHITY-CRUNCH!" My inner child giggled with joy, "THE GROUND IS TALKING!!" The temperature has been low enough for long enough now that the ground has finally frozen. Have you ever walked on frozen soil or gravel? Did you notice how different it feels and sounds than when it is dry or wet? "CRUNCH - CRUNCH - CRUNCH!" My feet carried on a very animated conversation as we walked along, the ground replying with wise quips of its own. "CRUNCHY - CRUNCHO-CRUNCH!" I passed the time happily listening in and enjoying the crisp, foggy morning. No way would I miss any of the riveting conversation so I left my phone and ear buds sitting unused next to my pile of lap-counting rocks. Little birds in the trees looked down at us and twittered in with their own remarks; far off I heard a pair of Canada Geese honk a retort of their own. To end my walk Steve met me on my last lap for a long, warm hug and "Good morning my love!" It was a wonderful day. Every day I make my rounds to visit, appreciate and comment on newly posted pictures from contacts, I am filled with emotion and I just love that. It's so nice to be able to express these feelings to each person, and what a nice way to say thank you for sharing these image with me! When I returned to ipernity a few weeks back, I was shocked to realize that I had forgotten what this experience was like--that's how far I had sunk into my hole. It's so nice to be back. One of the feelings I love most is inspiration. The other day I visited Christiane and found myself staring at a magical picture of Gingko leaves in shades of autumn gold. "Ohhhh, soooo pretty!!" As I stared dreamily at the leaves, I imagined how they would look as they turned and caught the light, rustling softly in the breeze. A thought suddenly occurred to me. "Why, I took some pictures of Gingko leaves once, didn't i?" Thinking back I remembered. A couple of years ago Steve and I went to a very pretty park about 30 miles/48km away for some fall photography. I wondered if I did anything with the pictures. I immediately dove into my bottomless Photo Drive and located the folder. My jaw hung open. Wow...hundreds and hundreds of pictures and I'd only processed one image. What a bummer! I began scanning through the pictures and ... THERE THEY WERE! GINGKO LEAVES! YAY!!! I could barely contain my excitement at the glowing thumbnails. However, as took a closer look, I discovered to my dismay that one after the next had problems. If it wasn't blurry, the area of focus was wrong, or the dof was too shallow or deep, or the image was too busy, etc. One by one I deleted pictures. As the pile of several dozen soon shrunk to a handful, I worried, "Please let there be just one that came out, oh please, please, please!" And then I landed on this one. This cropped composition was found hiding in an overall busy image, but I was able to find what I saw that day! HOORAY! (99% of my pictures are cropped, as I like to have space available to rotate and choose a composition that isn't set in stone by my original capture) Pam, this picture fills me with joyful imagination. I think of you standing underneath with your shining, smiling face beaming upwards as a stream of beautiful leaves dances down around you. Behold, my Autumn Queen of the Gingko Leaves! *hugs* Explored on 12/5/18, highest placement, #5.

I learned a bit about myself when I moved from my older Canon SX30 camera to my current Canon 5D Mk II. For a very long time I wanted to distance myself from the old and embrace the new. So, whenever I saw an older picture from my previous camera, I immediately hated it. I could only remember the frustration that built upon itself as I outgrew the capabilities of that camera. I didn't think about all that I learned. The fun I had with it. The joy it brought to me and the gift of being able to take any sort of picture I wanted to take because the lens would go from macro to telephoto. It was--and still is--a wonderful camera! It may not be able to produce the quality of picture I wanted so badly, but for a great many situations, the pictures are very nice! This picture is a great example! When compared to my husband's 5D Mk 1 pictures, I was sick and tired of the richness of his pictures, super details and the incredible background blurring which I so adored. All I could see were the flaws of my images. Now I can look at these older pictures with joy and pride. They are still really pretty and I'm happy to let people see them! :)

This was one of the last pictures I took in Oregon with my old Canon SX30 superzoom camera. Steve and I went down to Ashland for autumn photography and spent a few hours taking pictures and enjoying lovely Lithia Park. I would soon have my current camera, a Canon 5D Mk II, but while the SX30 was my main camera, it gave me the chance to learn so much! Here is a study of light glowing through a maple leaf.

Steve and I found these darling ducks at Lithia Park in Ashland, Oregon. We both thought they were so cute and found it interesting that they could doze so comfortably standing up. This picture was taken with my Canon SX-30 P&S in the fall of 2012.

A few years ago, Steve and I went to Ashland's Lithia Park in the fall to take pictures of the leaves turning colors. We had a wonderful time wandering around and enjoying ourselves. At one point I noticed this beautiful mosaic and loved how the shadows played over the surface. This picture was taken with my trusty old Canon SX30! :)

South of us is the lovely town of Ashland, which is where Lithia Park is. It's a wonderful place to visit, and every Fall is a great time to visit because of the rainbow of colors

Steve and I went to Ashland for fall photography back in 2011, and while we were walking around, we found these piles of rocks. At the time we didn't know what they were called, but we loved taking pictures of them! I found some very nice information about stacking stones on this page, Garden and Bliss: "Rock stacking has carried spiritual meaning across cultures for centuries. The act of balancing stones carries with it a practice of patience and a physical effort of creating balance. I love the idea of tangible prayer and finding new ways to express gratitude in my life. Each rock can signify an intention of grace for thankfulness, or offered up for another in need. Connecting nature in this externalized expression is uplifting and very powerful tool for expanding the spirit. A little silicone glue can help make smaller stone towers last through the seasons if used as a garden decoration or given as a gift."

A couple of years ago, Steve and I went to Lithia Park in the Fall to take pictures. They have many kinds of beautiful trees to photograph, including this lovely one, which I think is a Japanese Maple. Such rich red leaves!

Back in October, the day before Halloween (10/31), Steve and I went to a beautiful park in Ashland, Oregon, called Lithia Park. We wanted to take pictures of fall colors, and while we were there, we found a pond full of happy Mallard ducks! If you have read my new profile, one of the two images that Steve took which pushed me over the edge to move up to a full-frame sensor, was that of a female mallard duck flapping her wings. This was *MY* best picture of that flapping mallard. I think it's a nice picture...but...the difference in quality between mine and Steve's (shown in the first comment below) filled me with great frustration. *I* wanted to take shots like HIS, not like MINE! (By the way, if you haven't read my profile, you can see it here: www.flickr.com/people/sfhipchick/ ) This image was taken on October 30, 2011.