Round Robin: Snow and Other White Stuff

For the Round Robin Challenge: The White Stuff, I asked to see photos of anything white. My inspiration was a trip up Mount Lemmon a couple of weeks ago, for the purpose of visiting snow. I'll show you the best of my photos from that day - unfortunately taking from a moving car using an iPhone - but let's start with a few other examples!

A year ago I photographed a different kind of white stuff: ice coating a tree outside St. Michael's.

Monsoon clouds, July 2013. Clouds are never really just white, are they?

I grew up outside Syracuse, NY, where there is lots of snow and ice - not necessarily at Christmas, but frequently from October to April. When I got married, I moved to Columbus, Ohio, which is a lot like Syracuse. When John came into a little bit of money in 1986, we drove around the country looking for someplace it wasn't winter. Tucson is where we ended up. It only snows in the city once every two or three years, and never stays on the ground more than a few hours, or overnight at most. And if it gets to be winter, and one finds oneself missing snow, it's just an hour's drive away - up Mount Lemmon!

Okay, it's not quite that easy. There's no snow on the mountain without a storm to drop it there, and when that happens they block access to the mountain (except to local residents) until the roads are clear again. A few weeks ago, the conditions were right. I had seen snow on the mountain from afar, and the road had been blocked. But time had passed, and the road was open again. So I drove Dad up to see it. And it turned out, I was far from the only person with this bright idea!  One stretch of Mount Lemmon Highway was lined with the cars of other people, who had all come to "visit" the snow!

We didn't check out the right hand fork at the very top of the mountain, site of the southernmost ski resort in the continental U.S. It didn't matter. Several miles below that, around the next bend from all the cars, was a winter wonderland of sorts. It wasn't exactly Vail, but it wasn't bad! People were flocking to the spot to play in the snow. What I especially like about this particular picture is the dusting of "white stuff" on the jackets of some of the snow bunnies!

Rounded patches of white stuff on the road testified to the throwing of numerous snowballs.

Some people had climbed the hillside, probably with the intention of sliding down again.

And I particularly enjoyed seeing this couple. "Look, honey! I made a snowball! Do you want me to throw it?"

Karen

Now let's see what "White Stuff" the other Robins saw!

Linking List
as of Monday, January 27th, 2014

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin

Freda - Posted!
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca


Ellen - Posted!
Ellen's Phlog
http://ellensphlog.blogspot.com/

mande **Welcome, new paticipant!** - Posted!
Simply Learning to Explore and Use My Camera
http://simplyturtlepictures.blogspot.com/

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Round Robin Challenge: Looking Ahead

For this week's Round Robin Challenge: Looking Forward , I asked to see photos looking forward, preferably metaphorically as well as visually. The topic reminds me of that old Johnny Nash song:

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright, bright Sun-shiny day.

Wouldn't that be nice!

But the problem is, we usually can't see the road ahead very well. It may be full of twists and turns, so that the view is intermittent at best...

 

..and the drive may be steep and hazardous.

Sometimes the signs are frankly confusing, and it looks as though no progress can be made at all.

The path may be narrow, and lead straight into the weeds.

It may lead somewhere dark and dreary...

...and, of course, into life, a little rain must fall.

 

Even if the musical cue is The Who, and I can see for miles and miles...

...it comes to a vanishing point. I still can't see the destination.

I have a choice to make, and I can't see the road ahead very well at all. That is, I can see the road I'm on, but it's kind of harsh and rock-strewn, and not much fun at all. Is there an intersection up ahead? Dare I turn off? Would the new road be any better?


Karen

Linking List
as of Saturday Jan 11th, 1:34 AM

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Round Robin: Lights, Camera, Inaction!

For the Round Robin Photo Challenge Lights! Camera, Action! I gave three choices on how to fulfill the topic. Considering that nobody else has signed up to do this Challenge so far, let's see whether I can cover all three ways myself!

1. "These are the classic words directors used to start filming a scene, with the lights lighting, the camera rolling and the actors acting! But it occurred to me the other day that the combination of lights, camera and action can be something else entirely. Think of the way the lights of moving cars can streak colors in a photo with a long exposure, or the excitement of lightning captured by a camera as it crosses the sky. Falling meteors, still lights photographed by a camera in motion - all of these combinations and more can lead to some interesting effects!"

This shot of the neighborhood Christmas house is from December 2012. I didn't use it last year, and nothing I've photographed this year illustrates what I meant so effectively.


2. Alternatively, you may prefer to make a little foray into the motion picture business yourself! Most digital camera and camera phones now have video capabilities, and you can put together simple short movies with all sorts of software and smartphone apps these days, such as Majisto, iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, and social media quickies such as Vine and Capture. Google+ will even make little almost-movies automatically from a series of related photos, although these can only be viewed on Google+ itself.

I'll add a little video later, but for now here is one of those Google motion things, if I can make it work!

 #AutoAwesomeMotion
The little train at Trail Dust Town!
 

3. Third option - I was only going for two options, but what the heck! - is to photograph (or find archived photos you already took) of people making movies or tv shows. If you filmed the filming, so much the better. If you filmed the filming of lights in action, then you're a triple threat!


Back in 1992 I was on the Universal lot as Scott Bakula and Max Wright (of ALF and Misfits of Science) shot a scene for Quantum Leap. This is my favorite shot from that day:

 

It's even an action shot!

Linking List

As of Saturday, December  28th at 3 PM

Karen - Posted!

Outpost Mavarin

http://outmavarin.blogspot.com

Carly - Posted!

Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Karen

Round Robin: Pretty Colorful Paper

For this week's Round Robin Challenge: Pretty Paper, I asked to see any kind of pretty paper, such as stationery, art prints, children's drawings, and so on. The original inspiration was holiday wrapping paper, and of course I have several examples of that:

 Gift bags at Target

Epiphany gift boxes for Mexican kids - 

Father Smith's Rotary Shoebox Project

Let me explain that second one. "Fr. Smith’s 15th Annual Pantano Rotary Shoebox Project is underway bringing joy to children in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. These children live in makeshift houses on hillsides around Nogales. Many of these households have no one employed. This is a THREE-NATION effort for 600-800 or more filled shoeboxes – infants through 12 years and 500 blankets. Warm mittens, caps, toys, etc can fill the wrapped shoe box with top lid NOT attached to the bottom (border inspection). Blankets may be new or used and if used must be dry cleaned (leave cleaning tag attached). Shoeboxes need to be returned to the Parish Office no later than Sunday, December 15. Blankets need to rolled like a bedroll and tied with twine or ribbon. More information in back of church." The boxes shown were in Father Smith's office as of a week ago.

Really, though, wrapping paper isn't usually too exciting. How about this, then?

Yes, it's old and ragged and torn, and even the frame is junky-looking. But there's a certain beauty in the very idea of it, this page of sheet music that could be more than a century old. Or not.

No? Then let's go with these:

These are drawings, paintings and prints by an artist friend of mine, Bob Bennett. They were available for sale at St. Michael's recent Advent International Bazaar. His art is cheerful, colorful, whimsical, wonky and highly creative. As paper goes, this is much prettier than the stuff you wrap presents in!

Karen

Check out all the Robins' entries this week!

Linking List
as of Saturday, December 14th, 2013
2:36 AM MST

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin

Freda
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Round Robin: Someone Else's Family

For the Round Robin Challenge: Family, I asked to see pictures of family, or pictures of something that represents the concept of family. I knew it was going to be a tough one for me to do; John does not allow me to take pictures of him, much less post them. The only family in reach is my dad, and I post lots of pictures of him already!

But I did have a few family-related encounters in the last month. First off, there was the All Souls Procession in Tucson on Sunday, November 3rd. Most of the people who take part in this annual local tradition do so on honor of dead family members. They often carry a photo of the deceased as they walk through the streets of downtown Tucson.

 

After the procession passed by me, a family set up to sell ice cream to passersby:

Here is a little film I made of that night. Note it doesn't play on mobile devices for some reason.

The other encounter with a family was last Saturday, November 23rd. It was a rainy, cold, blustery day. I took my dad for a drive, and stopped briefly at Agua Caliente Park, a place I've photographed before. I got Dad to walk around for about five minutes, at the end of which he was complaining his hands were cold. As we returned to the car, I spotted a woman in a bridal gown, and her family!

Agua Caliente Park is a beautiful place for a wedding, but not on a day like this! Note the bridal gown under a dark jacket.

 As we left, the bridal party was gamely carrying folding chairs from their cars to set up for the ceremony. "I bet you were hoping for better weather than this!" I called out to the father of the bride (or whoever).

"Sure was," he said ruefully.

Now let's see the other Robins' family photos!

Linking List
as of Saturday, 12/`/13, 1:18 AM

Freda - Posted!
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Karen

Round Robin: True Colors of Autumn - in Southern Arizona?

As I was saying this morning, for the Round Robin Challenge: All Natural Colors, I asked to see photos of natural materials, presented with colors as close to what our eyes see as possible. I was so exhausted after a very long day that I didn't post an entry last night at all, and this morning's entry was a rush job. But this afternoon I took my Dad for a 90-minute drive down to the Nature Conservancy's Ramsey Canyon Preserve. I freely admit that half the point of the trip was to photograph autumn leaves in their natural colors!

Ramsey Canyon is southeast of Tucson near Sierra Vista, Arizona. It's on private land owned by the Nature Conservancy, at the end of a narrow paved road. You have to go through the gift shop and pay a $6 fee to hike the trail...

...but there is no charge for sitting on a bench behind the gift shop, watching the bird feeders and drinking in the beauty and the cooler mountain air.

 

I hadn't been there in about a quarter of a century, despite it being one of the top 15 birding spots in the entire country. Today I wasn't really focused on seeing their 15+ species of hummingbirds, their Elegant Trogans, their Chihuahua Leopard frogs or black bears. I didn't even bring binoculars. That's okay, because this isn't the season for most of the birds that frequent the canyon. The only one I even saw was a single wild turkey outside the preserve itself.

 

The photography was a little tricky. The late afternoon sun shone through the trees, making the scene either too dark or too light. Almost everything here has been edited on my computer to brighten colors and reduce glare.

Still, I think these are pretty close to what I saw!

Autumn leaves are few and far between in Tucson. We don't have the climate or the native species for it. I'm pretty sure even the oak tree species in Arizona don't change color. But when I Googled Autumn leaves Southern Arizona, I found pretty much what I expected to see. Driving into the mountains takes me to a cooler, more colorful climate! We're past the prime fall leaf season by at least two weeks, but I think the drive was worth it - even if my dad was bored and asking to leave about a minute after we arrived.

Please scroll down for my other RR entry of the day, and then check out the other Robins' entries!

Linking List
as of Saturday, November 16th, 7:27 MST

Freda - Posted!
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Karen - two entries posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin


Karen

Round Robin: Truly Natural (or not)

For the Round Robin Challenge: All Natural Colors, I asked to see colors that are as true to life as we can get them, photographing something made of natural materials and left its natural color. I'm very late in posting this and due at my dad's in five minutes, but here's a quick stab and this. I'll add the text tonight!

 

Scarecrow on a  pole at St. Michael's.

 

 Wind chimes and olive trees.

Dusky leaves in a planter.

I must confess that I forgot exactly what I had asked for in this Challenge by the time I took these pictures. But I made up for it later today. Scroll up for my second entry of all-natural color - this time for reals!  Then check out the other Robins' entries:

Linking List
as of Saturday, November 16th, noon MST

Freda - Posted!
Day One
http://fredamans.blogspot.ca

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Karen - (will post more later today)
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/mavarin

Karen