What it looks like around my house..

[puppychow]

I discovered a new therapeutic activity (and everyone knows I need some therapy). After a short but stressful week, this was surprisingly refreshing on a cold wet evening. It was for me a beautiful start to the weekend.



Sharing these pictures for the forum members in the frozen tundra's who are dying for the sight of a leaf, a flower, anything with a little color.

 

All these shots were around the house, in my backyard or in my neighbors front yard, so I didn't have to venture far for some "natural" therapy.



If you lived in California - this could have been your yard...

 

These grow beside my house..

 

 

 

It poured today, creating a puddle in my backyard on the concrete slab where the hot tub used to be...caught a reflection of the tree in my backyard..

 

 

 

These grow in my backyard as well...

 

 

 

and so do these...

 

 

 

and these...

 

 

 

This is not a reflection - shot against the evening sky..

 

 

 

The vanilla sky wearing a tattered shroud of clouds.. shot from my backyard.

 

 

 

These actually grow in my neighbors front yard..one of these days I will ask to shoot some pictures of her beautiful backyard (in Spring)..

 

 

 

The bird house in my front yard..

 

 

 

Thanks for looking! :^)





PS - As for the apology...I didn't really mean it!

 

[James Burleigh]

Very nice. Good to see your artistic side coming out....

 

[Tyler]

Great shots, Sam!! I think we all sometimes forget to find the wonders right in front of us each day... I think you did a stellar job doing just that... one of my favorite things to look at is the symmetry of tree branches against the sky... for some reason it just fascinates me... you took it one step further with this reflection shot... the official "Tyler's Favorite Pic of the Day"! :clapping:

It poured today, creating a puddle in my backyard on the concrete slab where the hot tub used to be...caught a reflection of the tree in my backyard..

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Pretty pictures.

There's a prison in your backyard too, isn't there? Had to put that in so the frozen canuckians don't get too jealous.

 

[Tree Doc]

Iberis sempervirens

Platanus x acerifolia

Raphiolepis indica

Nandina domestica

Some kinda flower...Compositae Family :lol2:

Washingtonia filifera

Viola x hyb.

The bird house in my front yard..

 

Tweetimus condominii :huh:

I see them a little differently but can still enjoy the Photos! Good job! :lol2:

 

[patch308]

Not trying to hijack your thread or anything, and I know these are, in reality, in ALL of our yards...but this is what they look like from MY yard. Thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Tweetimus condominii :huh:

Funniest caption in days! :lol:

 

[dcarver]

It's Friday right?

... oh crap never mind..

but I am reporting you to RenoJohn...

 

[Bugnatr]

Really great stuff Sam! But alas this is my yard today.

Hey Doc, notice the Cedaris Tipoverous?

All this fell last night.

 

[Tyler]

but I am reporting you to RenoJohn...

Where the hell is he when we need him most?

 

[Crash Cash]

Not trying to hijack your thread or anything, and I know these are, in reality, in ALL of our yards...but this is what they look like from MY yard. Thought I'd throw it out there.

Not in MINE... I live too damn close to Orlando. OK, I have to ask how the hell you took that? I have enough of a time taking a decent picture of just the Moon.

 

[yamafitter]

Not trying to hijack your thread or anything, and I know these are, in reality, in ALL of our yards...but this is what they look like from MY yard. Thought I'd throw it out there.

Not in MINE... I live too damn close to Orlando. OK, I have to ask how the hell you took that? I have enough of a time taking a decent picture of just the Moon.

If I had a guess you start with a location with minimal light pollution on a cloudless night. You then wait for the moon to set and then use a camera that has a manual exposure setting set up on a tripod. Set the aperture wide open with an exposure of minutes (2-5). Results will be best on cool nights to minimize atmospheric distortion. A remote shutter release works best since you want to eliminate camera shake. Locking the mirror up on a DSLR helps keeping the camera still. I'm still working on getting results as nice as patch308's.

The pros have a motorized tripod that compensates for the earth's rotation but acceptable results can be obtained with a good standard tripod. If digital, the camera also needs a good sensor.

I love my Nikon...

There may also be some Photoshop magic involved (level adjustments).

 

[beemerdons]

puppychow: Thanks for the photos, very nice! You and your neighbor have beautiful yards! Here in Arizona, it's xeriscape landscaping only for Chuy.

Tree Doc: Thanks for the ID's, I'm a Cal-Poly SLO Graduate of 1975: Ornamental Horticulture Minor and you confirmed my wildass guesses (History Major).

patch308: A really great shot of a starry night shot over Northern New Mexico. I do love the Angel Fire, Eagle Nest and Red River areas of NM Estado!

+1, Gunny ShinyPartsUp: Tweetimus condominii is the funniest caption in a long time here on our fine FJR Forum. Almost as good as Big-D looking at Old Michael's picture of dcarver sniffing the flowers on his knees and captioning: "Mister, shouldn't your dog be on a leash"! Ha, ha!

 

[Bustanut joker]

Tweetimus condominii.. and here we have the proud owner checking out his domain..

Hmm. Interesting vegetation in his backyard..

 

[Silver Penguin]

Great photos. Nothing grows in our yard, except the pile of dog crap. Anything that is planted will be de-planted and either ripped to shreds or eaten, within minutes.

 

[Old Michael]

Great photos. Nothing grows in our yard, except the pile of dog crap. Anything that is planted will be de-planted and either ripped to shreds or eaten, within minutes.

Jill, you MUST send Andy to obedience school.

 

[Silver Penguin]

Great photos. Nothing grows in our yard, except the pile of dog crap. Anything that is planted will be de-planted and either ripped to shreds or eaten, within minutes.

Jill, you MUST send Andy to obedience school.

There's an obedience school for men? Does it work? You ever sent any of your husbands there OM?

 

[puppychow]

Tyler/Hans/Papa Chuy - Thanks for the kind words. Just having fun with my new camera..

Patch/Yamafitter - No Hijack at all. The thread got hijacked sooner or later but sharing examples of good photography is not hijacking it. Just gives me more stuff to think about. Don't have a tripod yet, but will be ordering one soon. Maybe also a tele-converter lens, because I want to take a decent picture of the moon as well. This was just my attempt at close-up photography to see how it turns out.

Tim - Tweetimus Condominii has remained empty. Tough housing market and all...

Doug - All that in one night? It looks like Barb's backyard to me. When did you move to B.C.?

Don - If RenoJohn sees this. He might just stop hanging out with me in Reno. I would become a bad influence for Grace and all...

 

[Tyler]

I would become a bad influence for Grace and all...

I had lunch with RJ and Grace last weekend when I was up in Reno visiting my nephew... that little girl ran me ragged!! :lol: She is just the best! B)