Gladioli in July

This month my back garden has been a profusion of color.
At one time, over 40 gladioli were in bloom.

I have been planting bulbs for the past few years (at 2 week intervals so they won't all bloom at once), and conditions must have been just right this summer because they are all blooming. For the past few mornings, I have been in the backyard by 7am to photograph while the sky is overcast and the air is still.

Please enjoy a scroll down through my garden.

I cut the stems so I could position them for the best compositions. I didn't want to lose them so as I finished photographing a flower, I put it in a jar of water. One morning as I started to pack up, I turned to see a wonderful bouquet of colors.

Wow!
Can you see why flowers are my favorite subjects?

Catching Up

My goal is to post photos every week, but I fell behind. The next three posts are my attempt to catch up. Even though they are all dated today, in real time (reverse order) , they stretch back to the Fourth of July .

World Wide Photo Walk

On July 18th, all over the world, groups of photographers walked the streets of selected cities, shooting what ever caught their eyes. This was all part of Scott Kelby's 2nd annual Worldwide Photo Walk. Morgan Hill was one of the selected cities and 18 people met at BookSmart at 9am to walk and photograph the downtown area. We all started by browsing through the Farmers' Market, and then individuals and small groups split off to explore on their own.

Below is a window reflection of a new car dealership right in downtown. The cars are very small, all-electric models. I thought the car and the reflection of the bike looked like part of the same story.

Mickey and Pluto just looked so happy,
waving to passers-by, that they deserved a place in my blog.

This is one of my favorites from the day,
a sidewalk table outside a deli.

Morgan Hill is the self-proclaimed Mushroom Capital of the world and painted mushrooms are scattered throughout the downtown area.

This is my favorite.

Stanford Shoot-out

The photography club has periodic "shoot-outs". Some are well planned and some are more spontaneous. When I heard that a couple of members were driving up to Stanford University ,I decided to go along. Four of us spent 4 afternoon hours walking around the campus, looking for photographic possibilities. There were many.

Our first encounter (with possibilities) was the Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden. Kwoma and Iatmul artists came to Stanford in 1994 and created 40 carved and painted wood and stone sculptures. The sculptures stand among a small forest that cast many shadows, so the range of light was often too great to get a good exposure throughout the composition. I tried to solve this by not including the sky in the photo. Many of the sculptures were quite tall, so I moved in close and looked for smaller details.

In other places around the campus, the contrast of
shadow and light created beautiful opportunities.

And the beautiful blue sky was the
perfect backdrop for the Hoover Tower.

Only Paris has more sculptures by Auguste Rodin.
This one is part of the "Burghers of Calais,"
one of Rodin's most famous sculptures.

A playful person (not I) added a few flowers to the bronzes.

Boo-Qwilla Totem Pole

After four hours of walking and shooting, we headed back to the car. There is so much more to see and photograph, we all agreed that Stanford is well worth another visit.

Fourth of July

The Fourth of July in Morgan Hill is an all-community affair. Festivities include a golf tournament, a street dance, a children's patriotic sing, a 5K race/walk, a parade, an all day picnic, and a finale of fireworks. This is the first year I have watched the parade from downtown. I chose this photo because it captured the energy along the main downtown street.

I missed the first two flyovers because I just wasn't quick enough with my camera. On the third pass, I saw the planes coming, looked up, and thought, "Damn! I'm standing under a tree." Fortunately, the planes flew right over the opening and I grabbed this shot. Sometimes you're in the right place at the right time.

Part of the charm of the parade is its essence of small town. Lots of kids and dogs, and the floats are decorated, flatbed trucks. I chose these next two photographs because as I took both, I thought, "Only in Morgan Hill."

Last year the fireworks were canceled due to high winds blowing over the crowd. I almost didn't go this year, but I wanted to try out a technique to get multiple exposures that I had read about last year. I put the shutter speed on 'bulb' and just before the burst, (using a cable release) held the shutter open. After about two seconds, I covered the lens with a piece of black foam and held it there (with the shutter still open) until the next burst, removed it for 2 seconds, and then covered it again. Lots of trial and error, but the technique worked and the photos with multiple bursts were way more interesting than the single ones.

The grand finale was a spectacular cascade of gold. Quite literally, the sky was filled with glittering gold sparks. My only regret was that it was all over so quickly.