Phil's Place: Beautiful Colors

Friday, November 29, 2013

Beautiful Colors

Beautiful Views

Looking Up

Returning from a trip to Trader Joe’s, waiting in traffic on Lake Blvd and N. Market Street for the light to turn green, I noticed that the sky was the color of dirty dishwater, though there was the promise that bright fall colors would accompany the approaching sunset.

Looking Down

I set up the tripod when I got back to the Treehouse and began focusing on the flowers and distant mountains. With my left eye pressed to the viewfinder and my right eye shut, I could hear something rustling in the leaves near my feet. It was a tiny bird, scratching for snacks. I turned the camera on him and took pictures and video. He didn’t seem to be skittish, and was still there after I left.

Lassen (from RAW image)

I took a few pictures of Mount Lassen, radiant in the last of the sunlight. My experiment included taking uncompressed, (RAW), images, and compressed, (.jpg) images, to see which ones held the best detail and density after editing and enhancement.

Lassen (from JPG image)

Both methods produced enjoyable, though different, results. If I were enlarging the images to 5 foot posters, then I would likely choose RAW. But not every time.

There is a quality in the pattern of JPG pixels, with Panasonic Lumix cameras, that gives a Dutch Master character to the images that appeals to me.

Colorful background

Kathern Sherwood and her mother, Jackie, cooked up Thanksgiving dinner for residents who stayed here, at the Treehouse, yesterday. It was very tasty, and appreciated by those of us who were lucky enough to attend. Kathern joined Peggy and myself to provide a musical interlude between dinner and dessert. It felt good to be part of this community.

Looking Ahead

The colors of fall provide a potpourri of photo composition opportunities. There are color, and shape combinations everywhere one looks. What fun!

Light and shadows

The main reason I went to Trader Joe’s today, was to get pie crust. The last time I was there, they were sold out of the Trader Joe, rolled and frozen pie crusts. Today, they had restocked.

I enjoy these daisy-like flowers

Yesterday, I wanted to make a pie, so I thought I would get pie crust at Raley’s. They only had the kind that were in an aluminum pie tin, but I thought I would at least give it a try.

It was not to my liking, and certainly not in the same category as the Trader Joe crust. I scraped out the apples and tossed that awful tasting, poor excuse for pie crust in the garbage.

So, today, I took advantage of living in this land of plenty and went to TJ’s, got the good stuff, and baked pie #5 with Granny Smith, Gala, and Pink Lady apples. (I didn’t consider that thing last night to be a pie, so it didn’t get a number).