Santa's Big Adventure

I often pass by this house when I go for a walk. The lady who lives there is creative and resourceful using the same bale of hay as a platform for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations.

Here is Santa Claus on his sled with a reindeer. In case you don't know, the little browns sacks on the ground are luminarias, or southwestern lanterns. Traditionally luminarias have candles set in bags of sand, but these use tiny electric lights which are less dangerous.

I noticed the reflection of the white reindeer in the window across the street during daylight...

and I found the reflection again at night.

Oops, my camera moved while shooting Santa and the reindeer!
(The following pictures are not of reflections)

I liked the squiggly picture in the camera screen, and tried shaking the camera some more.

Motion distorts images like reflections. Maybe that's why it appeals to me.

Okay back to earth now. Santa looks a little dizzy, but he's safe and sound.

This reminds me...One day last year, this very Santa Claus and his sled went missing! Turned out someone had played a prank and switched the decorations in the neighborhood. Santa eventually made it home from up the street unharmed. The practical joker brought neighbors together who had not met before. It wasn't me!

For all sorts of reflections posts visit Newtown Area Photo, hosted by James.

Sepia Saguaro Skeleton

Fun with sepia and layers in Photoshop:

full sepia

half-sepia lights

half-sepia darks

sepia close-up

half-sepia vertical-horizontal montage

sparrow on branch

sparrow-saguaro montage

For more posts with sepia-toned photos, visit Mary T/TheTeach at Sepia Scenes.

Sunset Impressions

Today for Skywatch Friday I'm sharing some experiments with camera movement while taking sunset pictures.

First, the sunset while standing still:

Next, jumping up and down while viewing the sunset through the tree,
boundaries start to blur.

Zoomed in, it's not obvious where one thing begins and another ends.


Then, moving the camera on purpose while shooting a saguaro cactus:

Here, the colors of sunset wrap around to embrace the cactus.

Cactus and sky appear to have merged.

A final shot holding steady behind a hedge
for a tranquil sunset impression:

Have a great weekend!
To see more skies from around the world, visit Skywatch Friday.