Motorcycle Mama

I admit it. I'm a dirt bike novice. If you ever saw me ride, you'd have no doubt about that. At the same time, I'm always game to try new things and know that dirt bikes are made to be dropped...so drop mine I did...no less than five times in the two days in Idaho. Needless to say, I didn't carry my good (and heavy) camera with me, but instead used a small point-and-shoot that I rarely use. After looking at the images I made, I remembered why I don't use it very often...I get better results with my cell phone. But no matter, come with me on my ride up and over the mountain from the cabin. It was a fun little adventure - even with the bruises.

On the Road Again...

With the beautiful weather we've had recently, we have felt the pull to visit the cabin in Idaho. So we loaded up the truck with dirt bikes, dogs and a cooler with enough food for a couple of days. It didn't disappoint. 

I'm sure that the dogs would have preferred to freely explore the woods, but I worry too much that they will be eaten by a mountain lion, get stomped by an angry moose that doesn't wish to be barked at or ripped to shreds by a bear. Never mind that the minute they are allowed to wander, they are like magnets for every stickery plant that grows in the wild. Even though they spent much of the time confined to their pen or riding in the back of the car, they loved being with us in the mountains.

 

The colors were magnificent, even though they had not yet reached their peak.

Ahhh, and then there were those stars...

Torn

There is so much beauty all around me that sometimes I don't quite know what to do with it. Part of me wants to share it just as it is for those of you who don't see it every day. When I try to recreate it in two dimensions, though, it always seems to fall short and I feel like I'm not really doing it justice. You get images in which you can see that the hills are getting redder and redder with each new day...

...or that in this harvest season, the leaves ripen and change colors little by little just like a piece of fruit. 

The wild plants, just like the farmers' crops, bear fruit. 

The colors of fall are more than gold and orange, yellow and rust... 

...they include shades of blue...

There is work to do in the fall...work of the harvest... but I'm not entirely sure what these workers are doing...if you know, please educate me.  

Then there's the other side of me that loves the abstract, the broad stroke of a brush that leaves only an impression - the work of filling in the details is yours to do. This part of me says, 'look, there's light, there's form, there's color, there's movement. This is a marvelous creation before us. My heart swells at the magnificence of it all.' This part of me doesn't want to reproduce what my eyes see in exactness. This part of me merely wants to intrigue you enough to look for yourself and see what YOU can see.

If you recall, a few weeks ago I was playing with texturing my photos by layering multiple images on top of one another, but these are not textured. These are exactly as I shot them in the camera...no photoshop treatments, no nothing. I still like the textured effect on some photos, but this method is  much more satisfying to the purist in me. This is how I saw the images as the wind blew the daisies or I squinted my eyes against the sun.

Anyway, what do you think? Photorealistic with details sharp and clear? or abstract? What speaks to you? Do tell.

Hi Ho Hi Ho...

One might be given to think that I have nothing more to do with my days than photograph the dogs, the rabbit, red hued trees and other beauties of nature. And one might be wrong. Haha.

While it's true that I do try to find something of interest and beauty to shoot each day, there is also lots of work to be done on a regular basis around here. While I'm cooking, cleaning house (yes, it's true, I actually DO those things), and other such mundane things, the guys are outside winterizing the house and making the yard look great, etc.. It's great having good hard workers in the family. Love those guys...AND the work they're doing!  (Oh...and the rabbit, the red-hued trees and every other beautiful thing in my life!)