Hiking in Lucerne Valley, CA

Maybe I've never mentioned in this blog that I'm a photographer. Taking your own photos is practically a necessity when you are an artist. Sometimes the photo itself is the art, but other times the photos are for brochures or to document works in progress or to use for webpages or flyers.  And if you make collages, copyright is a huge issue.  Using your own photos solves that problem. I use photos like this on my Zazzle products. On Zazzle you can turn your art into postage stamps, buttons, postcards, tote bags and many other items.

But sometimes photography is it's own reward. So today I went on a photo hike. Here are some of the photos I took.

Abandoned House

Alien Landscape. Playing around with Picasa editing software.

A rock stack I assembled. Now if only I could make one in my yard.

I love how the 'x' in the sky and the beam of light enhance this photo of twin Joshua trees.

Using the Polaroid feature on Picasa to enhance my cloud photo.

A rock stack I found.

Tiny desert plant.

Rain in the Desert

You know when you say "I'm gonna make me one of those." And then you keep saying that year after year? Well, I got really tired of the desert bugs landing in my drinking cup. So today I grabbed a crochet hook and made me a cup cover to keep the creatures out. It's dark green yarn and I put some reddish purple garnets all around it to weigh it down and keep in over the cup. Now if my cat doesn't steal it for a cat toy it will be great.

Today we had a surprise thunderstorm. Glad to have a respite from the heat, I spent most of the day outdoors. I fed the neighbor's chickens a big juicy worm I found on her tomatoes. I watched the quail and doves eat the food I put on my porch. I even had dinner out in the yard after dark and enjoyed the almost full moon and the amazing clouds. This is the first time it has rained in ages and I didn't want to miss one second of it.

Delicate yellow flowers I just discovered in my yard.

Gray feather.

Rain coming down in the city nearby.

Summer thunderstorm.

Half rain, half sunshine

Mojave Photos

I devoted today to photography. I hiked through the desert taking photos of cacti, mountain ranges, and found objects. I posted them here: Hypnokitty I'll put a few in my blog in case you don't feel like hopping around. I'd love to get a better camera. This one hasn't been the same since I smacked it on a rock a few months ago. I feel stifled as a photographer.
I think my father had a lighter like this when I was a kid. Does anyone recognize it?

Recognize this lighter?

Pencil Cactus

Beetle

Dinosaur