Before our local alpaca farm in Templeton moved to a new home, I used to stop by on my way to and from the post office to photograph or just watch the alpacas. Even if the alpacas were lingering by the back fence, when they saw me they would head towards me.
They wanted to make sure I paid attention to them. And I did. They were friendly and I enjoyed the little bit of interaction I was able to have with them from my side of the fence. What fun it would have been to actually play with them. This set of alpaca plush stuffed doll toys is the next best thing.
I couldn't resist using some of their photos to make Zazzle products. I just sold one of them, a bumper sticker, to a customer who evidently championed alpacas.
This alpaca bumper sticker stands out in this month's sales so far amidst a lot of Ronald Reagan Presidential library products I sold. Although this customer chose postcards, most of these designs also come in a poster, magnet, or jigsaw puzzle. And you can also easily put the designs on any product you choose. To purchase or see online, please click links under photos.
City Daily Photo Bloggers are answering the challenge this month to show what the color blue represents to them. The first thing that comes to mind for me is the sky. It's always above me, I see it every day, and it's been every shade of blue I can imagine. For any regular reader of this blog, it's no secret I'm a sky watcher. The sky is what I photograph most often.
In the photo above we see a light blue transitioning into a darker blue. It provides a contrasting background to show off the dying cottonwood tree at Larry Moore Park in Paso Robles.
I often photograph the sky in from my own yard -- especially as sundown approaches. I took this shot from the rose garden in my backyard. I'm guessing I took it in late afternoon. I liked the way the clouds were making a horseshoe around that patch of sky.
The photo below was taken before a rainstorm. I also took this one in my backyard. It was taken after our late afternoon meal on a November day. The blues are lighter with tinges of gray in places. I consider clouds part of the sky.
The sky was very blue when we found this family flying a stunt kite at Moonstone Beach. I'd never seen a dual-string kite before and loved watching this.
Down by the Station and Welcome Sunshine: This shows how the sky changed from late morning until sundown in several spaced shots on the day after a rainstorm. Lots of deep blue in these shots.
It seems just yesterday my Lamb's Ears were only inches high. Then the flower spikes began to grow. Now the small flowers are in full bloom and the bees love them. You can see one foraging bee in the bottom left in the photo below. You may also spot a couple of blurry ones. Bees don't stay still very long. And if one is still, several others are in the air or about to be.
If you've ever tried to photograph bees, you know they like to move to a different flower as soon as you get them in focus. When my herbs are in bloom, each seems like an airport. I decided to make a brief video to capture a few seconds of the bees moving around on this clump of Lamb's Ears . You can see how fast they are and how quickly they move from flower to flower. Unfortunately they also insisted on flying into the shadow and out.
Playing with a Bee Photo
I did manage to get one bee to stay still and visible for long enough to get a decent shot. I played around with a focus effect to blur the background and make the bee easy to see. Bees not only move all the time, but they also hide. Sometimes all you will see is the head or the stinger end.
Another reason I used the focus effect was to blur the rhubarb chard plant that was bolting. I liked its colors, but it was looking the worse for wear and it would have been a distraction. Leaving all the details in the chard would also have made the text on this photo harder to see.
Some insects are fairly easy to photograph, but not the bee. Ladybugs are pretty cooperative. So is the praying mantis. They don't exactly pose, but neither do they keep moving most of the time. Here are some of the photos I got of them and put on Zazzle products.
You will notice that they are all on herbs. The Praying Mantis is on mullein. The ladybug is on borage. And I did capture that one bee on the Spanish lavender for my jigsaw puzzle.
If any creature understands what to do when tired, it is the cat. This month's City Daily Photo Bloggers theme is tired. So today I will show you some of my favorite photos of tired cats. The one below was taken at Jack Creek Farms in Templeton. This one is so fast asleep you'd hardly know it was alive.
One can usually find cats when visiting wineries, but they are often outside. These two, from Grey Wolf Winery in Paso Robles, are obviously tired and giving in to that urge to sleep by the fire. The fireplace is out of sight, but they are facing it.
The cats at Jack Creek Farms in Templeton must work hard because I often find them asleep when I visit. This photo was taken in autumn when all the pumpkins and squashes were on display a few years ago.
The cat below is Garfield, who belonged to my neighbor across the driveway. He decided there should be no property boundaries and felt free to take naps in my yard and on our cars whenever the mood hit him. He's a bit grumpy since I disturbed his nap here.
Here's another view of Garfield sleeping on our car. In this photo all his feet are on the car, but he's not as fat here as this angle makes him look. He just pretends to be a tiger.
We are made in the image of God. That doesn't mean we look like him. It means we share his characteristics and desires. One of those desires is to create. Thus artists express their creativity using paint, charcoal, pencils, clay, marble, and even scrap materials and turn them into something new that they conceive in their minds.
So far as I know, though, none of them have been able to create anything like this sunset I captured from the Walmart parking lot last night. They can only use their art materials imitate or respond to what they see . So let's take a break in our series featuring the artists at Art after Dark and see the work of the Master Artist -- or at least my limited images of it.
Sky Views and Trees I've Seen This Week
After I left Studios on the Park Saturday night, I took a walk in the park to get more photos. Here are some shots I got of the sky and the trees.
Of course, the trees are also God's creation. Joyce Kilmer got that point across eloquently in his poem "Trees," which has been put to music. I like this beautifully illustrated version sung by Paul Robeson.
The shot below focuses more on the oak tree than the sky. Although all trees are magnificent in their own way, it's hard to match strength and dignity of the oak.
My Posters and Canvas Prints at Zazzle Featuring Sunsets and Trees
Some of My Favorite Photos that Feature Trees at Sunset
This photo was taken at Larry Moore Park in Paso Robles one evening in mid-January, 2015. That center tree really does look as though it's lifting its arms to pray, even though the branches are leafless.
The oak below is one of my very favorites, since it lives across the street from me in Paso Robles and often helps frame a sunset.
Here's the other half of that oak tree with the palms across the cross street. It was taken in the middle of June, 2013.
The photos above are just samples of the hundreds I've taken of the sky and trees. Every time I see the scene above it's different. The Creator never makes two sunsets alike. He never makes two people alike, either. He made us all to praise his name -- trees, sky, and people.
