Oh my gosh….these scorpions are huge! This Giant Desert Hairy was over 3 inches long and not too happy that I flooded his home while watering my boulders (don’t ask :-). As big as they are, though, their sting is about the same as that of a honey bee. It’s the tiny Bark Scorpions that you need to stay clear of. So I ran to get my camera and was able to get two shots before he retreated into another burrow. I just read that they can grow to be 6 inches and are known to eat lizards and snakes. Holy cow! Talk about a photo op!
All posts by Marianne Skov Jensen
Echinocereus sp.
I planted this hybrid Hedgehog about a year ago and this is the first time it’s bloomed. A real feat considering the Javelinas that come through every evening! The bloom is much smaller than our native Hedgehogs and it’s a beautiful shade of pink. I have high hopes for the other 8 buds. Stay tuned 🙂
yard art
Still playing with my Lensbaby, here’s a shot of one of my yard’s dragonflies. I spotted these in Madrid, NM last fall and I’m a sucker for yard art made from recycled items. Every yard deserves something tacky 🙂
This was also shot is harsh light conditions. To make the dragonfly stand out, I converted the image to black and white and kept a little color. If you’re thinking of acquiring a Lensbaby (Jim), I highly recommend that you try the various models before you buy…specifically the G3 and the newest model, the Composer. I own them both but I much prefer the way the G3 works. Of course, that could be because I love the original. The Composer is great too, though, so if your budget can handle it, get them both! Canvas your friends for LB owners and try before you buy!
lensbaby ….how do I love thee
This Hedgehog bloom was captured with a Lensbaby at 1:30pm under very bright sunlight. With any other lens, the harsh light would have been very unpleasant to look at but the Lensbaby has a way of taming the brightest of light. I’ve heard the term “bending” the light. However it does it, this ability makes the Lensbaby a great asset when you’re stuck shooting in the middle of the day. (tech FYI: Canon 5D MKII, ISO 200, Lensbaby G3 with 5.6 aperture disk and underexposed by one half stop).
petroglyphs
I’ve visited these petroglyphs several times but getting a good photo was tough because they were always in half sun/shade. This time I took several photos exposing for the different light values and then used Photomatix to come up with a photo I’m happy with.
photo text
Click the photo below for a tutorial today in response to a question about clipping masks from my friend Chick. I rewrote the original making it even easier so I thought I’d share with everyone. The tutorial will also work in Photoshop Elements although Layer Styles are in a different location. If you have trouble, let me know. Enjoy 🙂
bud nippers
I’ve been watching my Hedgehog Cactus developing big fat flower buds and looking forward to multiple blooms. Javelina nipped that in the bud. Ha! pun 🙂 They came through and chomped off almost every bud! Oh well…..that’s the price of wanting to enjoy wildlife.
So far they haven’t touched my two Claret Cups. Maybe they only like local native food 🙂
wordle
Need a break? Check out Wordle! Just enter a bunch of text or enter a blog address and it will generate a word cloud. I entered my blog address and it used all the words from this week making this cloud a perfect ending to my road trip photos. Click on the image below to go to the Wordle website. Love it 🙂
road trip…..day five
On our last day, I wanted at least another hour at the Mission but it didn’t open until 9am so we visited Santa Cruz Chili and Spice Company first which was within sight of the Mission and opened at 8am. I had heard about this place but had no idea it was an actual processing plant. I’ve purchased their products so it was really fun to see where they were made. Click on the following photo for my movie. (approx 8MB)
Back to Tumacacori Mission at 9am. I took a few color images but mostly shot with my infrared camera and a Lensbaby. Can’t wait to go back when I have more time!
We were lucky to be at the Mission on a day when one of their cultural demonstrations was going on so before we left, we took time to enjoy some delicious tortillas, beans and cheese.
road trip…..day four
We spent two nights and two relaxing mornings at the B&B in Tucson.
Our first photo op today was Barrio Historico. If you enjoy shooting doors, windows and walls, you’ll love the Barrio. I’m only posting a couple of photos but also check out this great gallery I found. Tucson Barrio.
After a leisurely lunch at Tucson’s historic El Charro Cafe, we head south to Tubac to our next Bed and Breakfast; The Tubac Country Inn. Great location, great price.
Unfortunately, we got there too late to check out the town and shops so we hurried down to Tumacacori Mission. As it turned out, we only had 30 minutes to shoot before it closed. This mission is by far my favorite so I was disappointed to have so little time with it.
The Mission closed at 5pm but we stayed to shoot outside a little longer and made plans to stop by again before leaving for home in the morning.
Just before we left, I spotted this tiny red bird which I later found out was a male Vermilion Flycatcher.
