Neighborhood Safari

First, I’ll start by telling you that where I live is not very pretty. When people ask where I live I say, “Do you know where Boomtown is? I live close to there.” It’s not a good sign when your closest landmark is an ugly highway casino. My neighborhood of plain houses is right next to Highway 80. The landscape of Nevada is never spectacular, but it’s especially uninspiring in winter. And today there is a strange haze in the air. No flowers, no scenery, no wildlife. So what would you take pictures of here on an afternoon in February?

I walk around the neighborhood almost everyday, looking at anything that catches my eye. But today was the first time I brought my camera along. My sister’s friend, the fabulous photographer, Kathe Murphy says that you need to turn your “third eye” on. Which means to look at everything as though it were in a view-finder. Really pay attention to the way the light angles and the texture of things.

A few suggestions:

1. Be like George on Seinfeld: Do the opposite of what you usually do. If you usually walk in the morning, try the afternoon. If you always walk clockwise, try counterclockwise. The light is different.

2. Look up! There are so many things that you never see unless you look up: bird nests, woodpeckers, branches outlined against the sky. I took the picture of the water flume over the top of the roofs of some houses.

3. Turn the ASA down. I took most of these at ASA 50, because I like the darkness around the subject. It makes them stand out.

4. Get close, look deeply at the texture of things: pinecones, rocks, bushes all make interesting close-ups.

5. Tromp around a little bit. Normally I won’t go anywhere there is a possibility of snakes, but in the winter I feel pretty confident that I can explore a little further out of my normal range.

6. Look at what people put in their front yards. Someone has a rusty wielded cat with a lot of personality. There is a red metal billboard type thing with flower shapes cut out of it. I’m not sure what it’s all about, but it’s interesting. Someone else has a mine car (we are in Nevada, after all).

7. Take tons of shots. This is why digital was invented. Zoom in, zoom out, move the camera left, then right. Move yourself up or down. Something is bound to look good.

I don't know what kind of seed pods these are, but they are kind of different with the red against the blue sky.

I bet you don’t have one of these in your neighborhood.

I came across this yellow car, which isn’t usually here. They must be visiting one of the neighbors.

I’m a little disappointed that you can see the house and fence in the background, I was hoping to blur them out. But once again, the light was very cool.