Early Morning Photoshoot

One of the biggest surprises for me about blogging is discovering my passion for photography. Last weekend, early in the morning, I wandered around with my Canon Rebel shooting photos of our Asti home, trying to capture the early morning peacefulness of the sprinklers watering the olive trees.

Or trying to capture the weathered look of the old chicken coop/tool shed.

And the oak trees on the neighboring property with their hanging moss and lichen covered branches.

Looking down the driveway with Italian Cypress trees, I tried to show the symmetry of the trees lining the driveway and the Alexander Valley in the distance.

About five trees down on the right, two huge rattlesnakes are intertwined together in the rock wall. Apparently, the latest heat wave brought them out! So much for walking around with the camera!

I have a lot to learn about photography. Mr. A bought me a tripod and a book on digital photography for dummies. I guess I'm going to have to take my new hobby seriously now!

Actually, I started a photo journal and my goal is to post a photo a day for 365 days. Hopefully, the journal will document my learning curve. Come on by and check it out at Mise-en-Scène.

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Night Vision

Driving up the driveway to our house in the wine country, I got out of the car to take these pictures. The sky was breathtaking!

As I got closer to the top, the old oak tree came into view.

The sky was so surreal. By the time I walked up the driveway, the pink clouds were gone! These photos were taken at 6:00 pm, and the moon was already in the sky creating wonderful photo opportunities. I was in photo heaven!

Since I was in a photographing mood when we got to the house, I walked around taking photos looking through the windows like a Peeping Tom!

I'm having so much fun with photography these days, even though I have no idea what the heck I'm doing! I was just experimenting with light and exposure here and surprised that these pictures actually turned out.

Peeking in to the kitchen.

What a beautiful full moon!

This was taken at 9:00 pm. The moon in the sky, looking southeast.

Here is an example of how bright the sky was. This was also taken at 9:00 pm! I rested the camera on a chair and pressed the button. I counted 13 seconds before the shutter closed!

Mr. A and I couldn't believe how this turned out. It looks like daylight, but you can see the stars in the sky!

It's amazing that so much color came through.

This was taken around midnight, looking east toward the vineyard. The moon was very high in the sky, casting shadows on the ground.

Looking down the grape arbor. Notice the shadows to the right, cast by the moon.

Another photo taken at midnight looking west toward the living room. Can you see the Big Dipper?

The pool at midnight, looking south.

One of our oak trees, looking north, taken around midnight. The lights of Cloverdale are below.

The same tree with a flash!

Eventually, it got too cold so we went back inside to download our pictures and see what turned out and what didn't. About a third of them turned out. Here is the living room all cozy and warm.

All of these pictures were taken with my Canon Rebel XTi, with a Tamron 18-270 mm lens. The ISO was at 1600, letting in as much light as possible. We didn't have a tripod, so instead I rested the camera on a ladder rung or a ledge. The shutter stayed open for 10 to 15 seconds for the outside shots.

I told Mr. A that I almost don't want to know everything there is to know about my camera and photography. It's so much fun experimenting and learning. Thanks for indulging me on this little experiment with light and exposure. I guess I had a bad case of "night vision!"

I'm linking up to Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday. Be sure to visit her blog and see all the other participants and their outdoor photography.

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