A few nights ago, the magic hour of color and light paid me a surprise visit.
Golden light and magical beauty in the skies above…the first evening in several weeks that we had actual clouds.
Clouds add interest and amazing detail…soft enchanting light and colors that deepen with views that you usually do not see.
I did not have time to put on my mucky yucky chore shoes…when the light is right, you hurry quickly as the light changes so fast and you do not want to miss out on one second of the golden hour.
I grabbed the closest shoes I could grab next to my camera…my Danskos…my one pair of nice black town shoes…and off I went carefully as the shoes have a slight boot heel and I am known to be a total klutz!
Fanny Annie was shocked that I did not have my boots on!
As I climbed through the fence and headed up the muddy hill behind the house wearing my nice Danskos…
I wondered if this means that I am truly becoming a real photographer?
I was caught off guard as the day had been sunny without clouds…I greedily took shot after glorious shot:)
Amazing views full of various hues and ever changing light with the clouds above.
I have missed the dramatic ways you can capture and photograph the landscape…for about a month we have had nothing but bright sunshine without clouds and a blue sky faded out to a blahsay color.
My Sony a77 Camera, shoots 12 frames per second. It is fast with no lag time, which I love! One of these days I will be up here filming WB going through the gears of his current Hot Rod! I am always thinking drama and creatively…I can see him coming through fog or smoke…going through the gears…not sure if I can pull that off but it would be a fun day of great shots and videos! Also, notice you can see my arena and round corral…maybe we could get some cows to work too:)
Hey WB, I’m up here…in the mucky mud with my Danskos on…I think I am obsessed with my camera and photography.
Artistic shadows on the landscape bring depth and intense colors that knock my socks off! I find that my eye constantly scans my horizon looking for something creative and unusual to capture.
I have lived on the land forever in isolated areas…
And I never grow tired of scenes like this…
Or of my horses…I love Annie’s cute ears outlined in black…she took a mud bath, see the dried mud on her neck:)
Skies of gold filled with beauty that we will miss if we are watching TV or on the computer…I love the colors of gold and blues in this shot.
God’s creative, ever changing scenery…beautiful!
Never boring at all!
A fun reflection in the puddle in front of the house.
A gift to capture the reflection of the clouds, the colors and the light in it.
This one is my favorite with the log fence and the almost surreal colors that give a muddy ranch puddle an unusual perspective of beauty!
Sometimes it is hard to find the words to describe what you see…incredible and beautiful:)
No matter where you live you will find beauty all around you in different ways. I have been in huge cities before and seen incredible beauty that I never see here…and I love the desert…most think it is just a flat boring place…uh-no.
“Seriously Mom, I can not believe you wore your Danskos in the mud and went up on the hill to take pictures…geez!”
“Well, I know Annie…and you rolled in the mud right after I had brushed you so pretty and nice:)” “And I love you Annie Fanny…you are so sweet and cute:)”
Annie Fanny and HRCG are wishing you a wonderful peaceful evening and a great week!
Hot Rod Cowgirl 
Nov 11, 2012 @ 03:51:57
You can fight the need to shoot in the golden hour of light but when you return you’re reminded why it’s so special. Non-photographers think I’m nuts for getting up before dawn to get to a river of mountaintop before sunrise. My best friend, Warren, joined me one frosty morning along a busy highway just to capture the golden light on a river house I had photographed dozens of times before. He didn’t see the humor of standing on the curb while narrowly getting missed by rush hour traffic. Ah, to be a photographer!
I love your photographs of open country while at the same time not forgetting the interesting detail shots like a pile of shoes. Keep up the good work. I know you love your Sony. 🙂 – Bob
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Nov 11, 2012 @ 16:13:25
Yes I totally agree…no matter how may shots of the sunrise or the sunset I have in all seasons I keep shooting:) And have done the same as you when I found something interesting to look at I wanted to see it in different light and colors as well and would shoot it at different angles and different seasons…I love photography…I am more of a visual learner….I have lots of books and programs but I just want to do it…when I bought my first real camera, I did not know anything but how to look through the lens and see an image in the colors and light that I wanted. Usually I am always reading directions on things such as when we got our first DVD player…WB was hooking it up and I was saying wait wait let me read the directions…with my camera as soon as I got it in my hand I was off and running….tripping lots of times and still stumbling along as I go…thank you to all for being patient with me:) I just want to be out and about and shoot and shoot.
Thank you for your comments and encouragement…means alot:) Wishing you a great week a head:)
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Nov 09, 2012 @ 14:14:18
Great pictures – (and you can’t hurt those shoes….well you may have to clean them, but glad you didn’t miss those skies)
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Nov 09, 2012 @ 18:42:17
🙂 Thank you always for your continued support and encouragement…I am sort of used to having to clean up my shoes too…I bet you guessed that:) It seems no matter where I go living in the country there is dirt or muck or something to step over or in…ugh or yuk:) I was so excited to finally have something incredible to shoot:) I love the elements of how much the light and weather color our views and images:) I love it!
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 10:27:45
You already are a great photographer – I loveee your photos! 😀
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 18:54:27
Thank you thank you…you are so sweet and I do appreciate your encouragement:) When I see a creative shot of something and I grab my camera it is like a thrill and extreme high of sorts:) I love finding the creative beautiful image and shot to share with others…and I love the process of it…I was so excited to see some clouds finally and something to shoot:) Lots of hugs from HRCG:)
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 10:11:31
Oh, just so much glory in these photos. Every time you post it’s like a mini-vacation for me, HRCG. I just love reading each caption you write, and I also love the little “conversations” you share with your horses and animals. I never tire of landscapes either, and I marvel at what forms in the sky. Here on the Central Coast we have some of the most beautiful cloud formations this suburbian/city-raised girl has ever seen, and I always have to stop what I’m doing and take it all in. I believe it’s God’s way of reminding us He’s always present. Lots of hugs! XOXO-Kasey
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 18:47:50
Thank you for your very heartfelt words:) I too believe that if we will look for God’s beauty it is all around us…and He is always with us…thick or thin…I would love to see the the Central CA. Coast…I traveled to Carmel once with my Mom as she had a childhood gf that lived there with her family. I was only 10 but I remember how beautiful it was:) Lots of hugs n prayers to you:) Have a truly God night and remember He always has the night shift:)
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 08:49:16
What a treat you’ve given us! Gorgeous pictures!
Blessings ~ Wendy
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 08:58:37
🙂 Thank you so much:) It was a treat for me to be out there and capture them too:) I love sunsets like those!!! Huggies and Blessing to you too:)
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 08:25:18
What a beautiful series. Photos are amazing. I’m sure it must take your breath away every day.
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 09:01:58
Thank you:) Yes I am scanning outside wherever I go…often taking my camera with me to town so if I see something unusual I can grab it to share with you all. I love taking them and want to learn more and how to capture them better etc. I think of you too when it comes to taking our breath away as I know many times when I have been to Bend as soon as we get close to Shaniko I begin to get excited with the glorious mountains and the high desert:) Wishing you a beautiful day:)
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 06:38:36
Oh I have always thought you were an amazing photographer…..you have perfect subject matter too with that gorgeous landscape that you’re surrounded with. Nature in all its’ glory…..and all the feelings the photos evoke – magic stuff. Danskos or not, these shots NEEDED to be taken so what’s a little mud???!!! 😀
Hugs, Pam (and Sammy too!)
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 08:56:14
🙂 Thank you so much….big hugs:) I love shooting images and I am always exploring and wanting to learn more and more on taking photos:) It is so fun to capture a moment of incredible beauty and emotion…yes the shoes cleaned up and all was well with them LOL:) I was glad they were close by as going out barefooted in the mud this time of year would not have been fun….but I prob would have done it if I had to:) Hoping you and Sammy have a super happy day filled with fun surprises and lots of love:) Sending you hugs and Sammy hugs with a few kitty angel treats….Minnie says Meowy Hi Sammy….she is on her heat pad at the moment and feels pretty good:) We had our first freeze last night and are to get snow today through the weekend…wow where did summer go?
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 05:26:05
Great pictures: clouds DO add so much to photos of the sky, don’t they?? And I’ve been known to take off across the yard in my “good shoes” to catch the sunset!
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 08:50:00
🙂 Thank you so much Dianna….you take such beautiful sunset and sunrise photos, your words of support means alot:) I know….we are obsessed huh? I have my camera out and close to the door where I can grab it easy and head out the door sometimes barefooted, or in socks or any shoe I can grab:):):)
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 05:23:27
Very nice post, very nice light and pictures. My favorite is the ears of Annie… 😉 And be careful with your danskoes, cowgirl, I have a friend who destroyed his foot tripping over, but it was in the woods, and they are not made for such places. I think your landscape is more flat than ours, and not as dangerous. 😉
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 08:46:21
Thank you so much:) I like Annie’s ears too…she takes good photos for me:) Thank you for the warning too…I would not need that to happen at all, sounds very painful…we do not have as much rocky ground here but lots of un-even ground and various holes that you can not see in the weeds from ground squirrels and gophers etc. I tore my right ankle up pretty good in 2005 when my horse Hobby fell over on me. She fainted without any warning, she was a young horse and it was not a hot day at all…I was walking her in circles in the arena and she went flat on her right side. Happened so fast that I still had my boot and spur in the stir up under her. I knew if she came to and rolled back on me to get up I was toast so I yanked and yanked as hard as I could to finally get my foot out of the boot. It was a miracle and I know I had some help from above. She stayed down about 5 more minutes and then she came to and got up, looked down at me like what are you doing on the ground? I tore all the support ligaments in the right ankle…have not done surgery yet as I worry it would make it worse. I loved Hobby so much and it took the vet two years before he was able to determine that she fell due to not having enough tissue between some of her leg and foot bones….so it was bone on bone. I had bought her when she was 2 and this happened when she was 6 years old…she had to have felt terrible pain before she fell that day as I rode her for several years…she has a huge heart and I miss her. We laid her to rest here with a few of my other horses and someday we will see them all again:) I know we will!
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 04:46:54
Every image is completely breathtaking!! The shot near the top that features bluish sky, wispy white and golden clouds, and a smattering of black shadowed trees OMG I love it. You should sell these prints!! I would buy one and frame it in a heartbeat. Also– you are adorable.
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 08:35:29
My favorite cook!!! Love your recipes:) Thank you so much:):):) I am so excited that you like the images and it would be fun to frame a bunch…I would want to frame them in old weathered (get it weathered for weather wink) barn wood:) Seriously though I would likely do that or find something rustic but classy. It is always good to hear from you and I have missed blogging and reading others blogs…I am blessed to know so many wonderful artistic bloggers just like you:) Hugs:)
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 04:18:45
You captured many of God’s paintings … you know the sky shots are my favorite by I’m partial to that pretty lil gal at the end of the post! Well done 😉
MJ
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 08:29:34
Thank you MJ:) I know I love the sky shots and the beauty that God displays…once I get to snapping, it is hard to quit:) You are so sweet, thank you for your words:) Hugs and wishing you a super duper happy day!!!
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 02:52:43
Lovely photos…and a joy to read the post…
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Nov 08, 2012 @ 08:27:11
Thank you much so much:) Good to hear from you:) I have missed all my fellow bloggers the last month! I am looking forward to seeing what everyone is doing and the various posts:)
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Nov 07, 2012 @ 21:14:43
You are really a great photographer and your posts are lovely!! These shots are terrific.
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Nov 07, 2012 @ 21:18:01
Thank you so very much:) I have yet so much to learn but I love this creative part of life:) You also have a gift of words and photography:) I do know that we will always learn more whether it is cameras or images or horses or life…but that is the fun part too:)
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