Waterfalls and puff-balls

Flowing water over rocks

 
Do you ever get tired of the same old scenery? That's how I felt today. Open vistas and joshua trees? Blech! So I dragged my husband with me on a hunt to find Bouquet Canyon Falls. I didn't want to go by myself in case I got bit by a rattlesnake or fell in a bush of poison oak.

Off we went. It was farther than I thought it was, but ended up being pretty easy to find due to the cars pulled off on the side of the road ...and the sign that said "The Falls". We grabbed my camera gear and climbed down into the little canyon with the stream.

 

Longer shutter speed =  smoother water

It was like being in a totally different place. Greenery everywhere... actual real water flowing...I could have spent longer there just relaxing! I climbed up and down rocks, found myself in some pretty awkward positions, and actually did have to watch out for the poison oak along the way (but no rattlesnakes, just lizards).

He even has teal spots - I'm all about the teal!

And I got some pretty decent pictures! Next time, I need to go when the sun is not directly overhead, so I won't have all the light-and-shadow problems, but at least I know that now.

 

I also have been wanting to take some pictures of a dandelion puff ball. But as you know, it has been slightly windy lately, and it is hard to find any that haven't been blown completely clean. Our front yard yielded a couple this morning (thanks to not having put weed killer on our lawn yet), and I got some good shot with my macro attachment. I don't actually have a macro lens but I got an extra piece that screws onto the end of my lens and it does a pretty decent job! 

This is only half a puff-ball, but I picked the right angle!

Focusing is killer, though, because the slightest movement changes the focus drastically. I heard that a bean bag is a photographer's friend, so I made one with some left over pinto beans (dry, of course) and a ziploc gallon bag. Sure enough! I can lay that on the ground and position my camera on it, use my remote to trigger the shutter and voila! Better focus! 

 

By the way, at the waterfalls, I had my tripod in the stream for some of the shots and used my remote. It was a good angle, and I was glad I tried it, since I didn't really want to squat in the stream myself. I would have ended up just a little too wet!

 

Au revoir!