Black Friday and Tigger

Around 6:30am on Black Friday, I scooted out the door with my camera and lenses and mini Joby tripod in hand.  Over the past few years, and especially the past 6 months I have fallen in love with my Canon PowerShot S5.  She's not a DSLR, but she still has a great deal to teach me about the art of capturing light.  For several years now, right about sunrise, I've been traveling down 75th in South East Boulder nearly every Thursday morning.  There is a spectacular row of trees that is so beautiful to watch morph every season, from green to red, to skinny and bare.  The background views of the flatirons and Longs Peak, and the cultivated field in the foreground have been asking for me to take their picture for years.

Two days ago, I enlisted with an online photography school's website to receive weekly tips and information about how to become a better photographer.  The current assignment is about snatching photos of life and things in repetition.  AH HA!  The light bulb glowed above my head- it was time to go to the trees. So, on this, soon to be winter, 14 degree, morning I stood on the side of the road, wrapping the tripod around the fence gate, fiddling with the aperture, hoping to take home, renditions of these amazing views.  Every time I looked up and around, something about the scene was changing; the light, the shadows, and the vividness red of trees was slightly different.  The greatest surprise were the clouds. They lay strewn across the sky, like cool whip, cloaking Longs Peak and the surrounding fields.  The photos confirm, they looked exactly like a slightly melted batch of Cool Whip.  Staying with the theme of repetition, I scored a few shots of the local farm's plowed soil, and of 15 foot stacked hay bales, and a row of "resting for the season" machinery.  It was a successful morning shooting photos.  I think I finally have aperture somewhat figured out.  The smaller the number, the more light that shines through; with a larger number, the light simply trickles.

Before squeezing in a 40 minute run, I met Tigger.  As I was driving down the narrow gravel road, I noticed a tabby cat, perched on a tree root, facing the sunrise.  Being a lover of four legged creatures, I pulled over to take his picture.  I then noticed his person feeding the horses in the yard.  I introduced myself, and told her I was simply admiring her cat.  She said, that's Tigger.  That's his favorite spot.  He sits there every morning.  I called his name to say hello, and up he jumped, across the ditch, and through the fence he came to me.  So I, in turn, opened my door, crouched down to give him some pets and ruffle his scruff a bit.  When the blue heeler dashed in between us, Tigger took the liberty of leaping into the cab to explore my space.  After coaxing him out, and being called by his person, he went back to his tree root to soak up more sun.  What a treat and a laugh he was.  I will look for him again, and hopefully be quick enough with my camera to take his portrait.