Pouring My Art Out

I promised you some new birds… part 1…

Posted on January 27, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Every time I visit my mom in the Bay Area, I take lots of photos of the birds at her feeder. Not this time.

That is a very young Redtail Hawk that I spotted when I was doing something that will show up on the blog soon. The hawk was right near the elementary school I went to as a child. I guess they call them middle schools now?

This hawk has obviously only recently left the nest, and is out hunting on its own. Maybe this is its very first time.

Note the extra fluffy feathers, the not-quite-so-sleek shape of an adult.

And this ain’t no bird feeder bird, it is more like a feed on the birds at the bird feeder bird.

This bird will be an apex predator soon enough.

He already has the “I’m hungry” intense stare down.

And he was paying attention to me as I tried to work in closer.

But he wasn’t giving up on looking for a snack either.

Okay, I am back in San Diego now. Late Christmas and New Year is over. Back to real life. But don’t worry, I still have a lot of photos from the trip to share. HA!

Posted in dogs and other animals | Tagged animals, art, birds, hawks, humor, nature, photography | Leave a comment

Throwing shade; A study in light and shadow… part 6…

Posted on January 25, 2021 by pouringmyartout

For a photographic study of light and shadow, dog prints on a beach can’t be beat.

On an historical note, I took an animal tracking class at a nature preserve once. We learned all about tracks, tracking, and animal poop… scat. Then we went out and did surveys of the public lands in San Diego, to get an idea of how many coyotes and raccoons and so on that were out there. Never did see a mountain lion track.

You can tell a lot about an animal from its prints.

Its size and weight, how fast it was moving, and so on.

A running dog does not leave a neat print.

Coyote tracks are almost identical to dogs, but their toes tend to be closer together and do not splay out so much. Also, they do not wander aimlessly like dogs. They are looking for food.

Tracking dogs on sand is way easier than tracking animals on hard dirt.

It was best to go out after a rain, when you might find tracks in wet areas. Hey, that one looks like a flower.

A tiny dog. Looks almost like a raccoon print, but not enough claws.

That dog was stopping after running. Look how the sand pushes up in front.

But yeah, light and shadow.

Posted in Everything Else | Tagged art, dogs, humor, nature, photography, tracks | 2 Comments

A ‘Saving Christmas’ and ‘saving democracy’ hybrid… the final chapters…

Posted on January 25, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Okay, this is the last post of two separate series. It is also my last day at my mom’s house in the Bay Area. We did it. With much quarantining and covid testing, multiple vehicles and some help from Amazon, we managed to pull off our late Christmas in the Bay Area at my 97-year-old mother’s house.

We also managed to have a great… late… New Year party during the presidential swearing-in, complete with life-sized Uncle Joe, who is now watching over all of us. So we saved Christmas and democracy, at least for our family.

My younger daughter, Mollie, with Uncle Joe.

My older daughter, Jessica, thought up the Joe idea. I had dreams of many photo shoots, with the family and individuals doing funny things and poses with Joe.

I started doing it, but I have been busy.

So I have only managed to get Mollie and my son-in-law, Jason, so far.

The secret is to get Jason when he has had a few beers.

But not too many. Now Jason and Jessica are back in Oregon, where they recently moved from New York City. And I am bring Joe to San Diego, so we may see him again.

Mollie did give Grandma a haircut. For someone studying nursing, she gives a good haircut.

Did my mom fall asleep?

Looking good, Grandma!

Jessica order so many thing on Amazon that one delivery guy let her keep one of the company tote boxes.

Even though I am going back to San Diego tomorrow, this is not the end of the Bay Area photos. I am still doing my ‘light and shadow’ series, and I have some awesome bird pictures. Not the little birds from my mom’s feeder… oh no. And I am learning how to use a new Christmas present I got, and that is going to add a new level to this blog.

So see you around.

Posted in My travels, Pictures of me | Tagged america, art, california, christmas, family, humor, photography, san francisco, san francisco bay area, travel | 4 Comments

Random photos of assorted living things that I took near the Golden Gate Bridge…

Posted on January 24, 2021 by pouringmyartout

With friends like these, who needs anemones?

The tide was so low that sea life was left high and dry.

Well, sort of dry…

There were still the waves.

A seagull on the wing. I like taking pictures of flying birds. It is a challenge.

A turkey vulture.

A better view of the vulture.

A cute dog.

A cute kid.

More gull.

There are a lot of kinds of gulls.

A lot.

Yup.

Posted in dogs and other animals | Tagged animals, art, birds, dogs, humor, nature, photography | Leave a comment

Just a few photos of some dog that I don’t even know playing on a beach…

Posted on January 24, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Okay, I slipped another dog in, but I don’t know him either…

I might as well throw in a few photos of Curry, whom I do know, because I met him yesterday for the first time.

He belongs to good friends of ours.

But we haven’t seen them in a while… thanks, Covid…

But he is soft and cuddly and feisty and fun.

Posted in dogs and other animals | Tagged animals, art, dogs, humor, nature, photography | 4 Comments

Just a few photos of some old bridge…

Posted on January 24, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Posted in My travels | Tagged america, art, bay area, california, golden gate bridge, humor, photography, san francisco, san francisco bay area, travel | Leave a comment

Saving Christmas; part 5… A little side trip…

Posted on January 23, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Well, we are still in the Bay Area. We have done our late Christmas and New Year/new president party. But we had to get out of my mom’s house for one trip across the bay.

Had to see our godson, William, and his parents.

That is Big Johnny, Willie’s dad. Somehow I missed getting a photo of his mom. Must be the masks.

We drove across two bridges… twice each… one of them a very famous bridge.

I made a new friend. Because of the pandemic, I haven’t met Curry, John, Eva and William’s new dog.

I took the usual touristy pictures.

I made another new friend.

He and Curry met, but didn’t hit it off.

I met some anemones. I think they liked me.

Mollie has been here hundreds of times, but her boyfriend Ben is from New Mexico, and it is his first trip to the Bay Area.

Mollie has been making some custom masks.

I have so many pictures to post, on so many topics… sigh…

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels | Tagged art, bay area, dogs, golden gate bridge, humor, nature, photography, san francisco, san francisco bay area, travel | 2 Comments

Saving Christmas; part 4…

Posted on January 23, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Well, I am still in the San Francisco Bay Area, celebrating late Christmas with my family, and you know how I love to do these ‘wiggly light’ photos, where I shake the camera around while shooting in low light to make lights leave patterns on the image because of the shutter staying open longer…

And what lights are better for this than Christmas lights?

I still haven’t taken notes to narrow down the best lens, or the best distance to do these.

I like not knowing what I will end up with. Most of these are taken of lights way up the street.

Half a block seems like a good distance.

But it is still all about the wiggle.

And the zoom?

Now that one, and the next few, were of the tree in the same room as I was.

And I don’t remember what lens I was using, the regular or the telephoto.

But I do remember that I had way less time for wiggling. More light, maybe?

Does it even matter?

These aren’t as good as the night cityscapes ones, I do know that much.

But just for fun, I do them.

Because it makes me happy.

Posted in Everything Else | Tagged art, humor, lights, photography | 2 Comments

Throwing shade; A study in light and shadow… part 5…

Posted on January 22, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Light and shadow. A light making shadows. Our world is light and shadow.

Each photo in this post will have a copy shown below it. All the digital effects I used were only to either turn it into a negative image, or a black and white photo.