a return to...?

Two years.

It honestly blows my mind to think about all that has happened in just the past two years.

Two Years ago, del and I had went for a nice, Sunday drive out to the Skagit Valley tulip fields. That crazy dude had never visited the tulips. At that point in time we were still getting to know each other, and I hadn't officially eliminated the possiblity that he was from outer space. Really. Who hasn't been up to see the tulips. Aliens.... aliens, with their cooky alien furniture, haven't seen the tulips.

He was still shooting with a Panasonic Lumix megazoom; I had my trusty little Canon A520 securely in auto-mode. I remember being amazed that he had the knowledge and skills to do something called "metering" and wished that I knew how to get a tulip picture with some bokah (only, I didn't know it was called bokah. obviously. I just wanted a nice pretty blur behind a moderatly sharp, brilliantly colored bloom!)

Fast forward Two Years of... well, just fast forward already... to now. "The List" is not "the list" and his "little hobby" (BICHIA!) now has over 4,000 web hits per month. I even have this silly little blog (impressive, actually, for someone as low-tech as myself). His gear... whoa... he has already surpassed the mid-level cameras, is using a pro-level and teasing me about one that is like a luxury automobile. And I have left my Canon family to join the world of Nikon (also impressive for my inner low-tech granola person). And I am very well aware of bokah.

Beyond the gear and the photographic skills, over the past Two Years we have formed a truly unique friendship. He has many, many friends that are special to him (ugh, many... lucky guy, huh?) I don't now where I fit in the mix for him, but I can honestly say that among my good friends over the years, he understands me the most. Its kinda cool. The thing I appreciate the most in our friendship is balance; we compliment each other well, both photographically and just in life in general. I think we help each other out in more ways that either of us realize. Does that make sense?

Well, the story continues with del getting a D40x not long after our trip to the tulip fields. That turned out to be the instrument that helped him fly; it seemed like from that point on his skills multiplied (hmmm, was there an eclipse two years ago???).

Thankfully, he shared his skills along the way ;) and now, Two Years later, I can look at my own tulip pictures with awe and amazement. They are beautiful. I love them. I can't believe sometimes that they are my photographs. thanks, man.

oooook, now on to the pics :)
cliche shot
I couldn't resist this cliche shot of the tulip gardens. Its still pretty ,darn it!
Gonna...
I didn't take stock of the names of the flowers, but I wish I had. This one is so un-tulip-y to me. I love it! It looks like it wants to eat you.

Gonna Getcha....
Per usual, I tried a bunch of settings. Same flower, different setting.

Technical skills, yo!

I chose this set of pics to show some of the things I am currently working on ...

Ok, this one was taken in usual macro supergirl style; I used my bff the 50mm set at f 1.8. I autofocused.

aaah, but now I am less afraid of manual focus. this one is still at f 1.8

Hmm. maybe I need to not focus so tighly on just a little fraction of the picture? I am venturing into the world of more detail...

In a very uncharacteristic manner, I used f22 for this one. I have to try it, right?

Now, the old msg would have been content with the shot as taken, with minor edits here and there.

I've changed.

I cropped in...

.... and then did a few other things. I like it!

Lonesome Daffodil

As magic hour ended, we found ourselves in a daffodil field surrounded by sunset-lit beauties. The backlighting was awesome. I found myself drawn to this one, lone daffodil at the end of the row. In someways, I see this daffodil as a reflection of myself; but we'll keep that introspective for another post ;)

Thank you for checking out my pictures! I love sharing my photos with people; I love sharing the beauty that we have surrounding us all the time. Thank you to all that have supported me throughout my studies and of course, dma... you're... oodaleedo.