10 Nov 15. A black & white image today - what else for B&W Tuesday - but something very different from what I usually share. During our 7th tour in the Navy, and our 3rd and last tour in So. CA, I was stationed at Pt Mugu and we lived in Oxnard, CA. Around that time in our lives Jan had become infatuated with rubber stamps, and she collected (purchased) a LOT of them. Just up the road a ways north was Santa Barbara, and in that little town was located a store called Stamp-A-Barbara where you could find a rubber stamp of just about anything you could imagine. We paid that town many a visit in our 3 years there and saw some interesting things in the process. One evening while walking down its main street we watched as a rather LARGE Iguana - someone's pet on a leash - scurried under a sidewalk table where a couple were having dinner and climbed up behind them on a large vine. The owner began to apologize but the diners said "Oh don't worry, we have one just like him at home." One of those things you have to witness to believe. Just like seeing a real artichoke in bloom which many folks have never seen growing, let alone blooming. Now I know none on this list are in that category because I've shared such a photo - that of a blooming artichoke - with you just recently. But what if I were to turn that into a rubber stamp. Any idea how that would look? Well, as soon as you look at the photo you will have a good idea of at least how I think it should look. Now you can save it out, dip it in ink, and stamp away. I took the base image, adjusted for max tonality, and then ran an embossing filter on it. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f / 8.

21 Aug 15. Among my mother's favorite vegetables was the artichoke, which my father thought detestable and referred to as horse food, refusing to eat it. Jan agrees with my mom and I can take it or leave it considering it not worth the effort except for the heart meat. It wasn't until perhaps 10 years ago that I ever saw the plant in bloom and I was delighted by what I saw. I've attempted to photograph it since and have yet to get the one shot I really want but have gotten several that have been acceptable. Today's submission is one of those. I had several choices from which to select, a distant portrait showing the entire plant - it grows to a height of 5 to 10 feet - in a garden setting, a partial plant showing off a couple of leaves, and close ups with bees. I decided that it might be worthwhile showing part of the plant along with the flower to give some idea of its size. There is a bumble bee crawling along the back side of the flower to provide some perspective. A few blocks from where we used to live in Ballard was a yard with one of these plants in the front of the house that was perhaps 12 feet in height. It was generally loaded with blossoms and LOTS of bees. This shot was taken in a garden on one of the Lavender farms we visited in mid July. I took the base image and adjusted for max tonality, cropped off a lot of distracting background, and cloned out a couple of competing leaves I didn't need. Nikon D300s; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f / 8.