Photography – Page 24 – Nicci Carrera

June 1, 2014 Nicci Local, Photography, Travel, Writing

Power lunches

I had lunch in Menlo Park with a friend the other day at a wonderful restaurant called Cafe Borrone. We sat outside and split a goat cheese platter and salads. Behind us I spotted this fabulous door, and that’s when I remembered my camera bag … which I had left at home. 😦 Okay, for me, this is what phone cameras are for … desperation. Some people take incredible photos with their phones, but I just have some random app on my Android phone, and it’s really not very good. But thank goodness for smart phones anyway, or I wouldn’t have been able to take this shot.

I didn’t notice the BBC on the door until this morning when I started fiddling with the photo for today’s post. BBC stands for British Banker’s Club, which was a rowdy bar until it was closed by the ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) in 2012. Well … technically the ABC can just pull the liquor license, but I liked how that last sentence sounded, and anyway, when a bar loses its liquor license, the result is it’s closed. No great loss, IMO, after reading about some yucky history there. But now this historic building will get new life as a lovely restaurant. That’s great, but … really … I just liked the door!

Okay, the one above is still a little crooked. My eye doctor says one eye is higher than the other, and that’s why I stand with my head tilted. I was like … really?! He said look at some photos, and sure enough, yes, I tilt my head. But if I straightened this photo any more, the BBC was lost.

Here are some other crops, with no adjustments other than crop.

In this one, I like the way the letters glow.

So … was this a power lunch? Yes, of course. Whenever two friends make time to have lunch together, there’s a lot of power.

I also just won the bid on Brenda Novak’s auction for Diabetes research for another power lunch–this one in New York City in July!

Here’s the description:

This is a triple threat package–lunch, advice and brainstorming with NYTimes Bestselling Author Brenda Novak, one of her editors, Margaret Marbury, VP of Harlequin Enterprises, and her agent, Dan Raines of Creative Trust in New York City during THRILLERFEST, (at a mutually agreeable time and place).

Do not miss this opportunity to pitch ideas, ask about publishing trends and generally take advantage of literally decades of publishing experience!

I’m not going to Thriller Fest as I don’t write thrillers at the moment. I’m just going out for the meeting using my frequent flyers and staying with one of my very close friends. I have no idea what will come of this meeting, I just had a very strong impulse to bid on that item on the first day of the auction. I almost lost the bid during the last hour last night. It was incredibly exciting to watch the count-down on the timer. I really couldn’t bid any higher, so I watched the minutes count down with my heart in my throat.

Needless to say, I didn’t get a huge amount of work done during that last hour! Once I won the bid, I made my plane reservations and this morning I confirmed staying with my friend, who is going to take the days off and pick me up at the airport at 5:30am.

There’s that power of friendship again…. Maybe that’s what it’s all about?

May 30, 2014 Nicci Photography

Mossy tree in the light

I liked how this looked in the light.

May 28, 2014May 29, 2014 Nicci High Sierra, Photography, Travel

Stormy sky

It certainly doesn’t look like this where I am now! This photo is from a storm outside Reno, Nevada on May 21. The storm had lightning, which started a fire, then snow, which put it out (along with a lot of firefighting efforts.)

The sky made for a wonderful backdrop, though.

May 26, 2014 Nicci Photography

Lake Tahoe as a canvas

I think I finally figured out how to work with water as a colored texture. I like the idea of textures, but I wanted the water color. The key was to select just the subject from the photo you want to paste onto the texture. For the pinecone I did this with freehand select using my digital pad and pen. For the bush I used select by color, copy, paste, as many times as I could stand. I was okay with a little bit of an abstract bush. It’s not all filled in, but that allows more water to come through.

The pine cone was very small! I put it on a post to photograph it. I should have changed off my telephoto lens, but I managed to clean up the slight blur on the cone afterwards by using sharpen. The bush is from the East side of the Sierra, growing at around 5,500 feet above sea level. (Lake Tahoe is 6,000.)

May 24, 2014 Nicci High Sierra, Photography, Travel

Mountain beauty 3

May 22, 2014 Nicci Art school, High Sierra, Photography, Travel

Mountain beauty

I tried something my friend Laurie suggested and took this photo on auto, then put it on partial auto and kept working it until I had what I wanted. This was shot through a dirty window. I am just loving how that works! I like taking photos through windows.

I like taking photos through windows because it makes more of the world available. I took this one out the car window. Now I know it works, so I will do it sooner, before we descend into the trees. Then you can really see the mountain. Stay tuned for that shot. This is Mount Rose Ski Resort ,but the mountain itself is actually Slide Mountain. Mount Rose itself is actually next to where they put the ski resort.

The other reason I like shooting through windows, like I did with the San Diego sunset and a few of the other San Diego shots, in that case through plexiglass wind barriers set up around the outdoor seating area at the restaurant, is the windows provide a natural gritty or wavy filter. That appeals to me sometimes — oddly enough, when the scenery is too glaringly beautiful!

May 20, 2014 Nicci Cooking, Photography, Vegetarian

Occasionarian diary 4

The stuffing for stuffed cabbage. Sweet and sour (sour from citric acid, sweet from honey) with whole canned tomatoes and lentils with parsley.

Making corn pudding with variations from Cookbook for Poor Poets and Others by Ann Rogers.

May 11, 2014May 11, 2014 Nicci Photography, San Diego, Travel

Pacific Beach day 2

Ah…

This big guy with the World War I German helmet is driving his mother in the sidecar. A Sunday drive on Mother’s Day.

Here’s a little shop that sells lots of things to do with the wind. Konos always has a line.

Don’t order The Little Breakfast from Konos if you want something light. The name is a joke, apparently. Thank you! I happily accept!

Cruisin’…

Crystal Pier

This shot I had in the first post, but it needed something in the foreground. Well, our neighbor provided it! There’s a little plane, too, if you look closely.