Skywatch Friday - Balloons Over Reno...

A couple of weeks ago, The Great Reno Balloon Races, were held here in Reno. On the Sunday morning, a friend,her daughter and I went up Rancho San Rafael Park, to watch the mass ascension.

Instead of going to the park itself, we went up on the hill behind it. The view was incredible, with the balloons ascending in front of us and then coming low over our heads to land on the other side of where we were.

Here are a few photos I took of the event. The first two were taken with my film SLR camera, but came out a bit faded. I've since been told about poloroid filters and how they brighten a photo, especially landscapes. I've bought one and look forward to playing with it :-)

(CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE)

The balloon carrying the American flag taken against the rising sun..


The fly past ...aren't quite sure what type of planes they are..


Smokey the Bear didn't stay up very long. :-)


The two balloons carrying the American flag and the Nevada state flag. They'd already started rolling up the Nevada flag as I snapped this shot. Even as a Kiwi, I got a lump in my throat as I watched these two balloons rice and gracefully float over us, as 'God Bless America and 'The Stars and Stripes' were sung.


The Mass Ascension begins...


'Wanna Hug??' :-)


Beautiful, colourful balloon...


Balloons swooping in low to drop a bean bag on a target that was stretched out on the ground. This was happening just yards in front of us and was fascinating to watch..


Balloons coming in to land directly across the road from where we were standing..


Walking the balloon down the slope..


Makes me chuckle the way the lady in front, is hanging on for dear to the basket supports :-)

All in all, it was rather a fun morning. :-) I have some more that I took the day before, when I was chasing them all over downtown Reno, where they were landing in the most interesting places !!

Have a great weekend :-)

Go to SKYWATCH for views of the sky from all over the world !

Skywatch Friday - Cloudy Skies

The skies around these parts have been rather gloomy, this last week or so. Sort of matched my mood..

Makes for interesting clouds though !!!

Anyway, I am now back. Thank you to those who emailed me wondering where I was. Sorry I did not get back to you, but I was dealing with my own illness (freakin' pig flu) and the serious illness of my beloved fur baby, Meesha, who passed away last Monday.

Next week I'll post some photos I took, early morning, of the balloons at the Great Reno Balloon Race.




Go to SKYWATCH for views of the sky from all over the world !

Watery Wednesday - Fun On The River

I think I'm slowly getting the hang of my 35mm film SLR camera ... these were all taken with it, last week, when we went down to the Truckee River.

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

Kids looking for little fish in one of the pools of water off the Truckee...


View down the Truckee from one of the bridges..


The hubby, recapturing his childhood !!


One of the little rapids in the Truckee white water park....

Have a great week !!

My World Tuesday - Too much excitement for one week..

Things got a little exciting in my little corner of the world, last Friday.

Just before 10pm, I was outside looking at the garden, when I heard a siren going down our street. Looking up, I saw a huge billow of smoke, tinged with orange, in the night sky.

I yelled for the hubby and started down our driveway. About halfway down there was a large explosion that you could feel through the soles of your feet.

Once down on the street, we soon realised that the little corner store, near us, was on fire.

There is an apartment and storage area attached to it and that was what was burning.

Once there, I remembered my little digital was in my jeans pocket. The hubby obligingly offered his shoulder as a tripod, which made it a little easier to take the long exposures needed for night shots.

Most of them came out rather blurry, as unfortunately we both needed to keep breathing .... but these two shots came out reasonably blur free :-)

The first two photos look better if you keep them the size they are now. However you can click on the last two to enlarge.


The market just as we got there, with the back still fully engulfed in flames.


In this shot, the fireman had just chainsawed through the roof and flames were shooting out into the air. I felt rather nervous for the men up on the roof, as they were quite close to the flames. Made for quite a dramatic photo though..


The aftermath the next day. You can see how hot it got as the sign on the gate, to the right, melted..


I found the sign on the front door of the store, a little ironic. :-)

Friday night I sent in the best four photos to one of our local TV channels ..Channel 4 KRNV.

Much to my surprise, they emailed me back and said that they were going to use them.

Two of them can be found here and one here .

I will admit it was rather thrill to see them up there on the websites :-)

Now, go to MY WORLD TUESDAY where people from all over our globe , show off their little corner of the world !

Mellow Yellow Monday - Beauty can be found in small things :-)

My husband is getting in on the act, these days....or maybe I just have him well trained. :-)

We were walking back from the store the other day, when he suddenly stops, points and says, 'Mellow Yellow Monday.'

I looked at what he was pointing at, said 'Yes' and whipped my camera out of my pocket.

He stood there quite patiently waiting while I snapped away.





Have a great MYM and rest of the week. !!! :-)

Camera Critters - 'Lady, I Feel Safe By You! '

Which is what this poor little duck seemed to be saying..

(click to enlarge)

An idiotic couple, with a pit bull in tow, were thinking it rather funny to set their dog to chasing this little girl.

She was clearly terrified. However, when she spied me sitting on the riverbank, she paddled over, quacking loudly. She then settled down in front of me and started preening her ruffled feathers.

I guess she saw me as a haven of safety.

I was glad to sit and keep her company until the two twits moved off...

People who allow their dogs or kids to terrorise the wildlife and think it funny, really get my ire up.

Skywatch Friday - Looking Up

The skies, in my part of Nevada, have settled down into their usual, bright blue, cloudless, summer mode.

After living here for a couple of years,I was beginning to think that our summer skies were, for the most part, pretty boring...

That was, until I got really interested in photography, joined SWF and a couple of other photo memes, and started looking at the world around me with new eyes..

It forces you to look at the sky with a new perspective and find other ways that you can highlight and compliment that unrelenting blueness..

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

I was sitting down at my local park, a couple of days ago, watching this one small, wispy cloud, float across the otherwise cloudless sky..

'Yeah, right,' I thought to myself, 'that one cloud is going to make an interesting photo, NOT !!'

Then it disappeared behind the roof of the shelter that I was sitting under. I glanced up and until that point, I had not realised that there were decorative lizards at each corner of the building..

I thought that the lizard definitely highlighted my blue sky and one, solitary, wispy cloud :-)


Taken at the Great Reno Balloon Race, a number of years ago.

I snapped this one with one of those little disposable film cameras, so I'm quite looking forward to going back this year and taking along my 35mm SLR and digital cameras. :-)

Somehow, those plain , blue skies are looking a lot more interesting, these days...


Go to SKYWATCH for views of the sky from all over the world !

Camera Critters - Marmaduke Marmot.

(Click on any image for a larger view)

On the way up to Walmart, last weekend, I happened to glance over into the empty field, that is in front of the shopping complex, and saw this face peering at me.

I immediately thought 'Camera Critters' and grabbed my 35mm SLR, fired off a shot and then realised I was out of film. Arghhhhhhh !! No worries though, as I then remembered my little point 'n shoot digital was tucked into my jeans pocket.. :-) A girl's got to come prepared, these days as one never knows what photo opportunity will be around the next corner !!


'Watcha doing? Trying to sneak up on me or sumfing??'


'Okay, what's with the inch a step closer, stand still and then repeat thing you've got going on? No wonder people walking by are giving you odd looks !'


'Okaaaay Lady, come any closer and see this stick that I have clutched in my paws? Well, I"M NOT AFRAID TO USE IT !!!!'

I think at this point, young Marmaduke decided that I'd snuck close enough, because he turned tail and scurried into his burrow.

I continued on my way, quite happy with the results of my stalking interlude, when I happen to catch a slight movement out of the corner of my left eye..


Why, it's Marmaduke's BFF, Manny, sunning himself on his favourite rock !

I think he was a tad put out, that I didn't have any pieces of carrots or apples in my pocket, because he sort of huffed at me and stalked off in disgust.

Have a great weekend, folks !!

Now go to CAMERA CRITTERS and join in the fun.

Skywatch Friday - Clouds and Reflections

Reflections fascinate me. They reflect back the world around us and often turn otherwise ordinary objects into things of interest, if not beauty..

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

The blue sky and clouds reflected in a downtown Reno building..


I was walking along the street and happened to glance up at the windows that slanted out, above the street. I rather liked the reflections I saw...


A thunderstorm moving over the top of the Grand Sierra Resort. Clouds are also reflected in the amber windows or the hotel tower..


As a bonus ...my friend Lori snapped this with her camera phone. She happened to glance out the door of her office and saw this cloud which is in the shape of a question mark. I'm not sure how to enlarge it, but you can see the shape of it. Unfortunately it had dispersed by the time she figured out the zoom function ..

I've never seen a cloud in this shape before. Perhaps it was the cloud gods asking 'What's up with the weather lately??' :-)

*UPDATE*

Thank you to Maria at CALM ENERGY or enlarging and sharpening the photo for me..

Go to SKYWATCH for views of the sky from all over the world !

Watery Wednesday - Truckee River

Images of a moody Truckee River, taken last Saturday, with thunderstorms rolling in over the mountains..






I'm really loving what the rains, over the last couple of weeks, have done to the vegetation along the river ...

Not so happy about the increased fire danger that come with all this lush growth, especially in the hills and mountains around us, that are now covered in green cheat grass.

PS .. Taylor thanks you all for the lovely comments that were made about her photos. She was very excited to read them all :-)

My World - My City

Images taken on a walk along the Truckee River on a cloudy Saturday..


The top of the Reno Arch, that spans Virginia St..


Looking down the Truckee River towards downtown. this one was taken with my film SLR, the other two, with my 6.2mp digital point and shoot.


Looking across the Truckee River, from Rock park, towards the Atlantis Casino with Slide Mountain in the background. While, as I mentioned, I took this one with my little digital, I also took the same shot with my film SLR, so I'm going to be interested in how they turn out.

I don't think I've seen Reno this lush and green for a long time. All thanks to what is turning out to be the third wettest June on record. I think we are only a tiny fraction of an inch of it being the second wettest..

Now, go to MY WORLD TUESDAY where people from all over our globe , show off their little corner of the world !