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 !!

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.

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 !

Mellow Yellow Monday - All I Want Is A Yellow Rubber Tube...

I was idly leaning on the bridge parapet ...watching the river go by ...


Then a flash of yellow caught my eye ...


What a lovely way to spend a sunny afternoon ...floating down the river in a yellow tube !!

Have a great week, everyone :-)

My World Tuesday - Reno

(Click on photo for larger view)

Looking down the Truckee River towards downtown Reno and the Carson Mountain Range.

This photo was part of my first attempt at shooting monochrome, using Kodak BW400CN film..

It just seemed to suit the mood of the day as the season was just changing from winter to spring and there was a storm coming in..

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

ALERT !!!! Many of you may be having problems opening Blogs when using Internet Explorer. Apparently the Followers widget is the cause. Go to this post by Speedcat Hollydale and get an explanation on how to fix it.

As a result, my Followers widget, is now in the footer of my blog page.

Even though you may not be using IE yourself, some of your visitors may be, which means less visits to your blog if they cannot open it!

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta - My Reno

It's Friday and it's a Fiesta !! At least it is, thanks to Candid Carrie ! :-)

I have a love/hate relationship with the little city that I currently live in.

There are parts of the city that I love and enjoy spending time in. The Truckee River is one such area.

There is a trail beside the river, that enables you to walk or bike from Reno through to Sparks and beyond. Eventually, they are hoping to extend the trail from Pyramid Lake through to Lake Tahoe. That will make for a wonderful ride or hike..

The river in downtown Reno, also has a Kayak park and there are areas for people to picnic and swim. In Summer. it's a very popular place..


This is a view along the Truckee River, looking towards downtown Reno.

It's from a roll of black & white film I shot a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure what the camera shop did to it, when they were developing it, but the originals ended up all washed out. You could not make out the mountains in the background or the details of the clouds..

I played around with the photo, with some editing software and ended up with a sort of blue-grey tint to the photo. I rather like it, as it sort of gives a moody look to the photo, illustrating the transition from late winter to early spring..


Part of the River walk in downtown Reno.

Clicking on any of the photos in this post, will give you clearer detail. In this one, partially hidden by the trees, are a couple of the homeless characters that spend their days along the river, waiting for the shelter to open at night. When I walked past, they were sharing their food with some of the myriad bird life that also live along the river..


Reno is a city of contrasts in other ways. At one end of a street you can have a million dollar house and at the other end you can find a mobile home park..


Another thing that has always fascinated and repelled, at the same time, me about Reno
is the way that you can very quickly move from a very pretty area to a drab, dirty, run down stretch.

Our city fathers have been wondering why we are losing conventions and why the tourist trade is dropping.

This photo might be one of the answers.

This is an old motel and bar, directly across from one of our big Casinos. It's been in various states of disrepair for years. At one point, many years ago, it was a well known motel, where some of the rich and famous were rumoured to have stayed while waiting for their quickie Reno divorces.

Then it became one of the 'weekly' motels for the homeless and the bar became a biker type hang out.

In more recent years it has been boarded up. There was a tragic fire there about two years ago, in which two homeless men, who had broken into it seeking shelter, died.

They finally pulled it down last week, but the resulting vacant lot is almost just as much an eyesore..

So many contrasts, this city has...

On The Truckee River

One of my favourite things to do on a hot Spring day .... wander down to the Truckee River and watch the antics of the kayaks..


Getting ready to chance the rapids...


Here we go !!


Whooooooohoooooooooo !!!


Going under !!


Gone !!!

I really want to do that ! :-)

Watching The World Go By ....

Like this goose, do you like to just sit and watch the world go by...

I also like to people watch ...

Do you ?

The photo was taken down at the Truckee River in Reno. One of my first attempts at playing around with a type of Black & White 35mm film. It's not quite true B&W.

Camera Critters - At The River

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I recently bought myself a OM-G SLR 35mm camera and have set myself the challenge of going back to the basics and learning good, old-fashioned film photography.

Unfortunately there is not much in the way of classes for 35mm in our area, as people are turning to digital, so it's turning out to be very much trial and error !!!

But I'm having fun doing it :-)

The following photos are all unedited, except for some cropping on one. My next challenge will be figuring out how to use GIMP... :-)

The details come out better if you click on them to enlarge .... I found things I'd missed the first time..

These were all taken down at the Truckee River, in Reno.


I had the aperture set wrong on this one, which is why I think the ducks are so dark. However I love the way it's captured the choppy water and the reflection of the buildings above..




Watched these two for awhile. They were catching and eating something in the water. It was fascinating watching them ride the wind stirred water...


The Truckee River is very cold at this time of the year, as it is fed by snow melt from the mountains surrounding us.

Despite that, this young lady was having the time of her life chasing stones that her master would skim across the water for her.

I had to laugh at the look on her face though, when she realised that the stone that he had just thrown her, was indistinguishable from all the rest in the river bed. :-)


She went bounding through the water, kicking up clouds of white spray. So enthusiastic.

When I was looking at the photo after I'd clicked on it, I noticed that there is a goose standing on the other side of the river, keeping an eye on what is going on.

Now go to CAMERA CRITTERS and join in the fun.

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta - Down By The River

It's Friday and it's a Fiesta !! At least it is, thanks to Candid Carrie ! :-)

Monday was a beautiful day, so after visiting the DMV, we meandered down to the Truckee River.

I had fun playing with with my 35mm SLR film camera. Still trying to get the hang of it, but I thought some of the shots came out fairly well, despite me having the F-stops wrong...

But, that's all the fun of learning !!!

For most of the photos, you can get better detail if you click on the photo.


The hubby looking contemplatively at the river.

I messed around with the colour on this one, with a photo editing program and still haven't got it right ...


We stood and watched these kayaks, for ages.


Isn't the water a beautiful blue !!

It was darn cold though as it is snow melt that feeds the river. Despite that there were a couple of kids playing in the river. BRRRRRRRRRRRR !!


Looking across at the kayaks playing in the water. It was fascinating watching them flip in the white water..


This fellow was taking quiet nap in the sun.

Sadly he is one of the many homeless that we have in the area.

Many of them are mentally ill and there are not enough beds in the shelters for them. Programs that were in place to help them, have now been discontinued because of the current economic climate.