What a Week!

It's been a crazy week. I've taken some photos, but haven't even had a chance to upload them all! I'm working on a long blog that I hope to post later tonight, but for now, here are some pictures of Ron and Sophie from this week.

We've nicknamed Sophie "Sneaky" since she can disappear from view before you know it. She also hates to be followed, especially with the camera. It is close to impossible to get photos of her unless she's sleeping. Even then, if she's not completely asleep, she'll turn to me and give me this look like she's saying, "I'm trying to sleep here! Do you mind?" LOL! Sometimes I think she's like people in some cultures who don't want their photos taken because they feel like the camera captures part of their soul with each photo!

I love getting shots of her on our carpet because it matches her eyes, but with the natural light being non-existant in the house (and with her resistance) it's pretty hard. I did my best with these.

Ron has been keeping cool by hanging out on the pool heater (which is a bit rundown). I know that doesn't seem to make sense, but the metal stays cool and it's in the shade.

Route 66 'Tribute' Progress & Some Photos

I've been going through my photos of the Route 66 photos I have and it's been quite interesting. I've learned that taking photos at night is still something I need to play around with and that I probably should invest in a tripod soon. I find myself wishing I had one multiple times in a week.

Not that during the day was much better. It's been so bright lately, not to mention smoky thanks to the wildfires, so the sky is a bit blah in the daytime shots. If I wasn't moving soon, I'd wait for that "perfect" day to get the shots. Oh well. The 'project' is coming along, though.

I got some other shots while out and about this weekend. Nothing all that fantastic, but I thought I'd share anyway:)

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I found these flowers while waiting for cars to leave so I could get a shot of an interesting gas pump...

When we arrived in San Diego, it was really odd. The fog was starting to roll in and it was much cooler than the 106 degrees it had been at my apartment! Here are some shots taken from the driveway up the street and of the sky...

Update: Photos On Private Property

Ok, I really should be in bed. I'm supposed to be up in 5 hours:/ Anyway, I got up some courage to take more photos tonight after going to get take out from one of the places with a cool sign. They were so nice:) So I ventured to some other places as well.

I also found a USA Today article that somewhat eased my mind. The basic idea from the article is this:

"You can take photos any place that's open to the public, whether or not it's private property."

So, whew. I didn't do anything wrong. There's actually quite a bit of leeway you have as a photographer. If you'd like to read the entire article, click here.

Thanks for bearing with me on my earlier venting. I plan to resume the project, but since I won't be around here much it may take me a little while to get all the pictures I want:)

ARGH!

No, I'm not "argh"-ing about Pirates. I'm just plain old frustrated. I had an idea about a blog topic, but I've been put off it for now. If you ever decide you want to zap me of all creative juices, all you need to do is yell at me. It's that simple.

Maybe I should start at the beginning with the idea I had for the blog. I've gotten a bit nostalgic lately, now that I'm moving. Since I won't be here much longer, I am paying more attention to my surroundings as I drive around town. That combined with visiting Daily Photo blogs and seeing the movie Cars inspired me to do sort of a photo around town blog. How do they all fit together? I live right off of Route 66 here in California and many of the businesses use that fact in their signage and there are "Historic Route 66" signs along the road.

So I thought it would be fun to take some photos of the signs as a kind of tribute to Route 66 and preserve my memories of the time I lived here. I was really excited until I stopped at a gas station to get some water (it is really hot here today) and take a photo of the neat sign.

Evidently one of the guys who works at the gas station didn't want me to take photos of the sign. He got really adamant about it so I told him I wouldn't take any photos. He couldn't leave it at that though. He felt he had to lecture me. He went on about would I like it if he tried to photograph my home and such. I couldn't care less as long as you aren't trying to get naked shots of me inside it! I suppose I should have asked permission. I honestly didn't think about it. I figured if it was a sign on the street, who would care if I took a picture of it? Obviously, I was wrong.

It was the way he went about it that really got to me. I felt like I was a member of the paparazi after Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie or something, sheesh! Even though he really got me riled up (inside more so than I showed externally), I tried to remain polite and apologized and such. After he grilled me on why I was taking the photo (I told him it was for my personal enjoyment and because I was moving), he told me to go ahead and take the photos.

At that point, I just wanted to get out of there, but I took a couple of photos. UGH! And then it totally killed the mood for the rest of the sign pictures I wanted to take. Should I try to find someone to ask at each place? Some of them are strip mall signs. Who do I ask about those? Plus, I really don't have time to hunt someone down just to ask if I can take a few photos:/

Maybe this is why I prefer to take photos of flowers and sunsets. At least they won't come chasing after me yelling at me for taking their photos. I should hope not, anyway. Oh, I just had a premonition of my dreams tonight: being chased by life-sized flowers and a big glowing sun, what fun!

And now I can't stop thinking about the incident. It's making me nuts. It's one of those times I really wish my brain had an off switch. I decided blogging about it might help me to let it go, so here I am!

I alternate between thinking I should have asked permission and being annoyed he made a big deal about it. I could have taken the picture from across the way and he'd never have known. I just wanted a better shot. I also wonder how he thought making such a big deal about it could be a good thing. He definitely didn't make me want to ever get gas there again! I suppose maybe he thought I was some reporter doing a story on gas prices? Or that I was doing some expose? I don't know. It did make me decide to look up stuff about legality of taking photos for private use.

I also wonder why I didn't just walk away when he got all huffy. It's probably the same reason I don't hang up on telemarketers. Oh well...

Blah. I've gone on about this enough. And I do feel better now. Hopefully I can get my creative juices flowing again soon.

Movies...Sigh (or Should I Say Swoon?)

I returned to my apartment in Claremont for the weekend today, but it was a sweltering 85 degrees since I turned the AC off (I was gone for 2 weeks). I know from experience that it takes a good 4 hours to get the temp down to normal (well, my normal) when it's that hot, so I decided to go to the movies.

The times worked out best for me to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest for the second time, but I was really wanting to see Superman Returns. So what did I do? I drove on the freeway, in the direction of traffic, at rush hour, in Los Angeles just to see Superman Returns!

I was very skeptical when I first heard about this movie. Of course when the project first started, it sounded like they were going to remake the earlier movies. Since I loved those movies so much, I was a bit put off by the idea.

It's hard to describe how much I loved the Christopher Reeve Superman movies. We owned them all on Laser Disc. Yes, I said Laser Disc. That's an entirely different story though LOL. My sister was so in love with Superman as a little girl that she used to play the movie EVERY DAY and kiss the TV screen when he'd come on LOL!

In fact my dad mentioned two nights ago that he wondered if she is still single because she's still in love with Superman LOL! Now after watching the movie, I think I might be the one in love with Superman. A friend of mine (who shall remain nameless:P) has a thing for Batman. I realized in the movie today that Superman is to me what Batman is to her...sigh.

So can you tell that I loved this movie? I really did. I didn't want it to end. I stayed til the very end of the credits. That said, I have to say that I am soooo glad this movie is more of a sequel than a remake. It didn't take anything away from the earlier movies, and while I did mentally compare some things, I wasn't consumed by comparisons. I really wished this movie didn't have to end. Oh, did I say that already? I sure hope they make another one.

I liked Pirates of the Caribbean when I saw it on Friday (yes, opening night), but I truly loved Superman Returns. It just might be my favorite movie of the summer. It's a close call with Cars...

Ok, I've rambled on enough. I just had to share my love of Superman and Superman Returns.

Another Pit Stop...

I stopped in Quartzite for gas since it would be cheaper there than when I crossed over the border. I found this sign and cactus there that I decided to take some photos of when I stopped! These are the last of my trip photos.

The cactus may look a bit distorted. I had to use my wide angle lens to get it all in!

On the Road...

I stopped a couple of times at Rest Stops on the drive home to either use the bathroom or just get out and stretch. I took photos at this stop until I got so hot, I decided it was enough. I'm including quite a few of the photos (from slightly different angles) below...

Storm Clouds in Avondale

Yes, more clouds. I could have taken even more cloud photos, but I either was in the car or without my camera:P

Stop! ... Drop, & Roll

We had a fire drill at the hotel I stayed at part of the time I was in the Phoenix area. To avoid getting caught up in it, I decided to walk around taking pictures for a while. It lasted longer than I expected, so I found myself lingering by this stop sign. The contrast of the red Stop sign against the blue cloudy sky intrigued me, and I took a ton of photos! Here are some of them...

Fire Drill Photos!

Here are some photos I took outside the hotel. Some of them while I was waiting for a fire drill to be over LOL!

Here are some photos of flowers on a plant that was outside my hotel.

These are from the next day (earlier in the day) when it was a bit brighter...

I'm Back!

Whew! I haven't posted in almost a week. I've been in Phoenix since Wednesday evening so I haven't been online as much as usual. I have some photos to post though. Some from even before I left! The photos below are from a sunset last Monday. These are from the front yard (rather than the back). It took me a while to notice the clouds and colors, so they're a bit dark.

More photos to come in following posts (possibly over the next few days).

Sunday Sunset

As I mentioned below, I was outside last night trying to take some photos of Sophie, but that didn't work out. So I just sat outside to enjoy the evening and caught various stages of the sky as the sun was setting. It turned out to quite different than I expected at the start!