Late Afternoon

Along the Chumash Trail
Along the Chumash Trail

Yesterday afternoon I did a lot of sewing and running around to the point I so tired of the house and machines and tasks that the best thing to do was run away.

I do that a lot.

At about 5 p.m. I decided to snag the Canon G7X Mark II as all I wanted was a point and shoot and a brisk hike along a trail with trees and rocks and bugs and poison oak. It was perfect! The hills beyond the little canyon where the trail is were still covered with golds and lavender from this past winter’s rain, and alongside the trail was a profusion of mustard, monkey flower, salvia, penstemon, sunflowers and a number of flowers I don’t know. For two hours I ran around, ignoring my wifely duties of dinner (we had leftovers, so J. was fine!) and getting my mind elsewhere.

Too easy to forget about the natural world when the unnatural one demands so much time. The shade, light, sun, shadows, were not simple to get in a photo, and the colors just got burnt out in the glare or lost in the dark. In the end, a black and white with lots of subtlety seemed the best way to express the beauty of the hike.

The Unfinished Sock

The Unfinished Sock

I bought a travel camera awhile ago – a Canon G7X Mark II – and am playing with it. I am trying out the different modes. This is one of the earlier photos after I just got it, and then I reduced the picture to black and white, not aware that there is a B&W mode in the camera. I want to get comfortable with the camera to get it to do what I want it to do when out and about in strange and exotic places.

I have some really good cameras – but I don’t want to have to change lenses or stay limited to one lens on a range finder. The G7X Mark II was the one I chose after looking at a bazillion digital point and shoots as I can actually set priorities (ie aperture, speed) or go totally automatic or totally manual.

And, it fits in my pocket.