Winter's Bounty
Marie, my daughter, and I were on a photo shoot. We drove over the Topa-Topa Mountains to Santa Paula stopping where ever we thought we could get a good shot. We hardly saw a soul except the time the strange man stopped his car and approached Marie, trying to make conversation with her. I was at the top of the hill and he didn’t see me, but you can bet I hurried down the hill in case Marie needed me to help her subdue him! When he saw me, he quickly made his goodbyes and got in his car. A person can’t feel safe anywhere these days.
Once I was in the desert by myself. My husband was playing golf. I wanted to photograph the palm trees that grew along the creek bed. There was no one for miles, but whenever I got out of the car, I had the feeling that I was being watched by Charlie Manson. I couldn’t enjoy myself for checking all around for someone who was determined to harm me. Believe me, it was no fun.
I told my friend about it and she said she felt the same way. She, too, is a photographer. She said she’d take a pistol next time. Maybe she was joking, but it sounds like a good idea to me. That or stay home, which is what I’ve done.
When I asked the park ranger about walking alone in a park near my home, he said, “This is California, Lady! We can’t protect you.” So, I turned around and came home.
This has taken a dark turn, hasn’t it? But let’s look at those bright red persimmons and cheer up. They grew over the fence, near the side of the road. I didn’t have to trespass. The tree was messy with all it’s branches so I isolated a particularly pretty bunch of fruit against the sky.
When I got it onto my computer, I saturated the dickens out of it and then used Topaz Simplify to make it into a graphic. I added a vignette. That’s the light blue line around the edges. Not sure I like it here, but sometimes it adds a point of interest. You can make them wider so everything is faded but your focal point. This can be quite effective.