Before the shots from the neighborhood, here’s the photo I mentioned last week that I’d been working on but didn’t have time to finish before posting. It took a long time—longer than I expected—but it was work that I enjoyed and could do for 10 minutes here or there, or for an hour in a sitting.
![](https://heat-weirdlastname.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/IMG_3907-1024x683.jpg)
Compare with the original unedited shot. I like them both, for different reasons. You?
![](https://heat-weirdlastname.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DSC_0740-1024x683.jpg)
Rocket Kid and I took the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood, and I took the Nikon.
The neighbor’s cactus is blooming. The lead photo is that cactus, as is this one:
![](https://heat-weirdlastname.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DSC_0555-683x1024.jpg)
My biggest limitation with shooting that cactus is angles. Unless one of the neighbors is outside and I can ask, I don’t want to walk into their yard, so sidewalk-side is the only angle I have.
As we walked, there was a tree that I wanted to get some macro shots of. I changed my lens and of course, a lovely breeze kicked up. Shooting macro is the only time I will complain about a breeze.
While I waited for the air to be still, I took a few shots of debris on the ground.
![](https://heat-weirdlastname.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DSC_0543-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://heat-weirdlastname.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DSC_0545-1024x683.jpg)
This leaf, I took several shots with different parts of the shot in focus. I’m hoping to learn some Photoshop skills and combine the three photos into one where the whole thing is in focus. For now, here’s one of the shots:
![](https://heat-weirdlastname.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DSC_0538-1024x683.jpg)
One of the houses on our route has some posts out front:
![](https://heat-weirdlastname.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DSC_0548-1024x683.jpg)
And then we passed by Halloween in the desert:
![](https://heat-weirdlastname.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DSC_0550-683x1024.jpg)
The boy and his dogs:
![](https://heat-weirdlastname.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/DSC_0551-683x1024.jpg)
As a side note: a clean chalk bag is a convenient way to carry an extra lens around the neighborhood. Not sure I’d use that in all contexts, but I had an extra chalk bag for climbing, and it worked well.