click photo to enlarge
For My World Tuesday I put up a Cottonwood photo that was not yet in full autumn regalia, so I thought it might be a good time to post a yellow one–against our blue sky.
Our “monsoon season” appears to be over for real, so our skies look like this pretty much every day. The sunrises and sunsets are very pretty, but they are exactly the same every day. So my choices are to find something interesting to put in front of the sky or go into the archives. Today I thought this was interesting enough.
Below is a not-so-good picture of the “green mile” which is now the “yellow” mile–the river valley filled with Cottonwood trees. I took it by holding my camera in the appropriate direction while I was driving, thus the bit of askew-ness.
click photo to enlarge
For those last week who expressed concern over my camera lens–I am still without an 18-55 mm lens. I am trying to decide if I want to replace it or get an 18-200 mm lens. I need to do something soon because shooting sky pictures only with my 55-200 lens is a bit of a challenge at times!
To see LOTS more terrific sky pictures, head to the SkyWatch blog hosted by Sandy , Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy and Klaus.
Potted Frog 
October 30, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I love fall colors against the sky – you got this one perfectly – with whatever lens you have. Absolutely gorgeous!
October 30, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Splendid photographs, Louise. The trees and the sky are so beautiful! This is a great Sky Watch.
About lenses, I think (it’s only my opinion, of course) that an 18-200mm lens is very good. With the negatives (35mm photos) the 135mm lens was the ideal focal length for portrait. But nowadays the negatives are so far, aren’t they…?
October 30, 2008 at 12:40 pm
What beautiful colors! It touches my heart!
Have a nice SkyWatch!
October 30, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I just this morn took pictures of the cottonwoods across the street, but have yet to download them. I can only hope they turn out half as good as these–they are wonderful.
October 30, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Oh how I love the contrast of that golden tree against the beautiful blue sky. Fabulous shots both of them!
October 30, 2008 at 12:43 pm
awesome color contrast!!!
October 30, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Beautiful photo.
Print it. Frame it. Hang it on the wall.
Nice “Sky Watch” today.
Come visit our Sky Watch over, Cooks Inlet, Alaska.
Troy and Martha
.
Get the 18-200. It will do 99% of the time.
October 30, 2008 at 12:48 pm
That view is looking awfully familiar…the Bosque, the Rio Grande from the west side of town?
October 30, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Wow, that just knocks me out! How can the sky possible BE that blue!!!
October 30, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Fantastic view and wonderful colors!
October 30, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Beautiful shots.
October 30, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Beautiful contrast – so vibrant!
October 30, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I think that is a perfectly lovely photograph, the first one. Here we have lots of lovely blue skies, but not cottonwood trees. As for the lens, you need to go from 18mm to around 200mm, but the problem is with the lesser quality of the big zoom lenses. You should keep what you have and add an 18mm to say 50mm because the 18mm to 200mm lenses may sound good but you will get a lot of problems with some of the photographs.
Ray
October 30, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Those are both beautiful shots. The autumn leaves against the blue sky are perfection.
October 30, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Lovley colors, Louise. I like the contrast between the yellow and blue. Excellent shot 🙂
October 30, 2008 at 1:00 pm
The combination of fall colors against the bold blue sky is unbeatable. I love the lighting here. How gorgeous.
October 30, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Those colors are brilliant!
I took a shot the same way recently that’ll be making an appearance soon (probably). Kinda tough to compose and drive at the same time isn’t it?
Nice job!
October 30, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Stunning!
October 30, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Hi ~ I have spent some time this afternoon catching up on your posts. I was MIA for a bit and am bummed that I missed out on your card giveaway. Maybe next time. I can relate to the hectic schedule post. Your pictures could be postcards! The colors here in the Northeast have been incredible -I have so enjoyed looking at the spectrum of reds, golds, oranges and yellows -truly spectacular. Now if I only had a decent camera! Enjoy your day!
October 30, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Striking contrast of yellow flowers and blue sky.
October 30, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Lovely Colour Contrast – autumn leaves and strong blue sky.
Happy SW Friday!
October 30, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Beutiful contrast, wonderful photos.
My sky is also still the same these days. It is grey and grey and sometimes dark grey. But when clouds appear it can be amazing. The sky like yours (so vivid blue) we have here in summer.
Happy skywatching:-)
October 30, 2008 at 1:23 pm
The cottonwoods are such a vibrant yellow against the pure blue.
October 30, 2008 at 1:26 pm
You can just about ‘listen to the murmor of the cotton wood tree’ looking at them enlarged the light just glows.
October 30, 2008 at 1:36 pm
You have so beautiful scenery there and your photographs are very colorful! Autumn is wonderful time! My Name “Ruska” means the bright colours of autumn 🙂
October 30, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Great contrast !
Jolies coulours de feuilles, et de ciel !
October 30, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Louise: Welcome aboard and this is a neat SWF for your first one on the team. you are a welcome addition.
October 30, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Fall can be so beautiful, especially if you take shots like these. Beautiful.
Marit
October 30, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Getting a good moon shot requires more patience and experimentation than anything else. And of course, a good zoom or telephoto lens. The most common mistake I see is overexposure, which is caused by the camera trying to expose the big, black background. Invariably what happens is that the only light in the shot (the moon, and especially a full moon) gets drastically overexposed and shows up as a blown out white blur in the final shot. You really have to stop the camera down more than it wants you to, which is why you pretty much have to use manual exposure (most DLSR’s won’t let you shoot anything more than 2 stops underexposed and trust me… your meter’s going to think you’re way more than 2 stops under!) TO get this shot, I took shot about 50 frames, adjusting each time in about 1/3 stop increments. I think the setting that yielded this one was 1/320 second shutter speed at f/9.0, but I’d have to check my notes to be sure.
October 30, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Nice picture, love the colours of autumn
October 30, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Louise what a wonderful colour change you have between the cotton tree and the lovely blue sky. It positively glows.
Sorry about the lens and hope it gets sorted soon, for you and for the pleasure we have in visiting you on Sky Watch. As well as your other pages.
Have a good week.
October 30, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Oh this is just awesome – these colors are brilliant. Wonderful.
My tip is, to go for the 18-70mm. It’s around $300 but much better built than the kit lenses. And when your 50-200mm starts giving up – go for the 70-300mm VR. Then you be good! 🙂
Cheers, Klaus
October 30, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Love the golden leaves against the true blue sky!
October 30, 2008 at 2:14 pm
OH MY!!! OH MY! Yes that first shot is absolutely stunning… what amazing color!
October 30, 2008 at 2:24 pm
It has been a while since I’ve seen such a lovely bright blue sky! Great picture!
October 30, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Great colors !
October 30, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Yellow and blue….the perfect colors and contrast! love the clear sky… Happy SWF!
October 30, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Love the contrast of the colours, great SWF
October 30, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Beautiful clear blue Sky!
October 30, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Louise, thank you for all your recent comments on my blog. I’ve been trying to get around to everyone. I’m glad you came back. Your Skywatch post today is so bright and cheerful! I love the golden cottonwoods set agaisnt the blue sky. I don’t know much about Picture Project but I experiment. When I upload my photos to the computer it goes straight to Picture Project. Once there I just click on the Edit button and it gives me the option to crop, auto enhance, or change sharpeness, brightness and color individually. It will also allow you to straighten your photo yourself! I have done this numerous times and no one knows! You can also convert a photo to black and white or sepia tone. You can save it with the changes and convert it back to the original at anytime. Once I have a photo the way I want I copy it into Microsoft Pictures and from there I re-size it and publish it to my blog. I’m looking forward to exploring more of New Mexico! You live in a gorgeous state!
October 30, 2008 at 3:22 pm
The bright blue of the sky and the clear yellow of the leaves make a perfect photo together! A beautiful SkyWatch!
Thanks so much for dropping by mine! Have a wonderful weekend!
October 30, 2008 at 3:24 pm
The bright blue of the sky and the clear yellow of the leaves make a perfect photo together! A beautiful SkyWatch!
Thanks so much for dropping by mine! Have a wonderful weekend!
October 30, 2008 at 3:30 pm
What a wonderful photo…thankyou for sharing it…
I managed to capture a SUN HALO this week…it was amazing too!
Annie
October 30, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Very nice contrast and what a pretty blue sky. I just love that color..
October 30, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Glorious! I’m in agreement with Troy. That photo is “art.”
Love the “yellow mile,” too!
October 30, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Gorgeous! That blue sky is so VanGogh-like too. Cottonwoods remind me of my growing up in Idaho. Thanks for the memories.
Happy weekend!
October 30, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I have come to associate your blog with brilliant colour… this is why. Stunning.
October 30, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Beautiful sky and love the contrast of the two very vivid colors.
October 30, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Wow, like everyone above has said, great photo with the contrast of the yellow against the blue, very striking, very beautiful.
Thanks for sharing with everyone in sky watch friday your lovely view of the sky.
October 30, 2008 at 4:41 pm
this is beautiful. That color is spectacular against the clear blue skies
October 30, 2008 at 5:04 pm
What a wonderful contrast between the sky and the leaves.
No Autumn leaves here – just rainbows!!!!
October 30, 2008 at 5:16 pm
That’s incredibly vivid yellow/blue contrast.. beautiful!
October 30, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Great photos and post. The first one is outstanding.
October 30, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Gorgeous skies where you are – the Cottonwood looks so beautiful!
October 30, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Love that yellow and blue together. Such a lovely photo. So simple and so beautiful.
October 30, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Regardless of the lens, both photos are excellent! The first one left me with my mouth hanging open after I said, “Oh!”
October 30, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Hi Louise: I had some issues with my SWF link early today. My apologies to you.
BTW, you have a great entry today! I love those color harmonies! Whew! Just love it!
Here’s my SkyWatch #14 entry!
October 30, 2008 at 7:53 pm
absolutely beautiful!
October 30, 2008 at 8:03 pm
The Cottonwoods are beautiful against the blue sky.
And the scene is too beautiful to notice the askew-ness.
Great shots!
October 30, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Ahh, they’re so beautiful! Wonderful SkyWatch photos!
The lens thing is the reason I’ve not gone to an SLR digital yet. I’m just not bright enough to figure all of that out yet.
October 30, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Louise,
I love that fire in the sky!
October 30, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Great fall colors, Ms Frog.
October 30, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Louise,
Arent the fall colours amazing? Your pictures show a wonderful contrast between the sky and the yellow leaves.
October 30, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Beautiful. We should visit sometime during that time of year.
Gorgeous!
October 30, 2008 at 9:58 pm
For skies wide angle is a must. Now I know why all your sky pics have looked so different and “compact” as you only have the tele. The glowing tree is excellent.
October 30, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Looking real delightful with the yellow and blues 🙂
Happy Halloween!!
October 30, 2008 at 11:41 pm
amazing! i love the contrast of yellow and blue tone! 🙂
October 31, 2008 at 12:54 am
Very lovely photo for SWF. Love the beautiful colourful tree.
October 31, 2008 at 1:18 am
Oh my ! what a blue sky ! Beautiful !
October 31, 2008 at 1:22 am
excellent capture and composition with just two colors!!! well done
October 31, 2008 at 1:39 am
Very lovely! Thanks for visiting me at Sydney Daily Photo
October 31, 2008 at 1:42 am
WOW! Just look at that shot! Amazing blue skies in an autumn leaves:)
Mine are up HERE and HERE. If you get a chance 😉 Happy SWF!
October 31, 2008 at 2:21 am
Good gracious! The colors in your photo are amazing. That yellow against the blue is fabulous! Have a terrific fall weekend.
October 31, 2008 at 3:00 am
I love these colors! Great choice for SWF picture! 🙂
October 31, 2008 at 3:48 am
So bright colors!
October 31, 2008 at 3:49 am
How very pretty and a cottonwood is not a tree we have in our area so yours is extra enjoyable to view. Happy Skywatch!
October 31, 2008 at 6:25 am
ola!… that is one of a kind SWF! thanks for sharing this, i was fascinated but the view, check out mine HERE
October 31, 2008 at 6:30 am
Wow what a colorful entries..TC
October 31, 2008 at 7:00 am
fantastic and colourfull sky and nice leaves, also the sunny blue sky at the background is great!
Do You wanna see more of my Travel SKY-impressions of Portugal? I posted more nice overlooks, please come and visit my blog.
Greetings JoAnn’s eyes/Holland
&
Happy weekend!
October 31, 2008 at 7:12 am
Great colour combination, that blue is amazing (can’t remember the last time we had a blue sky like that:-)and the golden trees are a fantastic combination. A very happy piccy:-)
October 31, 2008 at 7:27 am
Those are beautiful Louise!
October 31, 2008 at 7:58 am
Wow … what a wonderful autumn colours under that beautiful clear sky!
October 31, 2008 at 8:32 am
Cottonwoods along the river beds of the southwest are the tall trees for that area and that moon is superb. Great photography.
I wonder how many on Sky Watch are professional photographers. Are you?
October 31, 2008 at 8:46 am
beautiful
October 31, 2008 at 8:50 am
See, I can’t look at that kind of contrast – between the exuberant yellow of the trees and the brilliant blue – without grinning. Thank you for that!
October 31, 2008 at 9:08 am
Holy Blueness, Louise. Gorgeous blue and gold shot.
October 31, 2008 at 10:31 am
Fantastic blue, great light and amazing golden leaves!
In another way … a stunner!
October 31, 2008 at 10:52 am
I had to back a few posts to catch up Louise. Nice sunburn..ouch. You do such beautiful work, I don’t know how you can stand to give it away. Happy Halloween and have a great weekend…
October 31, 2008 at 11:11 am
Great shots. As for lenses. Let me know what you decide. I only have the one that came with my camera (an 18-70, ya I know)
*hugs*
October 31, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Lovely shots, love the colours!
October 31, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Love it… it’s fun to see the sky with the beautiful leaves… great colors!
October 31, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Beautiful skywatch – that is some seriously blue sky out your way 🙂
October 31, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Thank you for teh welcome, Louise. I love your (red) yellow and blue sky!
October 31, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Those yellow leaves against that clear blue sky are just gorgeous. Nice. Happy Skywatching~
October 31, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Quite nice, actually, beautiful colors.
October 31, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Wow, that yellow tree is beautiful! We haven’t had much color around here yet and it looks like we might not.
October 31, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Great autumn picture, with lovely colors.
Have a great weekend!
October 31, 2008 at 5:43 pm
All of the gold against that stark blue sky is really pretty. Nice shot! 🙂
October 31, 2008 at 6:20 pm
thanks for stopping by my blog again…love your shots.
happy halloween.
October 31, 2008 at 6:50 pm
What WONDERFUL fall colors against a VIVID blue sky! These are lovely photographs of scenery I never see in my part of the world. Thanks for sharing and for visiting my cloudy Southern California skies earlier today.
Hugs and blessings,
October 31, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Nice shot.Happy SWF:)
October 31, 2008 at 8:14 pm
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sky quite that blue. Gorgeous. BJ
October 31, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Hi Louise, thanks for the comment on my blog. I’m a first time Skywatch participant, thanks for the info. I added the link to the Skywatch blog. 🙂
October 31, 2008 at 8:21 pm
hi louise, your cottonwoods are gorgeous, thanks for sharing them. i love the yellow (one of my favorite colors) against the blue. what a pleasing combination…
October 31, 2008 at 8:26 pm
So you too shoot while driving. This very well could get us in trouble. There ARE no cell phone laws…I do think camera operation could fall into the same category!
Glad you took the pic, tho. It’s beautiful, tho driving influenced.
October 31, 2008 at 8:43 pm
I love the color of the leaves and the sky. Excellent!
October 31, 2008 at 9:34 pm
What a magnificent image, Louise!
October 31, 2008 at 11:30 pm
wow! absolutely brilliant – composition and colors and capture!
October 31, 2008 at 11:48 pm
What stunning colour contrasts! The shot almost dazzles!
November 1, 2008 at 12:57 am
Hi Louise – The blue in that top photo is like the prototypical blue-sky blue. Wow.
Looks like you’re getting a few comments regarding lenses. I currently have an 18-55, a 55-200 VR (and a dedicated 105mm macro lens).
The question you need to ask yourself is what do you most like to shoot, and can you afford more than one lens? Based on my experience, if I had to choose between my 18-55 and my 55-200 it would be hard. I use the 18-55 for landscapes and people portraits, but I need the 55-200 for birds and other wildlife. (I would like a longer lens as well — at least 300mm — but it will have to remain on my wish list for the time being.) If I couldn’t have both, I probably would have to go with the 18-200, although I have been told that results may not be as sharp in some ranges.
Can you rent any/all lenses you’re interested in from a good camera shop so that you can try them out? That might really help to make up your mind.
November 1, 2008 at 6:31 am
beautiful autumn colours! love the contrast of the leaves against the blue sky!
November 1, 2008 at 6:33 am
great colour combination. thanks for sharing. Happy SWF.
http://gnometree.wordpress.com
November 1, 2008 at 10:27 am
Hi Louise! Back to the Blogosphere to visit this wonderful blog! And this time to be #113! And Halloween is gone… 😉
Beautiful colours!
Meanwhile Blogtrotter is now strolling somewhere around the Holy See of Echmiadzin. Hope you enjoy and have a great weekend!
November 1, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I really like the colors and contrasts in your first shot. Beautiful! 🙂
November 1, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Beautiful! I love the cottonwoods in yellow! Hope you get the lens you want. 🙂
November 1, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Hi Louise and wow, beautiful fall photos. That first one is a stunner, everything is so clear and crisp looking.
November 2, 2008 at 9:15 am
Stunning Louis. It makes me smile. 🙂
November 2, 2008 at 1:50 pm
This colour is stunning! It’s pure gold! Thanks for visiting
November 2, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Wow!
And due to your comment in my blog (thank you!) I found the manipulated picture’s team blog too! Great works. Looking at them I missed Corel which I don’t have at the moment.
November 2, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Amazing contrasts – I cant decide wherter I like the yellow or the turquoise more!
November 3, 2008 at 9:41 am
Louise, the photos are lovely and the writing, your random thoughts, are wonderful! 🙂
November 3, 2008 at 10:04 am
Your photos are just GORGEOUS! I’m so glad you shared this little walk ?)
November 3, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Love that blue. Just love it.