A bee's work is never done

Walking across the football field during summer school my junior year, I stepped on a big, fat, juicy bumble bee. The kind that hits your windshield & you swear it cracked it, when in reality it just made a gross mess & you wish you could replace it. I was wearing flip-flops, in the warm summer afternoon, crossing a buzzing honeysuckle field, what did I expect. The bee was defending itself more than hurt & even though it hurt me when it stuck to the arch of my foot, I thought it was pretty cool. So I bent down & watched it in amazement, how it's stinger kept pumping, even though the bee was becoming detached from it. I'm sure it died soon after, I thought that was kinda sad & I felt a little responsible for it's little life ending.

This morning, I headed out to water our plants & seen a bee (like the bee in the photo above on my Arizona Sun Blanket Flowers), floating in Lady's kiddy pool. For some strange reason, memories of that high school bee sting came back, bringing with it, that responsible, sad feeling again (after-all, I'm the one who filled the pool the night before). I picked a dandelion close by & touched the lifeless bee & to my amazement, it was still alive, although barely moving. (Maybe there was still time to save it,) I scooped it out of the water & placed it on our warm, dry front deck. Within a few seconds, it started stumbling around, barely crawling with life, so I started watering the potted plants on the deck (staying close to keep an eye on it) & within minutes, it had warmed up, dried off & starting moving around like nothing happened. Not even 5 minutes into watering & it decided to fly off & started working on my purple salvias next to the porch, like nothing had happened, Wow! What a little trooper, not even complaining about his ordeal. A bee's work is never done, they feel they have a job to do & they do whatever it takes to get it done.

I didn't complain about my ordeal back then either, I didn't have to, my foot did all the talking. We (my sisters & I), had to walk a long distance to & from High School back then & you can imagine how long it took me on this day. My foot hurt pretty good when arrived home & I only had myself to blame, besides, I didn't get any compassion back then & that's ok, I now hear the message God was trying teach me, that makes this bee moment seem bigger than life. It's funny how you can see clearer as you get older, it's like you actually stop & listen, instead of constantly making noise, professing how much you know. I like to take things one day at a time & currently, this girl is simply happy the bee this morning, didn't decide to sting me after saving it, lol. But maybe that's another lesson I will learn at a later date, maybe....

Matson Vineyards - Members Event - Redding Photographer

I think this is my new favorite photo from Matson Vineyards Members Pick up Event. If you haven't joined yet, you don't know what you're missing. I say that way too often, I know. I love how it captures the activity of the evening. Anyways, I'll be posting more photos on my fb page soon.

Check out their fb page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Matson-Vineyards/182166358461786?ref=ts

Waiting for another tomorrow - Redding Photographer

My days have been looking just about as bright as this backyard sunset. Can't wait for what another tomorrow brings. I hope that everybody has a great Father's Day (which includes step-dads, uncles & many other father figures)!

CSHA Gymkhana Schooling Show - Cottonwood, CA

I LOVE horses.....their power, their beauty, their determination to make us happy, are just a few reasons, When I was little, I would just be amazed with thoughts of riding a big dog & at times they seemed almost majestic to me (along with the thought I might find a rare secret unicorn,...don't judge, lol). I used to sketch them all the time in High School & I still have a few drawing I did, just after Richie was born (over 22 yrs ago). I longed to have my own horse for many, many years. Back then, I didn't know many girls who didn't dream of a horse when they were little & thought they were just as majestic as I did. I don't ride but you don't have to, to love them.

This last Sunday I went to the Bobby Jones Arena in Cottonwood, CA to photograph, what turned out to be, some pretty amazing horses & riders, during a CSHA Gymkhana Schooling Show. Don't worry, I have absolutely no idea how to say it either but I had a blast.

The wind was kicking up pretty good, blowing hay, dirt, (someone also pointed out horse poo as well,... Great! lol) & sawdust all over the place. I'm still coughing, I'm sure I inhaled a ton of it (yes, Kristin, I'm still complaining, lol) but there were breaks in between events to get out of the sun & wind & I got to witness & meet some pretty talented people.

I'm totally jealous of all the riders, no kidding. I wish I was as good as some of them, right down to some riders that barely looked 7 yrs old. A friend pointed out that I was getting to do what I love (photography) while she got to do what she loves (ride) but that only made me more jealous, maybe I'll take up riding a little later down the road when Matt goes into High School, I'm going to start missing being a needed mommy like crazy & will need something else to soak my time into. 

You can see more pictures on my fb page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kimberly-Kester-Photography/113161385442478 & remember please do not crop or edit my photos. I appreciate it, Thank you.

This last photo reminds me of a horse I rode a few times when I was in High School. Her name was Naughty & she didn't like her owner. I didn't ride her with a saddle & was super proud when I got her to run (and that I didn't fall off), especially after the owner said she wouldn't run (I always thought I had Native American in my blood & didn't need a saddle but honestly I don't think I have a drop, funny how a childs minds work.). One day she bit at her owner & he tried to smack her in response, when I was on her back & no saddle. She reared up & I was amazed I stayed on her. I didn't get to ride her after that, she was deemed too dangerous when in fact it was the owner that was dangerous & down right mean. She just didn't like him & neither did I. She was sold to a neighbor not long after that. Thank goodness. I want to go back & do this again, it was good for my soul (and the child within).

Ideas are a brewin' - Redding CA Photographer

I got my sensor cleaned at Crown Camera this last week. I can see the difference in the clarity of the images so I kinda got a little carried away sitting on my front porch the other morning on an overcast day. Click on the picture & you'll see the same surprise I did. Kinda scared me a little since I was concentrating on the bee & didn't notice it until I edited the pics. That bee was almost a meal.

The photo above is a bee critter that scares me more than the sneaky spider in 1st image.

Without getting all technical on you (that's honestly not likely to ever going to happen, lol) it has a trunk like thing, that got inserted into the pollen areas of the flower. It's body reminded me of a mosquito or mean fly but the trunk could be more like an elephants trunk, I just didn't see it flex. I kinda figured it was a bee though, as long as it's pollenating my beautiful blooms, that's all I care about.

The photo above has the teeniest bee I've ever seen & this next specimen below, I call, the Elvis bee, his tooshie was stripped like old time prison clothes & shakin' all over the place, it made me think of his song, "Jail House Rock".

Thankya, Thankya very much!

The super colorful flowers above are the Arizona Sun Blanket Flower. so happy, colorful & full of pollen, no wonder the bees like it. I didn't even notice how many variaties of bees we had in our front yard, until I started taking pictures of them. These photos show about 8 different kinds.

That's not a bee in the photo above, (Duh, I know you know), that's just a jumping spider checking me out. I think he was upset cause I was invading his personal space but I wasn't scared. I can take him. (Sometimes I wonder if anybody ever really reads blogs anymore, haha. If you actually read these, I'm so sorry, lol).

I planted this bleeding heart from a bulb not long ago & I can't believe I got to see it bloom this year, I was sure I'd planted it too late in the Spring. Well, I love little surprises & this was just a day full of them. It really makes me realize how glad I am to not be a small bug enjoying a flower right about now. Hope everybody has a great day.

I've got some creative portrait ideas sparking, it's time to see them come through. I just need the right people, like you, to help me.

Back yard sunsets

 If I haven't mentioned it recently (and I'm sure I have, hehe), I love our back yard view of the Anderson / Redding (CA) valley. This first image was taken in 2009 (a few months after getting my camera) during a pretty bad storm that literally blew across the valley floor & I was lucky enough to catch that amazing cloud formation. The 2nd image is from 2010, I thought the clouds & the colors were just too much to pass up.

Usually I'm driving home when I see the best sunsets & there's nothing I can do to get home fast enough to capture the photo, most of the time I'm too late but these images show that I do get lucky every once in a while.

The smokey image above is from 2011 when Jon had a little brush fire going & the smoke softly blanketed our trees & the last image was earlier this year (2012). I think I used a different lens each time I took the photos & they went from ISO 800 (in first image) to ISO 100 (in last image). A lot has changed over the years but not my drive to do my best in photography. Nature is really my first true photography love, I didn't ever think I would take photos of people but as you can see in my previous posts, that didn't last long.

Yep, I love our view!!!!!!

Sprinkler fun with Kenzie

This is my niece McKenzie & she loves playing in the sprinklers, can't you tell. Brings back long ago summer sprinkler memories, playing with our dog Grizzley & life was simple. I love her little expression & I love this little girl.

Just a little cloud watchin'

What do you see?

In the image above, I see a face, more importantly, I see "the eye" of the face (maybe you'd call it a skull). Pretty wicked but very cool. I see a face (skull) in more than one way though, I can make out 3 faces.

In this last photo, I see a heart but I also see Santas face.

I love cloud watchin", just one more of the little things I enjoy about our property & the views we are blessed with. Enjoy moving, constantly changing views.