From a creative standpoint, it’s been a struggle for me to find concentration and patience for taking photographs. I’ll think of something and then want to rush through it. My most creative ideas come at night and they’re gone by the morning.

Over the past few months though, I’ve been trying really hard to take my time, taking aim at depth and composition.

My latest goal is paying more attention to layers, shadows, depth of field, texture, and various shapes to better frame and show distance, scale, and perspective of subject matter.

Here are some shots I took while recently traveling to the Northwestern United States as well as my latest in reading and baking.

I hope you enjoy! Be sure to tag your entries in response to Travels and Trifles photography challenge below!

The joy in finding the perfect place for a picnic. I tried showing the vastness of grasslands extending between the log fence and pine trees. Distant mountains still with snow. No one would ever know that I had to stand on my tippy toes to get this one lined up the way I did.

Cookie composition.

Dark Chocolate Pudding Oreo Cookies. For this one, I tried to fill in the background, separating the foreground and the background, showing the recognizable Oreo in a subtle way, creating a slight “S” shape flow to my composition.

I’m still deciding on how many eggs to put in this one, but a recipe will be coming soon!

Book photography.

Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin. I just received this newly translated release in the mail. A #1 best-seller in France, described as a delightful, atmospheric, absorbing fairy tale full of poetry, generosity, and warmth.

I enjoyed thinking about the placement of this one. Fading flowers, the waterfall in the background, a rosy hued reflection of bright pink petunias projecting onto the cover.

I’m really looking forward to reading this one.

Contrast through shadows.

I love taking photos of bugs. I liked the shadows in this one.

This black and white spotted, fuzzy fore-legged flyer is a White-spotted sable, species of Crambid snout moth, also known as an American white-spotted sable.

The reveal.

Sunset over Flathead Lake, Montana. A little nestle of trees opening to reveal logs accumulating on shore and a glorious peek into the orange haze sun.

Big sky justice.

Standing on a mountain. The foreground with sage brush, quartz, it plunges down, then meets the height of other peaks. It’s hard to gauge the vastness, the mileage beyond, I tried my best to capture it and zone the onlooker onto the spotlights where the clouds part over the terrain.