Like a habit, each year egrets and herons nest in a tree in Lincoln California. They probably feel safe because the tree is located in a marshy gully between two shopping centers. I call this tree The Nesting Tree. Typically, we visit this tree in April when the nesting is in progress. The birds fly off, bringing back stick and twigs to their nests. Sometimes, if the photography gods comply, through your lens, you can see them handing off the twig to their mate.
My lens only extends out to 300 mm. Six hundred would be great, but I’m not a wildlife photographer and I’m content to get whatever pictures I can get. Here’s a sample from our recent trip.
I look forward to this each year. This year I brought a chair and was more comfortable. Who knows what I’ll bring next year.
What would life be like for us if we were young again? I’m not sure I’d want to be young in this crazy, unstable world of ours. But when I see the world through a child’s face and it’s joy and innocence, I’m hopeful. Tina’s challenge is for us to be young again through children, human and animal, we have photographed.
I’m hesitant to photograph children I don’t know, and usually ask a parent for permission. However, sometimes there’s no way to ask. As in this photo. A child strapped in on a high swing having a great time. What joy.
I did ask for permission when I saw this gorgeous red hair. The girl turned around as her mother said yes and gave me a big smile. I bet I wasn’t the first person with a camera to ask permission.
Parades are very public and a great place to photograph participants.
Even the kids were enjoying this pirate festival.
And now for a diva in the making.
Being a zoo member, I’ve seen many animal moms have babies (not literally). They are precious. Here are some.
Baby flamingo making a first appearance.They were kept inside until old enough to meet the public.Wolf’s Guenon. Mom and baby.Wolf’s Guenon Baby.Mom and baby giraffe.
More animals: Swans and cygnets; Geese and goslings.
There’s a certain joy when you are in the company of children–human or animal. For me there’s three levels of childhood flooding my memories: my childhood, my children and my grandchildren. And let’s not forget the puppies that have brought joy into our household. Yes, we seniors have wonderful memories bringing us joy. Thank you Tina for challenging us with this wonderful topic. When you post your youthful images, please link to Tina’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
Last week Egidio had us all listening to and singing our favorite tunes. I enjoyed reading about and listening to your selections. Next week Patti is challenging us, so be sure to look for her post.
If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.Â
For me, black and white images convey emotions because they accent texture and light. But not every images can be converted to black and white. So, when I had processed a sunset in color, I thought about converting it to monochrome. I had never taken a beautiful deep colored image and converted it. I always looked for the deep contrasts and textures. This image had those, but I’d lose the beautiful oranges and the sun’s rays. I tried it anyway. This sunset was taken at Gibson Ranch in Sacramento County.
Now for the emotions. A sunset always evokes emotion. Its beauty is calming, put a dad and his son fishing in the image–well, that’s love.
I can’t carry a tune. I can’t find the beat. But I love music!
Music fills my heart and soul with joy, love and sometimes sadness. I don’t care, I’ll sing along with my favorites no matter how bad I sound. Most of my favorites catch me because of their lyrics. They have to have meaning to me, and it helps if the instrumental portion is as beautiful as the lyrics.
However, Egidio challengedus to see the image and relate to the music it brings forth. For me, it came backwards. I feel the music and see the image. Kind of a twist, but that’s not unusual for me. Here are six of my favorites.
Here Comes the Sun. When I’m depressed, sad or just feeling down, I play this song. Written by George Harrison and made popular by the Beatles, I like Richie Havens version the best. His instrumental gets me dancing. By the way, I can’t dance either, but this song gets me moving and feeling the sun around me. Soon I’m out of my funk.
First light. Yosemite National Park.
Supermarket Flowers by Ed Sheeran. If you’ve buried your Mom, this song can’t help but bring back sweet memories. I think of my mom often, but especially when I listen to this song.
Tulips, Ananda Village, Nevada City
Piano Man by Billy Joel. I love this song for it’s message and instrumental. Joel’s lyrics take me out of my reality and into a bar filled with smoke and lonely people. Plus I enjoy listening to a piano, and this tune is exceptional.
Dave Bennett at the Sacramento Music Festival
Sound of Silence by Paul Simon. I’m not the first to pick this song as a favorite. I’ve been reading and listening to your posts and three of you have also picked this. Written by Simon and performed by Simon and Garfunkel, this song reaches my soul and I want to scream out we must do something. That something depends on what is happening in the world.
Lassen National Park
Forever Young by Rod Stewart. This song fills my heart, remembering when my children were infants and the love and light they brought into my life. I also remember seeing my grandchildren for the first time. Welcoming a child or grandchild into your life is an amazing experience and one never to be forgotten.
My younger set of grands at the Sacramento Zoo. Now they’re teens, but will be forever young to me.
Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn. This song brought me to Memphis and Beale Street during our cross country trip. Oh my, I just soaked it up. The small cafes with music inviting you in. I did ask one of the gals singing if she knew this song. She did and sang it for me. I don’t know where my mind went, but it was euphoric.
Beale Street, Memphis, TN. Can you guess it’s biker night!
Yes, music is an important part of my life.
Thanks Egidio for taking me on this musical trip. When you post your response, please remember to link to his post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Last week we all enjoyed doing and seeing abstracts as requested by Ritva. Next week Tina will be leading the challenge so be sure to look for her post.
I had a lot of fun with this challenge. Thank you Ritva! The fun came when I experimented with Photoshop filters and saw how I could change images. I also realized how I just compose photos for abstracts. Most of the images below are ones I put my lens close in or used a macro lens. So, let’s get started with my show and tell!
First, I have so much fun with intentional camera (lens) movement. Here are two taken at two different carnivals.
Now for some Photoshop filter fun. Can you see the two flowers in the first (left) photo? How about the bridge going over the stream in the center photo? The one on the right is easier–reflection of trees in the water.
Now for the images I took naturally with close ups.
As I said, I enjoyed experimenting and discovering more about how I take photos. Once again, thanks Ritva. When you reply to her post with your abstracts, please remember to link to Ritva’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
We did some rock climbing, walking and just admiring last week in response to Donna’s challenge. I enjoyed your responses. Next week Egidio is challenging us, so be sure to look for his post.
This week Monochrome Madness is hosted by Sarah from Travel With Me. She has chosen everyday objects. While at the beach, I happened to see this bit of trash roadside near in Half Moon Bay. Unfortunately it is an everyday object!
It’s no wonder rocks rock our world. They are everywhere. So Donna’s challenge this week should be easy, but there are so much to choose from. I limited myself to two years and began searching. Here’s what I found in 2015 and 2016.
I found that rocks and water make wonderful effects like waterfalls and water sprays.
Locally, we have a town named Rocklin. Can you guess why? If you thought it was the sight of quarries you’re right. The site of Griffith Quarry is now a park.
Rocks are also abundant along rivers. The following pictures were taken along the South Fork of the Yuba River.
South of Sacramento in Gold Country is Sonora. We visited our friends who live there during the wildflower season.
I do have a much larger rock to show you. This was taken near the town of Bridgeport on the way to the ghost town Bodie.
I’ll close with an image taken on the shore of local Folsom Lake.
There are many more opportunities for finding rocks and mountains in Northern California.
When you respond to this challenge, please remember to link it to Donna’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Last week we all learned more about ways to edit our photos in John’s “Before and After” challenge. I totally enjoyed reading all of your editing methods. Next week Ritva is challenging us so be sure to look for her post.
It seems like I’m always confessing in these LAPC blog challenges. Well, here’s another one. John has challenged us to show how we edit images. I don’t edit that much and use Lightroom most of the time. I’ll go into NIK, Topaz and Photoshop for minor help, but that’s about it. It’s not that I’m against other editing programs, I’ve just never taken the time to learn them.
With that said, here’s my first image before and after. This was taken recently at Dry Creek in Roseville. The sun was bright and the trees provided shade, but not all the way. This resulted in roots that were bright and dark. The editing was done in Lightroom with the adjustment brush to burn in some of the roots. Then I toned down the shadows and brightened the image a bit. Then I intensified the color with the orange color slider. Original is on the left and Edited one is on the right.
Next is Rush Ranch taken in January. It was a foggy day which didn’t bother me. I love the mood fog gives an image. But it can leave it dull. In this one, I brightened it with the tone curve, added more contrast, did a sky select and used the blue slider to accent the fog. In Photoshop, I removed the insect trap on the right. I use Photoshop when I want to remove something from a picture.
This flower was photographed last month at Jensen Botanical Garden. I cropped the photo to make the flower larger. I also lightened the background a bit and used the Lightroom sharpener for good measure.
I believe composition is most important. Sometimes I photograph a tight composition and sometimes I give enough room for me to finish composing in editing. My first two examples were framed tight in the camera and this one wasn’t.
Thanks John for having us think about how we edit (or not), and how we can learn from how others edit. When you respond, please link to John’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Last week we had fun with Sofia’s Water in Motion challenge. I enjoyed seeing all your various responses. Dawn is presenting next week’s challenge so look for her post.
Crazy title, right! But it’s true. Dry Creek in Roseville has an abundance of water because of all the rain we’ve had this winter. This lovely creek is next to a community park, and sees lots of kids enjoying a summer swim.
However, when Ray and I went there yesterday, there were downed trees and broken limbs all over the shoreline. I’m thinking they will have to do some cleanup before the summer heat hits so the kids will be safe.
Here are some pictures of our short outing.
I enjoyed the short time at the creek and the sunshine. We’re supposed to get more rain tonight and tomorrow. I read in the newspaper that our snow level is way above normal which is a good sign for a long ski season and the summer. Take care everyone!
Slow Shutter Speed 