What I love about the “Shoot Or Go Home” photography meetup group is the small, close to home opportunities they offer. Tuesday we ventured to Gibson Ranch (about 10 minutes away) for a photo walk and sunset shoot. I wasn’t feeling well, but I needed to do something I enjoyed after losing the trailer and missing out on a weekend away.
Gibson Ranch is a park where people board horses, organizations hold events and individuals picnic. It was a Sacramento County park, but is now being run by a private company. I think the County still owns the park but has leased it out. We met at 6:30 p.m. and proceeded to walk the area around the stables. It was a small group, so I had a chance to meet some of them. Mary and “Goose” helped me with my prime 50 mm lens. I’m still having troube getting the exposure correct. After enough frustration, I switched back to my zoom lens.
The setting sun created a challenge for exposure no matter what. I’m so glad I’m learning Lightroom. We all gathered at the small lake to shoot the sunset. This was my first time shooting a sunset for HDR, The sunset wasn’t all that spectacular, but I had fun processing the HDR and was pleased with the various results.
So, here are some of the images captured Tuesday night with the “Shoot Or Go Home” photo group.
Gibson Park is a great place to relax.
Owner and her horse.
Inside the stables.
Walking the dog.
Looking down the road.
Another view of the stables.
I always learn new things when I go out on these outings. The horses wear this on their heads to keep the flies from their eyes.
You know I like trees.
A rider is about to exercise his horse.
View of the stables.
A sun burst through the trees.
This is the “Painterly” preset in Photomatix.
A slightly different image in monochrome.
This was done with the default preset.
This was taken the day after from our truck window as we were driving south on I-5 after we had emptied out the trailer. I thought the sky was worthy of an attempt!
Yes, I teach myself lessons all the time. However, they are never planned or easy! Yesterday, not feeling well, I decided I needed to go up to Dry Creek, practice HDR and work with my new prime 50 mm lens. I was bummed out because we were supposed to be in Adin, California at a star party. I was looking forward to trying some night sky photography. But our trailer lost a wheel and axle in Anderson and we came home with the truck loaded with our clothes, food, camera gear and telescopes.
So, you can understand why I needed to do some photography at my favorite, close-by creek. Dry creek which is usually quiet was teeming with families on every possible square inch of beach area. They were just enjoying the water, but it was difficult to find a spot to do some HDR. I did find a couple of areas, and set up my tripod. But, without photo buddy Jayne with me, it was a struggle (She helps me a lot!). Now I am totally one with the tripod, having won the battle. I do have tenacity! It wasn’t until I was taking the images off the SD card that I realized I was shooting JPEGs and not RAW files.
Also, I’m learning to speak up for the sake of a picture. I did ask a woman who was going to take an empty chair if she could leave it so I could take my shot. Then another woman, who didn’t own the chair sat in it. I politely asked her to move while I took my shot. They were very understand and obliging. I would have been faster if it weren’t for my struggles with the tripod.
I was only there an hour and couldn’t believe I had taken 72 pictures, but I did. What lessons did I learn? First, if you’re not feeling well, stay home. Second, practice with the tripod and check the camera before you leave. And, third, people are nice and willing to help you–just speak up. Here’s the result of my efforts.
This is the infamous chair. I used the “painterly” preset and more editing in Lightroom on this one.
This HDR image was shot with my prime 50 mm lens. I liked the root systems of the two trees. I really don’t know what is in the background beyond the creek. If I was feeling better I might have paid more attention. I think this was done using the “smooth” preset and some Lightroom editing.
I just wanted to see how the new lens and HDR would handle the contrast of shadow and light. I was out in the golden hours. I think it did well.
I shot this with the new lens and thought it look better as a monochrome image. I was trying to get a sunburst, but ended up with lens flares too. The woman walking just added to the composition.
In my backyard practicing close up work with the 50 mm. It’s a 1.8 and I’m just not used to it yet.
My favorite rose. I’ll have to go back to it when those buds open.
I finally did it! Yes, I downloaded some HDR software and processed my first images. I didn’t do much more than their presets, but it’s a beginning. Thank you photo buddy Jayne West who gently pushed me into taking bracketed shots on two separate outings. That gave me some photos to work with.
Why did I wait so long? I thought it would be too difficult to learn. But, it wasn’t–at least loading in the photos, choosing a preset and modifying the image slightly. I know the program, Photomatix Pro, has many more features, and I’ll learn them in time. In fact, we will be heading to a star gazing party for four days/nights in Adin California. It’s a cute small town so I’ll have more opportunities to practice HDR. I’m also going to try to do some night sky photography. I printed out many tutorials just in case we don’t have cell reception. Did I mention that we are dry camping in a cow pasture!
Since I finally did it, here are my first three HDR images. All advice is most welcome.
This was taken this month at the Davis Arboretum. I like the way it shows the highlights without blowing them out. I tried to keep it as natural as possible.
This was taken during our outing to Capay Valley in February this year. There were many presets that would help make this look like a painting, surreal, etc., but again I wanted it to look natural.
This close up looks like some HDR images I’ve seen. I like it.
With two rivers, the Sacramento and American rivers, winding through the valley, the greater Sacramento area has a lot to offer photographers who want to capture local beauty. One such place is the UC Davis Arboretum. I’ve posted images from this garden spot twice before. The last was taken during the winter when nothing was blooming, but we were able to capture the golden hour lighting which added so much to our pictures.
Now, it’s summer and plants are blooming even though we are in a drought. Fortunately, the entire arboretum runs along a stream and is somewhat shaded. Each section has different plants. This week, my photo buddy Jayne and I went to walk it. It wasn’t as pretty as the first time I saw it. Water was plentiful then. I love this arboretum because you can keep going back and see different things.
I’ll be returning before the summer ends since we only walked about half the arboretum. It is so great to have such a wonderful place close.
At various points the stream widens.
Here’s looking at you!
We followed this Great Egret and found it resting on a branch.
Time to preen.
Standing duck!
I thought it was amazing how this plant just wound its way around the gazebo pole and grew through the roof.
The arboretum has beautiful lawns and shaded seating.
Jean walks along the path with her gear.
A plant near the water.
I don’t know whether this tree is thirsty or wants more sun!
Dead root system makes an interesting abstract.
More plants along the water.
A plant close up.
This dock is semi attached. If you can do a long jump, you can get on it.
Oh, did I sleep soundly the second night in the house by the river. I was woken up at 7 a.m. by my husband’s phone call. And, yes, I was the first up again!
I really didn’t feel like going down the stairs, so I put my telephoto lens on the camera and went out onto the back deck. I proceeded to shoot the river and the many birds that were on the lawn and in the trees. What fun! I continued until others started waking up. Then my chore began.
I was the cook for this morning’s breakfast which was simply eggs, bagels, cream cheese and fruit. I made the eggs to order, and everyone seemed to like it. After breakfast, we all pitched in and cleaned up the house for the next guests. But, our day didn’t end there. We women did go to an outlet center near Redding California to shop. We invited Ron, but he politely declined. Well, it was more like a “heck no.”
We didn’t shop til we dropped, but none of us went home empty handed. And, Julie and I shared lunch. You know which two of the four of us spent more cash!
By the time I arrived home, it was about 7 p.m. I unpacked the car, ate some dinner and went to bed. It was a long day and I slept soundly again this time in my home. Here are some of that morning’s images.
The early Robin gets the worm. He’s pulling it out of the ground.
Now he’s preparing to eat it or take it back to a nest.
Here’s another robin in a tree.
This one tried to hide in a tree. But I, the mighty hunter, found him anyway. I tried to find it in my bird book, but couldn’t. Does anyone know what it is?
It doesn’t pay to way up early even though you catch wonderful images. I know this because by the time we went geocaching, my early morning rise was beginning to show on my body. In spite of this, I did have a good time.
Geocaching is like going on a scavenger hunt–an organized scavenger hunt. First you check out the geocaching website to find hints to where small treasures are hidden. Anyone can hide a cache and register it on the website along with hints to find the treasure. Karen checked the website and printed out the hints at her Sacramento home (She doesn’t have a printer in Trinity.). She’s very organized and into this hobby and even has a geocaching GPS.
We followed the instructions and hints and found all the caches we were out to get. Caches are hidden in small containers (Easier for hiding.) and are small items. If you want to take something, you have to replace it with another item before you put the container back. Karen travels around with a small box of cute items just in case she wants to take something. You might find paperclips, well used pencils, and other not so useful stuff. You’ll also find a small pad of paper to sign when you find the cache. The paper, treasures and/or your replacement treasure go back into the container. The fun it in the hunt.
When you get back to your computer, you list where you went, whether you could find it and what shape the container of treasures is in. We did have one cache that the website posted as being elusive. We didn’t bother with that one because it may have been removed or moved to another location.
Sue proved to be the best hunter of all of us. I did manage to find one on my own and one with Karen’s help. The afternoon adventure also included lunch, some photo opportunities and a tube trip down Trinity River. I declined the tubing opportunity and took a couple of power naps. Julie stayed back also and read her book by the shoreline. How peaceful it is there. When I woke, I waded in the River and took more pictures.
Dinner was a delicious taco salad, and afterward we walked down the street. The deer were out and I shot some–with the camera of course! I slept well that night and didn’t wake up at 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning!
Julie shows what she found.
Karen is reading the small pad to see if she’s signed it before.
Sue shows off her find.
This is typical of a cache.
Some flowers I shot along the way.
This scene was across the road from one of the sites we visited.
Some flowers.
A decaying motor home.
Close up of the motor home.
Inside of the motor home.
A camper also left to decay in a field. How sad.
This “J” shaped tree hid one of the treasures.
Julie sits in it also.
A deer in the yard.
The river in early evening.
Another view of the property.
Ron attempts to catch dinner.
It was dusk and I was amazed at how well the camera captured the deer.
Darn an aging body. I woke up about 5:20 a.m. to use the bathroom (Yes I do check the time.), but couldn’t go back to sleep. So, I rolled out of bed at about 5:40 a.m. Put my sweats and jackets on, grabbed my camera and went outside to experience the river.
Right here I need to back track. Yesterday I said this was to be an all women’s weekend, but we did have a guy along. Karen’s husband Ron had work to do on the property and rode his motorcycle up. I knew Ron was getting up at 6 a.m. to do a controlled burn of excess brush and green waste. But, here I was the early bird, wishing I could have slept in.
However, the river didn’t disappoint me. It was beautiful at daybreak. The sun hadn’t come up yet and all was still. I walked the property, taking pictures and continued to come back to the river to catch the waking colors as the sun rose and hit the tree lined shore.
And, when Ron came down to start the controlled burn, he gave me an additional opportunity of capturing images. I’ve always enjoyed a campfire. We always had one when we camped with the kids; but now, we seldom leave the trailer and television in the evening when we travel.
The morning moved on, and I went in to put Julie’s breakfast casserole in the oven to bake. By the time it was done, only Sue was still asleep. She woke up just in time to eat and leave for the geocaching adventure. Tomorrow would be another day for trying to sleep in.
Enjoy the early morning at Trinity River images. Geocaching will be the subject of tomorrow’s post.
An old pump house on the property next door.
Good morning river!
Wildflowers along the rocky shore.
More shoreline.
You can see the sun hitting the tree tips.
I think most of the rocks here are volcanic. It just adds to their beauty.
The sun is hitting more of the trees now.
A closer view of the pump house.
Ron is starting his controlled burn.
Mother nature shows her tenacity. This patch of green is growing on the rock.
More sun is hitting the trees.
Ron’s controlled burn produces a beautiful fire.
The flames dance through the smoke.
The sun is up now, and you can see it sparkling on the water.
It started out as a women’s weekend coordinated with a group of six I belong to. Karen had offered to host the weekend at her vacation home in Trinity County–on the Trinity River. Three of us couldn’t go at the end for various reasons, so Karen’s friend Sue was a welcome addition. It ended up being exercise in a 3 1/2 mile hike that went straight up for the most part, an education in geocaching, a deliberate missing of an opportunity to go tubing down the river and experiencing the solitude and beauty of the Trinity River.
Today’s post is about the hike. When Karen said she planned for a hiking stop before we got to her house, she admitted that it would be about 3 miles round trip up to a water fall. She also admitted that it was up hill most of the way, and that when she went on that hike, she stopped to catch her breath. None of that rang warning bells inside my head probably because we are a multi-generational group of women who have become very close.
The hike was definitely up hill most of the way until we reached the water fall, and at age 71, I almost didn’t make it to the main top area. But, I pushed my body along. When I did get to the falls, Karen and Sue told me there were steps to the other two levels. I just looked at them and said, “No way!” Julie stopped midway because her bad knee couldn’t handle the incline. It was a beautiful hike, and I’m so glad I pushed myself to make it as far as I did.
Here are some of the pictures from the hike.
When we started the hike, I brought up the rear. Doesn’t look too bad yet!
Karen’s arms were getting sunburned so she covered them.
Julie poses while crossing on the first bridge.
If you’ve read this blog long enough, you know my passion for rocks. Because of the stream, the colors were deep and beautiful.
The wildflowers were vibrant also.
It was very wooded.
This was an amazing root system.
This tree was determined to grow no matter what!
Our second bridge.
We made it to the top.
Sue made it twice. She came down to see if we turned back. Actually, I was resting and Karen stayed with me.
Karen and Sue. They’ve been friends since childhood.
I managed to find a flat spot on a rock and took this picture of the three of us.
The bottom level of the falls.
Pretty wildflowers.
Manzanita. I just liked the shape.
This is an acorn, not a cute animal.
Wild lilac.
Heading down!
Julie was bored while waiting for us, she did this. Randy is her husband.
