I hope all of you mothers have had a wonderful special day. I received texts and calls from family members. We also had a delicious and filling brunch with Greg and Jess and the grandkids. So here I sit ready to talk and show you where my photography passion has taken me now.
I now know that even if the outing doesn’t give you great weather, clouds or scenery, there’s always a picture worth taking and processing. Negro Bar, a State park in Folsom was sort of a disappointment since it was crowded with people and there wasn’t a promise of a great sunset. But I walked around and in the short time we were there shot these images, including visitors, people kayaking and the historic Rainbow Bridge:
My next visit was a surprise one and stretched the limits of my walk around lens, 18 – 140 mm. Marlene and I were scrapbooking at Betty Carol’s home. During a breat she took us to a special tree in Lincoln. I call the tree the Nesting Tree because of all the nests and variety of birds in it. I’ve never seen anything like it. I really couldn’t capture anything good with the lens I had with me, so I went back the following Wednesday. This time I was ready with my F/4 300 mm prime lens! It’s amazing what you can see with a little extra reach. I found Great Egrets and Blue Herons. A few weeks later, I brought Laura to the tree. She caught even more with her 600 mm lens, and saw more species. Here’s what I captured:
So, when Jess asked me what I’ve been doing lately, I talked about photo outings. Yes, photography has become a good part of my life! Again, Happy Mother’s Day!
Slow Shutter Speed 
Really nice work, Anne! I take it the Rainbow Bridge is in Sac? i think I have seen it driving through on the freeway. The bird pictures are gorgeous – what lenses did you use . . . and now are you ready to fork over some $ for one, or two, or three . . . ! If you shoot Nikon I think there is an 80-400 with a good reputation.
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Thanks -N-. The Rainbow Bridge is in Folsom, and I don’t think you can see it from the freeway. Now for lenses. All of my lenses were bought used, this one is an old F4/300 mm prime lens. On my crop sensor Nikon, that brings it out to about 450 mm. It’s great for birding and maybe the zoo, but not much else. My problem is holding it still even with image stabilization. Shooting with a high shutter speed helps, but then the ISO is up. I think if I spend any more on gear, it will be for a good mirrorless. But then I’d have to buy new lenses too! I keep saying that I started this hobby 20 years too late!!
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Happy belated Mother’s day, Anne!! I hope you had a great day celebrating it with your family! Even if in Spain is a week earlier, I celebrated it with my mum here in Switzerland, hehehe (so she had two Mother’s days this year!)
I know what you mean. It’s funny how photography can become something that important in your life!! You end up spending so much time searching and planning for locations, taking photos, editing them, writing about them… I think I’m not that wrong when I call my cameras “my babies”, hehehe. In the end, this is a passion that brings a lot of good things and unique moments (ok, also a bit of frustration some times…).
And great photos!!! The one with the bridge and the reflections is gorgeous!! It has great colors and details!! And I love the egrets and herons building their nests. The last photo is my favourite, the heron landing in the nest with its partner. Well done!!!
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Thanks Mercedes. I’m so glad you were able to celebrate Mother’s Day with your Mom. There’s an emptiness when they are no longer with us. Not only are our cameras our babies, they provide us with an escape where we can leave the everyday world behind and enjoy nature and the beauty of cities. I need to photograph more city and architecture, but that’s hard living in Sacramento!
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