We’re getting closer to the second miracle of this season. First was Chanukah and now it’s Christmas. I love to take images of the decorated lights on houses and in yards. So Jean and I went out for my second round of taking photos of lights.
I thought this house sent the religious message of Christmas along with some fun snow men, plus a snowman zoom.
This next display starts in the front yard with a patriotic theme and ends with a “Frozen” theme on the side yard and around the corner. It was well done. Of course, I’m thinking of power and how much it costs to run the lights. But, this was an enjoyable exhibit.
Last, I’m showing you the first display we saw. It was simple and beautiful. And, yes, I had to zoom!
Have a great Christmas. Let’s hope next year let’s hope for another miracle and we’ll be back with families and friends! Stay safe everyone.
Ann Christine’s challenge propelled me back in time and brought me back to the now. As a kid, I didn’t look forward to this time of the year. Most of my friends celebrated Christmas, and my Jewish friends celebrated Chanukah. Each received wonderful gifts. My family didn’t have money for gifts, but we had a family menorah (or Chanukkiah). I remember we’d light the candles each night, but going to school and hearing the other kids talk about presents was tough.
This is why I started collecting menorahs, and gave each of my children, their spouses and grandchildren their own Chanukkiah. At our Chanukah celebrations, we’d light them all and turn off the lights. I delighted in watching the candles burn. When I see these lights, I’m reminded neither Christmas or Chanukah originated with gifts, but with love and hope.
Now we have a blended family and I get to participate in both Chanukah and Christmas. I love to go and photograph decorated homes.
Most of all, I like to zoom the lights and rotate my camera while the shutter is open.
Although we didn’t get down there this year, my favorite place is California’s Capitol building and tree. The building is beautiful in its own right, and the tree adds a wonderful holiday feeling.
My wish for you is to have a safe and wonderful holiday season! We need patience and resilience in 2021.
Precious moments are those times that get us through the difficult times. Remembering them fills our beings, making the dark more bright. Amy’s choice of Precious Moments couldn’t have come at a better time. We all need to come out of the dark and into the light.
My precious moments revolve around my children and grandchildren. In this post, I’m sharing images of my wonderful grandchildren. I have two sets and they are far apart in age. I was at the same elementary school for 16 years! After adopting two boys, we had a natural child, a boy of course.
My oldest John, who passed away, left us with two wonderful grandkids. Madison and Christopher. Here are their prom and graduation photos.
Christopher agreed to have his picture taken before he left for his prom. With him right after graduation are his mom, Teresa, and sister.
Madison’s prom and graduation came 2 years later.
Madison and Christopher are now grown with homes and loved ones.
The younger set belong to my son Greg and daughter-in-law Jessica. We were so excited to welcome Ryan and Olivia to our family in 2011. We had a family party in celebration of Olivia’s first birthday. Ryan was three.
Two special moments I was able to capture was at the Sacramento Zoo in 2013.
Although older now, 11 and 9 years, they still are close siblings. Here they walk the zoo hand in hand.
We were across from the flamingos when Olivia noticed the plastic birds. Just from the look on her face, I think Olivia thought they were real.
My last precious moment occurred on Valentine’s Day 2015. The kids were spending the night with us while their parents went out. We prepared a small celebration with some gifts. Ryan used all his stickers on his grandfather. I thought that it was a generous share!
These children are my precious every things. They feed my heart and soul. It’s true, you have children so you can have grandchildren!
I know that Sandhill Cranes like to gather in the middle of a field which puts them out of reach for my prime 300 mm lens. I go to photograph them because sometimes they are closer to the road. In fact one year they were beside the road. I remember yelling at Laura to stop the car while we were in the middle of our side of the road. No other car was in sight and I got great images!
This time Ray and I were joining two other photo buddies at Woodbridge Ecological Preserve to catch the Sandhill fly in. I knew I would have trouble getting them even with my 300 mm lens. I actually thought since we were meeting at 3:30 p.m., we would be driving around for about 45 minutes, and maybe we could catch some of them closer to the road. We didn’t drive around!
We spent the entire time at Woodbridge. The Sandhills were there, but in the middle of the field. Too far for me. I tried with my Nikon D7100 which performs poorly in low light. That’s the camera the big lens fits on. I started taking pictures, but wasn’t happy with any of them.
So I thought, what’s 100 mm less? I learned it means a lot! But my Fuji is much better in low light, so I took it out and started shooting with a 55 – 200 mm lens. I would have gone home, but I wasn’t driving. Since I had both cameras on burst, I had a lot of bad photos to go through the next day! The Fuji managed to get a few okay Sandhill images and a nice mostly cloudless sunset!
So there you have it! Lesson learned; ask what the agenda is for the evening! Those pesky Sandhills.
I love the letter “A” not only because it is the first letter of my name, but it’s also for Apple Hill in Placerville. That’s the first thing that came to my mind when I read Patti’s post that gave us this challenge.
Of course in Apple Hill they grow apples. Imagine that! Each year the Apple Hill Growers Association organizes this event. Growers in the area open their orchards/farms, a certain amount, to the public. They sell pies, cupcakes, jelly or caramel apples, anything apple. I don’t care for pie, but the cupcakes and donuts are delicious. I do bring home a large slice of apple pie for Richard.
We spend the day driving from place to place, exploring the grounds and buying fruit from the fruit stands. It’s a wonderful photo day. Because of the pandemic, we didn’t go this year. However, I do have images to show you from previous years.
People of all ages come to enjoy the grounds, pony rides and food.
The grounds at some of the orchards are simply beautiful.
There are also a few old trucks, museum sets, and flowers.
I’m hoping that the pandemic will be over next year. I did miss visiting Apple Hill this year, but didn’t want to risk the crowds. Take care and stay safe everyone!
Just say these words to me “road trip and camera,” and I’m ready for a fun morning. So off Ray, Marlene and I went, meeting Lucille and Gert along the way, to find some Fall color. We started outside of Lincoln, California in Placer County and drifted around the area. We saw touches of color during our drive, stopping where we could. I do wish farmers would create parking for us!
Here’s our first stop. The trees were bright red, but the lighting was not that good and a fence was prominent. They dying grape vines gave a nice orange hue.
I followed Lucille around the corner. This is what she found.
Our second stop was up the road at a county park that was already full. They let us in so we could use the bathroom. It was a long bathroom break!
Our third and last stop came as we were on our way home. We stopped when we saw orange blazing on the hillside.
So, while we didn’t find amazing Fall color, we did find amazing photographic opportunities. I love those road trips because you never know where you’ll end up or what photos are waiting for you to take.
Slow Shutter Speed 