There are challenges and there are challenges! This post is late because we need to drive up to Reno last night to help my son who is sick. At 12 pm EST today we were in emergency with him. He will be okay. So let’s get on with my original post and see some local vistas. Thank you for your patience.

Sometimes you need a nudge to realize what’s going on around you. For me that nudge was photography. Before I found this passion, I really wasn’t paying much attention to what the greater Sacramento area had to offer. I was busy caregiving to my mom, being daytime guardian for my older grandkids, running a part-time business and helping in the family business when needed.

But wonderful grandkids grow up, my mom passed away and eventually, I shut down my business. I had a void to fill, and I chose to fill it with photography. And how lucky I am to live in the Sacramento area. There is so much to see, so much to enjoy and so much to photograph.

Here are some of our local Sacramento Vistas

You know how much I enjoy the Sacramento Zoo. It’s going to be moving a little further away, but still in Sacramento County. The cheetah is enjoying his bone and the Wolf’s Gueron is snacking away too.

We have two rivers for our enjoyment. Old Sacramento sits on the Sacramento River. It’s a great place for tourists, families and is home to the Sacramento Railroad Museum. First is a view of the waterfront from the iconic Tower Bridge and then a sunset image of the Tower Bridge.

Not far from Old Sacramento is the Capitol Mall. I think we have a most beautiful capitol building and its grounds include the World Peace Garden. Here is a picture of the Capitol dome on a full moon night.

Moving into Sacramento City, each year we host Wide Open Walls. Artists come from all over to paint bright and beautiful murals on our buildings’ walls. This is a yearly festival, and most building owners keep the murals up. Some are fading already. This one touched my heart last year. It will always be a reminder of the pandemic and its heroes.

Discovery Park is close by and is part of the American River Parkway (A trail that is 32 miles along the American River.) The trail is for bicyclists and runners. It has picnic facilities. The golden hour adds to its beauty.

Let’s move further down the trail to the Effie Yeaw Nature Center which is part of a “100-acre nature preserve with riparian and oak woodlands, shrub lands, meadows, and aquatic habitats.” There we find deer, turkeys, coyotes, raptors, snakes, etc. Here is one of the inhabitants we come upon most of the time.

I can’t end this post without showing you our sister county, Yolo. We leave our suburbs and in just a few minutes we’re in Yolo County or should I say “country!” Here is where we go to photograph our rural scenes and sunflowers.

And we just have to go over the Tower bridge to the Vic Fazio Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area to find wildlife.

Now you can see why I love living here. But I bet you love your area too. What are your local vistas? Where do you photograph when you don’t have a lot of time or are not on vacation? What about your hometown excites you? Is it the countryside, city, gardens, amusement venues? This week, tell us about and show us your local vistas.

Remember to link to this post as you share your local vistas and use the Lens-Artists tag. Last week we all had fun with Sofia’s Minimalism/Maximalism challenge. So many interpretations and creativity came from all of you. Next week our guest host Sylvia Bacon will present a great challenge so stay tuned!

 If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, just click this link and join us: https://photobyjohnbo.wordpress.com/about-lens-artists/

107 thoughts on “Lens-Artists #203: Local Vistas”

  2. Pingback: Lens-Artists Challenge #203 – Local Vistas | Travels and Trifles

  3. Wonderful post Anne – and thanks for joining us especially in light of your son’s illness. Hoping he’s having a full recovery. Loved both your subject this week and the images you shared to highlight your beautiful area. Your capitol building image is truly stunning!

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  11. Pingback: Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: Tickled #Pink – Second Wind Leisure Perspectives

  12. Ah, my former hometown, Anne! You brought me some wonderful memories of places I visited more often than not. The shot of the capitol with the pink moon is a stunner. Love the sunflowers of Yolo County, although I never saw them when I lived there for two years in the early 80s. I used to play softball with my friends on a team surrounded by tomato fields. I hope all is well with your son! I took the liberty of adding your post to my pink-themed post this week.
    Joining you today with my Sunday Stills post: https://secondwindleisure.com/2022/06/12/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-tickled-pink/

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  13. Good to know your son is okay! And these photos and story do remind us to look around and see our own places, as there is more to be seen than we suspect. Nice work – and that moon over the capitol is just great!

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  15. Thank you for committing to posting the challenge despite your son’s illness ❤ I’m so pleased he’s expected to make a good recovery! You clearly live a beautiful place, with the best of city and countryside. Your photo of the Capitol building with the moon is stunning and I love the sunflower shots 🙂

    Thanks too for the chance to share some places close to my own home. It’s a timely reminder that we don’t have to travel far to find beauty and interest: https://www.toonsarah-travels.blog/gallery-on-our-doorstep/

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  16. Anne, I’m so sorry your son was sick. This is a beautiful post. You are such a professional in all aspects of the word.

    I love the Sacramento area and our son lives there so we get there as often as we can. The next time we come, we want to rent for a month or so and really spend some quality time there.

    Do you have some favorite pictures from your post? I love the golden hour view of the American River Parkway. I’d love to walk some of that next time we come. The moon over the capital is stunning. Each of them has its own beauty. Have a great week.

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      1. It’s hard to pick favorites when they all are attached to great memories. I’m going to respond to your LAPC challenge on Wednesday in my Father’s Day Writer’s Quotes Wednesday post. I sorted out pictures last night for several hours. LOL

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  17. Pingback: Lens-Artists Challenge: Local Vistas | The Life in My Years
  21. Pingback: Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #203: Local Vistas – nowathome

  23. Good to know that your son is better. Wish him a quick and full recovery. Great shots here. I really liked the wetland with stork, beautiful light and a great subject. The moon shot is another lovely image, with that dome in front, and so is the golden light on the grass next to the running/cycling track. But really, all of them.

    Mumbai- an overview

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  26. Pingback: Santiam Wagon Road 2 hike: LAPC - bend branches

  30. I loved this challenge! And I admit, I felt bad to hear your son had an emergency, and you still got this out. I am glad to hear he is ok. So onward to this fantastic challenge. I not only enjoyed seeing the diversity in your area of the country, but I also loved your brief story of how you hopped into photography. Thank goodness we are all privy to your talent here. I loved the Sacramento Zoo photos, and then with a jump to the capital mall we get that moon, and finally the nature center. I think what I loved most about the challenge was reading others posts, and learning a little more about “them” and where they live. I think you drew out some passion. Very nice. I will keep your son in my thoughts. Donna

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    1. Thank you Donna! I’m so glad you enjoyed this challenge and also the replies given. I still need to catch up on our participants’ posts. I’m learning a lot about different cities, some I would not be able to get to except through their pictures. And thanks for sending healing thoughts out for my son.

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  31. Pingback: Local Vistas – Brashley Photography

  32. THese are beautiful. I love the waterfront and sunset bridge. I live in SW Washington state and there are so many beautiful places. I need to get out with my camera more.

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  33. Glad to hear your son is going to be alright, Anne! And this is such a beautiful post and a great theme. You do live in a very beautiful area of the world! Love your images, all of them, but the favourite must be the golden hour and the Capitol moon – stunning. I always love your images from zoo, where you manage to capture their faces and gestures in a way that I can almost feel their physical presence. Thank you for hosting!

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    1. Thanks Ann-Christine! I’m glad I brought my laptop and had the post ready to publish otherwise it would have been a total disaster. You just never know what tomorrow will bring.

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  36. Sorry to hear your son was sick; hope he is doing ok now. We’ve made plenty of quick trips to help our daughter when she was in AZ, so I know how stressful that can be.

    You have beautiful photos! I am missing NorCal. I didn’t know the zoo was moving; I hope it is open when we go up there in October. Also, great shot of the full moon behind the capitol building!

    Here is mine for this week: https://peacefulatdawn.com/2022/06/14/lens-artists-203-local-socal-vistas/

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  37. Pingback: White, Red, Yellow, Blue | What's (in) the Picture?

  41. Beautiful pictures of the clouds and the full moon, Anne! The mural showing local heroes is special. I hope they keep it up. A couple of my favorite local murals have been painted over recently.

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