December 2023 – Slow Shutter Speed

Posted on December 16, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 46 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #280: Last Chance

It’s not very often in life that you get a second or last chance. It’s like seeing a purse in a store that you like but can’t decide to buy it. You go back to get it the next day, and it’s gone. Today Tina gives us that second chance, and our photos aren’t going away!

I had fun looking through my early years of photography to avoid Tina’s one rule of not having posted the image in LAPC before. Here are my choices.

Thanks to Ann-Christine for reminding us that there is still magic in this world in her challenge last week. I enjoyed seeing your memorable, magical posts. And thanks to Tina for this fun challenge. When you respond to her post, please link to it and use the Lens-Artists tag. Right now, WordPress is having trouble with the Lens-Artists tag in the reader, but we are making every effort to see all your posts.

And now for some end of the year news from the LAPC team: After having been an integral part of our team since its inception in June of 2018, Amy of Share and Connect will be leaving the team to begin an exciting new adventure. She and her husband will be traveling more extensively and making some happily-anticipated visits with family. We wish her all the best and look forward to her posts as she continues to respond to our challenges whenever possible. We are also announcing that this will be the final Lens-Artists challenge of 2023. We will return on January 6 to begin the New Year with our traditional Favorite Photos of 2023. We look forward to seeing you all again then. In the meanwhile we wish all who celebrate the happiest of holidays as well as a peaceful and joy-filled 2024.

See you in 2024. Have a great New Years and stay safe!

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 35 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #279: Magical

I remember going to the Magic Castle in Los Angeles to watch the magicians perform. Wow, what a treat. But that’s magic created by humans. Ann-Christine’s challenge this week is to find magic in special people, places, things, nature, adventures, childhood memories, etc.

Mother Nature’s magic is a little different. Well, not a little. She creates weather patterns that we enjoy, giving us sunshine, rain, fog, etc. Sometimes there’s too much rain or not enough. That’s the magic of the Salmon Fall Bridge. It disappears under the Amercian River when there’s a lot of rain and reappears during a drought.

Now a State Historic Landmark, Salmon Falls is a former settlement and gold mining town in on the South Fork of the American River It was flooded by the construction, in the 1950s, of Folsom Lake. Waterfalls were nearby and that’s how the town got its name.

Salmon Falls is usually under water throughout much of the year. However, at low-water levels old foundations, roads, and the old Salmon Falls Bridge are easily accessible. That is when we hiked down to it.

In the following pictures, you can see the bridge in the distance, some of the town’s ruins, one of my photo buddies navigating the stream, and teepees that some kids had fun making.

We’re getting close now. The stone bridge is truly a beautiful structure. I liked the shadows and the reflections in the water.

We’ve crossed the bridge and walked downstream a bit where there is more water. Back upstream visitors had fun piling rocks to form cairns. Will they last through the next flood situation?

They are predicting some heavy rains for this area this winter. I’m wondering what magic Mother Nature has in store for us!

Thank you, Ann-Christine, for reminding us that there is still magic to behold. Please link to her original post when you create your magical experience and use the Lens-Artist tag. I enjoyed seeing your unique responses to Amy’s challenge last week. Tina will be presenting next week’s challenge so look for her blog post.

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 40 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #278: Unique

What is unique to some, may not be unique to others. It all depends on your life experiences. This week, Amy is asking us to post pictures of places and things unique to us. Since I began photography as a hobby 10 years ago, I have been to places that were surprisingly different/amazing to me.

Let’s start with the Coachella Valley Preserve in Thousand Palms, California. I had never seen an oasis before, and here was one in the California desert. You can see a large cluster of palm trees in the middle of a desert. As we walked through the preserve, we saw pools of water that fed the thirsty trees.

Have you ever tried light painting? Yes, painting with light and captured with your camera. You can’t do it alone because someone needs to hold the light source. And, of course, it has to be dark. One of my camera groups hosted this unique experience.

I remember seeing a giant sequoia for the first time. That definitely was a WOW experience. The sequoias occur naturally only in groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California. They can grow up to 279 tall and have a diameter of 20 to 26 feet. This is one tree you just can’t hug!

Redding California is home to the Sun Dial Bridge. It’s a steel, glass, and granite bridge that crosses the Sacramento River and is simply beautiful, especially at night. This bridge is one of the largest sundials in the world. Its shadow traces an arc that is so big it can record time for only four hours a day, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. When visible, the shadow moves about one foot per minute.

The Folsom Powerhouse is “an example of the tremendous advance in the commercial application of electricity. H.P. Livermore realized that the water of the American River could turn generators for electricity in Sacramento, 22 miles downstream. With his partners, Livermore built the powerhouse, which still looks much as it did in 1895.” During a docent led tour, of the small facility we learned how amazing this was. And it was certainly unique in that time.

Yes, my camera has shown me many unique places. I’m sure there will be more to come.

Please remember to link to Amy’s post when you respond to this challenge and use the Lens-Artist tag in the reader. Last week, thanks to Patti, we enjoyed seeing many empty spaces and variations on the theme. I appreciated your imagination and photography. Next week Ann-Christine will be leading the challenge so be sure to look for her post. Until then, stay safe this holiday season.