I love it when I learn, and I did learn when we went to shoot fireworks. I had good luck when using my old point and shoot by putting it on a special setting. It did all the thinking. When I tried to shoot fireworks with my D3100 it was a mess. I just didn’t know how to set the camera and I didn’t have a tripod.
Fast forward a year and a half, Shoot Or Go Home Meetup group is going the shoot fireworks–A chance to learn. Our local minor league baseball team, the River Cats, have fireworks after their home games. We used the Tower Bridge to set the stage and waited. During that time, Mary, the group’s organizer, gave us a lesson on how to get the best images.
And then they started. We were all anxiously pressing down the shutter button. The show was short and we did our best. I was happy with what I got. What I was not happy with was my camera’s processing length. With a short show, every second of processing time seemed like minutes.
Afterwards, we went to capture some light trails. Since I’ve done that before, I was able to help two other women succeed. So the student became the teacher!
I do love both teaching and learning.
I love sunbursts. Shot this one as the sun was setting on the Sacramento River.
A restaurant sits on wood planks.
I like this building and never miss a chance to shoot it. The sky was also beautiful.
One train still uses these tracks.
The sunset.
The Tower Bridge after sunset.
The fireworks begin.
I could have shot more if my camera didn’t have such a lag time.
The Tower Bridge connects Sacramento to West Sacramento.
The show’s theme must have been “red, white and blue.”
What do the Milky Way, sunflowers and refrigerators have in common? Nothing really, except I experienced them all in one week.
Let’s start with the fridge. I bought a new fridge on June 9, it was delivered on June 11. By the time the installers were done, they had scratched one of the doors, and the ice maker didn’t turn off after 24 hours. Okay, they wanted to send out another fridge on Sunday. But I was supposed to spend the night up at Blue Canyon Airport with my husband Richard (our observatory is there) and a couple of my photo clubs were coming up to shoot the Milky Way. So I changed my plans and arranged to come home with another photographer.
While the Milky Way wasn’t spectacular, I did learn a great deal. This was the first time I was able to shoot it and not get a light tan background when processing in Lightroom. My fellow photographers were more than willing to help. And, they enjoyed mingling with the astronomers.
Back to the fridge which wasn’t delivered on Sunday because the order never made it to delivery. So the second fridge was to come on Monday, June 15. It did, but by the time the installers left, it had a dented door and again–the ice maker didn’t work. Richard discovered that the water had not been hooked up properly! The third fridge was scheduled to be delivered on Wednesday, June 17.
Meanwhile, Tuesday evening, Marlene and I went in search of sunflowers. By the time we found a field in Woodland, going to Davis first, the sun was low in the sky. Most of the sunflowers were in the process of turning around toward the sun and drooping. This was the first time I actually felt in total control. I decided to do close ups and take advantage of the back-lit flowers. I’m focusing on manual for about half my shooting time now. You’ll see the result. The old car was an added bonus. I shot HDR handheld.
Okay the fridge again, It was delivered on Wednesday and I warned the guys that they were to take care not to scratch or dent the doors. They were told to also install it properly and hook up the water. They thought I was a controlling nut case until I told them that this was the third unit.
No scratches or dents, but when my husband checked, the water was not hooked up! Richard hooked up the water while I thought I was living in a script of the Twilight Zone! This morning, my 72nd birthday, I went downstairs and saw about 10 ice cubes in the freezer bucket. I started singing the birthday song. This was a great present!
So was my week of the Milky Way, sunflowers and refrigerators!
These shots of the Milky Way may look the same, but the colors are different. This one is more green.
This image is more purple. We were experimenting with various white balances.
This image is closest to what I saw.
The bees love the sunflowers.
I wanted to capture the back-lighting on this flower.
Here I was going for the sunburst. With it came a sun flare.
Another back-lit image
A bunch of smaller flowers that hadn’t said goodnight yet.
This was the best “field” shot I could get.
Here a sunflower is emerging from the bud.
Another back-lit image.
I couldn’t resist something old and falling apart. Hey, I’m 72 now! This was a 5-bracketed handheld HDR.
It wasn’t supposed to be a journey’s end, but it was. We were going to take a day on our way home, from Sedona, to drive through Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Parks, but I fell on the way to Bakersfield. It’s amazing how people rush to help when you have gray hair! I’m okay–just a couple scrapes, one big bruise and a sore shoulder. With that happening, I decided it would be best to head home.
Yes, I’m disappointed because those National Parks are my favorite. I’ll try to get there in the fall. In the meantime, I want to show you a little of the Out of Africa Wildlife Park. This isn’t like a safari park where you drive through and the animals are walking about. This park is a sanctuary. On this trip, we saw a small animal show, a tiger swim and play show and rode through an area where the animals roamed free. You’ll see from the pictures that these animals are very used to humans, especially the giraffes! The zebras can become a little testy!
Tuzigoot is a National Monument of Native American ruins. When you see the small rooms, you’ll wonder what the Southern Sinagua tribe would think if they saw our large dwellings! We decided not to visit their other dwellings, Montezuma Castle and Well, because we saw them during our last visit.
Caterpillar Point was our last stop on this trip. It was a rocky stream bed, some small water falls and lots of wildflowers including a century cactus bloom.
Take a look at our last two days before we ended our journey and headed home.
The Tuzigoot ruins. Each one of these sections was a family dwelling.
Not only were they on the top of the hill, but on the slight slope.
Here is a stairway.
Looking down on more dwellings.
This little guy still lives here!
This parrot was part of the small animal show at Out of Africa.
I don’t remember what this one is called, but he sure is cute.
Again, I can’t remember this guy’s name either.
I know this one–a tiger. The park has a pair of siblings. But just one performs in the water show.
I just couldn’t focus through the fencing to make it disappear.
This is the tiger that loves to play with toys and in the water.
The toys are inflated and held at the end of a long pole. The handlers could pet the tiger, but do have to be careful during play.
We also attended the snake show. Yes, this is one snake. I had volunteered to enter the grass area where the show was.
Imagine wearing this when you go out for the evening!
Now we are on safari. They gave us celery to feed the giraffes. They don’t get along so one can’t be in the safari area.
Here one is eating a piece of celery.
The zoologist gives him a cookie.
And gets a kiss in gratitude from the giraffe.
The zebra is anticipating receiving a cookie.
Ope wide! The zebras are not as polite as the giraffes, so we were not allowed to feed them.
Here are the wildflowers at Caterpillar Point.
The bloom from the Century Cactus. I’ve never seen one in bloom before.
I have a bird book, but not a wildflower book. I think I’m satisfied to enjoy nature’s unamed beauty.
But, our time here has been wonderful. I didn’t tell you that we met our friends Sandy and Ken here. We also came to Sedona five years ago with them. It’s been great sharing this beautiful area with them. Tonight I’m going to show you some more highlights. Please understand that we did not go into Sedona proper, just through it. It’s become crowded and commercial with so many timeshare companies wanting to sell their plans. And, now if you don’t want to go on one of the many jeep tours, you can rent your own.
We didn’t rent one, didn’t go on a jeep tour, but decided to take the scenic Verde Canyon Railroad 4-hour ride. None of us was up for long hikes this trip. We also walked and stepped over the stream at the Call of the Canyon, state park. So here are some images from those activities.
Yes, the week went by so fast that I’ll have to continue showing you this trip on the way home.
The North Fork is a beauty.
Red rock, shear walls and water.
The colors in the rock walls are tremendous.
The walls have been polished and smoothed by the water.
Reflections can be seen.
Unusual formations add to the color.
It was just thrilling to be here.
On the way back to the parking lot.
On the train ride, their were several open air cars that facilitated our taking pictures.
Here you can see one of those cars.
I think this is the Verde river.
This unusual rock formation juts out from the mountain.
A pyramid!
I liked the formation of these mountains.
The train came very close to the mountain wall.
Here we’re going through a tunnel.
This is what is left of Perkinsville.
House and pasture land.
On our way back to Clarkdale.
Dinner after the train trip. From left: Anne, Sandy, Ken and Richard.
Days! I do wish we had more days here in Sedona. Full days push us to the point of exhaustion, so we try to just go to one or two places each day. That’s not enough to see all there is in Sedona or the surrounding area. But, at our age we do the best we can.
Today, I’ll show you some of the better known sights. Since we were here in 2010 and visited these areas, we didn’t do too much during our visit. One sad fact is that Sedona has haze that was not here in 2010. It does make it difficult to do photography, at least for an amateur. The saving grace is the breeze/wind that comes in every afternoon. Not only does it help to cool us off, it pushes out the haze.
I’ll be finishing the Sedona series at home since we have only one full day here and then we start the trek home. Yes, I’d like more days in this area.
Bell Rock. A high energy vortex.
The top of Bell Rock.
Courthouse Butte/ In the same vortex area as Bell Rock.
Slide Rock State Park. A popular swim area for families.
The rocks form natural slides.
An old structure on the property.
A nice swim hole.
From the Slide Rock parking area.
Church called Cathedral Rock. This is in a calming vortex.
Beautiful red rock is what will first catch your eye when you venture into Sedona, but for me, the attraction is the vortexes. What, you ask! A vortex is an energy field that affects you in various ways.
A masculine vortex will energize you and a feminine vortex will calm you down. And, it works. Today we spent the day in a calming vortex and I’m so relaxed even though we went for a short hike. Because of these vortexes, Sedona has become the center for all things spiritual. You’ll find all sorts of shops dedicated to the spiritual arts: readings, crystals, massage, and more.
In addition, sorry to say, Sedona has become some what of a tourist trap. We are staying in West Sedona away from the heart of the tourist frenzy. I will tell you more about this area in subsequent posts. We are here until June 6, so enjoy the red rock beauty with me.
This guy is a resident of Red Rock Crossing Park, a feminine vortex
Families come here to wade and swim. This rock is a natural slide.
This girl gets ready to slide down.
And there she goes.
A bee gets nourishment.
The park is surrounded by red mountains.
A determined plant pushes its way through the rock.
Will we have a music festival? That’s the question we hear asked each year. This year the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society put on its 42nd festival and made money by working with an all volunteer staff and cutting down on venues outside of Old Sacramento.
We are not involved in the yearly pre-planning, but only work the festival during the weekend. It’s fun and I love listening to the youth bands, called the Next Generation bands. And you never know who will drop in and jam with them. This year our usual 3 1/2 shifts were lengthened to 4 – 4 1/2 hours. But, that still left us enough time to see acts and listen to wonderful music.
And, we have one of the half days off. Ours was Monday. Because we had the closing shift Sunday night and are not used to staying up after midnight, we didn’t go in Monday morning. We did help break down the venue. Why does it always take less time to break down than put up? It’s the same when you travel. It takes longer to get there than it does coming home!
Home was sweet on Monday morning. I had time to prepare for our out of town dinner guest.
Will there be a 43rd festival? I’m sure they will have it. This format worked, and the newspaper reported that a small profit was made. Till next year!
Tom Rigney and Flambeau played to a packed parking lot.
Bob Draga joined them during the set.
Puget Sound Machine played at a smaller venue.
The sun was shinning directly on them.
They had fun mixing up the music.
This tree had branches throughout the venue.
They climbed everywhere
It helped create a beautiful atmosphere.
This is the lead of the High Sierra Jazz Band.
These guys were great.
Each performed a solo.
I’m sorry I wasn’t able to isolate the drummer.
Many played different instruments and sang.
During this set they were joined by a guest from Scandinavia.
And, Bob Draga popped in also. What sweet sounding music.
Four days of music, music and more. The more resulted in a pound weight gain! I wait all year for the brats, kettle corn, and ice cream: jazz, dixieland, rag, rock and country. What would you do at a music festival besides listen to wonderful music and eat fun food? Well, we work at the Sacramento Music Festival too.
Should I call listening to talented youth bands work? Probably not, except for the night we closed and our last band set ended at 11 p.m. That was too late for kids and seniors! Our venue is free for the public while most other venues are by paid admission only. So, our attendance varies between 50 and 70 people who come and go during the sets. Some youth bands have a strong following and attendance can go up to 90.
We enjoy working here because it’s a small venue with little clean up and the kids are great. In fact, some are equal to the professional bands we listened to. Many of the local youths are graduates of the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society’s, sponsor of the festival, music camp. In fact, local professional musicians are involved with these young musicians and their musical education.
I also used this 4-day festival to practice photography. Each day, I had a particular goal in mind. Many times, you cannot do photography and enjoy the event. But, while I was shooting, I could still hear the music. And, the performers don’t mind having someone take their pictures.
Confession, we did not go in on Monday except to help tear down our venue. Yes, there is such a thing as too much music, music and more! This a 2-part post.
After setting up our venue, we caught half of the Puget Sound Machine, a U.S. Navy band.
These are the Reedley River Rats from Reedley, California. They are high schoolers and are terrific!
Looking cool with shades!
This young man had a great voice.
One of the few non-performance images I shot. This doorway spoke to me!
The lead singer from headliners Tower of Power.
This vocalist from the Syncopating Sea-Monkeys has a beautiful, soulful voice. She’s ranks as professional in our minds. Fortunately, she will continue her music studies in college.
This young gal also had a great voice. I believe she’s from the Dixie Dominus from Fremont, California. After three days of working the venue, I get the bands mixed up.
Lead singer of Zydeco Flames
Musician playing the accordion from the same group.
A close up of washboard action.
Guitarist with Zydeco Flames.
Lead singer again.
Spectator with a sitting duck hat! Sorry, I couldn’t resist!
They say that practice makes perfect, Well, I’ve been practicing every day even if it is only for the 365 challenge. It has helped, but I’m far from perfect! But then, who is perfect?
I like to go to Dry Creek because it is so close to my home and is beautiful. I’ve practiced with my ND filter, macro lens, 50 mm lens and just to shoot. The last time, I went with Richard and Gem. The boys walked while I went down to the water to shoot. In the summer, the area is a great swimming hole for children, and it’s harder to shoot.
In this post, I’m going to show you how beautiful this creek is. However, with the drought, the water level is really low. I’m not sure how the creek will hold up during the summer. Let’s hope we get some rain this fall and winter. After all I will still be practicing!
You can see how shallow the creek is.
This beach is perfect for family play. However a couple of years ago, it was much smaller.
I loved the way these roots are flowing on top of the sand.
This caterpillar is not your ordinary green variety.
Walking under the highway bridge, you see graffiti.
It goes from one side to the other.
Here’s a closer look.
Dry Creek runs from Sacramento through Roseville.
This sun exposed side is not as lush.
But here on the Roseville side, shade creates a beautiful scene.
I took this picture to show you how large the leaves are, but it doesn’t do it justice.
Flowers also bloom at the creek.
The sun shinning through the trees create a great water reflection.
Politics, I really don’t want to get into that subject, but I am showing you images from a Civil War Re-enactment. So, indulge me with one question: Why has it taken so long to gain equality since that epic war? Okay, two questions: Are we there yet?
Last post’s commentary was regarding the Union camp Marlene and I just happened to walk into because it was closer. The Confederate camp was a little down the road, and the Gibson Ranch pasture land between them was reserved for the battle. I was amazed at how few participants the Confederates had. There were about 1/3 of the tents than in the opposition camp. One of our photographer’s husband was wearing a Confederate cap and was asked to join in the battle against the Union. They lent him a uniform and off he went on his adventure.
Of course, his adventure was the battle of Appomattox Court House , fought on the morning of April 9, 1865. It was one of the last battles of the Civil War and a Union victory. I was wondering how they would re-enact the scene. We did see gun fire (not real bullets) and men (and women in this case) fall to the ground. Soldiers came in on horse back, guns blazing. However they were at the other end of the pasture, and my 300 mm lens couldn’t capture the shot with pinpoint focus. It wasn’t until the battle came closer that I was able to get good shots (with my camera). All in all, they did a pretty good job of presenting a production of this battle.
You can see for yourself in this second post that contains shots of the battle and the Confederate encampment. All politics aside, it was a fun and educational day.
When we got to the Confederate side, they were already getting ready for battle.
They didn’t have the standard confederate uniforms.
And they didn’t look as “military” as the Union.
Their horseman were ready too.
This is the laundress and cook. She needed to take a breather, feeding the entire camp.
Here the horseman got close enough for me to capture their part of the battle.
Walking to battle.
The Confederate cannon. They had this one in the open and two more behind trees.
They don’t fight battles this way any longer. No more standing in lines to get shot.
The Union army is getting closer to the Confederate side.
The Confederates bring their cannon closer to the front line.
The dead lay on the field. The white flag is not a sign of surrender, it’s a signal flag.
The Union cannon is coming.
The Union fires its cannon.
The Union has basically won the battle.
The Union acknowledges the Confederacy as they surrender.
Slow Shutter Speed 