landscape photography – Page 25

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Anne Sandler · 18 Comments

Lens-Artists Challenge #121: Focus On The Subject

I think it’s great that three photographers can be looking at the same scene and get three different focal references. That’s because not only do we see and interpret things differently, but there are many pictures within one scene. This week Patti of P.A. Moed challenges us to look into the various ways we can create focal interest in our pictures.

I’ve chosen a few from her many suggestions.

Framing.

I shot the first image when I first started photography. Out on Angel Island for the first time with my new Nikon D3100 I saw a bicyclist walking her bike under what I call a tree canopy. Taken in May 2013. And, yes, I do love trees. The second image was taken last year in November in Napa Valley.

Patterns:

We have shopping carts from Ikea in West Sacramento, 2019 and Sunflower farm in Woodland, June 2019. Crops can form lines and patterns. I’d need to get a taller ladder to exhibit it better!

Color: Of course I love flowers especially from the McKinley Rose Garden in Sacramento.

Leading lines:

The first image is from North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, Butte County, a flat volcanic mountain. The second from Capay Valley Ranches in Capay Valley. Trees can also form leading lines.

Thanks Patti for your very educational and fun blog with wonderful image examples.

Posted on October 25, 2020October 25, 2020 by Anne Sandler · 23 Comments

Lens-Artists Challenge #120: What a treat!

This week’s challenge from Tina at Travels and Trifles can send us off in many directions. Treats can be a hot fudge sundae, grandkids, wonderful memories and more. Just let your imagination run free. I was having a difficult time deciding until I read John’s post on flight which reminded me of a special treat my great nephew Daylen gave me when he took me up in his family’s small plane.

I was visiting family in Peachtree City, Georgia, in March 2017, when this amazing opportunity happened. Daylen had just gotten his pilots license (His Dad is a pilot.) and offered me a ride. Wow! It was a small plane. I’m not sure how more than two people could fit in it even though it had two back seats. When I climbed on the wing and looked down into the passenger seat, I remember saying to Daylen, “I can get in, but don’t laugh when I get out!”

It was a wonderful experience. When I asked if we could go higher, he said he wasn’t licensed to fly above the clouds! Here’s my flight.

Thanks Tina for bringing back a wonderful memory and treat!

Posted on October 22, 2020 by Anne Sandler

Looking for color: Sierra County

It’s been so long since I was on a day-long road trip. I guess I was complaining a lot so Jean said let’s go. I said I wanted to shoot the Fall colors but wasn’t so keen about going to Hope Valley again. She suggested Sierra Valley in Sierra County where she once lived, and since she was driving off we went. We, or I should say Jean, drove about 330 miles that day.

I found, after out last road trip, that Jean likes water–well, taking pictures of water. There are many small lakes in Sierra Valley and we stopped at one. Sorry, I don’t remember its names but it was beautiful.

If you notice most of the pictures don’t have clouds, but this one does. I’m getting better with Luminar sky replacement.

We drove and drove, stopping here and there. I was able to get a little bit of Fall color which was great since we didn’t reach our destination! Here are some images.

I caught a few other scenic images. We went through the small town of Sierraville. I thought the barber shop was aptly named!

We ended up at Jean’s old stomping ground, Loyalton.

We ended the day with dinner. I had the best burger since the pandemic began. We ate outside with plenty of space between tables. I had so much fun, and want to do it again soon.

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Anne Sandler · 25 Comments

Lens-Artist Challenge #119: My Hideaway

This challenge brought to us by Ann-Christine is a difficult one for me because I really don’t have a hideaway. I even checked the dictionary to see if I could put a twist on it, but the dictionary let me down. One thing I could possible spin off on is that a hideaway is a place to get away from people. So, let’s expand that to getting away from it all. When I want to get away from it all, I go on a photo road trip.

These day trips began when I met Greg Morris a fellow photographer who passed away in 2016. He would pick me up in the morning with some destination in mind. We might reach it or we might not. Either way, it was an adventure.

Soon Marlene joined us and our threesome would venture out every Tuesday. Since he was driving, we had no control of where we went. Well, we did, but we didn’t want to! When Greg became terminally ill with glioblastoma brain cancer, Marlene and I would take him out to places he had taken us. We would take turns walking with him.

This post is dedicated to Greg Morris who showed me the fun of getting in the car, with maybe a destination in mind, and enjoying the get-a-way day. Here are some pictures of our last outing with him to Discovery Park in Sacramento. This park is a the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers.

Thank you Ann-Christine for taking me down memory lane. I still enjoy road trips and went out with my friend Jean yesterday for one. Like driving with Greg, we never did reach our destination, but we did have fun!

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Anne Sandler · 5 Comments

Just a little cabin fever: Road trip along I-80

Let’s go back to early September when the West Coast was under fire. Smoke was everywhere. I was getting a bit of cabin fever. Before the fires ignited, I would go out with my photo buddies maybe once a week and we’d drive separately, mask up and enjoy a couple hours of photography. That was enough to keep me smiling while at home.

But since the fires, and the resulting smoke, it wasn’t healthy to be outdoors or let alone shoot. I was trapped. I was walking around our small house complaining and complaining. It must have been bad because Richard said, “Let’s get in the car and go for a ride.”

I said, “Why, there’s smoke everywhere.”

He said, “Maybe it’s not so bad up towards Reno.”

So I grabbed my camera, never leave home without it, and off we went. Our goal was to stop off and find some of the small towns advertised at freeway off Ramps. Our first stop was Alta, a very small town. This is what we found in Alta.

Now there must be more support businesses and housing, but we didn’t find it close to the freeway. Next stop Dutch Flat.

Remember, we just drove along the main streets in these small towns. Next came Gold Run.

We were on our way home when we stopped to see what this was.

I’m thinking it might have been a flume used to float logs down the mountain. Any other guesses?

So that was our short trip up the I-80. We never did get anywhere near Reno! Maybe next time.

Posted on September 26, 2020 by Anne Sandler · 15 Comments

Lens-Artists Challege #116: Symmetry

I love these challenges because they get me thinking about how I shoot. This week’s Lens-Artists challenge is from Patti Moed and is on symmetry.

I mostly shoot asymmetrical because I find it more pleasing to my eye. However, I do like to do macro shots of flowers and tend to fill the frame in camera. When I do shoot symmetrically, it’s usually a road or building. Again, this is mostly institutively since I don’t have any art training.

So, with that in mind, here are my examples of symmetry.

Vertical

Horizontal

Radial

This lotus blossom leaf was so round an big, it formed a bowl, resulting in two circles.

Thanks again Patti! I loved this challenge, and I’m looking forward to next weeks’.

Posted on September 21, 2020 by Anne Sandler · 14 Comments

Lens-Artists Challenge #115: Inspiration

It’s important for us to be inspired all the time. Inspiration is what makes us get up in the morning, especially in this COVID year. Nature truly inspires me to get out with my camera. Nature doesn’t understand pandemics, politics, or other things that affect us humans emotionally. It just goes through its cycles and begs us to visit. Thank you Tina for creating this Lens-Artist challenge. It had me thinking positively.

So, I went through this year’s images to find nature’s inspiring moments. Although there are a lot less then in years past, there were enough to keep me inspired!

A dark, chilly and gloomy day doesn’t seem to be a day to visit the Sacramento Delta, but we did. The Sacramento river is always nice to visit. On this overcast day, the river was quiet, giving us beautiful reflections.

We also made our yearly visit to Yolo County’s almond orchards while the trees were blooming. There were beautiful skies that day. How inspired can you get!

Early on in the lockdown, Richard and I escaped to the snow. He wanted to see whether his favorite star gazing area was snowed in. This is shot on the road near Blue Canyon. I love that I can visit, but don’t have to live in snow!

And finally, I have my first rose in my garden and an image of a lovely lotus blossom. The lotus aren’t with us very long, but they are beautiful. My rose garden had a tough time this year with the extreme heat, but they are still blooming.

I’m hoping that next year I’ll be inspired by more of nature’s wonders. Thanks again Tina!

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Anne Sandler · 21 Comments

Lens-Artists #114: Negative Space

I’ve noticed that some people like negative space and create a minimalist lifestyle, and others like their surroundings busy (I won’t say cluttered.). I’m somewhere in the middle. My surroundings may be full, but it is neat and tidy. However, I’ve never thought about how the concept applied to how I take my photos.

Thank you Amy (The World Is A Book) for this weeks’ challenge. It helped me realize that I truly do not consider negative space when I shoot. Yes, I have skies that take up 2/3 of an image, birds in large pools of water, etc. But, these shots were never planned for negative space and its impact. I usually crop in close in camera. Even my landscapes are cropped in camera. Planning for negative space is something I should work on!

So, here are some of my inadvertent negative space images.

Thank you Amy!

Posted on August 29, 2020 by Anne Sandler · 9 Comments

Lens-Artists Challenge #112: Word challenge

This week Ann-Christine challenged us with words: Comfortable, Growing, Tangled, Crowded and Exuberant. Our assignment was to choose one or more of these words and display our photo interpretation.

I saw growing and crowded and instantly my mind went to Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Boulder Creek, one of our beautiful parks consumed by the CZU Complex lightening fire this month. I visited in February, 2016. It was my first time shooting in a dark forest and although my current forest efforts are better, I wanted to show you Big Basin.

As you can see, these trees are no strangers to fires. Redwoods can be almost hollowed out and still survive. After the fire is put out, the top continues to grow. My mind went to Big Basin because it is crowded with trees and constantly growing. The ground brush is usually well maintained in parks so they don’t provide super fuel for fires. But dry lightening strikes and thunder brought the forest to its knees. Here is how it looked in 2016 on overcast day, with some re-editing.

While the redwoods will survive, structures within the park didn’t. I’m sure during these pandemic days, rebuilding will be slow and it will be some time before we can walk through this beautiful forest again.

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Anne Sandler · 12 Comments

Am I repeating myself? World Peace Garden, Sacramento

It just feels like I’m repeating pictures. When you post in different clubs (like Sactown Photogs), online challenges (like Lens-Artists), repetitive image are the result. So here we are at the World Peace Garden in Sacramento. Some images may seem familiar to you, but you haven’t seen the entire beauty of this small park just across from the State capitol.

On the morning Ray and I met there, I arrived at 9 a.m., and the park had few visitors. It was quiet and peaceful. I fell in love with the place instantly! As people came, it remained quiet and peaceful. I actually came to take pictures in the rose garden, but there was so much more.

Let’s take a tour!

First the roses. This garden is not as big as others in Sacramento, but the roses are just as beautiful.

In the middle of the garden were two memorials. One was for the fire fighters, who in additions to normal duties during the year, fight our large fires during the summer. This year an unusual dry thunder and lightning storm sparked several fires across California. They have called these “Complex fires” because they are fires next to each other in certain areas of the State.

The second memorial is dedicated to the veterans who fought in the Vietnam War. This was particular moving for me because it was so well done and my husband fought in that war.