The best things are the ones you don’t expect. And, I didn’t expect Rush Ranch to be so beautiful and fun to shoot. We went there after we visited the Suisun Wildlife Rescue Center. Photo buddy Laura suggested this and Marlene and I were agreeable. Oh, did we have fun, and we didn’t even take any of the nature paths. We stayed and shot old equipment, etc.
Rush Ranch is a working ranch, with cattle and sheep grazing under a wildlife habitat management program. Prior to its purchase by the Solano County Farmlands and Open Space Foundation in 1988, this ranch was owned by the Rushes (a pioneer family).
Now it is open to the public with three hiking trails that take you through different ecosystems. These are the trails we didn’t have time to walk. So we need to go back. Who knows what we’ll see, especially when we don’t expect to.
Meanwhile, enjoy these images from the immediate property.
One of the barns. This was first as we came on the property.
Mustard! It’s yellow just like the condiment, but you don’t spread it on sandwiches or hot dogs. You just look at its beauty and admire it. I’m amazed at how wildflowers can make a hillside or valley look stunning. You’ll see mustard in this post; the last of our visit to Lake San Antonio.
It was sad to see Lake Nacimiento and San Antonio so low in water capacity. We used to camp there with our children when we had a boat. We saw Nacimiento from Lakeside Rd and drove down to San Antonio. The California drought is becoming very noticeable now. We are beginning strict water rationing, which I think should have been done sooner.
Right now there are thunder storms north of us and it may be snowing in the Sierras. But, that won’t be enough to get us through the hot summer. I know the east coast has had enough rain and snow. Funny how Mother Nature is!
So, let’s get on with the serving of mustard–no hot dogs on the side!
Fields of mustard at this ranch.
Another view taken along Lakeside Rd.
This is a finger of Lake Nacimiento.
You can see how far down the lake is.
We stopped to get gas and saw this old car.
This is beautiful, not like some of the old cars I shoot.
The owner is proud of his car and didn’t mind me shooting it.
We saw this young buck along the roadside.
We stopped and I shot it out the truck window at 55 mm.
This is a spillover for Lake Nacimiento. No water to spill over.
A bit more of the countryside.
Lake San Antonio. I was half way down the boat ramp.
Do you remember the mossy trees and mustard that I went all the way to Napa Valley to shoot? Well, I found the trees in our campground and the mustard in the countryside here at Lake San Antonio.
It’s amazing how much I’ve learned through photography, and I don’t mean learning the art. I’ve studied birds, flowers and trees! So during this trip I had the opportunity to educate my husband in the flora of the area. Sadly, because the lake is so low now, there wasn’t the opportunity to see many water fowl. There were plenty of turkey vultures though.
In addition, I became acquainted with the various stages of the dreaded fox tail from beautiful to mowed down so they stick in your socks and dogs paws. All weekend I picked fox tails from Gem’s hair, checked his ears and made sure he was tick free. The little guy was happy to be home.
In this post, I’ll give you the campground tour including the mossy trees. You’ll have to wait for the next post to see the mustard.
Mossy tree.
Another tree with moss.
I just liked this plant/tree.
Expressive and beautiful.
Tree and photographer.
Now I’m shooting ground cover with the macro.
I also shot this log with the macro lens.
What’s better than one fox tail?
Two!
I saw this fly but didn’t have a swatter, so I shot it instead!
Some more of the yellow ground cover.
I don’t know what this is, but it was leaning just above the ground cover.
Mossy tree up close.
I think these are young fox tails.
Again, I don’t know what this small plant is either, but I think the macro captured it well.
We went there to see what our family members, Richard and Sandy, spend their time with and travel the western states for. In this shoot, everyone dressed as cowboys and cowgirls. Yes, women shoot too. The buildings were facades with targets behind them. The club members are scored on their accuracy and time which is converted into their score. Each member rotates from one building facade to another, completing the circuit during the two-day activity.
While they are waiting for their turn, members tend to their rifles and pistols, cleaning them. They also make their own bullets. And, they visit, talking with each other. It’s truly a fun time. And, it’s not just for adults. There were two 10 year old boys shooting.
So, while I’m not a lover of guns, I can appreciate the skill involved in shooting, the passion of its members and the safety this club provides. There are a lot of images in this post, but I hope you’ll look at each one to understand the fun of this activity.
The town. Members shoot through the facade windows.
The targets that are behind the facades.
Before each shoot, members are briefed on the rules.
These carts hold members’ guns, bullets, etc.
Everyone is in cowboy garb. Here, a member shoots as an official looks on.
The cowboy image is down to the boots. Richard’s boots have spurs.
Richard is taking his turn at shooting.
Richard works on his rifle.
I think he’s cleaning it.
Here he caught me taking a candid shot and posed for me. Extra bullets are worn around the waist.
A cowgirl waits her turn.
Here she shoots her pistol.
Here she shoots her rifle.
We think this cowboy is making bullets.
It seems to be a very delicate process.
Time absorbing too.
Almost done.
The final product is carried in holders like this one.
Two members wait their turn.
This 10 year old is proud of his clean and fast record.
Have you ever chased windmills, you know the big white ones? Photo buddy Linda and I went out the day before a scheduled Meetup to catch the scenery, windmills, moonrise (which I didn’t get a good shot of) and sunset. Tall order for tall windmills!
We got to the area an hour later than the Meetup group was scheduled for the next day. Well, an admission, we didn’t get to the appointed area until we saw it on the way home. Typically when we meet with the Exploring Photography group, we enjoy a meal together and our organizer gives us directions and tips on where we should go to shoot. Not having these directions, we sort of got lost, but had a great time.
We stayed mostly on Montezuma Hills Road, stopping whenever we could after seeing something worth shooting. The area is farm country with windmills sitting in the pasture land. It’s not unusual to see windmills among the cows and farms.
I can’t say that the images I’m going to show you are my best, but they were the best I could do without an ND filter system. I wanted to get those giant windmills in slow shudder, but the sun was too bright. And by the time we got back from dinner, we almost missed the sunset. By the time we were on our way home, we were tired and thoroughly enjoyed chasing the windmills.
Sheep graze at this farm that is the object of the next six images.
A wide view of this nice house.
Getting closer, you can see more detail.
Across the driveway are the silos, barn and old tractor.
The barn.
Another view of the silos.
A close up of the silos and tractor.
Here are those big windmills.
A closer look. The only thing I could do was to stop action.
Here they are on a pasture.
The sun is beginning to set.
It’s getting lower in the sky.
A closer view.
Someone tell this cow it’s time to go home!
The sun is behind the horizon. I can now get some slow movement in the windmills.
I wish I had more time, but I could only stay about an hour. That’s hardly enough time to experience my first dog show. My friend Laura was showing her great dane puppy, Laura is a professional breeder of danes, Dane Affaire, and also shows them. Cayanne, for the first time. It was a practice show for both the dogs and youth handlers.
Cayanne was my draw. What a beautiful dog, and she’s so sweet. But the other dogs were photogenic too. I learned a little about how a dog show is run and a little about shooting dogs.
Again, I wish I had more time. I could have shown you more of this event.
Beautiful Cayanne
Okay, side view!
Sort of looking up at Laura.
She’s got a lot of growing to do.
This dog is waiting.
Okay, try to smile for the camera.
Yes, this one knows how to smile!
This dog won first place in the Diva division.
This handler is showing her dog.
She walks the dog around.
The judge checks teeth, etc.
The youth line up their dogs. Laura says the handlers are judged, not the dogs in this division.
My old friend in this case is my 18 – 55 mm lens. It is my utility lens. Every time I promise myself to shoot with the prime 50 for the day, I usually pick up the 18 – 55. It is so nice that I rarely use my ultra wide lens when I have to carry the gear all day. I can do landscape and close up with this lens.
During our Ironstone Winery visit, I used my D7100 and the macro and 18 – 55 lenses. I will say that I look impressive with my sling (that sometimes carries two cameras) and vest. I’m pushing to live up to the image! In this post, you will see the grounds where they hold life cycle events and underground wine storage facility they call the cavern.
So here’s to my old friend, my 18 – 55! And here are the images.
This old truck and cart greet you as you come in from the parking lot.
A stream.
This will give you a better view of the cavern.
A close up view of the wine barrels in the cavern.
A lake view.
Sculptured grounds with the lake behind it.
They hold wedings, and more here at lakeside.
A little stream and bridge.
This old music player was placed before a mirror and made a nice reflection.
The banquet hall where they hold concerts, dinners, and cooking classes. There is a pipe organ in the auditorium side of the big room.
You know how I love expressive trees. This one just adds to the beauty.
Some old gears put to good use.
This tree framed Charlie so well.
This is one of the winery’s cats.
At the end of the day, we decided to stop at Lake Natoma to catch the sunset.
They say that “Practice makes perfect.” Well, in this case, practice made good! The practice was with the macro at the Ironstone Winery in Murphys. The grounds were full of tulips. daffodils and other flowers I can’t name. They were mostly in wine barrels so they could be changed out at will. My macro and I had a great time.
They also had a lake, beautiful landscaping and an amphitheater that was being remodeled. I came home with so many images, it took quite a while to go through them and edit. In this post, I’ll show you my macro work–since I’m bragging. Hey getting to good is better than where I was! I’m not captioning these images since I can only ID the tulips and daffodils.
In my next post, I’ll show you the grounds not shot with the macro.
Is it wierd to keep going back to a cemetery just to shoot photos? This cemetery draws me back, and back. It’s large enough that your get shoot it all in one visit, and, for me, I seem to focus on different things all the time. This time it was the statues. They are beautiful, and are non-existent in today’s graveyards. They express the sadness of loss and hope for an afterlife.
This time I also found some masoleums worth shooting, some small grave stones and flowers. History is in this cemetery, so I guess I’ll keep going back until I’ve shot it all!
This statue got to me. You can sence the sadness. There is another similar one in this gallery.
Another one where you would suspect that a child was lost.
Here they are showing the loss of a loved one holding his pet.
This one made to look like a tree stump belongs to a woodsman.
Here’s the other statue that is similar to the first.
This one is dedicated to all veterans.
The grounds are just beginning to bloom.
Here’s the burial plot of a family. The large head stone belongs to the Patriarch .
Some of the many flowers.
The flowers make the grave stones beautiful.
Parents are buried here. The father has the larger stone. Would we do that today?
Here a family lost two sons. I’m hoping you can read the inscriptions on each.
Sometimes what is written says more than the stone’s design.
You know we use our dogs as an excuse or motivator to exercise. They know it and pretend they want to go for a walk. There’s the reality: they walk us! It was on such a walk that I received a surprise.
I had agreed to walk with Richard and Gem at their new place, Dry Creek Park. They have a new playground and sort of trail. When I go to Dry Creek, I walk along the creek with my camera to practice. This time I knew we weren’t going to the creek, but I need a shot for my 365 challenge so I brought my camera.
Now you’re probably wondering what the surprise was…wildflowers! My dog had this all planned out! So enjoy the walk that Gem took us on!
Slow Shutter Speed 