I’m still learning the ins and outs of the new Tamron lens. Each week, it becomes easier. We hadn’t been to our local Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Carmichael in a long time. It’s a favorite place to see deer and other small creatures. However, this time I didn’t see deer, but I did enjoy the trees and the river.
At the Center’s entrance there’s a small pond and hut.
Some trees were blown down during the big wind/rain storms in the Spring. I did see some poppies
I was also able to capture a sunburst through one of the trees and a woodpecker sitting on a stump.
The American River was full and flowing nicely. Two kayakers were taking advantage of the beautiful day.
That was our morning at Effie Yeaw. When we were at lunch, I was saying that I hadn’t seen a deer. The others said they saw one at the entrance as we were leaving. Oh well, another missed opportunity. I’m lucky that this wonderful nature center is close.
Boy, have I been in a mood lately! And It’s not a good one! Why? It’s because my computer has been down and out for about a week. No blogs, no working on pictures, no…. Fortunately, I was able to keep up with your postings on my laptop, but it doesn’t have my pictures or editing software on it.
The tech guy is about to leave and I’m already working out my mood by doing this blog post.
When I first read Sofia’s challenge, I wondered do we as photographers create the mood in a photo or does a photo give us the mood. How much is up for interpretation? What feelings do we put into the photo? Will others see it the same way as we do?
I can tell you it’s been my experience that two photographers can photograph the same scene and the pictures will come out different. Two people can look at the same image and get different stories and feelings from it.
So, here’s a brief look at some moods. Some I create like when I’m feeling blue and down, I take myself and my macro lens to Green Acres Nursery for a pick me up.
Tension eases when I photograph flowers. When I process them, my mood is relaxed. The flowers help me create that mood.
Nothing beats the excitement of doing something you are challenged at. My limit of a 300 mm lens and my lack of speed and fine motor coordination makes wildlife photography a challenge. On a typical outing, I usually come home with a few good images. The mood? Exhilaration and happiness.
When I look at these animals, I sense their need for survival and curiosity at the humans behind the lens.
There’s another type of excitement–having fun. You all know how much I enjoy doing slow shutter photography, especially at night. We were out to capture Old Sacramento at night and the ferris wheel just added to the fun.
The action and colors of the ferris wheel are exciting and photographing it is challenging.
And lastly, there is the amazement of the unexpected. My moment of amazement happened when I woke up one morning at my son’s home in Reno NV and saw a snowy landscape like I’ve never seen before. I was truly excited and in awe of the beauty before me. Mother Nature did her very best the night before. Never mind that three men had to dig us out!
I think I may have turned Sofia’s wonderful challenge around, but that’s the way it affected me. Even challenges are subjective! If you haven’t posted your response yet, please remember to link to Sofia’s original post and tag Lens-Artists. I truly enjoyed your back lighting responses to Ann-Christine’s challenge last week. Next week, it’s John’s turn to challenge us. So look for his post. In the meantime stay safe!
In her challenge this week, Amy wants us to think about our earth. It impacts our daily lives: the water we drink, the oceans that provide us enjoyment, the soil that brings us food, the trees the help us breathe. We rely so much on our earth.
I was raised mostly in the Bronx, New York, in a mostly concrete jungle. Yes, there were trees and parks, but I was never taught to appreciate nature. It wasn’t until I had kids that I began that appreciation. Our vacations were camping get-a-ways. We took the boys to every National Park and many State Parks–from the ocean to the mountains and even the desert. Unfortunately the pictures I took then were with a point and shoot camera, and mostly of the boys. I do have them in albums for my own joy.
Photography gave me the opportunity to not only enjoy our earth, but also record it. Let’s begin with my local Sacramento County area. We are lucky to have many creeks around the valley like our neighborhood Dry Creek.
Mather Lake is a nearby treasure for photographers and fishermen (and women). I go there to photograph swans, but on this day I found a pelican and cormorants.
We are a couple of hours away from the coast, giving us a wonderful day trip. Heading west, the Marin Headlands is a great spot for water sports, fun and photography.
North of us is Table Mountain which was formed from ancient lava (basalt) flows. It is very rocky and in Spring, it is loaded with wildflowers. It’s called Table (mountain) because of it’s mostly flat surface.
We go east every Fall to find the beautiful orange and gold color of Autumn.
I’ll end this post with nature’s way of painting her earth with golden light–a sunset. This one, taken in nearby Yolo County, is setting on a field of earth giving sunflowers.
Thank you Amy for having us remember to cherish our earth and take care of it. Would we survive without it? Please remember to link to Amy’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
We totally enjoyed your all your curvy responses to Patti’s challenge. Next week, get ready to celebrate because John will host LAPC #194. For his challenge, be thinking about what is special to you regarding birthdays or anniversaries.
Just look around you. Wherever you are, open your mind and see the shapes and designs of the objects around you. In this week’s challenge, Patti encourages us to see the shapes and designs around us. Truthfully, I didn’t truly see the possibilities until I started photography. Now I see them everywhere!
For instance at an outing to Ironstone Vineyards a few years ago, we were down in their cellar that they call the Cavern. The round wine barrels stacked and angled down a cavern hallway offers many shapes and designs.
Water lends itself to shapes and designs too. The fountain at the Fountains shopping center offers many shapes and designs. A single burst of water takes its own shape while the entire fountain lets your imagination free. A crystal ball turns our design upside down.
Fairs and carnivals also offer us photographic opportunities for shapes and design. The Ferris wheel was photographed at the Nevada County Fair. Just sitting still we can recognize many shapes like triangles, rectangles and, of course, round. But at night during a carnival, light play turns it into a design bursting with color.
Sunflowers give us various shapes too.
I’ll end with trees. They are beautiful in design with their branches gracefully stretching out. Add some fog and you have a more dramatic scene.
Thank you Patti for helping us find adventure in our archives!
If you think about it, life itself is weird and wonderful. Ann-Christine asks us, in this week’s challenge, to find images in our archives or take our cameras out to find things that fit the weird and wonderful description. I’ve chosen to delve into my archives.
Buildings. I’ve found a few that are both weird and wonderful. There’s Drake’s Barn that serves food and drinks and hosts events. I took this photo shortly after it was built and the grounds were not ready for events. The The Ziggurat (the Pyramid Building) is an office building.
The the Manetti Shrem Museum in Davis is a beautiful and different building. I think the architecture is a work of art. Inside art exhibits are ongoing and outside are sculptures.
Hatcheries The Nimbus Fish Hatchery was a new experience for me. Yearly the Chinook salmon and steelhead swim upstream in the American River to lay eggs. The salmon that make it then die. Not that many make it. The hatchery catches and kills the salmon, removing their eggs and hatches them for release back into the river. This way more salmon are reproduced.
Fungi. I’ll close with mushrooms. They take many shapes and have many colors. These wild fungi are definitely weird and wonderful to photograph.
I’m not sure these images fit Ann-Christine’s challenge, but it was fun, weird and wonderful!
With all that’s been happening in the world this past 1 1/2 years, it’s important to live in continuous gratitude and remember that there is still a lot of beauty in the world, mostly provided by nature. In her challenge, Amy reminds us that there is a lot around us locally to be grateful for. Photography brings me into that world. At least once a week I go out with friends to capture people, places, animals and things that bring joy into my life.
I’m happy to share some of them with you from this year alone. Please read the captions for information.
This scene in Port Costa presented a beautiful and natural frame around the bridge emerging from the fog in the distance.
Donner Lake in the winter delivers an awesome relaxing snow scene.
A shadowed path always relaxes me as I walk.
Oh, do I love tree canopies!
White lilies growing near the ocean. Unbelievable!
Unusual trees grab my attention. Different can be beautiful!
Even when disaster happens, nature provides. This bridge is only seen during a drought season.
Love in a dog’s eyes!
A working farm gets us out of suburbia into a quiet natural setting.
A little lady bug going about her business on a small poppy helps us understand that we all have a mission.
Only once a year do we get to see the beauty of the lotus flowers. This teaches us to savor the moment.
The Great Egret in flight is graceful and beautiful.
Thank you Amy for helping us to remember that there is a wonderful world out there, and I’m especially thankful for my photo buddies who see it with me.
About an hour south of Sacramento is a municipal park that houses a Japanese Garden and a small zoo. Of course we, Ray, Richard and I, had to go visit Lodi and Micke Grove Park. This park is part of the San Joaquin County park system and home to a Fun Town for children, zoo, Japanese Garden, small lake, golf course, softball fields, water play features, horseshoe pits, museum and children’s playgrounds. We walked the garden and zoo.
The garden was small but beautiful. However, it was either in super sunshine or dark shade. In retrospect, bracketing would have been what to do, but I didn’t take my tripod. Here are some images. I liked the water reflections.
Next we went about a block to the zoo. It was a lot smaller than our Sacramento Zoo, the enclosures were thicker so we couldn’t have the fencing disappear, but it was interesting.
Some of the birds.
They did have a snow leopard.
After leaving the park, we had lunch and then went to visit the Deshmesh Sikh Temple which we happen to spot on our way to the park. They were very courteous and let us inside with our cameras.
It was a fun day in Lodi. There is more to Micke Grove Park to see though. We just might be back!
Yes, with a little help we can accomplish what we thought we couldn’t. One of the reasons I bought a mirrorless camera was the need for a lighter camera. I could still hold my Nikon D7100, but with some lenses it was getting heavy, and I’m not getting younger. I currently use my Nikon for two types of shooting: ultra wide and telephoto.
The last time I tried shooting with my Nikon and an old prime (meaning metal casing) 300 mm, my photo buddy Ray saw I was having difficulty holding it steady. It was more than that, I couldn’t hold it steady. So, he made me a short monopod to anchor the lens.
I wanted to show him what I call the nesting trees in Lincoln and he wanted me to try out my new small, hand-held monopod, so off we went. And guess what, it worked. With just a little help from my friend I can now use a telephoto on my Nikon. If I ever get a telephoto for my Fuji, it would also help. The birds were across a small gully and a stretch for any 300 mm lens, but I was able to photograph them and really crop in.
The second bit of help also came through Ray. He let me know that Topaz was having a sale. Now I can’t resist a sale, can I? I bought Topaz Sharpen AI and DeNoise AI. I used Sharpen AI on all the birds and it was amazing.
We didn’t stay long. The egrets’ and herons’ mates were not flying back with food/nesting material. But I was able to get a shot of one flying in without branches and twigs in the way.
I’ll be going back to the nesting tree with my new monopod soon! Thank you Ray!!
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.
Something familiar, comfortable and close by; that’s what I wanted for my first photo outing that didn’t involve a car ride. Yes, I had to drive to get to Effie Yeaw in Carmichael, but I loaded my camera on my sling and walked the Nature Center. And, I wasn’t alone. Marlene, Jean and Ray joined me. I guess I wasn’t the only one who needed to escape!
This time was very different. We each drove our own cars, wore our masks and kept a reasonable distance from each other. And worst of all, we didn’t follow our adventure with lunch!
Because I had a morning Toastmaster meeting, we met at Effie Yeaw at 10 a.m. It was too late to see the deer, but we did see a lot of people. Some wore masks, some stepped aside when they saw us walking the path and some just passed us on the path. I guess everyone has their own level of concern about this pandemic.
I find breathing with a face mask on difficult. There’s something about breathing your own air that affects my heart. I’m probably not getting enough oxygen. So, with that hindrance, I got tired sooner. But, it was all worthwhile.
Slow Shutter Speed 