Oh, it’s so good to be attending a Yolo Arts and Ag farm visit. This one found us along the Sacramento River Delta in Courtland. This month we have been invited by Chiles Wilson of Rivermaid Trading Co, California’s largest grower and producer of pears (they grow cherries too!), to visit their Delta property.
Rivermaid Trading Company is a family farming business and leading innovator in growing, packing and shipping fresh pears and cherries around the world. It was a small property with the most amazing trees. You know how I love trees. There were more artists than photographers when I was there, making it more interesting. I enjoy speaking with the artists and watching them work.
It was a bright and beautiful day. The trees welcomed us.
And now for some of the artists capturing the scene their way.
And finally, a beautiful road around the property.
It was a great, short visit. And perfect for my first photo outing after my back injury. I can’t wait to see where April sends us.
Wednesday was supposed to be partly cloudy and the first day of no rain in two weeks. So, I asked Richard if he wanted to take a ride down to the Delta–just to get out of the house. We were astounded to see rain drops making perfect round circles in our pool Wednesday morning. I checked the weather forecast and it said RAIN!
We went anyway. Going south, the rain lessened and by the time we got to Locke, it was just a light mist. We were amazed at how high the Sacramento River was. Everywhere we walked that wasn’t paved was soft so our shoes sank into the soaked earth. You’ll see in some of the pictures that piers were floating well above their normal levels.
We started in Locke’s Historical District, drove through Walnut Grove, went on to Rio Vista for lunch and then home. It rained on and off the entire morning. Of course I brought my camera along–just one camera and lens. But, I didn’t go out of my way to find environments to shoot. I’ve gotten so that I don’t go anywhere without my camera!
This was not primarily a photo outing. We were just two people trying to get out of the house for a short time. We got out and it did put a dent in our cabin fever. Oh, I read in the newspaper that Northern California is out of the drought, but parts of Southern California is still in severe drought. It’s progress.
Locke’s Main Street. This was my 4th time in Locke.
New was this store for sale.
This alley was the same, but glistened in the rain.
A leaf holding water like a spoon.
This is part of a door on a building that is holding on for dear life.
This shop is new and has a new look.
This is the most photographed in Locke. This time I just went for the sign.
And I went for a close up of the tub’s leg.
I hadn’t seen this painted van before.
I liked the flag reflection in the window.
The pier at Walnut Grove. The river is high.
At Rio Vista, the pier is floating well above it’s normal level.
Here a Blue Heron surveys the scene.
Picnic table in a flooded area.
Shot out of the car window as were were moving at 55 mph. This orchard could have been flooded in the heavy rains.
A field mostly under water.
I was really trying to capture the clouds over this soaked field.
If you read my previous post, you’d know that I left my tripod at home and was without it for our Tuesdays With Seniors Sacramento Delta trip. So when we reached Locke shortly after lunch, my challenge was to shoot this wonderful town full of historical buildings without doing HDR.
And, those of you who have been following this blog for a while know that I’ve worked hard to become one with my tripod and to rely on it for many types of shooting occasions. Past shoots have taught me that you can’t really do HDR handheld, and I almost always shoot HDR when I come across rustic buildings, etc. So I shot Locke handheld and tried to add an HDR look in processing.
“Locke was founded in 1915 after a fire broke out in the Chinese section of nearby Walnut Grove. The Chinese who lived in that area decided that it was time to establish a town of their own. Levee construction originally brought the Chinese to this area, but by the time Locke was built most of the work was in farm labor. Locke had many businesses that catered to the farm workers and residents of this region. In the 1940’s restaurants, bakeries, herb shops, fish markets, gambling halls, boarding houses, brothels, grocery stores, a school, clothing stores, and the Star Theater lined the bustling streets of Locke. At its peak 600 residents, and as many as 1500 people occupied the town of Locke. By 1920 Locke stood essentially as you see it now.
“On August 2, 1970, Locke was added to the registry of national historical places, by the Sacramento County Historical Society, because of its unique status as the only town in the United States built exclusively by the Chinese for the Chinese.” Check www.locketown.com for more information on this amazing town.
Now, you can see Locke shot with my handheld camera. Did I overcome the challenge?
This sculpture of Confucius stands in front of the old school house.
On the other side of the walk way is a sculpture of Dr. Sun Yat-Xn. Joe Chan please correct me if I have this name incorrect.
This was the first old, boarded up structures I came across.
Compare this with Al’s Place.
The street is quaint.
I love the red doors.
Families still live above the stores.
I loved the look of this external shade covering.
The bottom story of the theater.
In this view, you can see the second story and the bulge. Joe Chan told me that they have reinforced the interior so it wouldn’t fall down.
The alley between the theater and the next building.
Part of the fun of going somewhere is the before you get there and after you’ve left! Have I confused you? Well, we don’t go straight to any place. We stop along the way, get sidetracked and look for unique things to shoot. This happened on the way to Locke in the Sacramento Delta.
The Sacramento Delta is an expansive inland river delta and estuary in Northern California and is an important habitat for migratory waterfowl and more than a hundred species of fish. It is also farmland, a popular recreation area and a source of drinking water for two-thirds of California’s population.
We first stopped at the small Freeport Marina. It was there that I realized I left my tripod home! Greg offered to share his with me, but I knew he used his most of the time and declined his generous offer. So, it was a handheld day for me. Lesson learned! Seems I’m always learning. Didn’t I say in my last post that I learn a lot by making mistakes?
Next we found a Halloween surprise, an old truck and a bridge to shoot. Then we got to Locke. You can see that our journeys seldom follow a straight path, and that’s the fun of a photo outing.
In this post you can see our before finds. You’ll have to wait for the next post to see Locke and what happened on the way home–the “after” part of our trip.
The only decent shot at the marina. Poles were all over the place. It wasn’t very photogenic.
Here’s Greg at work.
Meanwhile I found some flowers to practice on.
You know I can resist the texture of a rope.
One of the many bridges that crisscross the Delta region.
Railroad tracks and an old truck. I don’t think anyone was in the truck, but why would the doors be open?
Fishing is popular in the Delta.
Our Halloween surprise.
Either that or someone forgot to feed him! A lot of the spider webs were real. What fun!
There were a grouping of cactus near the same property. Here’s bigfoot complete with spider webs.
Cactus flower close up.
Cactus flowers waiting to open.
This old truck hasn’t moved in about 30 years and has become a landmark.
We like to have fun. Here we shoot our reflections. I’m not too happy with the distortion or did I eat too much lunch!
Slow Shutter Speed 