One of my joys in my photographic journey is to visit small towns and stroll their streets. This is when I look for details that I may not find in Sacramento. In fact, I’m seldom in downtown Sacramento. One-way streets drive me crazy. So, I’m happy that Ritva chose this subject for her challenge.
Doors always catch my eye. Here are three that caught my eye while on photo outings.
And where there are doors, there must be windows!
Sacramento used to be known as the City of Trees until it became The Farm to Fork Capital.
Now for some street scenes from my wanderings.
Thank you Ritva for encouraging us to see as our cameras do and to pay attention to details. When you respond to her post, please link to Ritva’s post and use the Lens-Artist tag.
I’m sorry to have missed Ann-Christine’s and Sofia’s challenges, but I did have an enjoyable time cruising the Panama Canal. And it’s great to be back. Next week Tina will be leading the challenge, so stay tuned.
I’m not a train buff, especially in triple digit temperatures, but our friend Ken is. So when Union Pacific brought the “Big Boy” to the Roseville switch yard as one of the stops on their tour, Ken and his wife Sandy came up from Tuolumne to see it and we joined joined them.
You can read more about this train on the Union Pacific’s website.
The information from the City of Roseville states:
No. 4014 is the only Big Boy in operation today. Weighing in at 1.1 million pounds, it was restored in 2019 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad’s completion. Twenty-five Big Boy locomotives were built for Union Pacific to haul heavy freight during World War II, but only eight still exist. The other seven are on display around the United States.
The exhibit opened at 9 a.m. and we got there at 9:30 a.m. The temperatures we already in the 90 degrees F. While we were there, we entered the triple digit zone. I will say that they were prepared–not only for the crowd, but to keep us hydrated. They had buckets of bottled water on ice free for the taking. They also urged us to drink.
I think I could have tolerated the temperatures if it weren’t for the crowd. However, everyone was nice and tried their best to help others. I didn’t walk to the museum car which was halfway down the long train. We did stay for the Q&A session handled by the train’s crew.
In answer to a question about the temperatures in the locomotive, one crew member said it was about 140 degrees F. They kept sort of cool by putting ice packs down their backs and around their necks.
We left after the Q&A. It was just too hot. When you’re in your 80s extreme temperatures are difficult. Walking back to our car, we sat in the shade at Roseville’s Vernon Street Town Square where children were cooling off in the fountains of water. I was tempted!
Even though I didn’t take full advantage of the visit, I’m glad I went. I saw a bit of history and can only imagine the Big Boy riding the tracks back then. I don’t think that crew realized the history they were making and the importance of their part in it.
It’s been a while since I’ve been in a truly urban environment. Downtown Sacramento is as close as I’ve gotten, but I already posted many pictures of buildings and street art. So how do I put a twist on this challenge from Sofia? I thought immediately of San Francisco. In July, 2018, Marlene and I took the ferry from Tiburon to the Embarcado.
A couple of pictures taken from the ferry.
It was a full day of walking, taking pictures and people watching. The Embarcado attracts tourists of all ages, people who live in San Francisco and want to eat in well-known restaurants, and anyone who is looking for a speciality item. People watching was what I enjoyed the most.
I was immediately overcome with sadness and wonderment at watching a couple help their very senior dog. I’m now helping my senior dog, a schnoodle, although his stroller is much smaller.
Kids just love the environment on the Embarcadero. This red-head was a stand out and this girl was enjoying this unusual swing.
Street entertainers helped liven up the crowds.
Workers also need breaks.
Artists are also creating and selling their finished products.
And, I can’t close this post without crowd scenes!
Do you see Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream shop in the last picture. Of course I just had to get some Cherry Garcia! I want to go back and do this again. I love street photography. These were just some of the pictures from that trip. Maybe Marlene and I will do this again in the Fall.
Thank you Sofia for letting me go down memory lane with this twist to your challenge. When you post your reply to this challenge, be sure to link it to Sofia’s post and use the Lens Artists tag. Last week John’s challenge brought us to many places in a variety of ways. It was fun reading your posts. Tina leads next week’s challenge so look for her post.
I will be taking 3-weeks off. Yes, I’m actually going on a vacation! I’ll be back soon.
If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.
I love street photography, but I’m finding out that I lack patience and I’m too timid to take some candid shots. If you ask them if you can take their picture, then they pose. Marlene and I went to The Fountains, an outdoor shopping center in Roseville, recently to do street photography. One, the stores were just opening and there weren’t many people. Two, At its best, this center is a leisurely shopping center–not bustling.
Any way, I was able to get some window cleaners on the job.
Watch out the elk is coming for you!
This is the fountain in the middle of the shopping center. At a peak shopping time, people usually sit around with their children or cell phones! At prime time, It’s jets propel water synchronized to music. Of course we were too early for that.
I did have some fun with chairs. First are the chairs as the were and second are the chairs with a Photoshop twirl filter. Which do you like better?
I took some other fun photos.
Photographing through a window.Chair shadows.Table close-up.Part of the kids splash zone.An interesting chandelier in a shoe store.
I tried to photograph this guy through a fire enclosure, but he saw me and offered to have me take his picture. Marlene and I talked with him and found out that he has terminal cancer. Marlene offered to take his picture with his cell phone, and he allowed it.
So this was my try at street photography. Not that successful, but I had a good time. Next time we’ll have to go into Sacramento City, on a Sunday so we can park, later in the day, find a busy area and wait for people to walk by. Oh, yes, I’ll find some patience too.
When Ann-Christine introduced her challenge she admitted it is difficult to choose a memorable event. She wrote: “I had to reflect upon it for some days before I knew what to choose… because life gives us quite some of these very special events, does not it? Happy Birthdays, surprising hikes, meetings with faraway friends, interesting exhibitions, travels to special places…”
It didn’t take me that long! My memories went to our cross country trip in 2013. This was a dream of mine and we decided to do it to commemorate our 50th wedding anniversary. This also coincided with the purchase of my Nikon D3100 and the beginning of my photography journey.
But, what do I pick from a 3-month (not long enough) trip? Memphis Tennessee! But what about Memphis? Beale Street! Just thinking about it brings back the food and music. If you love cat fish, that’s the place to be. If you love music, that’s definitely the place to be.
On our visit, we arrived at dusk to find Beale St blocked off for autos, but not motorcycles, especially when it came to a powder pink cycle with long eyelashes!
Hungry? You just had to step into one of the restaurants where an employee told you of the great food. And it was good.
After dinner, we started our musical adventure. As you walked by club after club, the music streamed out the open doors. Some had cover charges, some didn’t. But, oh my, what great sounds!
Some clubs carried famous names like B.B. King.
In Jerry Lee Lewis’ club, an entertainer played and sang just like Lewis would.
In one club, the singer played a request for me “Walking In Memphis” by Marc Cohen. I could have sat there forever.
All great evenings must end and so Beal Street must close.
I want to go back to Beal St for a few reasons, fun, music and now I know what ISO is!
Thank you Ann-Christine for helping me re-discover this magical night. I enjoyed seeing everyone’s Interesting Objects in response to Patti’s challenge last week, and look forward to seeing what Amy has in store for us next week. Remember to link to Ann-Christine’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag. I want to share in your memorable events.
Patti’s challenge of Emotions was a true challenge for me. Wow, where do I start? Right now here in the U.S. emotions are all over the place from the pandemic to politics to what do I make for dinner! I went out on a photo shoot this morning to ground myself. It worked. Photography is my get-away-from it all.
While searching in my archives for street photography, I realized there were none from last year. I’m thinking I’m lucky to have photographed what I did in 2020. So here are images that I think depict or evoke emotion.
Anticipation. My younger granddaughter is waiting for her birthday party guests to arrive.
Now this is a challenge. A surprised moment could be photographed in many ways. I was thinking about this and came up with the idea that sometimes people would be surprised they were photographed candidly. So here goes my interpretation of this week’s challenge by Ann-Christine.
Let’s begin with a most recent picture taken on my son’s boat during an outing to Folsom Lake. This was part of my birthday present. I love to shoot the backs of people. Totally unaware were my daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and grandson. Maybe I should have told Ryan to straighten up his head, but then it would ruin the candid moment. Separately, the kids were also surprised.
Now, we go back in time (2018) to a photo walk along the Embarcadero in San Francisco. In this shot we have a young couple helping their very senior dog into her stroller. This touched my heart.
These next two are of homeless guys. One is asleep and the other is trying to get his belongings into the restroom. More images to touch my soul.
Last, was opening day at Daffodil Hill. This was run by a family who plant these lovely flowers each year and open their property to the public. They closed permanently after the first weekend because of the crowds on the property and traffic mayhem on the road in/out. From left to right: The traffic on the road in, the line for the restrooms, the congestion along a path.
I may have been behind the camera for these images, but I’ve also been on the receiving end of a candid shot or two by my photo buddies! I love candid images.
I’m sure you all know that things don’t always turn out as scheduled. For instance, Marlene and I had planned to go to the Sacramento Zoo for the first photo outing of 2020; however, I left my camera case (full of gear) at my kid’s house. I didn’t think my Nikon D3100 and an 18 – 55 mm lens would do well at the zoo. So where to go?
Marlene said that she had three things to take pictures of, but never got to it. This seemed perfect! A short but sweet shoot and all in Sacramento. We just wanted to get out with our cameras. The first on her list was a horse statue, but it had galloped away. Where, we didn’t know. So, on to the next, a bigger than life sized lumber jack statue outside a Lumberjacks restaurant He hadn’t stomped away!
It was overcast, and I tried to get the lumberjack at various angles. Practice! Practice!
Next was the bigger than life size chicken. I tried to get various angles, but it was fenced in. But, it was unusual!
You’ll have to click on the image to see the entire metal sculpture.
The end:
For the last shoot of 2019, Marlene and I decided to tempt the possibility and do some street photography at The Fountains, in Roseville, an outdoor mall featured in this blog many times. I thought on December 26 there would be a lot of bargain shoppers, but I was wrong. One store owner allowed us to take photos of his beautiful inventory, and a lot of it was on sale. Here’s what we found.
Look for new stock!
Flower Power!
Dogs are allowed in some stores.
Now, here’s a sale!
Window shoppi ng.
Inside the store.
Art in 3D!
A global effect.
A beautiful arrangement.
Resting by the fire pit.
Relaxing while waiting.
Heading home with dog and purchases.
A Goldendoodle brought a shopper with him.
There you have it. The beginning and the end. A little backwards, but then………
It’s the third day of 2020, and my first shoot of the year was a real estate shoot. I am anxious to get out with my camera for something else! I guess that will happen sometime next week.
In the meantime, I do have a couple of outings still not posted like the Victorian Christmas in Nevada City. This is a yearly happening in this small touristy town in Nevada County. The streets are decorated, all vehicle traffic is closed off on the main street, vendors take up the streets and people walk around in period costumes.
I once went to this at night, 2013, when the temperature was down to 25 degrees F! It was great that vendors were selling hot drinks! I had just started this photography hobby and now that I look back, the pictures were not that good. They were the best I could do at the time. It’s amazing for me to see the difference!
So back to the present and my images from this outing!
Vendors and visitors in costume. I hope the woman in the Christmas tree won the best costume!
Street entertainers!
I didn’t take a lot of pictures since it was crowded and cold. One last story: We were having a difficult time finding a parking spot. As we were going up and down residential streets, I saw a woman and her driveway was empty. Since I was driving, I asked Marlene and Ray to see if we could park in her driveway. I was willing to pay for the privilege. She not only agreed, but with Ray’s help moved some fencing to make room for us. She said she didn’t want any payment. How nice was that! We did buy her a small gift.
I’m probably not going back to Nevada City for the Victorian Christmas. However, I might visit another small town next year!
I guess it’s easy to say, “We’re at that age when our friends leave us.” But, it still hurts when they do. My dear friend Sharon died Tuesday morning. I won’t go into her illnesses, but she died peacefully in her sleep. For that I’m thankful.
She lived in Chatsworth California, more than 300 miles from me. While we didn’t talk on a daily basis, we did keep in touch via phone calls and infrequent in- person visits. Sharon was a “doer,” taking on various roles at Temple Ahavat Shalom in Granada Hills. She was Sisterhood president, catering chairperson and helped in many other areas. Some how she found time for everyone and everything. As I sit here, I’m at a loss not being able to go down to Southern California for her funeral.
During her last visit here in Sacramento, we went down to Old Sacramento. I remember sitting with her just watching the activity on the Sacramento River. She was diabetic and had neuropathy in her feet. Walking any distance was not possible. So, I’m not going to post the second part of my Napa trip (that will be my next post), but post my recent visit to the Sacramento River Walk. Included in the gallery are some iconic shots, some new scenes and some street photography. I hope this will honor her, especially since I couldn’t say good-bye in person.
Sharon, may your memory be a blessing for all of us who knew and loved you. Shalom.
Slow Shutter Speed 