Yikes! Ann-Christine’s topicthis week is more than just one challenge for me! Explanation: My real challenge is that my toes are arthritic and I can’t wear many shoes except for Birkenstocks. I have managed to find a tennis shoe that I can wear for a few hours. It’s all subjective isn’t it! For some feet shoes can mean classy, dressy, casual, fun or barefoot. For me it’s Birkenstocks because of the support they give.
Now for photography, many things have feet (okay hooves) some even have shoes like this horse.
Most animals have feet although we refer to them with different names.
Dogs have paws. With some dogs we can see their toes, but some are covered. Can we say they have socks?
Wildlife like this deer have hooves (feet) but no shoes!
My Raggedy Ann has feet and shoes.
This egret flying up from a nest has claws (feet) but no shoes.
Last, but most important, are humans. No matter how they slide, they have feet and shoes!
So much for feet and shoes. Now it’s time to rest my feet without shoes on! Thanks Ann-Christine!!
Think Anne, think! What inspires you? Patti is asking us what inspires me! My pondering was interrupted by a late breakfast at our Club House for newcomers who moved in while the complex was in lockdown. Now with relaxed rules, we can enjoy community life again.
At that breakfast, an artist, Al Fichera, who paints on his computer via a Wacom Tablet approached me to tell me how much he enjoyed my photography. “You’re a great photographer. You must have had some art background.” If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I’ve had no art background and deem myself not the creative type. Al went on to say I must know composition instinctively. The conversation went on a little longer and in the end, I was truly inspired. Below is one of his pictures.
For me, my inspiration comes from people. Bob Scheibel, professor at L.A. Pierce College, inspired me to write. He held my hand through my first three articles for the L.A. Daily News in their weekly Neighborhood section and then let me fly on my own. This was during my first semester at Pierce in the journalism department. With his inspiring me, I went on to win Columnist of the Year in 1987. The plaque is on my wall.
Inspiring me personally are my dear friends Carol and Alyse. Carol was handed a death sentence by a doctor. She had multiple things wrong with the worse being Polymyositis, a degenerative muscle disease. To her doctors’ amazement, she lived for 23 years, before she died, when she was given less than one year. Her courage to withstand pain and her will to live was truly inspirational.
Also inspirational is Alyse who care gave to her all those years. I would stay with Carol to give Alyse some respite.
Alyse is on the left and Carol on the right. As you can see, this was taken on their 76th birthdays.
Now on to photography. I’ve often called my dear friend Marlene Frankel my photo muse. While she didn’t directly inspire me, just being out in the field with her helped made things click. For instance the photo triangle finally made sense while shooting with her. If I have a camera question, she’s first on my list to call. We’ve had a lot of fun together and she’s a sometime contributor to LAPC.
Marlene on left; Anne on right
The next photographer to inspire me is Lucille Van Ommering. When I was entering two photos for the In Focus competition, Lucille took me under her wing and gently showed me how to print out my pictures. I remember telling her, “Wow, Lucille, I’ve never seen my photos that big!” She not only printed them, but showed me how to mat them. I left her house so inspired! Thanks Lucille!!
One of the photos she printed for me.
Next is the Yolo Art & Ag Project that invites artists and photographers onto farms and orchards for a morning of fun. I would never have been able to get onto the properties otherwise.
Taken at the Clarence Scott Ranch
And finally the LAPC group under the leadership of Tina, Patti, Amy and Ann-Christine. You inspire me with your kind comments on my posts and your faith in asking me to be a guest host for this great group.
We all need a respite of sorts. It could be an afternoon of shopping or a long trip. We we did some travel overseas, I didn’t have a good camera or the ability to take good photos. I keep saying I started photography 20 years too late!
The trip I chose for Rusha and Bert’s challenge is our Cross Country Trip in the summer of 2013. This was to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, and took us 3 months. I could have traveled for 6 months, but Richard is not the traveler and was doing the driving.
I’ve always wanted to travel across the U.S., visiting as many National Parks as possible. So we headed out in our 5th wheel trailer and dog, Gem. Gem is a home body, preferring to be at his house and not anywhere else. Notice I said his house! He also doesn’t like the rumble of the diesel truck engine. I had also just bought my first DSLR a Nikon D3100 which also went with us.
We chose to get to the east coast via the southern route so we could visit my cousin in Plano Texas. Here are some places we visited.
Let’s jump up to Washington D.C. I really didn’t get good shots of what was important, but I did get a good shot of the Metro station!
Richard wanted to go to Times Square while we were visiting family in New York. We paid about $30. to park!
Now for Niagara Falls. How does a new photographer take a picture that’s different from all others taken so far. You can’t! But I was happy that I got all three falls in one picture!
We went as far north as Bar Harbor Maine. On our morning walk, Gem and I came upon a lobster fisherman unloading his baskets.
There were many more highlights during our 3 month journey. I totally enjoyed it and would repeat it if given the opportunity. Thank you Rusha and Bert for this reminiscing challenge.
Sacramento may be called the “City of Trees” but a truer name would be “River City!” Or maybe Rivers City for the two main rivers that run through Sacramento. In addition, there are many creeks. Cripple Creek runs through my community. If we travel an hour or two, we can visit water areas in the Bay Area.
So, John, it’s a pleasure to take your challenge on! I love living here so close to the rivers, creeks and ponds. But as my images will show, there are many aspects to water around here.
How about the San Francisco Bay shore line where many water fowl are present. This one was photographed while walking the Marina Bay Trail which is a short 1.7 miles. If I still had my bird book (lost when I moved), I could probably ID it for you.
We also have water in fountains. This one was photographed in Tiburon while waiting for the ferry to Angel Island.
And then there are ponds. We found this on on private property, and yes we asked if we could photograph it.
Rain water leaves puddles behind that capture wonderful reflections.
Water can also hide hidden treasure. My friend Ken is gold panning near a river.
Last we have the Spirit of Sacramento. She’s an old paddle boat that got stranded when the Sacramento River receded. Once after a lot of rain, I saw her in water. She hasn’t been moved in ages.
So there you have some of the water examples in and near Sacramento. Thank you John for this fun challenge. Next week I’ll be hosting a Black and White challenge. Take care and have a great week.
Every time I say no more contests, I enter one again. This one is from the McKinley Park Rose Garden in Sacramento. I entered it last year and my picture got an honorable mention. This was my entry.
I wasn’t going to enter this year, but a few of my photo buddies decided to go to the park and give it a try. I wasn’t happy with the roses there. Many were turning brown on the edges or past their prime. I just wasn’t getting any good vibes, but did my best in picking suitable flowers. Here are the three I submitted.
And some more from the morning’s shoot.
And then I caught this little guy calling for his mate, friend?
I think he’s the winner. I’ll let you know the outcome of this, another contest!
It’s the season for all photographers and “lookie loos” to descend on almond orchards seeking beauty. However, due to a couple of good wind storms, one hard enough to topple trees and take off roofs, the beautiful blossoms are hard to find.
We photographers respect the orchards and do not go into them. We photograph from the roads, using long lenses. When I saw that one farm was opening their orchard (for a small fee) for us to walk through, Ray and I made a plan to go there. We knew it was risky given the winds we had and were still having that day, but we went anyway. This farm was outside of Davis and closer than those in Capay Valley.
It was as we thought. Not only were the blossoms blown off the trees, they were blown off the ground. In years past, fallen blossoms looked like snow. We talked to the orchard owner who said the situation was dire. Not only did she sell tickets for people to come in, but also hired bees from bee keepers to pollenate the blossoms. Cost and revenue loss. Not totally bare, some blossoms held on.
Here’s a picture taken in 2017 to give you some idea at how full the trees can get. Notice the blossoms on the ground.
A little further down the road we found a younger orchard, shorter trees, that seemed to withstand the wind better.
Here are some other almond blossom images taken on this trip.
We did find the beginnings of a mustard field.
So where have all the blossoms gone? Mother Nature has control over that! Next year!
Bulletin: most places won’t let customers use their restrooms because of COVID! That’s what Jean and I found out when we left recently to drive out of the Sacramento Valley with our cameras. We were driving to Port Costa, an old little port city in Contra Costa County. I had been there twice before, but that was several years ago. Nothing changed! I decided to take pictures in a way I didn’t before.
On our way down to the port, we stopped at this viewpoint to take a picture of the Carquinez Bridge while it was being enveloped by approaching fog. A couple of seconds after I took this image, the bridge was totally fogged in.
We then made the usual stop at the C&H Sugar refinery. Photographers are not allowed in, but they do let you take pictures at the entrance. You may have seen this view before if you’ve been following this blog for some time.
Now for Port Costa itself. The railroad still runs by it.
The town is old and the hotel shows it. Homes are overrun with overgrowth.
The shoreline, beyond the railroad tracks is interesting and we saw some kayakers paddle by.
It was just before we left Port Costa that we realized there was not a public restroom to be found. We did find a portable toilet at a small park near a fishing pier. The flush bathroom was closed. It was a good stop in more ways than one!
The Carquines Bridge
The sugar factory in the distance.
The guys said no fish today!
Before heading home, we stopped at Mare Island. I knew that the only public restroom was in the museum which was closed. There was a Navy ship in for repairs. No, we couldn’t go on board! So, after taking our pictures as best we could because it was all fenced off, we headed to a Starbucks in Vallejo.
When we found the Starbucks, we were allowed to buy coffee but not use their restroom! CostCo to the rescue. Fortunately there was one on the way home. All in all, it was a fun day. We did learn, though, not to go too far from home!
I started writing this blog last Wednesday. Then the unthinkable happened. I couldn’t continue after the U.S. Capitol Building was stormed and taken over by an angry, hateful, destructive mob. This resulted in an insurrection against the U. S. Government. Worse, was to see these people on the news wearing t-shirts that spewed out hate and urging killing of more people. (Five died that day.) My heart broke Wednesday. It’s been a week, and I realize that we must go on.
I did write a post for Lens-Artists on Saturday, and that helped. Fortunately, that was written and approved before the insurrection. The response brightened my days, and now I can do this post. So let’s talk about the monopod success!
Richard and I drove up to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge a couple of weeks ago. Photo buddy Ray was kind enough to make me a short monopod for my Nikon and 300 mm, F/4 lens in hopes I could handle the weight better. With Richard as driver and spotter, we went forth.
The hand-held mono pod helped me a great deal. The camera didn’t shake when I held it up. It was amazing. Thank you Ray!!
Here are some images I was able to capture:
I’m so proud that I was actually able to spot a lot of these, but having Richard drive freed me to move around in the car. You can’t get out of your car on the one-way route.
Think big! Don’t sweat the small stuff! Did you want to super-size that? In today’s world, we are taught to think BIG. We go for the big SUV, the big sale and the big burger. In photography, we learn to shoot large landscapes with a wide-angle lens.
Donner Lake in Winter
But what about thinking small? Let’s talk about macro photography.
What is macro photography? What is micro photography? Are they different from close-up photography? Have I confused you? I’ll give you a hint, two are the same and one is different. Let’s delve into the subject.
Close-up photography takes a subject and zooms in on it. Usually the subject is small, like a plant or an insect, but it could also mean getting close to someone’s eye or face as a subject. The picture is taken with any lens. I’ve taken close-ups with a nifty fifty on a crop sensor camera.
A close-up image taken with an 18-200 mm lens, shot at F/5.6.
Typically, these types of images fill the frame. However, I’ve put flowers or part of flowers off to the side. Shooting with a 200- or 300-mm lens can give you almost macro quality.
This flower was shot at 200 mm at F/5.6.
Macro photography refers to a picture taken with a dedicated macro lens yielding a magnification ratio of 1:1. Meaning, the image depicted on your camera’s sensor is in its actual size. When printed, the subject appears life-sized. This type of photography is used especially when we shoot something exceedingly small or want to capture an extremely small part of it.
Hint: If you want just part of a subject in focus, use a lower F stop (meaning F/number) to get the entire macro subject in focus, use a higher F stop.
The praying mantis in this image appears life-sized as does the part of the flower it’s feeding on. It was shot with a 105 mm macro lens at F/16.
The leaf in this image was shot with the same macro lens, but at F/2.8 creating a more shallow depth of field.
Micro photography is the same as macro photography. Camera manufacturers use the terms interchangeably. You might say that a macro lens takes a picture of a micro subject! I borrowed that last phrase!
One big difference between close-up and macro shooting is breeze. For close-ups you can shoot in a slight breeze because the regular lens isn’t as sensitive as a macro lens. When shooting with a macro lens, any movement in the subject will result in blur. Often, I’ll just take my 55-200 mm lens out when there’s a slight breeze. I can still get nice close-ups.
Oh, yes, everyone says you need a tripod. Confession, I’ve never used one for macro. In fact, I hardly use one at all. However, you will need a steady hand and fast shutter speed.
Now we’ve covered the macro, micro and close-up differences, and you are wanting a macro lens, let’s talk about options. Macro lenses are expensive but there are less expensive alternatives. Extension tubes or reverse ring adaptors to turn your regular lens around are much less expensive options. Personally, I decided against either option and bought a used macro lens for my Nikon D7100. When buying used, be careful. Buy from a store that will let you return it within 90 days if not satisfied. Also purchase one that will give you a 1:1 ratio.
For my Fujifilm camera, I treated myself to a new macro lens, knowing I would use it a lot. It’s a prime 80 mm but still shoots at a 1:1 ratio.
So, which two are the same and the other different? The answer: macro and micro photography are the same and close-up photography is different!
This week’s challenge is to take your camera for a walk around your yard or home and shoot some close-up or macro shots. Too cold, too wet, too busy? Feel free to choose some images from your archives. Be sure to link your response to my original post, and to use the Lens-Artists TAG to help us find you. I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
I love the letter “A” not only because it is the first letter of my name, but it’s also for Apple Hill in Placerville. That’s the first thing that came to my mind when I read Patti’s post that gave us this challenge.
Of course in Apple Hill they grow apples. Imagine that! Each year the Apple Hill Growers Association organizes this event. Growers in the area open their orchards/farms, a certain amount, to the public. They sell pies, cupcakes, jelly or caramel apples, anything apple. I don’t care for pie, but the cupcakes and donuts are delicious. I do bring home a large slice of apple pie for Richard.
We spend the day driving from place to place, exploring the grounds and buying fruit from the fruit stands. It’s a wonderful photo day. Because of the pandemic, we didn’t go this year. However, I do have images to show you from previous years.
People of all ages come to enjoy the grounds, pony rides and food.
The grounds at some of the orchards are simply beautiful.
There are also a few old trucks, museum sets, and flowers.
I’m hoping that the pandemic will be over next year. I did miss visiting Apple Hill this year, but didn’t want to risk the crowds. Take care and stay safe everyone!
Slow Shutter Speed 