Like a habit, each year egrets and herons nest in a tree in Lincoln California. They probably feel safe because the tree is located in a marshy gully between two shopping centers. I call this tree The Nesting Tree. Typically, we visit this tree in April when the nesting is in progress. The birds fly off, bringing back stick and twigs to their nests. Sometimes, if the photography gods comply, through your lens, you can see them handing off the twig to their mate.
My lens only extends out to 300 mm. Six hundred would be great, but I’m not a wildlife photographer and I’m content to get whatever pictures I can get. Here’s a sample from our recent trip.
I look forward to this each year. This year I brought a chair and was more comfortable. Who knows what I’ll bring next year.
Up first are zoo animals. the giraffe and orangutan are my favorites. They are so expressive. The orangutans are playful, and the giraffes make such funny faces.
My next image is of a squawking cormorant with his yellow beak wide open. I wonder what he’s saying!
I enjoy photographing covered bridges. This one was recently redone. Its shingles are warm colored, blending in with the natural surroundings.
Cool in temperature, but warm in color are the Luray Caverns in Virginia.
You never know what you’ll find when you’re driving down a country road! But you know in October you’ll find pumpkins.
Finally, who says warm colors can’t be photographed at night. This image taken in Old Sacramento has warm written all over it.
Thank you Egidio for challenging us with warm colors during Sacramento’s damp, overcast and rainy weather. When you post your response to this challenge, please remember to link your post to Egidio’s and use the Lens-Artists tag. I enjoyed seeing your days and nights last week, especially the comparisons. Next week I will be challenging you, so stay tuned.
Do resolutions truly work? Which is more important, looking back or moving forward? In our Lens Artists community all three are important. With this challenge we are looking back at our favorites from 2023.
And we are looking forward to 2024 as we welcome Ritva of Ritva Sillanmaki Photography and Egídio of Through Brazilian Eyes to the Lens Artists team. We know they will bring their marvelous photography, extensive travel experiences, and fresh insight to our weekly challenges. Please join us in extending a warm welcome to them. Click on the links to Ritva and Egídio’s blogs at the end of today’s post to follow them and receive all of our upcoming Lens Artists challenges.
And now for my favorites of 2023. My feelings about 2023 are all over the place. Very positive and enjoyable and then very difficult. Let’s talk about the first part of the year which was wonderful with my trip to Melbourne Australia. My friends Sandy and Peg and I were able to visit and photograph with Leanne Cole for three wonderful days in Port Campbell. Here are some favorites from that trip.
Maist Rest Rain ForestBuilding in MelbourneTwelve Apostles Web Bridge
And you know how much I love photographing macro subjects. Here are three of my flowers and some of their guests.
Here are some single favorites.
The difficult part of 2023 came in August when I was rearended and suffered a severe whiplash. I wasn’t able to do photography for a few months. And if it weren’t for my wonderful photo buddies taking me to places close and for short durations, I would have gone bonkers. You don’t know how important that camera is until you can’t use it!
January has me looking forward to more photo opportunities. I’m trying to add more time to the outings without traveling far. I don’t make resolutions, but I do pick words. This year is gratitude. Living in gratitude. And, I’m grateful for all of you in the Lens-Artists community and look forward to sharing photos with you in 2024.
Here is a list of our team. Please be sure to follow us so you don’t miss a challenge!
To say 2023 ended better than 2022 isn’t saying much. 2022 ended with fog. Laura, Marlene and I went up to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge where we found zero visibility. We thought it might lift in an hour or two, so we went out to lunch at the only place open in Willows on Christmas Day. It didn’t help!
So 2023 proved to be slightly better with overcast weather. So Laura, Ray and I went up to the refuge. Yes, it was better, but still no sunshine. This was a true test of the 18-300 mm Tamron lens. It worked well.
The birds weren’t too happy either. We didn’t see eagles, but there were lots of turkey vultures. Stay tuned for the weather in 2024!
We take pictures for different reasons. Sometimes we see something that strikes an emotion, maybe we see a great composition, and sometimes we see something funny. This week Tina is asking us to tell her why we’ve chosen our images.
My images today are ones that I’m emotionally attached to and they are mostly from my early days of photography. I’m hoping that they are technically good also! I haven’t re-edited them. So let’s start.
This was taken during one of my first outings with a club in 2013. I thought I was over the flu, but half way hiking to the falls at Table Mountain in Oroville, I got tired and knew I was in trouble. I yelled for my friend to throw me her car keys and turned around. Half way back to the car, I sat down to have lunch. While munching on my sandwich I saw a couple and their dogs, in silhouette, walking along the horizon line. This was taken with my Nikon and an 18-140 mm lens. Yes, I cropped way in. I may not have gotten a water fall image, but I thought this was an opportunity too good to miss. When I got back to the car, I slept until woken by my friend.
Next, let’s travel to the Marin Headlands, 2014, on the California Coast. This was an evening outing with another group. I never took a photo course, but asked other photographers a lot of questions. This was my first time catching a sunset on the ocean, and I was asking a lot of questions! This picture taught me about color, lighting and catching people in partial and full silhouettes. I think I was using the old stand alone Lightroom at the time and may have known about working with color. Other than that, this image didn’t get a lot of editing. It was also taken with my trusty Nikon.
Moving along to 2015 and a fun outing to photograph mossy trees. This memory is more about the fun we had. We spent a lot of time hunting for the trees and finally found a grove of mossy trees. However, we were out in the wine country and there were no public bathrooms around. We drove up to a winery only to be told they didn’t have public restrooms and they weren’t open unless you booked a wine tasting. We finally persuaded them to let us use their restroom. Beth bought a $20 bottle of wine as a thank you and wouldn’t let us chip in on the purchase. I’m hoping she enjoyed that wine. I chose this image because of the shapes of the trees. My challenge at that time was cropping the picture correctly. You’ll let me know if I did okay.
This next picture, taken in 2016, was pure fun. This eagle was on a tree limb that stretched over the road at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. In order to get this image, I had to climb up and out (waist high) of Laura’s sun roof. She had slippery leather seats that I kept sliding down on. With her encouragement, I did it! The look on that eagle’s face is telling me that he was wondering what I was doing and why! Still Nikon.
The second is one I call Capitol Moon. This was taken when the moon was huge and we were positioned at the end of the Capitol Mall in Sacramento. The original showed the whole building, but I thought with the moon so close to the dome, this crop would work better. Did I guess right?
Last is my first ride in a two seater plane. My great nephew had just gotten his pilot’s license and offered to take me up. His dad flies for Delta so he’s no stranger to flight. I think he was graduating high school. I had a blast. I asked him to take me into the clouds, but he said he wasn’t licensed to go that high. Darn! Atlanta from the sky.
Last we go ahead to this year and my trip to Melbourne. I fell in love with the architecture. And, of course, touring the city with Leanne Cole made the trip more exciting. I chose this because of the design and art of the structure. I want to go back and take more time with it. Taken with my Fuji XT3.
I hope you enjoyed my emotional journey. Thank you Tina for prompting me to take this path. Remember to link to her post and use the Lens-artist tag when you prepare your post. And thank youEgidio for last week’s RECHARGE challenge. I enjoyed seeing how all of you relaxed and rejuvenated. Next week Patti will be leading the challenge.
It’s nature at its closest: Effie Yeaw Nature Center. This amazing place is on the American River in Fair Oaks, about 15 minutes from my home. This Sacramento County Park has a visitors center and bathrooms near the center. Other than that, it’s up to Nature to make changes. Sometimes when we visit, there are no deer in sight and other times: WOW!
Our visit in August was one of those WOW moments. We saw many moms, their fawns and young bucks. I also got a good shot of a woodpecker and two of the American River.
WoodpeckerWhat’s she thinking?A Jack RabbitAmerican RiverAmerican RiverOlder buck
The deer at Effie Yeaw are used to us humans walking by, but we are still careful not to get too close. It’s all about respect and that this is their home we are walking through.
I always learn more about my photography approach when I work on these challenges. Through Philo’s challenge,our guest host this week, I’ve learned I’m not a true minimalist type of photographer. I may be simplistic, but not in a minimal sense. For me simplistic means concentrating on one subject without a busy background.
For those of you who have been following my blog, you know I love do photograph macro/close ups of flowers. I get in close and fill a frame. One flower.
Sometimes I do leave some negative space, but it’s still a tight crop.
How more simple can you get than a lone tree providing shade for cows?
Maybe a shoreline, providing a relaxing place can be a simple image.
How about an insect gathering nectar from a flower? For me these are simple images telling one story with one strong image.
A woman was showing off the find of a beautiful shell.
A shore bird walking along with it’s shadow, makes a simple statement and does show some negative space. There’s hope for me after all!
Thank you Philo for helping us realize the simplicity in our photography. Please remember to link to his post and use the Lens-Artists tag. I’m sure he wants to see all your great posts through the week. Next week Next week, Dawn Miller of The Day After will be leading our challenge, having us look at fences.
If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.
I’ve been busy? I’ve been preoccupied? Time got away from me? Whatever the reason, I’m looking at my unposted photos from May. One of those outings was to Mather Lake and I was still trying to get used to the new Tamron 18 -300mm lens. You’ll be happy to know that it and I have become good friends. It’s just so different from the Fuji lenses.
I like Mather Lake because it’s close and has swans. I love swans. They are so graceful. But very often they are on the other side of the lake. Too far for a 300mm lens. That day in May I got lucky.
I have been remiss in posting. This is caused by some traveling and a broken computer. You don’t realize how much, as a photographer, you depend on your computer until you don’t have it. Not only could I not edit photos, I couldn’t get to my archived images. Frustrated doesn’t begin to explain how I felt.
So here I am playing catch up. For this post I’m showing you images from the nesting trees where great egrets and blue herons build their nests each year. The birds feel safe there because the two trees are in the middle of a gully. One sits in the nest while its mate flies and brings back twigs. It’s fun to watch them.
This is a stretch for my Tamron 18 – 300mm lens but I did get some nice images.
This is about the only instance where I can predict they will be flying. This type of photography helps me learn how to watch carefully and be fast.
I have two favorite seasons: Spring and Autumn. Choosing between them, although difficult, Spring would win. Both are photographic wonders, but I don’t have to travel so far to experience Spring’s beauty. Sacramento is a wonderland of blossoms and regeneration of wildlife. This week, Sofia of Photographias encourages us to share our thoughts and images of Spring.
Every Spring Ananda Village, in Nevada City, volunteers plant amazing tulips for visitors. It is getting so popular that we now have to make reservations.
North Table Mountain was formed by volcanic activity and has an array of beautiful wildflowers each Spring.
Speaking of wildflowers, there is nothing more beautiful than a mountain of wild California Poppies.
There are also beautiful rose gardens in the Sacramento area. These were taken at the McKinley Park Rose Garden.
Each Spring the owners of Maple Leaf Gardens used to host an open house for the public.
Wild mushrooms also make an appearance in Spring.
Spring is also the time for birds to nest.
Each Spring, geese families strut around the pond in my neighborhood. You’ve got to watch out for the dads though, they are very protective of their goslings.
Spring is definitely a time for renewal, hope and beauty. We will be ready for it after the Winter most of us have been experiencing.
Thank you Sofia for this challenge that brought beauty to our computers. When you respond, please remember to link to Sofia’s post and tag Lens-Artists. I will be challenging you next week, so look for my post.
If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.
Slow Shutter Speed 