When it’s steaming outside, we go inside to take photographs. Most stores don’t mind. One such store is Pottery World in Rocklin. We look for a store that has an array of subject to photograph, and recently we went to Pottery World.
Here are some examples of what we found.
I like to go in close and sometimes crop even further. I’m looking forward to October when we can stay outside longer! It’s been a hot summer!
Who doesn’t like something cool in the summertime? A cool drink with plenty of ice. A day at the coast enjoying the ocean. Cool and inviting colors. This week, John wants us to delve into the world of cool–whatever our interpretation. I chose nature.
Let’s look at flowers first. You know I love to photograph flowers, especially tulips (deep purple) and orchids (pink).
And who doesn’t feel the coolness of fog. Its mist lingers in the air as it darkens the scene.
Machinery and tools are another subject for cool. Patina can turn a discarded piece of a machine blue while steel has a totally cooling effect to our senses.
A lush rainforest is so cooling on a hot day. The color green just envelopes you as you walk along the path.
On a recent vineyard outing this artist was painting, and to my surprise all the people were wearing cool colors and she was surrounded by green foliage.
My last picture was taken at a community park where greens and blues abound. So totally relaxing!
And so ends my cool adventure. Thank you John for helping me see how nature can be so relaxing and sweet. When you post your response, please remember to link to John’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Next week, I’ll be back with another relaxing challenge, so look for my post.
We live in a three dimensional world. Photography shows the world as two dimensions unless we give the image a sense of scale. In this week’s challenge, Sofia encourages us to use many ways to show our photos in three dimensions using a sense of scale.
Using people to show magnificence.
Living in California, I can’t escape visiting BIG trees. This one is in Calaveras Big Trees State Park. My friend is standing in front of a tall redwood tree. No, I didn’t shrink her!
My next two show mountain height. Climbers practice here. There are much higher mountains in California. But this one makes for great practice and good photo opportunities. You have to look hard to find the person in the photo on the left.
Here we are in the California dessert. That’s my husband walking through a canyon.
Using a tall tree in the foreground.
This next image is of the Yosemite Water Fall during the drought. Photographers use this shot to capture the “Fire Fall.” I got the fire, but not the fall. The foreground gives the mountain a sense of scale.
Now I’m twisting the theme a bit. As I was going through my images, I came across this picture of the now inactive Empire Mine in Grass Valley. It shows a scale of depth as the tracks go down into the mine.
Finally, this last image definitely has me plunging in a downward spiral showing the depth of the three stories. What kid wouldn’t like to ride down that staircase?
Thank you Sofia for showing us the importance of scale in helping to give our photos a three dimensional look and feel. When you reply with your post, please remember to link to Sofia’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
I truly enjoyed seeing all of your gardens last week. Next week John is hosting our challenge so please look for his post. Until then have a wonderful week!
When I started photography, the first thing I wanted to learn was how to get that soft background behind a flower. I didn’t know the term for that was macro photography and that soft background was bokeh. This led me to truly appreciate floral beauty and the gardeners who create that beauty. Ann-Christine’s challenge this week is on gardens.
I do appreciate the wonderful volunteers who work hours to keep our public gardens looking gorgeous for us to enjoy. One of those gardens is the WPA Rock Garden in Land Park, Sacramento. It’s a small one acre hillside garden comprised of a series of rock-lined beds and meandering paths. The garden was established in 1940 through the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression.
Aside from one paid employee, the garden is taken care of by volunteers who do a fantastic job. Whenever I see a volunteer, I always thank them for making this possible for me to photograph.
Here are some photos I took on a recent visit this month.
Situated in Land Park and near the pond, the garden gets a lot of park visitors who are curious and just enjoy both the park, pond and garden. It’s a wonderful place to relax.
There are many gardens in Sacramento for us to photograph and I appreciate this opportunity to show you The Rock Garden. Thank you Ann-Christine. When you post your response , please be sure to place a link to Ann-Christine’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Last week we zigged and zagged. What a fun challenge from Patti. Next week Sofia will present her challenge so be sure to look for her post.
Have you ever zigged when you should have zagged? Or better said, gave Lightroom a challenge! I will warn you–don’t change a file name—ever! I know after you’ve imported into Lightroom to change a file name first in Lightroom and then on your computer. But my Zig occurred when I changed file names before importing into Lightroom. The Zag was a disaster.
I’ve managed to salvage some images of zigging and zagging, so here they are. Warning, they are out of the order I was trying to put them in, but I don’t want to tempt fate again! So here are my offerings for Patti’s fun challenge. I actually had fun finding these.
My zig zag problems aside, this was a fun challenge. As you post your ZZ’s please remember to link to Patti’s original post and use the Lens-Artist tag. A big thank you to our July guest hosts: Leanne, Elizabeth and PR. They presented creative and wonderful challenges.
Next week, Ann-Christine will lead our challenge, so be sure to look for her post.
Interested in joining the Lens-Artists challenges? Click here for more information…..
Does anyone remember HDR? It was all the rage 10 years ago. At least it was in Sacramento and Yolo Counties. That was also the time I started doing photography. So I learned how to bracket photos and and process them in Photomatix (The go to program of the day.) to get that painterly look. I’m sure Photomatix would have given me a less painterly look, but that was what we were looking for “in the day!”
I’m bringing this up because looking for balconies in my archives for PR’s Balconies challenge, I realized that most of my photos were HDR images. I also realized that the painterly look made them look soft, or it might have been my skill level at the time.
What fun I had reprocessing them, trying to get them to look less like a painting. Here’s the bunch I worked on. All of them were taken in small country towns. Wood structures with wood balconies. Today, I wouldn’t use HDR for these photos. However, Lightroom will process HDR images without the painterly look. I do like the “look” in the last photo.
I did find two images that I didn’t photograph in HDR. The one on the left is our California Governor’s Mansion. I had an opportunity to tour it when they were restoring the home.
Here’s a blurb on the residence from Wikipedia: The California Governor’s Mansion is the official residence of the governor of California, located in Sacramento, the capital of California. Built in 1877, the estate was purchased by the Californian government in 1903 and has served as the executive residence for 14 governors. The mansion was occupied by governors between 1903–1967 and 2015–2019. Since 1967, the mansion has been managed by California State Parks as the Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park.
The house on the right was a house I liked because of the way it was framed and the green trim.
So these are the balconies from the first two years of my photography education. As far as HDR, it’s still useful. I used it when I shot Real Estate photos. I didn’t have any light systems, so I used HDR. I would go in a dark closet, take my three frames, process it in Lightroom and end up with a lighted closet.
Thanks PR for taking me back to the fad of the day when I started photography. When you respond to this fun challenge, please remember to link to her post and use the Lens-Artists tag. And didn’t everyone have fun pairing photos in response to Elizabeth’s Challenge. I was amazed at the varied interpretations that were presented.
And thank you to our three guest hosts: Leanne, PR and Elizabeth. The Lens Artists team will be back next week with Patti presenting the challenge. Be sure to look for her post.
In a perfect world–wait! There’s no perfect world! Given our imperfections, guest host, Elizabeth of Albatz Travels challenges us to find perfect pairs. This is an exciting task since we interpret what we see so differently.
My first pairing is of two regulars at Mather Lake, a fishing spot and swans’ home. This pair is so different, but can usually be found at the lake at the same time.
Next there are insects and plants helping each other and us. My example are sunflowers and bees. Sunflowers provide the pollen bees need to pollenate and we love the bees honey.
The sun creates shadows and those shadows can change the object they are shadowing. This ship sculpture is at the Sacramento River Walk.
Distance can play tricks. What looks like a giant fork is actually a sculpture made from regular sized forks. Taken at the The Culinary Institute of America at Copia.
Our local Effie Yeaw Nature Center is home to many wild animals, especially deer. They don’t fear us humans, but are wary of coyotes and other animals. We have bucks and does.
Who remembers hood ornaments? I barely do. But our local California State Automobile Museum brings us back in time when cars were adorned with beauties like these. They aren’t at all alike but serve the same purpose.
You know, if you ask me, these are perfect pairings! Thanks Elizabeth for this fun challenge. When you respond, please remember to link to her original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
Last week we traveled to many tourist attractions through a challenge given by Leanne Cole. Your responses took us around the world. Thank you all for participating. Next week PR of Flights of the Soul will present Balconies. Be sure to look for her post.
In the meantime, enjoy and stay healthy!
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 funny that Leanne Cole should pick this topic since my last trip took me to her home town, Melbourne. Here’s the story.
I’ve always wanted to go to Australia but never had the opportunity. When we did travel overseas, we were younger and I took pictures with a small point and shoot, and I can’t find those old prints. Back to Australia, last year my friend Sandy offered me an opportunity I couldn’t refuse, “We’re going to Australia, do you want to come?” she said.
I couldn’t say no! The “they” we were her family. The trip consisted of a cruise to New Caledonia from Sydney Australia. Sandy added on a week in Melbourne and several days in Sydney. After saying YES! I emailed Leanne, telling her I was coming. Leanne and I had a day-long photo outing to Monterey when she visited the U.S.
I absolutely fell in love with Melbourne. We have two rivers bordering Sacramento, but the Yarra River runs through Melbourne town, leaving the city with beautiful bridges, my favorite being the Webb Bridge.
Then there was the architecture. Beautiful buildings all around me. Here are some. I seemed to focus on the new structures. But the old were gorgeous too.
We did get to see the sites along the Great Ocean Road and stayed in Port Campbell for a few days. I’ll save those images for another day. I do hope to get back to Australia and see other areas where some of our bloggers live. Maybe if I wish hard enough!
A great big thanks to Leanne for taking me back to her home town. When you post your response, be sure to link back to her post and use the Lens-Artist tag. We have two more treats coming up for you this month.
July 20: Elizabeth of Albatz Travel Adventures will challenge up with PAIRS
July 27: PR of Flights of the Soul will challenge us with BALCONIES
So be looking for their posts. I hope you are having a safe and wonderful summer!
Here’s one for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness challenge. This was taken last week at the Maneta Shrem Art Museum in Davis. It is actually located on the UC Davis Campus. I love the building’s architecture. Depending on the time of day, you get different shadows.
I like the texture the high sun gives the shadows. Hope you do too.
Slow Shutter Speed 