It was desperation that pushed me out the door on Labor Day. I knew I wouldn’t be able to shoot for at least a week after foot surgery. Laura and I visited downtown Sacramento and the Capitol building during the morning. I knew enough not to be out all day because surgery was early the next morning.
In my last post, I showed you the various statues, sculptures and street life around the Capitol. We shot outside for about two hours. But, it was getting late in the morning and tourists were walking around–a great time to go indoors and see our State Capitol. Part of the first floor is a museum, one wall gives a history of all the California counties and houses the Governor’s office. It’s a beautiful building with an amazing rotunda.
I was amazed it was open on a holiday and very glad I felt desperate enough to want to get out and shoot.
Here’s a glimpse of the California State Capitol.
The Capitol building shot from across the street.
One of the sculptures outside the rotunda.
I liked the lines in this shot.
A closer look at the capitol as the sun shines down upon it.
A bronze sculpture in one of the second floor’s door way.
The beautiful rotunda.
Another view of the rotunda.
One of the planters set into sort of a mini rotunda.
The hallway leading to offices.
Here’s a room inside the museum.
They had docents in some of the rooms.
We weren’t allowed in if there wasn’t a docent in the room. We had to get creative with shooting.
A stairway.
More from the stairway.
And, the former Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bronze bear statute.
Knowing I’d have to be house bound for a week, I wanted one last photo outing before I had foot surgery. Photo buddy Laura suggested that we go to Sacramento shoot the statues and buildings. We left at 8 a.m. (Laura can always get me out early.), and it was wonderful. The streets were empty on Labor Day, and the parking was free.
Laura works downtown and knew where to go, park and shoot. Walking the streets, we stopped and shot whatever was in interesting and ended our morning at the State Capitol building. As morning grew closer to afternoon, tourists started to come and gave us the opportunity to shoot around them. I found it fun to include them in the shot.
That was Last Monday and Tuesday I had my foot surgery. I’ve spend the last week being a couch princess, processing images, posting blogs and reading tutorials. Tomorrow I’ll be going shooting with Greg and Marlene. I told Greg that I would take his back seat, use a pillow to rest my foot on, and bring a book and read if I get tired or find it difficult to shoot.
I don’t know what or how I will shoot, but I do know that I won’t be house bound. One day out!
Here’s a peak at Sacramento. I’ll show you the State Capitol in my next post.
This is the first statue we came upon. I’ve seen this before and still don’t know what it is or what it stands for. But it is bright!
This was the second statue. I think it’s bronze in two pieces.
I took this opportunity when I saw the two sculptures in one shot.
This was the second grouping of sculptures we saw. I’m only showing you one. I’m hoping you can read the words on the base.
This is a close up of one face. I like the work on this.
Here’s the other side and another set of words.
Statues like this one are guarding the doors of the government buildings. This is just one example.
This sculpture is dedicated to the men and women who lost their lives in service to the public.
My favorite. A mother consoles her daughter as the folded American Flag sits beside them.
Here’s a closer look.
The Sacramento Convention Center.
A man carries bags of recycling material passed a bicycle rack.
Just two of the transportation modes in downtown Sacramento.
Sacramento is known as the City of Trees. Here’s why.
I told you that I learn from my mistakes, and for this outing, I remembered my Tripod. It’s a good thing I did, because it came in handy at the Empire Mine State Historic Park in Grass Valley. The park was begging to be shot in HDR which added so much depth and character to the images.
As usual on Tuesdays, our guide and driver Greg took us, me and Linda, the back way to the Park, stopping along the way to discover future shoots, do some actual photography and eat. That is how we ended up in Wheatland, the first stop on our journey. This is a very small town. I put the “very” before small because that’s how small it is–at least to our photographic eyes. The town, in Yuba County, actually has a population of 3,456 as of the 2010 census.
We were going to Rough and Ready but never made it because it was getting late and we wanted to get to the Mine. Oh yes, we made a couple more stops along the way. The Empire Mine was founded in 1850 and operated until 1956. The William Bourn family maintained control of the mine and lived there until 1929 when it was sold to Newmont Mining. In 1975 it was purchased by the State who then created the Historic Park.
We got there late afternoon, quickly going to the mine area. The grounds are separated into the mine area and living quarters consisting of a beautiful home and gardens. We shot until we were asked to leave. It seems they close the Mine at 5 p.m. When we left, the ranger reminded us that we were there almost two hours which should have been enough time to see the mine, and I had to explain that photographers take more time than most people. I don’t think she was sympathetic; she just wanted to go home!
Oh, another lesson learned! Check out the hours before we leave home! Yes, we’ll have to do that because we will be returning.
The Wheatland water tower. They were doing some work on it.
This is either a replica or an actual old school house located on a school property.
A Wheatland church.
A stop on the road, this rugged road and golden colored grass land.
Remnants of what might have been an old gate.
Fencing and Eucalyptus trees.
Old log with a lot of character.
Country farm house.
Stamp Mill Site.
This building contained the Mine Manager’s Office, Assay office and Refinery Room.
A different view of the building.
The Warehouse.
Mine Equipment Exhibit.
This image shows the blacksmith shop, the Compressor Building, Tool Sharpening Shed.,
The greenhouse.
The garage.
The mine shaft.
The stairway to and from the mine shaft.
The fountain on the grounds surrounding the living quarters.
Memories, they’re those warm, wonderful, sad and fearful feelings that emerge when you think of something from the past. Shooting with Leanne Cole, an Australian photographer, is something I looked forward to, totally enjoyed and now is a fond, beautiful memory.
You see, I met Leanne online by following her blog when I first got my D3100 three years ago. During that time I’ve seen her morph her photography business into what it has become today. She’s an amazing photographer, artist and now publisher of Dynamic Range–a magazine about and for women photographers. We’ve corresponded since meeting on the blog with her giving me encouragement and advice. Hopefully I’ve been able to do the same for her–well more encouragement, not advice! It is truly a small world.
We, Leanne, her friend Nicci and I, had a delightful day in Santa Cruz, Capitola and Monterey. The three of us fit; it was as if we had gone shooting together before. In fact, Nicci and I hit it off and will go shooting again. I’ve added an Australia visit to my bucket list, and I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll get there.
In the meantime, I’ll have the memories of that fun day shooting with my new friends.
Welcome to the boardwalk and pier.
This guy is showing off for the photographers walking by. Of course I took the shot!
People having fun on the beach.
This boy is testing the water.
A dad and toddler.
The seals rest under the pier.
The end of the Santa Cruz pier.
The Boardwalk amusement area.
The lovely colors of Capitola beach.
A photographer shooting a photographer as he shoots a model.
This bird is at home in the foam.
Moving on.
Mom and kids walking past the row of colorful houses.
Under the Capitola pier.
The Capitola pier.
We weren’t the only ones enjoying the Monterey sunset.
Nicci as she shoots the sunset. I sent her this image and she put it on her blog. I’m so glad she likes it.
More sunset and a bit of water trapped in the rocky coastline.
It sits rusting, attracting graffiti artists and welcomes the occasional visitor. The Santa Fe 2925 sits just outside Old Sacramento waiting for the Sacramento Railroad Museum to find the funds to restore it and move it into the facility.
Just imagine this train when it was racing the tracks of America, pulling passengers and cargo. What a history it must have. I did try to do some research, but all I came up with were some conversations. I did try to do my best to capture its personality in pictures. HDR was out of the question since I had left my tripod at home. While Greg was shooting with his tripod, creating great images, I took some long shots of the train and concentrated on the small rusted parts.
Maybe, one day, we will get another surprise and the Sacramento Railroad Museum will receive funding to restore the 2925. In the meantime you can view my images of this once magnificent train.
The 2925.
You can see the graffiti on the engine front,
The rusted gears and wheels.
Spiders have enjoyed living on the train.
I loved the colors rust produces.
A closer look at the gear that turns the wheel.
The side of the car.
The hook up.
A box car.
Climb aboard.
I don’t know what this tank was for.
Were these boxes for luggage or tools?
Peek-a-boo, I can see through.
A metal sculpture near the train.
Another view of the sculpture.
Looking back at Sacramento from the back of the train.
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!
It’s time to say goodbye to Amador County; but, I’m sure not for good. I was looking over my images and there are still a few to show you. And, alas, I’ve duplicated some in prior posts. Hope you didn’t mind seeing them again!
With each outing, I learn. Sometimes I learn by watching. Sometimes by trying different things. And sometimes by making mistakes. Mistakes, unfortunately, seem to be the best teacher! How many time do you repeat the same mistake? Not too many I hope. It also pays to go with friends who remember to prompt you like, “What’s your ISO set at?” or “Did you bring your tripod today?”
I’m grateful for those prompts because it shows they care. I’m grateful for all the caring critiques I get on my photographs when I ask for them. This is especially true for the folks in Sacramento Photographers. Ask for help and you’ll get it. And my new Toastmasters Photography Club is also great for giving feedback.
So, as you look at the last of Amador County for a while, understand that with each image I have learned more about photography.
We’re back at Fat Freddy’s. Meet Carlos, aka Fat Freddy.
You could spend hours looking at his walls and the stuff on them. Here he has some funny money and some real that are folded into unique shapes.
How about this shirt and tie.
The outside of his Jackson restaurant.
Now we’re in Volcano. I loved this town. Here’s the jail!
A vintage sign.
An old bench and old building.
Another vintage sign.
The Volcano look.
Red chairs.
A bench dedicated to a loved one.
If you look close enough, you’ll see the most important directional sign on this post: the bathroom!
Another view of the main street in this quaint town.
Isn’t it great that we can just take a day during the week and go shooting–with a camera! Now, I don’t want you 9 – 5’ers to get upset, but we’ve earned the right. You see we’re retired, older and want to do what we can while we can. That’s why a few of us decided to designate Tuesdays as our get away day. And its been great.
The town of Jackson was our destination this time, but you know we never know where we’ll end up. Greg wanted to show Marlene and I Michigan Bar Road. I had already been on part of that road with him, but got too self assured and shot HDR handheld. Mistake! So I was glad to be able to get a second chance. For, Marlene, it was new territory.
We simply drive around (Greg has 4-wheel drive and knows the area so he drives), stop when we see something to shoot and sometimes never reach our designated destination. It’s okay because there’s always next week.
The lone tree.
The dirt road we were on. This was a single shot image.
HDR helped provide this scene.
The drought has made everything so dry. But, the golden color is beautiful.
The trees seem to be reaching deep down with their roots for water.
I love the texture of this old fence and how the barbed wire just cuts into the wood.
Getting close up with the barbed wire.
This road led to the farm where I shot without a tripod. I didn’t get to try again because we turned around.
Yes, I do love fences.
This farm was beautiful.
The National Hotel in Jackson. From our first trip out there.
A Jackson store. Most of these small towns have colorful main streets.
Another store.
Inside a kitchen store, I saw these colanders strung up. Who could pass up that color.
When you go shooting with Greg, you never know where the next turn may take you. For instance, on a recent outing, we came upon some guys flying RC controlled airplanes on Michigan Bar Road near the bustling town of Ione–I jest! Of course we stopped.
The RC pilots belonged to the Gold Country Flyers and were very willing to share stories and have us take their pictures. While Greg was visiting, I started shooting. This was not my first experience with RC Airplanes since my husband tried the hobby once. However, these were very serious pilots with elaborate planes–even one helicopter. I did appreciate their answering my questions and letting me get to know them a little.
Mostly, they had a great passion for this hobby. In fact, the hobby turned into a lucrative business for one gentleman. The airport is owned and operated by the Club which was founded in 1972. The members meet once a month, offer free instruction to new pilots and generally have a great time.
After almost an hour, we left the airport to continue our adventure. That’s what we call it, because we never get lost; we just never know where the road will take us.
A plane awaits its pilot.
These are the stands where the pilots work on their planes.
Getting ready for take off.
The auto pilot!
The plane’s real pilot.
Going down the runway.
Airborne.
Not a plane. This pup was too cute not to shoot. Look at those teeth.
The pilots chat while waiting to fly.
Working on the plane.
The helicopter and its pilot.
I liked the way it was painted and decorated.
I loved these decals.
The helicopter now sits on the pad.
It’s airborne.
I was lucky to get this with a 55 mm zoom lens.
The Club also remembers their members who passed on.
Slow Shutter Speed 