Australia – Slow Shutter Speed

Posted on July 13, 2024 by Anne Sandler · 42 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #307 Tourist Attractions

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!

Posted on January 6, 2024 by Anne Sandler · 56 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #281: Favorite Images of 2023

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.

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!

Tina of https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com/
Patti of https://pilotfishblog.com/
Ann-Christine aka Leya of https://lagottocattleya.com/
John of https://photobyjohnbo.com/
Anne of https://annegeephoto.com/ (aka Slow Shutter Speed)
Sofia of https://photographias.wordpress.com/
Donna of https://windkisses.com/
Egidio of https://egidio.photography/ (aka Through Brazilian Eyes)
Ritva of https://sillarit.com/ (aka Ritva Sillanmaki Photography)

Next week Patti will be leading the challenge, so look for her post. Let’s have a great 2024!

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 36 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #261: Work in Progress

Aren’t we all a work in progress? Each day brings changes and new challenges. We work through them and we progress. This week Ann Christine asks us to show works in progress through our photos.

As I progress through my own photographic ability, I’ve learned that the things we photograph are also progressing. Some works in progress repeat year after year. For instance, the salmon swim upstream in the American River to lay their eggs. The Nimbus Fish Hatchery, raises Chinook salmon and steelhead for release to the American River. The salmon run occurs in fall, with hatchery operations taking place from the beginning of November through mid-December. The steelhead trout run occurs in winter, with hatchery operations taking place from January through February. In this series of images, the salmon are being diverted into the hatchery.

In addition to man helping nature, nature can handle things on her own. For instance, the London Bridge along the Great Ocean Road in Australia was once connected. However in January 1990 the middle collapsed and left the arch separated from the rest. Nature has a way of showing us that her force is a work in progress. Now the separated arch is called the London Arch.

Next is the WPA Rock Garden. I admire the dedication of the wonderful volunteers who keep this garden beautiful so we can all enjoy the flowers and small creatures. It is definitely a work in progress.

Last is the pride of work and ownership. Valley Oak Mill California, mills wool into yarn. Customers bring in their raw products and take home yarn. I visited this business as part of the Yolo Art & Ag project a few years ago and was impressed with the owner’s pride in her work. Her business is definitely progressing.

For me, I don’t want to stop progressing and working. I look forward to learning new things and meeting new people. As Ann Christine quoted Mark Twain in her post, Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.

Thank you to all our July guest hosts, especially Janet who encouraged us to not overlook anything. You all gave such creative responses to her challenge. And thank you Ann Christine to encouraging us to think about various works in progress. Please remember to link to her original post and use the Lens-Artists tag when you respond. Next week Amy will be providing our challenge, so be sure to look for her post.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 26 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #245: Environments

I love where I live even though I came here kicking and screaming. Sacramento and its proximity to beautiful environments like rivers, forest, farms, ranches and cities makes this a great location for photographers. In fact, I’ve blogged about it many times and have shown beautiful images of my favorite spots. So, in response to Tina’s challenge, I’m going to show you a recent new environment I traveled to.

Lifou Island “is the largest, most populous and most important island of the Loyalty Islands, in the archipelago of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. With a total area of 1,207 km² (466 sq mi), Lifou is located east of Australia at 20.9°S 167.2°E. (Wikipedia).”

Among our choices for a ship’s tour of the island was “Luecila Beach and Scenic Drive,” and that’s the one we picked. Our drive to the beach was a little more than one hour. We did see flowers and traditional houses as promised in the tour’s description. Photographing through the bus window was nearly impossible. I can describe the area as beautiful, lush and green. What amazed me were the houses with huts in their yards. I asked the guide about the huts. He replied that they were for guests who come to visit. Hospitality?

The beach was worth the long drive. It was beautiful. When we arrived, I was hungry and tried to purchase a piece of papaya fruit. The women in the kiosk didn’t take credit cards or American dollars–just francs. They ended up giving it to me without payment. It was delicious. I thought they were very gracious.

Sandy and Peg didn’t want to walk on the beach so I discovered its beauty on my own. Here’s a gallery.

I’m so glad to have walked this beach since I was sick and couldn’t see Mystery Island. I spent two days in our cabin. That’s life!

This was one of the new environments I experienced during my trip to Australia. Please remember to link to Tina’s original post when you respond and use the Lens-Artists tag. I’ll be sharing more of my trip on my blog. I enjoyed your responses to Siobhan’s challenge of Glowing Moments. Your interpretations were varied and creative. Next week, Patti will present the challenge so look for her post.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 15 Comments

The Adventure Continues: Sydney Australia

What I described as my dream come true began here in my LAPC challenge post. My dream was to visit Australia and Leanne Cole. But my journey didn’t end there. My friends (who invited me to tag along with them and their family) had arranged for us to visit Sydney and Cruise the South Pacific, visiting New Caledonia. My previous post showed you Melbourne and sights along the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne to Port Campbell.

From there, we flew to Sydney to begin another adventure. Our adventure began with not being able to hook up with Uber for a ride to our hotel. We ended up taking a taxi to Bankstown where we stayed for a few days until it was time to board our cruise ship. One day was spent in a shopping center, picking up items we needed. Another day was spent doing laundry. My friend Sandy caught a cold. You get the idea. We relaxed and rested. We did get into Sydney one day and took a Hop On and Hop Off Tour Bus.

My friends and their family had already been to Sydney, so I was eagerly looking out the window. They didn’t seem to want to get off and I didn’t see any reason to do so. Here are pictures taken through the bus window while it was moving! Again, like in Melbourne, the buildings were amazing. There were many small parks scattered throughout the city.

We did get off to see the Opera House, and we weren’t the only tourists there!

So that was our one day visit to Sydney. I was impressed with the amount of parks and the beautiful buildings. I also appreciated the rest we received after a whirlwind week in Melbourne. Seeing wild cockatoos and hearing other types of birds was also a treat.

Next we board the Carnival Splendor and head for New Caledonia. Stay tuned.

Posted on March 25, 2023March 25, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 131 Comments

LENS ARTISTS PHOTO CHALLENGE #242: NEW EXPERIENCES

Experiencing something for the first time can be exhilarating, exhausting, and engaging. Looking forward to that experience can create feelings like anxiousness, happiness, and anxiety. It’s even more exaggerated when the experience is something you wished for but thought would never happen.

My recent trip to Australia falls into that last category. My wish: to go to Australia and photograph with Leanne Cole in Melbourne. You see, when she was in the U.S. in 2015, I had the great opportunity to take her to Santa Cruz and go down to Monterey for a day. She was visiting a friend in Saratoga. We both remember that day. I was amazed at how at ease she was with her camera. And the thought of visiting with her in Australia was a dream come true.

This exciting trip was with my friends Sandy and Peg who are sisters. They invited me along as their adopted sister. Peg was detained a day so Sandy and I flew the long trip together.

I had a day alone with Leanne, walking Melbourne, when Sandy went to pick up Peg at the airport. We had breakfast, lunch and met Sandy and Peg for dinner. What a wonderful day that was. Melbourne is an exciting city with amazing architecture and the Yarra river running through it. Here is a sample of images from that day.

The next morning Leanne picked us up and took us to Port Campbell where we spent 2 full days photographing iconic scenes—places I have seen in Leanne’s blog many times.

On the way to Port Campbell

Leanne had arranged a wonderful rental house for us at Port Campbell where we enjoyed our 2-night stay. We explored the beaches and sights.

On our way back to Melbourne, Leanne took us to a rainforest, Maist’s Rest.

I had never been in a rainforest before, and this was outstanding. The ferns (which I love) were huge. Here’s a peak.

We had a wonderful time and experienced new things. This was the highlight of my almost 1-month vacation. Thank you, Leanne, for driving and being our very own tour guide. I totally enjoyed our girl friend time and the fun with all four of us. We all appreciated your time. And I’ll admit that Australia has great coffee!

There will be future posts on my blog about this trip. From Melbourne we journeyed to Sydney and then cruised for 11 days. Maybe I can fit some into an LAPC post.

But today, your challenge is to show and tell us about a new experience you had. It could be a trip, the birth of a child or grandchild, a road trip to a new place, the possibilities are endless. As you respond, please link to this post and use the Lens-Artists tag.

We all enjoyed your responses to Sofia’s challenge of Spring. Your narratives and images were imaginative and beautiful. Some of you even got in the Spring mood while walking in snow! Next week, April 1, Donna Holland will be challenging you and she’s not fooling around! Be sure to look for her post.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Anne Sandler

Circling life: The Clydesdales, Fairfield, California

Both Alyse and I decided in a recent phone conversation that we were going around in circles–not literally but in the sense of getting nowhere with our lives. Returned from our 2-week road trip, neither of us felt that we were getting much done or advancing toward a goal.

I had wanted to take a course from Leanne Cole, a friend and fine-art photographer in Australia, but have yet to start it. I just don’t have the time. I’m still moving boxes around, unpacking the ones I can, shopping for new things for the house and beginning to get into a normal routine, including photography. Maybe, I’m wanting too much too soon. I want to have my house done, want to begin to meet people in my new community and want to advance in my photography ability–ALL AT ONCE!

Fortunately, I’m prioritizing photo outings with my regular Tuesday group. We recently visited the Anheuser-Busch plant in Fairfield to photograph the famous Clydesdale horses. We began with a plant tour (I’ll show the images in this post.) and then watched the hitching of the horses to the cart and the small parade. This was all done in their parking lot.

So, here are some pictures from the plant tour that lasted about 1 hour. I so enjoyed the outing, and had the feeling that I was accomplishing something. In the next post you’ll meet the horses and April, the dalmatian.

Oh, on a side note, when I met one of my new neighbors, I kept talking about going out to shoot this and that. I saw a puzzled look on her face, and realized she thought I was talking about guns! “I shoot with a camera,” I said!