Posted on by Anne Sandler · 14 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #252: What’s Bugging You?

Talk about a loaded question! There’s a lot about life that bugs me, but I’m sure Donna of Wind Kisses meant strictly nature’s kind when she presented this challenge. When I’m out and about with my camera, all bugs are worthy of a photo, but if they should come into my house, they need permission first.

When I lived in Florida as a child, my mother had a daddy long legs spider living behind a dish in a cabinet. She never killed it and told us to leave it there because it ate other insects and unwanted bugs. We never had bugs in our kitchen.

In one visit to the WPA Rock Garden, Marlene and I (really Marlene) spotted this wonderful and big spider.

Also on this same outing, Marlene spotted a couple of praying mantises. It was amazing that when they feel threatened, they just stay still. The green mantis wasn’t camouflaged on the white flower, but the brown one had a better background on the brown leaves.

On another outing my friend Linda and I went downhill to photograph ladybugs. Unfortunately we had to climb up the muddy steep hill to get back up. It was worth it though.

One insect we always try to capture with our cameras is the dragonfly/damselfly. I honestly can’t tell the difference. Their colors are simply beautiful.

And what would we do without our busy bees. I give them lots of room since I’m allergic to them. I’ve found if you just let them do their work, they will leave you alone. We have an understanding, the bees and I.

I saved the most beautiful for last, the butterfly.

Some bugs are beneficial like some spiders and bees, but they are not welcome in my home. They never ask permission first!

Thank you for responding to my Buildings and Structures challenge last week. I enjoyed seeing all of your responses that were varied, educational and well photographed. And, thank you Donna for letting me reminisce about my mom and her spider. When you respond to this challenge, please remember to link your post to Donna’s and use the Lens-Artists tag.

Next week, our guest host is Brian of Bushboys World. Be sure to look for his post on Fragments.

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

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 28 Comments

Lens-Artists Challenge #200: Every Little Thing

I like photographing little things with my macro lens. Sometimes I don’t even use a macro lens to get close. Amy us challenges this week to post “every little thing that makes you smile.” So, here are some close ups that are still making me smile.

How about small flying things like a butterfly, praying mantis and bee.

Every year we get baby geese around our pond. While they are so cute, the dads won’t let you get close. This little one was walking with its family and I had a long lens!

Or getting down low to photograph small mushrooms in the grass, capturing their caps and folds.

And, of course, getting close to capture the small details of flowers like a rose and a backlit daffodil.

These are some of the small things that make me smile. I believe we need to keep looking for things small and large that bring us happiness and make us smile. Thank you Amy for the reminder.

I’ve enjoyed seeing all your responses to John’s Mechanical and Industrial challenge last week. Remember to link your response to this challenge to Amy’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Next week Ann Christine will be hosting LAPC. Be sure to look for her post.

 If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, just click this link and join us: https://photobyjohnbo.wordpress.com/about-lens-artists/

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 17 Comments

The heat is on: The sunflowers are smiling!

Heat and drought! Not a good combination. We are in the midst of wildfire season here in the west, and Northern California is getting its share. But what makes us smile are the sunflowers. Yes, it’s also sunflower season here.

In the middle of June, the wonderful Yolo Arts & Ag Project brought us to the Elkhorn Basin Ranch in West Sacramento. It was going to be a hot day, so we got there early. Artists and photographers were lined up to sketch, paint and photograph the cheerful sunflowers.

Now these sunflowers were grown mainly for seed to ship overseas, and to my surprise, they were not super tall. I’m short and I always have a difficult time to photograph fields even with my three-step ladder. I was in photo heaven. Also the farm manager allowed us to walk into the field a little bit.

So, here are some of my images from that morning.

An artist stops to smile for the camera.

Before we reached our destination, we did stop to take images of this orchard.

The Elkhorn Basin Ranch is owned by the Yolo Land Trust and leased to Don Beeman and Garcia Farms.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 21 Comments

Where have all the blossoms gone? Devastated almond orchards

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!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

Yolo Art & Ag: Harrison Farms, Woodland

It’s time again to wander, or should I say get lost, down those country roads in Yolo County. Each year Yolo Art & Ag sponsors monthly visits for artists and photographers to farms in the county. I have certainly benefited from these sojourns. I grew up in the city, and I’ve been able to see first hand how a farm operates.

Harrison Farms, featured a sunflower field and a some farm animals. When Marlene and I arrived, we stopped at the sunflowers first. Typically, bee keepers put hives near the fields and this was no exception! But the bees are so busy, they don’t bother someone who is allergic like me! As a field, this one wasn’t spectacular but individually the flowers were fun and pretty to photograph.

And then there was the farm itself. The pond was photographic.

There was also a small garden.

They also had a walnut tree grove.

It was an easy and fun visit. I wonder where we will go in July?

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

Practice makes perfect: McKinley Park and Green Acres Nursery

Flowers, flowers and more flowers! I’ve been shooting a lot of them lately, trying out a lens. I like being able to do close ups without a macro. You might be shooting a landscape, see a nice flower, want to shoot it, but didn’t bring your macro lens. So I’ve been practicing with a lens I might keep. It’s an 18 – 200mm Nikon lens.

Being a person who has difficulty making up her mind, I’ve practiced and practiced with it. I’ve pretty much made up my mind to keep it, but….

Here are the captures at the rose garden in McKinley park in Sacramento.

Some other pictures taken at McKinley park that night.

Moving ahead about a week, here are the images captured at Green Acres Nursery in Sacramento. They encourage photographers to visit and take pictures!

So should I keep it?

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 10 Comments

It’s that time of the year: Sunflowers and zinnias

Nothing can make you smile like a sunflower! When you see a whole field of yellow and orange looking at you, you just get a great feeling. This year I had the opportunity of visiting Woodland twice and photographed two sunflower fields and Metzger’s Zinnia Patch.

When we visit the sunflower fields, we are careful not to disturb the plants and shoot from around the patch. As photographers, we are happy we’re allowed to take pictures. Cooperation goes a long way!

Bee colonies are kept near the fields to help polinate. I can assure you they are busy bees! Here are some “sunnies.”

We also stopped at a safflower field.

Now for the zinnias. What is special about this patch of zinnias is that the Metzger family allows people to pick the flowers and encourages them to share with others who can’t get out. You’ll see moms and their kids having fun choosing their favorites.

Do you like sunnies as much as I do?

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 16 Comments

Ya gotta love them: Sunflowers, Yolo County

I got my sought after shot this year–a sunflower field so dense that when you shot over the top, all you can see is yellow. Thank you Karen A. for scoping the fields out. And thanks to a step ladder! Yes, I’m sort–too short to have gotten the image without a little help.

I remember in past years going crazy to find sunflower fields, only to be there too early or too late. This year things were different in Yolo County.

I’ll make this a short post so you can see them. Oh, what did I learn? Patience prevails and always have a step ladder in your car trunk!

Hope these make you smile!

Back-lit.
Happy sunny.
Bees were busy.
Getting in the middle.
These fields are large.
Shooting over the Sunnies.
From the side.
They are beautiful no matter how you shoot them.
There were wheat fields opposite the sunflower fields.
More wheat.
Trees planted in a pattern.
Back-lit.
Just taking in the sun.
Bees again.
Members of the Camera Totin Tuesday group.

 

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Popping up again: Sunflowers and the California Automobile Museum

Yes, sunflowers were popping up again. But this time in a different field, in Davis, and different time of day. We, Marlene, Linda and I, found the field about 11 a.m., and the sun was getting high in the sky. A visit to the California Automobile Museum, in Sacramento, caused us to arrive a little later than we would have liked.

My goal was to shoot over the field and get a wide shot. However, we forgot to bring a small ladder. Okay, I’m short! I did my best, trying to stand as tall as possible. It was a different type of shoot than the last during sundown. There was no back lighting, just blaring sun. I’m finding that I now make do with the environment I shoot in, figuring what type of shot would work best.

For instance, at the Automobile Museum, the cars were so close together and the lighting poor so I decided to do mostly close ups. I went for the hood ornaments, the tires, the horns–whatever looked interesting and different. I’m now shooting with intent and not just doing snapshots. I’m actually able to pull out something good from what doesn’t look like a great photo opportunity.

I’m still learning, but I’m more confident in my abilities. There’s another sunflower shoot on July 5. Maybe I’ll join them, you never know what will pop up!

Posted on by Anne Sandler

On the road again: Sedona, Arizona

Beautiful red rock is what will first catch your eye when you venture into Sedona, but for me, the attraction is the vortexes. What, you ask! A vortex is an energy field that affects you in various ways.

A masculine vortex will energize you and a feminine vortex will calm you down. And, it works. Today we spent the day in a calming vortex and I’m so relaxed even though we went for a short hike. Because of these vortexes, Sedona has become the center for all things spiritual. You’ll find all sorts of shops dedicated to the spiritual arts: readings, crystals, massage, and more.

In addition, sorry to say, Sedona has become some what of a tourist trap. We are staying in West Sedona away from the heart of the tourist frenzy. I will tell you more about this area in subsequent posts. We are here until June 6, so enjoy the red rock beauty with me.