Posted on by Anne Sandler

New year, new project: Marina Bay Trail, Richmond, California

I never wanted to get into portriat photography, but today Gem, my dog, was my subject and he did a great job of trying to sit still and look at me. I’m only on day 4 of the 365 challenge and was shooting Gem because I didn’t get out. But, I was learning. I’ve made a secondary challenge to shoot most of my daily photos on manual, and Gem had to be very patient while I was doing the learning curve! I was so excited that I finally managed to shoot him on manual, but he didn’t high five. That’s okay, he got his treat anyway. I’m sure there will be more shots of Gem throughout the year.

Yesterday, I went on an all day Exploring Photography Meetup to Richmond and had to process one of the images so I could post in the challenge group. I posted a sunset, which, as it turns out, wasn’t the best of the sunset shots. But, day 3 was covered. I’ll show you part of the day’s images in this post and finish it up in the next.

The Marina Bay Trail is somewhere between 3 – 4 miles along the Richmond shoreline. They have a yacht club, marina, condos, etc. It’s in stark contrast to the city of Richmond. I think I’ll show you the grounds in this post and the birds in the next.

I’m getting out to shoot tomorrow so Gem won’t have to model.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

It’s a Global Winter Wonderland: Sacramento, California

I really didn’t know what to expect. A lot of the photographers in the Sacramento Photographers Facebook group had gone to the Global Winter Wonderland and posted their pictures. And, it looked great from the freeway. I guess I expected more than there was.

The Global Winter Wonderland at Cal Expo (the California State Fairgrounds) was billed as a trip around the world with many countries represented. I guess I thought there would be some sort of structure representing the various countries that we could walk into. Instead, there were blow up buildings, animals, plants and a maze. From a photographer’s point of view, at least mine, it was dismal. There were several rides and fake trees had LED lighting. I wanted to try a slow shutter zooming technique that many of the group’s photographers had posted. I used the Ferris Wheel for that.

If I had brought the young grandchildren, we would have had more fun. They would have enjoyed the blow up structures and the rides. And, of course, they would have enjoyed the food. All in all, it was an experience, and I did get some practice.

Here’s your peek at the Global Winter Wonderland!

Posted on by Anne Sandler

A birding shoot gone wrong: Tundra swans near Marysville, California

I don’t know how I did it! I even told my photo buddy Liz to shoot between F/9 – F/13. So why did I have my camera at F/5.6?

Of course I didn’t realize it. I thought I had closed the aperture to get the best depth of field. It took me a few days to find the time to figure things out. I remember thinking something was wrong with the lighting and increased my ISO. After all it was overcast. I guess we learn from mistakes, and I’m sure this isn’t the last I’m going to make!

We did have a good time shooting the swans. There were a lot of them, and we were amazed at how they just settled down on the farm lands. Imagine waking up to look out at the beautiful Tundra Swans. Here are some images I thought were salvageable and okay.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Back from Death Valley, the final chapter

Good news, this is the last post of Death Valley National Park. Bad news, this is the last post of Death Valley National Park! It was so pretty, unusual and amazing there, I wish I had more to show you. But then, you may have seen enough. We are so fortunate to have spectacular National Parks here in the U.S. And seven or more are right here in California.

Today I’m showing you scenes from the Artist Drive, another drive through canyon, and Natural Bridge Canyon, a short hike to an amazing natural rock bridge. I will admit that I almost didn’t walk it because of the cold and bad back I was suffering from, but I was glad I did.

If you have a chance, visit Death Valley. Just don’t go in the summer when temperatures are HOT!

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Photographer error: Benicia, California, part 3

Okay, where’s the extra battery for my D7100? These last two weeks have been comical regarding camera equipment. I know the minute I order another one, it will turn up. Is this photographer error or a senior moment?

I noticed the battery missing when I went to Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, California. I had a great time there and will talk more about it in my next post.

Here are the final images from Benicia. I found the waterfront and pier. It was a great day for me. I had never gone to a new place on my own, scouted it out and shot what I wanted to. It was great.

By the way, I’ve got my check list on paper and mentally stored in my head. Right now I’ll trust the paper version more!

The waterfront.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Just a little exercise: Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Sacramento, California

Walking on river bed rock can give you a workout. The Effie Yeaw Nature Center is a place you can continually go back to and see different things each time. This time my photo buddy Rita and I walked near the American River which is low due to the drought. I keyed in on trees and mostly used my 55 – 300 mm lens that was mounted on my D3100. They were so expressive. Meanwhile Rita kept her eyes on smaller objects like birds and crawling things.

You see, I was raised in the city and suburbs, and I’m not used to finding the small wonders of nature. I’m learning though. We do want to go back for sunrise so we can catch the sun’s beauty and the deer. Getting there at 7 a.m., Rita saw a lot of deer. However, I didn’t see one, getting there at 8 a.m. The last time we were there, we saw one deer family.

After a two-hour workout, we left. I’ll be going back on Sunday for their Nature Fest. They will have many activities I’m sure my young grandkids will enjoy. We won’t be walking along the river though!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

When life hands you lemons; shoot anyway: Rodeo Beach, Golden Gate National Recreation Area

We weren’t exactly handed lemons at our Rodeo Beach visit, but the dead seal, dog poop and crustacean pieces didn’t help create an atmosphere for beauty on the beach. I just decided to make the best of it, wait for the sunset and do the best shooting I could do. After all, the beach itself was nice.

But then, my shooting was hampered when I needed to clean the inside of the filter on my main lens. I couldn’t unscrew the filter and neither could three other photographers. So the day’s shooting was done with my 300 mm telephoto and ultra wide lenses. I enjoyed the day, meeting two great gals I carpooled with and more from the Meetup group, Exploring Photography.

When 29 photographers get on a small patch of beach, it can get crowded; but, everyone cooperated. I would go up to photo enthusiasts and ask them what they were shooting, what they were using, etc. In the end, the fog made the sunset less than spectacular, giving us an orange glow before it went behind the fog bank.

Life may have handed us lemons, but we did shoot and I did get some very good images.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

There’s gold in them their hills: Gold panning, Bear River, Colfax, California, part 2

What is your passion? Do you find fulfillment from it? The Dirt Bags, as Jim and Jos are called by their gold panning community, found their passion and work hard at achieving it. They have an elaborate set up for gold panning, and, yes, they get dirty doing it.

In this post you’ll see how they find that sparkling treasure. As for me, I’ll stick with photography. Last night I chased my passion to the Marin Headlands–more to come on that outing. For me, each image is my gold and my passion.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

There’s gold in them their hills: Gold panning, Bear River, Colfax, California

I like to shoot photos, Richard likes to image the stars and Kenny Nichols likes to pan for gold. It relaxes him, and gets him away from work and home. Gloria, his wife, goes along to get away and enjoy time with friends. Fortunately, we are among their friends, and I finally got a chance to visit them while they were out on a gold panning weekend.

Everyone has their own way to capture that precious metal. Some have elaborate machines (I’ll call them that for lack of knowledge!) and others prefer simplicity. No matter which they choose, it’s very physical. After a day of panning, the club members relax and enjoy duck races, evening board games and other activities.

Their weekend was dampened by the huge King fire that filled their campground with smoke. The fire, which was arson, has been raging for a week and a half and is only 65% contained now. When we were there, the smoke had just come into their area and hung heavily over the river blocking out the sun.

My pictures will show the smoke, and because of it, we didn’t stay long. But, we did stay long enough to get acquainted with the community and their passion for their hobby. One couple took a good deal of time with us, and you’ll see their pictures in the next post. Kenny wasn’t panning because he fell the day before and was resting. I’m sure he panned the following day.

For Richard and I, we are back following our hobby passions.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

No traffic; no light trails: Sacramento, California

The challenge: to learn how to shoot light trails. The second challenge: Not a lot of traffic to create an effective composition!

That’s the way it was on Friday night when I joined a group of photographers to shoot light trails near Old Sacramento. I did succeed in overcoming the first challenge–I now know how to shoot light trails. However the second challenge left me disappointed. You’ve been there before. You have this image in your mind, but in the real world, it doesn’t happen.

Even though there were not enough cars running through intersections, I did have a great time. The group from Sacramento Photographers is great. There’s always someone to help you, and you learn by just talking to them. Oh, the pizza at the end just capped the evening. I’m ready to find traffic now!