I’ve gotten behind again, so it’s catch up time. Laura and I have a tradition of going to Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge on Christmas Day. You would be surprised at how many cars are visiting the refuge on Christmas Day!
The weather was perfect. The fog burned off and the sun sort of came out. At least there was enough contrast for my camera and lens (Which only extends to 300 mm.) to get birds in focus. Here’s a sampling.
I’m not a true bird photographer, but I do like my yearly jaunt with Laura. Take care everyone!
While looking through my archives for this week’s challenge byJanet of Sustainabilitea (who wants us to post images of things others may normally overlook or something you think other people would overlook), I found images that I was lucky enough not to overlook and some that presented a surprise! So I’m twisting the challenge a bit to show you some images that I’m happy to not have overlooked. I hope you don’t mind Janet.
I didn’t even notice this bee flying into this sunflower until I processed it. I guess I overlooked it completely!
When I walk, I try to look down for small creatures, but I am delighted when I find a colorfully textured log.
I do like trees. When I looked up at this tree, the sun was in the perfect position for me to catch a sunburst.
I’m not a very patient person, but I’m glad I kept my lens out the car window just a little longer just in case this cormorant took flight.
And sometimes we just get lucky. I was watching this goat when he got an itch.
I’m so glad I looked up and saw this restaurant ceiling because a few days later it burned down and all was lost. Sometimes we are meant to be where we are.
This one was overlooked by my photo buddies. I even pointed it out to one, but he didn’t take the shot. It’s all subjective, isn’t it! Can you see the ferris wheel reflection in the restaurant window?
One picture I never overlooked or missed an opportunity to take was of Kamau the Lion at the Sacramento Zoo. He recently passed away at age 16. RIP Kamau.
Thank you Janet, this was fun even though I twisted the challenge a bit. When you post on this challenge, please remember to link to Janet’s post and use the Lens-Artist tag. I totally enjoyed Dan’s Unbound challenge and all your posts and interpretations. Thanks to all our July guest hosts. Next week the team returns with Ann-Christine leading the challenge.
If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.
Sometimes the spirit is more willing than Mother Nature wants to give us. Recently Laura and I went to the U.C. Davis Arboretum, in Davis, to photograph the red buds and the wildlife it attracts. Yes, our spirits were willing to take the images, but there were hardly any red buds and birds. We did find some.
I’m guessing there might be more now. But we did find some nice scenery. I had my 55 – 200 mm lens on my Fujifilm XT3 so I did a lot of stepping back for some of these landscape shots.
We did come across a group of cormorants sitting on the shore of the creek. I focused on this one.
And, I couldn’t resist photographing flowers and more in close up.
When I needed to rest, Laura went further while I sat on a bench and people (and dog) watched.
So, our red bud search gave us a beautiful walk and a lot of photo opportunities even if we didn’t see many red buds on the trees.
It’s a good thing I always take my camera with me when I travel out of the Sacramento area. Typically, when I visit Alyse in San Jose, I will photograph the beautiful flowers in her neighborhood while I walk. We also go to the movies, which I seldom do at home. This trip in May, she wanted to take me to Pacific Grove. She said she would sketch while I photographed. An artist, Alyse hasn’t drawn or painted anything in years. I was delighted that she would be sketching.
As always, Pacific Grove was beautiful. It was the weekend and Alyse and I weren’t the only ones there! So, I tried to incorporate them into the pictures. You may have seen some of these images in a recent Lens-Artist post challenge on Blue and Green. In that post I promised that there would be more photos because I had just edited a few.
The Pacific Grove coastline is so lovely that I don’t think you’ll mind seeing a few pictures again! But I’ll try not to duplicate.
This tree attracted my attention even though the lighting was terrible.
Visitors on a stretch of sandy beach.
A young girl playing in the ocean’s froth.
So many people on the rocks.
Alone on the rocks.
The tide washes in.
The tide goes back out to sea.
Alyse posing with a statue featured in my last Pacific Grove blog.
The flowers are blooming on the shore.
The rocks add texture and character to the scene.
Cormorants sunbathing.
Not the lone cypress, but alone anyway.
The Lone Cypress. It’s supposed to by over 250 years old. It lost a limb in a storm, but has been examined and is okay. This iconic tree is the main attraction along the 17-mile drive.
I’m glad Alyse and I took this day trip. I have wonderful photographic memories and she has, what I hope to be, a return to doing her art.
Slow Shutter Speed 