Posted on by Anne Sandler · 48 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #356: Quiet Hours

What is a quiet hour? Is it when you are meditating? Reading a book? Taking a walk? For me it’s all these things and also when I have my camera in my hand. I can be in a noisy touristy area or out in the country; with my Fuji, I don’t hear any noise. Guest host SH wants to know how we enjoy our quiet hours. I might be twisting this challenge, but for me a quiet place is one that brings me relaxation and peace. So here we go.

I especially like visiting our Northern California beaches, especially when they are too cold to attract swimmers or have black sand. I can sit and enjoy the solitude, watching the gentle wave come ashore.

I do find trees so relaxing. With or without leaves, their branches are so expressive and inviting. They can form a canopy welcoming you down a path, or in Autumn, treat you to a colorful display of oranges, reds and browns. Your eyes act as a portal. bringing in all the beauty and silence that feeds your body with calmness and joy.

I do enjoy walking down country paths that take me from my suburban life. Fortunately I don’t have to go far to experience the quiet of country life. It’s about 45 minutes from my home. I’m even getting used to getting lost when looking for County Road 18, 16 or 19! I get so relaxed getting lost on these roads, passing farms, wineries, and orchards. I never know what photo delights I’ll find.

Ponds and creeks are in abundance here. If I need a water fix, I don’t have to drive to the ocean. Their calm movement, seasonal changes and water fowl delights my camera.

These are just some of the places I consider quiet places. Thank you SH for having me revisit places that give me relaxation. When you respond, please link to his original post and use the Lens Artists tag. Before our holiday break we enjoyed Ann-Christine having us look back. What fun! Egidio is our host next week. Until then stay safe and live in gratitude.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 61 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #353 Stormy

The first storm I can remember was the 1949 category 4 hurricane that made landfall near West Palm Beach Florida. I was about 6 years at the time, but remember the tremendous and horrific winds. To this day, I don’t want to be out in the wind.

Then came the 6.6 magnitude Sylmar earthquake (while we lived in the San Fernando Valley), followed by the 1989 6.9 Bay Area quake. Things have been calm since we moved to Sacramento. While our rivers are prone to flooding, we are far enough away to be out of danger, and the area’s creeks are not allowed to overflow.

So that’s a brief stormy background of my life for Beth’s first challenge. She wants to know about various types of storms: stormy weather, stormy feelings or stormy situations.

I can tell you from experience that each leads into the other. Bad weather leads into frightful feelings which, in turn, lead into terrifying situations! Here are some bad weather situations I was able to capture with my cameras.

Let’s start with rain. While camping in Lassen National Park, it would rain every afternoon. Last month, while visiting our kids in Reno, a rain storm was heading our way. I’ve never been able to catch rain like that with my camera.

Lassen NP
Reno, NV

We’ve also seen some threatening clouds. These may have been taken during our Alaska cruise.

Last year, we experienced atmospheric rivers in Northern California. These are rains that drop about 4 to 6 inches of water in a short time. The American and Sacramento rivers did flood at Discovery Park (the confluence of both rivers).

Our local creek also crested during another storm. The water was channeled into the rivers.

We are too low in elevation to get snow, but California has mountains. On one trip down to Southern California, we ran into snow. This is on Highway 5.

Now for Highway 80 on a visit to Donner State Park.

Last but not least was our famous “getting snowed in” trip to my kids in Reno. A snow blower is helping to dig them out.

These are fond memories, but I’m glad they are just that. I was too young to capture pictures of the hurricane, but the snapshots of the aftermath are still alive in my memory. Fortunately, we didn’t have much damage from the earthquakes, but I do remember holding my son’s highchair down during the afterquakes.

Beth, I hope you’re having fun with the various responses you are getting. Thanks for taking me down memory lane and having me appreciate where I live–out of super storm’s reach. Please link to Beth’s post when you respond and use the Lens-Artists tag.

I’ll be challenging you next week, so stay tuned and look for my post. Until then, stay safe and live in gratitude.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 50 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #323: Silence

Egidio’s challenge on Silence has me standing on my soapbox. Television has ruined silence in this world or at least in my house. When my husband is home the TV is on whether he’s watching or not. My neighbor is the same way. “When I get up in the morning the TV goes on,” she says. She can’t handle the silence!

Me, I love the silence. I like to sit and read in silence. Work on the computer in silence. And, most of all, I like the silence when I’m out with my camera. Many of my images reflect this silence and quiet contemplation. When I walk with my camera, I relax and forget the world’s and my own problems.

For me still water helps me feel calm and my body and mind relax. I enjoy the calmness and mirror images of the water. The people on this lone boat must be experiencing a sense of wonder as they navigate this lake. A full moon shines on two shores of another calm and silent lake. How wonderful to sit and watch the moon rise.

I love tree arbors. As I approach them, I’m in awe by their graceful welcoming, and I feel enveloped in their natural sense of silence. I slow down as I drive through, wanting to savor the feeling. After all, they are bowing and welcoming me. The quiet countryside also helps!

People can also support silence through their actions or inaction. A couple enjoying the ocean while sitting in a bed of ice plant shows how the soft sound of the ocean can bring you into a calm and meditative state. Even walking along a creek can calm both human and canine. The three walk in silence.

Mountain views can bring you into awe and silence as you look at the breathtaking view. This is from Ananda Village in Nevada City. A small chapel is a viewpoint for those who want to meditate or pray. The mountains are part of the Sierra Nevada chain.

Fog has different effects on people. For me, it’s calming and sends me into silence and awe. So does a beautiful landscape, especially when it features an old structure. Notice, both images feature trees.

I’ll close with forest images. I love the forest especially when we are the only people camping. I sit and enjoy the smell and silence. Sometimes, nature provides us with something special!

Thank you Egidio for bringing us back into silence and helping us realize how we experience it through our photography. When you post your response, please link to Egidio’s original post and use the Lens-Artist tag.

I enjoyed seeing your responses to Ritva’s subjective challenge last week. They were diverse, creative and beautiful. Next week Patti will be our presenter. “In The Details” challenges us to choose a subject and focus on the details, photographing from different angles, distances using your camera or lens. She’d like you to post three photographs of your subject. This is just a hint, be sure to look for her post at pilotfish.com for full instructions.

In the meantime stay healthy and be safe.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 38 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #294: Before and After

It seems like I’m always confessing in these LAPC blog challenges. Well, here’s another one. John has challenged us to show how we edit images. I don’t edit that much and use Lightroom most of the time. I’ll go into NIK, Topaz and Photoshop for minor help, but that’s about it. It’s not that I’m against other editing programs, I’ve just never taken the time to learn them.

With that said, here’s my first image before and after. This was taken recently at Dry Creek in Roseville. The sun was bright and the trees provided shade, but not all the way. This resulted in roots that were bright and dark. The editing was done in Lightroom with the adjustment brush to burn in some of the roots. Then I toned down the shadows and brightened the image a bit. Then I intensified the color with the orange color slider. Original is on the left and Edited one is on the right.

Next is Rush Ranch taken in January. It was a foggy day which didn’t bother me. I love the mood fog gives an image. But it can leave it dull. In this one, I brightened it with the tone curve, added more contrast, did a sky select and used the blue slider to accent the fog. In Photoshop, I removed the insect trap on the right. I use Photoshop when I want to remove something from a picture.

This flower was photographed last month at Jensen Botanical Garden. I cropped the photo to make the flower larger. I also lightened the background a bit and used the Lightroom sharpener for good measure.

I believe composition is most important. Sometimes I photograph a tight composition and sometimes I give enough room for me to finish composing in editing. My first two examples were framed tight in the camera and this one wasn’t.

Thanks John for having us think about how we edit (or not), and how we can learn from how others edit. When you respond, please link to John’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Last week we had fun with Sofia’s Water in Motion challenge. I enjoyed seeing all your various responses. Dawn is presenting next week’s challenge so look for her post.

Have a great week and take care!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 24 Comments

Change is sometimes okay, part 2: Lassen National Park

Once you get over the shock of change and acclimate, it’s not bad. We were getting used to the altitude at Lassen National Park and learning how to deal with it. Dealing with it meant not doing a lot of walking/hiking. Richard didn’t go on some of the trails, and the trails I went on, I didn’t go the entire way.

One of the prettiest was Kings Creek. I didn’t make it all the way to the falls overlook. I think I needed someone to cheer me on! What I did was simply beautiful.

At age 80, you sometimes have to make compromises, and this was a beautiful one. More to come!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

A lonely park: Rush Park

I knew that there wouldn’t be children playing on the three playgrounds, skate boarders enjoying the skate park, swimmers in the pool, kids playing baseball at the diamonds, adults using the tennis and pickle ball courts but I thought we’d be able to get on the grounds of the historic Rush Home and Gardens. At least that’s what one of the Sunrise Department of Recreation told me the day before. He said the house was closed, but that we could take pictures of the grounds. He didn’t tell me that we’d be shooting through the fence!

So off three of us went to this large park in Citrus Heights. Just looking at my images will show the lack of activity in an otherwise jammed park. It was sad. We didn’t walk the entire park. What we saw was enough.

The Historic Rush Home is normally used for weddings, meetings and other special events. The gardens, at least what we could view through the fence, didn’t seem spectacular.

Some pretty flowers and water in the park.

The unused fun areas that are now empty.

I’m hoping the next time we visit Rush Park it will be full of laughter, families and people enjoying their sports.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

It’s not raining; let’s shoot! Stock Ranch Nature Preserve

That’s something I haven’t needed to do in the last 4 years–run out and shoot in between rain storms. But, Linda and I did. There are many places in Sacramento to spend an hour or two shooting and feel like you’ve seen the whole place. Stock Ranch Nature Preserve is one of those places. Located in Citrus Heights, this 47-acre preserve has 1.5 miles of nature trails running along Arcade and San Juan Creeks.

It’s very easy to wander through; but, I did find that without foliage, it was stark. Branches were strewn all over, and there was a small amount of water in the creek. It’s important to know that this little preserve is located in suburbia surrounded by large warehouse shopping, apartments and single family homes. However, when you’re walking the inside path, you have no indication of what surrounds it.

I’ll be back in the spring to see how foliage changes the scenery. In the meantime it’s great to have it so close. It’s important to have a place to run to when you’re needing to shoot quickly in between storms!

The bridge leading on one entrance.
Close up of the bridge structure. Wood makes such great patterns.
Another bridge view.
Peek-a-boo. Looking through the tree trunk.
These were on the trees. What are they?
A decaying log.
Losing bark.
Two ducks swim in the creek.
Is this one tree or many?
Beautiful fungi.
More fungi.
The meandering path.
I love tree canopies.
Here we are on a concrete path.
The cloudy, overcast skies.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 5 Comments

On the road again: Bodie and Mono Lake, part 2

I can’t believe I left my tripod home! I’ve worked hard to become “one” with it, and I left it home. As I post about Bodie and Mono Lake, we are visiting Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Parks and Fresno, California. I’ll post about this visit back to the parks after a more than 30 year absence next.

So far, I haven’t needed the tripod, but I did need it in Bodie. Why, to get great HDR images, you need to bracket and that’s difficult to do handheld. I’ve done it, but it’s much easier with the tripod. I did a lot of bracketing in the ghost town, because that seems to be a good way to present the decaying buildings and machinery.

Founded in 1876 as a gold mining town, Bodie is a now ghost town in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of Mono County, California.The nearest is Bridgeport,  where we stayed. I talked about the altitude (Bodie is at 8,379 ft or 2,554 m.) and my reaction to it in my previous post. Bodie is also recognized it as a National Historic Landmark, became a California Historical Landmark,  and officially became Bodie State Historic Park in 1962. We were three of the about 200,000 yearly visitors.

Because of the ghost town’s altitude and other health issues, I had a difficult time. However I thoroughly enjoyed it. I just took my time and rested when I needed to. Back home, I had a lot of fun with pushing sliders in Lightroom and processing images in black and white.

Here are some of my favorites in Bodie. Mono Lake will be in my next post. And, I’ll tie a string around my finger regarding my tripod when we head out on the road again!

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Practice, practice, practice: Dry Creek Park, West Roseville, California

They say that practice makes perfect, Well, I’ve been practicing every day even if it is only for the 365 challenge. It has helped, but I’m far from perfect! But then, who is perfect?

I like to go to Dry Creek because it is so close to my home and is beautiful. I’ve practiced with my ND filter, macro lens, 50 mm lens and just to shoot. The last time, I went with Richard and Gem. The boys walked while I went down to the water to shoot. In the summer, the area is a great swimming hole for children, and it’s harder to shoot.

In this post, I’m going to show you how beautiful this creek is. However, with the drought, the water level is really low. I’m not sure how the creek will hold up during the summer. Let’s hope we get some rain this fall and winter. After all I will still be practicing!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

Dog walking human: A surprise at Dry Creek Park

You know we use our dogs as an excuse or motivator to exercise. They know it and pretend they want to go for a walk. There’s the reality: they walk us! It was on such a walk that I received a surprise.

I had agreed to walk with Richard and Gem at their new place, Dry Creek Park. They have a new playground and sort of trail. When I go to Dry Creek, I walk along the creek with my camera to practice. This time I knew we weren’t going to the creek, but I need a shot for my 365 challenge so I brought my camera.

Now you’re probably wondering what the surprise was…wildflowers! My dog had this all planned out! So enjoy the walk that Gem took us on!