Posted on by Anne Sandler · 45 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge# 366: City Mouse/Country Mouse

Yikes, there’s a mouse in the house! No, not really, but we did have “super rat” once when we lived in Antelope. But you don’t want to hear that story. This blog post is not about mice, but about Sacramento City and our neighboring countryside. Actually it takes me about the same time to get to either from my home in Citrus Heights.

Tina challenges us, this week, to show the differences between a city and a countryside.

Let’s see Sacramento City first. Being the California Capital, Sacramento has been growing during the past years. We have more tall buildings (not skyscrapers) and restaurants drawing in city, county and state workers. Some of our downtown restaurants have been awarded a Michelin Star rating! Not bad for a former “cow town.” Most of our newer buildings are built so the glass windows show reflections.

I’ve posted about Sacramento’s annual mural festival. My examples are very different. Left is a building painted in a “tagging” style and on the right, a rather large image of Johnny Cash.

And last, there’s the Old Sacramento nightlife. This was taken from the Tower Bridge,

Now for our countryside, where I’m sure many mice live. But, we do have to cross over into Yolo County. These were taken on many different outings my photo group went on. It’s fun getting lost in the countryside when all roads are named County Road XX. Oh the stories I could tell, and not about mice. But the result is worth the extra gas.

If I had to choose, I would choose to live where I do–in the suburbs. After all, either the city or the country are 20 – 30 minutes away. Thanks Tina helping me find that I’m happy right where I am. Please link to her post when you respond to her challenge and use the Lens-Artists tag.

Last week Egidio taught us a new Portuguese word, Saudade, meaning longing. I had a lot of fun reading about your thoughts and seeing your images. Next week, guest host Joanne of Joanne Mason Photography will be challenging us. Stay tuned!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

An annoying cold in the summer: Catching up

I thought I was over the 2-week cold, but I guess I wasn’t. I’m in my fourth week of it and not feeling really well. Can I continue to complain a bit? The worse part of it is the fog brain that keeps me from posting, etc. I didn’t even realize that I haven’t posted in a long while. Okay, that’s enough complaining.

I’ve been on a few shoots since my trip to San Francisco, and I’ll try to post about two of them here. My Tuesday group visited The Fountains Shopping Center again. It’s always a challenge to come up with something different at a place you’ve photographed many times. So here’s what I came up with:

Another visit was to downtown Sacramento and the third year of the Wide Open Walls Festival. This time we shot on the second and last days of the week’s artistry. On the second day, we found only one artist at work. On the last day, we were treated to two amazing murals: Johnny Cash and Monkeys (which was three-dimensional with metal parts and paint). Here’s some of what we saw:

While shooting our first set of murals, we stopped by William Land Park in Sacramento to photograph the lotus pond:

And, of course, I do enjoy shooting buildings:

That’s it for now. Have to rest. I do hope this cold is over before my next post!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 6 Comments

A lesson learned: Moonlight Madness, Sacramento, California

I’ve only taken one photography course, and that was a dismal experience. I didn’t learn anything, and the, realizing what I knew, teacher asked, “Why are you here?” Since then, I’ve learned from other photographers. Yes, I’m self-taught–with a good deal of help.

On Wednesday night, I learned how to shoot the moon just before the blue hour. Janet invited me to the Capitol Mall in downtown Sacramento. It’s a good thing I asked her what lenses to bring, etc. I thought we’d be night shooting and we’d need long shutter speed. Fortunately, she sent me the photo she took last year and said she shot it with a 300 mm lens. Wow, was I on the wrong page!

So, I packed my F4/300 mm fixed and 55 – 300 mm lenses and tripod. When we arrived, she told me I needed to shoot with a fast shutter speed, at least 125, to stop the moon’s movement. While we were setting up, she showed me how to use live view to focus on the State Capitol Building and moon. Then the moon rose–on the opposite side of the capitol. We all scurried to get the shot. I was amazed at how fast the moon moved away from the building.

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After we finished shooting the moon, and were pretty much packed up, I turned around and caught the last of the sunset on the Tower Bridge. I shot it hand-held.

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Thank you Janet for your guidance and help. Yes, I do learn from other photographers who are willing to share their expertise.

 

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 3 Comments

A quick trip before being grounded: The statues in Sacramento and Capitol building.

Knowing I’d have to be house bound for a week, I wanted one last photo outing before I had foot surgery. Photo buddy Laura suggested that we go to Sacramento shoot the statues and buildings. We left at 8 a.m. (Laura can always get me out early.), and it was wonderful. The streets were empty on Labor Day, and the parking was free.

Laura works downtown and knew where to go, park and shoot. Walking the streets, we stopped and shot whatever was in interesting and ended our morning at the State Capitol building. As morning grew closer to afternoon, tourists started to come and gave us the opportunity to shoot around them. I found it fun to include them in the shot.

That was Last Monday and Tuesday I had my foot surgery. I’ve spend the last week being a couch princess, processing images, posting blogs and reading tutorials. Tomorrow I’ll be going shooting with Greg and Marlene. I told Greg that I would take his back seat, use a pillow to rest my foot on, and bring a book and read if I get tired or find it difficult to shoot.

I don’t know what or how I will shoot, but I do know that I won’t be house bound. One day out!

Here’s a peak at Sacramento. I’ll show you the State Capitol in my next post.