Posted on by Anne Sandler · 38 Comments

Lens Artists #256: Inspiration Found in the Kitchen

I’m not one to be inspired in my kitchen. When we moved to this small house, two-thirds of my cook books went to other kitchens and I seldom look at the remaining ones. In fact, I seldom follow a recipe. That doesn’t mean I’m a creative cook. It means I’m too lazy to go to the store! But somehow we eat well without eating out too often.

I think I got a little away from Ritva’s topic on finding inspiration in the kitchen. While I may not be inspired, I do find joy and that’s because I love my Mickey Mouse treasures. Yes, I’m a Mickey lover. Here are some of my kitchen treasures.

The top three were gifts and the planter was the first thing I brought into this house. It’s only be sheer determination that it has lived. I’ve been known to kill a cactus. The mug is my last Mickey mug and my husband is not allowed to use it since he broke the others. The toaster is not in use because it gets hot, but I love it anyway. The Mickey skeleton was given to me by my grandson and his girlfriend. She loves Halloween. I enjoy seeing it move when the morning sun shine on it.

Outside of my kitchen, I have photographed kitchen related items like these at Ikea.

And then there’s always the hardware stores.

Or farmer’s markets.

I photographed this at a still life class given by the Gold Rush Chapter of PSA.

I’ll end with something you’ll never see in my kitchen. Knowing I am in the paper plate time of my life, I gave my good china and silver to my daughter-in-law while I could see her enjoy it. This was taken in the Sacramento Railroad Museum’s dining car.

I think I’ve expounded enough on my kitchen philosophy. Thank you Ritva for letting me have some fun and showing you my kitchen treasures. By the way there are more Mickeys around the house!

And thanks to Patti for encouraging us to tell stories through our pictures last week. Your responses were varied and great. Next week Philo will be challenging us with simplicity. Be sure to look for his post.

By the way, the WordPress Reader tag for Lens-Artists is not working well. I hope that through all of us posting on Ritva’s challenge, more will find it. Remember to link to her post and use the Lens-Artists tag.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 41 Comments

Lens-Artists Challenge #191: Curves

While I don’t enjoy driving on curvy roads, I do like photographing these roads that meander and bring our vision into a photograph. This week Ann-Christine is asking us to post images of curves. I look for curves in most of my compositions.

I’ve chosen to sort through my 2020 archives. I love trees and the way the trunk bends, branches bend and leaves hang.

California State Capitol World Peace Garden
U. C. Davis Arboretum
Effie Yeaw

At Mare Island I saw all types of curves.

Next we have three different types of curves: A different kind of cucumber, a sculpture wheel and a hillside of poppies that curves on the horizon.

From a farmers’ market.
A sculpture in Foresthill, Calif.
Near Jackson, California

And a beautiful curvy road near Sugar Pine Reservoir.

My exception from 2020 images is this one taken recently at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art. This museum’s architecture is amazing with curves and lines. You’ll be seeing more in coming posts.

There are curves, man made and nature made, all around us. Thank you Ann-Christine for helping us become aware of the softness around us. When you post your curves please link to Ann-Christine’s post and tag Lens-Artists so we can find you in the reader. Amy will be presenting next week’s challenge.

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

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

To the market we go: Folsom Farmers Market

Summer, it’s the season when local farmer’s markets abound, and I do enjoy taking pictures of the produce and people. But, you never know what you’ll find when you get there. The Folsom farmers market, in Folsom, was more representative of large growers than local. I asked several vendors where their farm was located, and they answered they were representing a large farm based elsewhere. Here are some produce images.

I was probably also not “in the mood!” I find that my attitude and health affect what and how I shoot. Whatever it was, I enjoyed taking photos of the dogs than the produce.

There were a couple of food trucks that I thought were interesting.

But, I truly enjoyed how the light fell on this flag.

So, maybe, it was a good morning shoot after all!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

On the road again: Inside/out, Glacier National Park, Montana

Well, we tried. We wanted to get to Polebridge on the west side of Glacier National Park (GNP). We followed the signs within the park, and then we were out of the park. We like to take the challenge of going off the plan and drove on. The map said that if we drove 37 more miles we would get to Canada; Polebridge was before that. Easy? No.

A sign told us that the dirt road we were about to go on was going through private property, meaning—no trespassing. That’s okay. We passed farms and rural scenery, but no livestock. Do people live here all year round? We asked a gal who lives in White Fish, she said that a lot of them only summer here. So, now I’m curious as to why so much property for living around GNP for 3 to 4 months a year!

We did take the road that was supposed to take us back into GNP at Polebridge. After enjoying a delicious cookie at a gift shop, eatery and bakery, we embarked on the dirt road, but it soon turned into the road from hell. We turned back!

That was a couple days ago. I double checked the map and saw where we made our mistake. So today, we took off to find Polebridge and Bowman Lake on the west side of  GNP. We didn’t make it. A fire had forced the rangers to close the road and campground.

After dinner we went into White Fish to experience an evening Farmer’s Market. We did buy some chocolate huckleberry jam–delicious.

I’m not going to tell you what we did next; that will be in a post a few days from now. We just keep trying! Never give up!!

Taken within the Park, this is a fen, not a meadow. A fen is a a low and marshy or frequently flooded area of land.
This is a meadow.
This devastation may have been the result of a fire that occurred in 2015.
We’re outside the park now. This guy just looked at me.
He wasn’t afraid and eventually went back to grazing.
We stopped for lunch.
These horse shoes were nailed into the steps.
Someone has a sense of humor.
One of the cabins we passed.
A close view. The feature photo is another we passed.
They sell delicious cookies here. But, I couldn’t tell you how to get there. You ave to get lost first!
Now in White Fish. We went to an evening Farmer’s Market. This band was playing.
These children were dancing to the music.
This little cutie kept dancing alone.
These windows (there were 4) were beautiful mosaics.
An up close view.
A dad and daughter at the train depot.

 

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

But I was just there: The Fountains and farmers’ market

I’ve come a long way with my photographic ability, but it has been difficult at times. Like, what do you do when you’re going back to shoot at a place you recently visited? When my Tuesday group went to The Fountains shopping center in Roseville shortly after I had been there, I brought along my crystal ball–not to see the future, but to see the present differently.

It was a great idea, but very difficult to work. I brought along an old tripod that would hold the base for the ball so I could shoot through it to capture flowers. No matter how high I had the tripod, it wasn’t working like I had visioned. Add the breeze, and you pack away the ball. I did manage to get one shot I truly like. I suppose that made it worth it.

Halloween decorations and steam coming from the fountain also made the trip slightly different. I had some fun with the scarecrow images. You’ll see those in the gallery.

What really made the trip, was the farmers’ market. I love to shoot vegetables. They have such great color and texture. One vendor had a decorative vulture that was motion sensored and a glowing red eye. Fun! Fun!

So, at the end of the outing, I said to David. This wasn’t much of a shoot, but the company was great. I truly had a great time, and learned there is always someting different to shoot in a familiar place especially with great friends.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

Shopping and shooting: The Romanian Festival and more

I love farmers’ markets mainly because the vegetables are so much fun to shoot. But this one was closing and was in our way of gettting to the Romanian Festival. As we walked around, I did my best to catch whatever vegetables left. I didn’t do well. However, they had the water spouts on for the children to run through. I got a couple of good pictures there.

We stopped at a very special bench, and I tried to get a group photo. I didn’t have a tripod so it was without me. The shot I’m posting was the best. Jim, I think you have a habit of closing your eyes!

We finally made our way to the Festival. It was very small but people were enjoying the vendors, entertainers and food. Ron and I did some shooting while the others walked around.

I enjoy capturing people candidly; however, sometimes they just aren’t in the right position or their expression is not good. Then I will ask if I can take their picture. I’ve never had anyone say “No!”

This group of images is the last I shot before Richard’s back surgery. So it may be a while until my next post. Maybe I’ll do some fantastic, improved editing of already posted images and show them to you.

We’ve got to be creative and have fun!