flowers – Page 7 – Slow Shutter Speed

Posted on August 24, 2016August 24, 2016 by Anne Sandler

Finding cooler weather: Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley, California

Yes, we ran away! At least 1 1/2 hours west where the temperatures were about 20 degrees cooler. And, we enjoyed it. Camera Totin’ Tuesdays went to Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley and visited the Botanical Gardens, Golf Course, steam train and carousel.

It was a wonderful day. The park is magnificent and large, and the weather was delightful. While we didn’t expect any flowers this late in summer, we managed to find small blooms in the Botanical Gardens. The gardens were large and separated into different areas. We managed to walk through the entire garden before we stopped for lunch at the Golf Course.

After lunch we rode the miniature steam train and went to shoot the carousel (merry-g0-round). But, we didn’t get to everything. Maybe we’ll go back. Right now it’s in the high 80’s and low 90’s in the Sacramento area so we stayed local yesterday and visited the Sacramento Zoo.

In this post I’ll show you some of the Botanical Gardens. In my next post, I’ll show the rest. I hope those of you who are enjoying summer, are cool!

Posted on June 21, 2016June 21, 2016 by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

Having fun, but not making progress: Petaluma, part 2

If you’ve been following this blog, then you may remember that I began the year with a goal of learning Photoshop and other processing programs. With half the year gone, I haven’t made much progress. I can take out unwanted things easily in Photoshop, but haven’t ventured into layers. I have gotten acquainted with some processing programs, but have only used their presets.

And, no, I’m not being hard on myself; I’m just stating facts. I’ve been shooting a lot and loving it. My photography has improved too. Maybe it was just too big a goal. Maybe I need to chunk it down to learn one thing at a time with Photoshop, especially now with the big update to 2015.5 in the CC version.

Okay every week, I will learn one new thing about Photoshop. Can I do it? We’ll see. In the meantime, we will continue touring Petaluma with the walking tour of Victorian houses. These old houses are beautiful, and the flowers are from their gardens. You’ll notice that I concentrated mostly on the doors and entries. No captions.

One new thing a week, one new thing a week. I’m beginning to feel like the “Little Engine that Could!”

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Anne Sandler

I ran as fast as I could: Flowers in San Jose

I tried to outrun a cold, but I think it caught me anyway. That’s a bummer because I want to go learn more about lighting tonight and shoot on Saturday and Sunday. So, at least during the day today, I’m taking it easy. However my dog keeps asking for his usual walk. We all learn to deal with disappointment, even him.

When I was in San Jose visiting my friends, I wanted to go to the Municipal Rose Garden, but decided to take my camera on my neighborhood walk instead. I wasn’t dissatisfied. The gardens were beautiful and well cared for. I wish I had more time and energy for a longer walk.

This proves we really don’t have to go far to find beauty. With that in mind, here are some of the beautiful flowers I was able to shoot with my 18 – 140 mm lens. No macro that day; it was too breezy. No captions today. Mostly I know the roses, but not the names of the other flowers. All I know is that they are beautiful!

After I post this I’ll rest for a couple of hours.

Posted on June 12, 2016 by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

A day gone awry: Japanese Friendship Garden, part 2

Did you ever have one of those days? You know, the kind that are full of mishaps. Well, Friday, June 10 was one of those days for me. Oh, this has nothing to do with the Japanese Friendship Garden.

It all began when I woke up at 5 a.m. This was my last morning at my friends’ house in San Jose. My hope was to wake up around 7 a.m. so I could stay up to shoot the Milky Way at Blue Canyon Airport in the Sierras. I had it all planned: leave San Jose at 9 a.m., get home, rest and get ready for the night shoot. I couldn’t skip the shoot since we were hosting it at our observatory!

The day started wrong and continued from there:

I couldn’t nap during the day.
I was tired and left my red colored flash light home.
When we stopped for dinner, Richard remembered that he didn’t bring along the observatory keys. So he had to go back home to get them–a two hour round trip.
All the photographers came and were anxious to shoot the Milky Way. But, the cloud cover didn’t leave. Most of us left without our prize.

So, that was my day. We got home about midnight and I woke up at 5:30 a.m. the next day! Last night, I slept nine hours!

So that was my day gone awry. What about yours?

While you’re thinking about how you can better me, here are the last of the Friendship Garden images.

There were many beautiful flowers in the garden.

Again, cell phones get the attention.

Another flower worth shooting.

This Great Egret put on a show for me.

He’s looking for food.

He sees food.

He catches his food.

A closer look at this beautiful bird.

He flew from log to log looking for food.

Ready for take off.

More flowers.

This goose hissed at me protecting his gosling.

This one gosling was all that remained. Larger predatory birds snatch babies up.

More flowers.

There were many beautiful flowers in the garden.

Ready for take off.

He flew from log to log looking for food.

A closer look at this beautiful bird.

He catches his food.

He sees food.

He’s looking for food.

This Great Egret put on a show for me.

Another flower worth shooting.

Again, cell phones get the attention.

This goose hissed at me protecting his gosling.

This one gosling was all that remained. Larger predatory birds snatch babies up.

Posted on May 14, 2016 by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

More macro: Sacramento Historical City Cemetery, part 2

When I promise, I deliver. This is part two of my fun morning at the Sacramento Historical City Cemetery. This cemetery is known by another name: The Old City Cemetery. And, because of its historical nature, volunteer tours are given on weekends and various holidays. The who was who of Sacramento are buried here.

What I find interesting, besides the beautiful flowers, are the grave stones and monuments. Some are simple and some ornate. On my first visit there, I found one that simply said: “Our Baby.” Life spans are given in years, months and days. If you’re a history buff, you’ll find it here.

Maybe that’s why the City in its misguided effort is trying to take away the roses to present history as they think it was. But that would take away the beautiful attraction to the cemetery. This move is being fought by the volunteers who planted the gardens surrounding the grave sites. I’ll keep you posted on their effort.

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the pictures. And, as promised in a prior post, I just sent in an order to have five of my black and white images printed!

Purple in all shades dominated the gardens.

This grave site is simply beautiful. Was the palm tree there historically?

I love the red flowers.

Soft in its beauty.

The head stones were beautifully engraved. This one, a sad loss.

Can you imagine these stones without flowers?

Some of the history: The son of Alexander Hamilton is buried here.

Getting close with the macro lens.

A lone flower waits for friends to bloom.

It takes two bugs to do this flower justice.

Another grave made beautiful with a floral addition.

I loved the colors of these.

More macro.

Another bee.

Pretty pink.

Beautiful rose.

A grave site needing attention.

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Anne Sandler · 10 Comments

Macro Madness: Sacramento Historical City Cemetery

We visited the Sacramento Historical City Cemetery with a sense of loss. Not for people who have died and are buried there; for the flowers and archways the City wants to take out. The goal they say is to bring the cemetery back to what it would have been in the 1800s. What, they didn’t have flowers then?

We come to shoot here at least twice a year. We come for the history and the beauty of the gardens. We came this time because the flowers were blooming and there was no breeze. Well, just a slight intermittent breeze, but great for macro work. I haven’t been able to use my macro lens all winter. Fortunately, my walk around lens does a great job on close up shots, and I’ve been making do with it.

But this Tuesday was macro madness indeed! And, I came upon some head stones and statues I hadn’t shot before. You could keep going back and come home with images from a different perspective.

We also met the head volunteer who is fighting the City, trying to keep the gardens as is. I hope she wins. This is going to be a 2-part post because I have so much to show you. I hope my next post about this amazing cemetery isn’t to say that the flowers are gone, because that would be a great loss.

Got up close inside this flower.

I carried 2 cameras so I could take wide angle shots.

I wanted to show you how beautiful the plants make the cemetery.

I wonder what this will be when it opens?

Bee’s were also enjoying the flowers.

They were buzzing from one flower to another.

And there were many types of bees.

Pretty flowers.

Another flower; another bee.

The flowers add to the peacefulness.

There are plenty of trees in the cemetery.

A bench by a mausoleum.

More of the grounds.

It is so beautiful here, but it wouldn’t be the same without the flowers.

The light was shining perfectly on this statue.

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Anne Sandler

Helping nature create beauty: Crystal Hermitage Gardens, part 2

So many times we see where humankind has destroyed nature, so it’s refreshing to see where we’ve given nature a little help. The residents and members of Ananda Village have done a tremendous job on this years tulip garden. Last post I showed you the flowers, in this post, I’ll show you more of the garden view.

But first, I’m giving you a brief introduction about this amazing place. Ananda Village is a cooperative spiritual community dedicated to the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, and they celebrated their 45th anniversary in 2014. People of all ages live there, enjoying the beauty in service and meditation. They share devotion to God through the path of Kriya Yoga.

The Crystal Hermitage Gardens is the spiritual heart of Ananda Village. Visitors enjoy the beautiful terraced gardens and vistas. There is also a small chapel where workshop attendees can meditate. The gardens are open for weddings, workshops and other events. You can also attend workshops through Ananda Village’s programming.

Whether you’re a photographer or just want to enjoy some time away from your hectic life, you’ll find what you’re looking for here where nature gets a helping hand. Now the for images!

is the spiritual heart of Ananda Village. Visitors enjoy the beautiful terraced gardens and vistas. There is also a small chapel where workshop attendees can meditate. The gardens are open for weddings, workshops and other events. You can also attend workshops through Ananda Village’s programming.

Whether you’re a photographer or just want to enjoy some time away from your hectic life, you’ll find what you’re looking for here where nature gets a helping hand. Now the for images!

Posted on April 23, 2016April 23, 2016 by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

Someone’s in the kitchen:Crystal Hermitage Gardens

Right now there’s 35 matzo balls boiling on the stove, a turkey roasting in the roaster and chicken soup cooling on the counter. I’m in the kitchen to make sure there’s enough water in the stock pots so the matzo balls don’t burn. They can when the water gets low; I’ve done it before!

Happy Passover to all of you who celebrate the holiday also. It’s late this year. I look back at this holiday with fondness. I remember my entire maternal family gathered around my grandparents long table, my grandfather reading the entire hagadah (story) in Hebrew, and the rest of us reading from mismatched hagadahs just to keep busy. It seemed like agony then, but now, if I could only go back. After my grandparents passed, Passover was never the same.

I have tried to create my own holiday tradition for my children and grandchildren. I hope that my older grandchildren will create a tradition for their families when that occurs.

Of course, this has nothing to do with the Crystal Hermitage Gardens which are located in Ananda Village located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Grass Valley, California.

The Exploring Photography Meetup group organized a visit to these beautiful gardens to photograph the amazing variety of tulips planted. I can’t imagine the effort it took to create this beauty for residents and garden visitors. This will be a two-part post because I have many images to show you. Today, I’ll show you the flowers. Most are tulips and there are some others.

No captions again. I’m way too busy in the kitchen preparing my portion for a pot-luck Seder with friends!

Posted on April 21, 2016April 21, 2016 by Anne Sandler · 6 Comments

All caught up: UC Davis Arboretum

Yes, I’m all caught up with my photo editing! It’s a great feeling, and I had the opportunity to learn some of the wonderful advantages of my processing programs, mainly their filters. I also have been putting single images into Photomatix to get that HDR look. It works well.

Next, I need to delve into Photoshop. Right now, I’m using it to remove unwanted things in a picture, but I do want to learn how to use layers. I know I said that in my last post. So much to learn!

Taking the photo is just one part of being a good photographer, but for me, it’s the fun part. I love going to new places and back to places I’ve been before. In today’s post, I re-visited a favorite with the Camera Totin Tuesday group—the University of California at Davis Arboretum. I like it there because it’s just a beautiful and calm place to walk through. This trip we went through the flower garden and were treated to beautiful blossoms and color. Our stroll through the arboretum proper was less colorful since the red buds weren’t blooming yet, or maybe they bloomed already.

This wet winter has nature’s cycles off kilter! There was also algae in Putah Creek. I remembered it being there the last time we were there, but there was so much more this trip. I’m also wondering if the algae is keeping the birds away. We usually see egrets and other water fowl, but this trip—none!

But there’s always beauty to be found. I’m going to show you some flowers and the creek with algae; however, I won’t be putting in captions since it’s mostly self-explanatory.

I may be caught up with editing, but I do have more outings to post in this blog. So stay tuned.

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Anne Sandler · 8 Comments

After a rain, shoot, shoot, shoot; part 2

Right now in Northern California no one is shooting pictures. We’re experiencing a series of storms. I’m not complaining! My go-to-practice place, Dry Creek, has water past its shore line, and there are flood warnings in place for the rivers and other creeks.

Being stuck inside has its advantages, I’m catching up on a few things, completing this post and giving you exciting news.

For the exciting news: I’m being featured on, Australian photographer, Leanne Cole’s Blog, Introductions post this week. I’ve known Leanne since I started shooting and had the privilege of shooting with her when she visited the U.S. last September. She’s given me advice and watched my progress these 4 years. The post will appear in the States on Monday and Tuesday across the ocean. You can find the post at http://leannecolephotography.com/.

I’ve also submitted an article for the upcoming Dynamic Range digital photography magazine for women in the coming issue. This is a great magazine full of information and beautiful photography. And, you don’t have to be a woman to enjoy it. Check it out!

Now, back to this post’s continuation. Today I have pictures from Schweitzer Grove and McKinley Park. Schweitzer Grove is a 17-acre park tucked into suburbia, and McKinley park is known for its rose garden. Fortunately, there are people and other flowers at the park. Take a look while I continue to catch up on things.