Posted on by Anne Sandler · 6 Comments

Not like last year: Crystal Hermitage Gardens, Ananda Village

Last year, the sun was shining, the tulips were open and we were in a drought. This year, it was drizzling, threatening to pour as we visited the Crystal Hermitage Gardens in Ananda Village, Nevada City. It was still beautiful, in fact the flowers were more vibrant.

This was a learning experience also–isn’t every outing. I had never shot in rain, and it was a challenge at first. I put my camera into a protective plastic sleeve, but had difficulty turning the lens barrel. So I shot with the cover on top of the camera. Very inconvenient! Between shots, I tucked my camera under my jacket. The drizzle kept up most of the time we were there. One time it came pouring down and we ducked for cover.

Ananda Village is a cooperative spiritual community dedicated to the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, founded by his direct disciple, Swami Kriyananda. It’s a peaceful place and the people are great. Yearly they plant tulips in a terraced garden and invite the public to visit. We weren’t the only people walking the garden that morning, and not the only ones with cameras. I wish it wasn’t so far away. I enjoy meditating and this place would be great.

We were there on a Tuesday, and the sun didn’t shine until Friday. I heard that we had more rain this year than Seattle, Washington. One ski resort is thinking of staying open all summer! Could you guess–the drought is officially over. As I write this blog, it’s overcast and threatening to rain.

Rain or sunshine, I’m not worried about the tulip garden. They will have visitors no matter what the weather.

This gazebo is a lovely image.
Beautiful landscaping
Tulips aren’t the only flowers.
Cherry blossoms.
A meditation pool.
Closed tulip with a green streak.
One of the tulip beds.
The benches are also beautiful.
Water drops.
Another flower bed.
I love the colors.
This isn’t one tulip. It’s two.
Beautiful color and water drops.
Pretty in purple and white.
The path to the chapel.
Flower bed.
Even a squirrel can get thirsty!
Posted on by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

Best therapy, photography: UC Davis Arboretum, Davis, California

I wasn’t feeling well. In fact, I told myself that I probably shouldn’t go. But, I knew I wasn’t contagious, wanted to go, so off I went with my Camera Totin’ Tuesday group to the UC Davis Arboretum. Located on the UC Davis campus, the arboretum draws people of all ages to walk, ride their bikes, picnic, study and take pictures.

I was warned by my friend Laura that they were in the process of restoring half the rambling arboretum and the water was low, but we decided we would go anyway. We knew the flower garden would be there. I took the majority of my images there in the small garden. The flowers were beautiful.

Laura was right, in some areas the water level was so low that you could see the ground beneath. There were less birds, no turtles, but it was still pretty in some areas. At least the red buds were blooming, adding their rich pink color to the landscape.

Because I wasn’t feeling well, I turned back earlier than others. Karen A. (We now have two members named Karen and both were on the outing.) walked back with me. The others came back in two’s. We were probably shooting for two hours.

The next stop was lunch–isn’t it always. So, I’m wondering whether it was the photography or the people that made me so anxious to go when I knew I should have stayed home?

In this post, I’ll show you some of the flowers. In part two I’ll show you some of the birds, landscape and people I was able to photograph.

 

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

Moon over…..: Attempting to shoot the perigee moon

I’ve often mentioned in this blog that it is about my photographic journey. I’ve mostly shown images I’ve done well, but I never promised it would all be beautiful. Sometimes you have to fail in order to learn. Such was the occasion when my Toastmaster Photo Club decided to take a field trip and shoot the perigee (super) moon.

We checked out the moon rise time, the sunset time and a good place to shoot from. But things didn’t work out. The moon that was supposed to rise at 5:34 p.m. didn’t rise until 5:54 p.m. By then we missed the blue hour and had to shoot in the dark. I learned in my previous moon shoot to use a fast shutter speed. This was also a super moon, but not as close to the earth. The moon did what it was supposed to do–Rise during the blue hour.– and I got this shot.

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But the perigee moon didn’t make its appearance until after the blue hour. We needed to slow down our shutter speed and I got this.

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The moon is totally blown out. In talking with other photographers, it was suggested that I could have taken two pictures. One to expose for the moon and the other to expose for the foreground and then make a composite. Another said the only way he could get the shot was to have a friend shine a large flashlight to create a blue hour simulation.

Needless to say, I was very frustrated. But, I did learn from the experience. The big lesson was to not expect things to go as they did in a prior shoot. Oh, I am still open for more advice. Please share your expertise in the comments section.

Now, I’m going to edit some images that will be pretty to look at. Hopefully, the next time I shoot a super moon it will turn out well.