Posted on by Anne Sandler

On the road again: Long Island, New York at Planting Fields Arboretum

When you’ve flown to the east coast what do you do? You start south and work your way north! We’ve been in Long Island visiting family for almost a week now. I’m sure my cousins feel like it’s been more than that since we are staying with them. They are gracious hosts, driving us, feeding us and fitting our needs into their lifestyle.

They took us to the Planting Fields Arboretum on a cloudy day. It seems that last year we brought extreme heat and this year humidity and rain! We did go to there last year, but at 99 degrees (Fahrenheit) it was too hot to stay. I was thrilled that this time we were able to walk most of the grounds of this beautiful arboretum and hear stories of how they’ve enjoyed the grounds for years past. Also, there were three bridal couples having their wedding pictures taken at the park. Yes, I did take some shots of that activity, but in the end deleted them, keeping one showing the bride’s gown in the distance.

On the one sunny day, we went north in search of fall foliage, and I’ll cover that in the next blog. Meanwhile, enjoy these floral images. I’m not going to caption these because I don’t know the names of the flowers. They range from orchards to cactus. I did get a small amount of the autumn colors in the trees.

 

 

 

Posted on by Anne Sandler

On the road again: Peachtree City, Georgia

Well, we’re not exactly on the road again, but we are on the east coast. Last year we took an amazing trip across the United States in our 5th wheel trailer, and this blog was essentially a travelogue for three months. We’re back on the east coast again, but this time we traveled via airplane.

Coming out for a wedding, we are visiting relatives who live on the east coast. Our first stop was Peachtree City. We wanted to visit our niece, Roberta, last year, but they were traveling. This time we caught them at home, and since my brother and sister-in-law have moved here, we were able to see the entire family. Two teenagers can keep a family busy with sports and other activities. Roberta’s family is extremely busy. She has got to learn how to use the word “no!” During our two-day stay she made 10 dozen chocolate chip cookies while running a taxi for Daylen and Evan and taking care of her parents.

We did take an outing to a Fayette County park. From a photography point of view, it was a typical park. We walked the path, had a picnic lunch and then the clouds came. Picture perfect! There are a lot of images so please be patient. And they are out of order–software problems today!

It was a great two days; and then we flew to New York where we are now, and then on to Pennsylvania.

 

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 1 Comment

Pointing and shooting: Baking honey cakes with Haddassah

Yes, I did point and shoot at our Haddassah study group yesterday. It was a perfect time to try out the new camera, and it did a good job. It was fair at low light, but very portable and able to shoot into things without me climbing on a chair.

So, what was the Haddassah study group doing? We were baking honey cakes for the residents of the Einstein Residential Center for seniors in Sacramento. Our goal was to bake, give each resident a cake and visit with them. During Rosh HaShana (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) it is customary to eat honey cake and apples dipped in honey. Honey is a symbol for sweetness in the new year.

The residents were very happy to spend time with us and receive their honey cakes. For us, it was fun to get together, bake and meet new people. Unfortunately, we were only allowed to have five women in the kitchen at once so we took turns. And, we also had a few minutes to continue our study.

And me? I took time out to break in the point and shoot!

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When life hands you lemons; shoot anyway: Rodeo Beach, Golden Gate National Recreation Area

We weren’t exactly handed lemons at our Rodeo Beach visit, but the dead seal, dog poop and crustacean pieces didn’t help create an atmosphere for beauty on the beach. I just decided to make the best of it, wait for the sunset and do the best shooting I could do. After all, the beach itself was nice.

But then, my shooting was hampered when I needed to clean the inside of the filter on my main lens. I couldn’t unscrew the filter and neither could three other photographers. So the day’s shooting was done with my 300 mm telephoto and ultra wide lenses. I enjoyed the day, meeting two great gals I carpooled with and more from the Meetup group, Exploring Photography.

When 29 photographers get on a small patch of beach, it can get crowded; but, everyone cooperated. I would go up to photo enthusiasts and ask them what they were shooting, what they were using, etc. In the end, the fog made the sunset less than spectacular, giving us an orange glow before it went behind the fog bank.

Life may have handed us lemons, but we did shoot and I did get some very good images.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

There’s gold in them their hills: Gold panning, Bear River, Colfax, California, part 2

What is your passion? Do you find fulfillment from it? The Dirt Bags, as Jim and Jos are called by their gold panning community, found their passion and work hard at achieving it. They have an elaborate set up for gold panning, and, yes, they get dirty doing it.

In this post you’ll see how they find that sparkling treasure. As for me, I’ll stick with photography. Last night I chased my passion to the Marin Headlands–more to come on that outing. For me, each image is my gold and my passion.

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There’s gold in them their hills: Gold panning, Bear River, Colfax, California

I like to shoot photos, Richard likes to image the stars and Kenny Nichols likes to pan for gold. It relaxes him, and gets him away from work and home. Gloria, his wife, goes along to get away and enjoy time with friends. Fortunately, we are among their friends, and I finally got a chance to visit them while they were out on a gold panning weekend.

Everyone has their own way to capture that precious metal. Some have elaborate machines (I’ll call them that for lack of knowledge!) and others prefer simplicity. No matter which they choose, it’s very physical. After a day of panning, the club members relax and enjoy duck races, evening board games and other activities.

Their weekend was dampened by the huge King fire that filled their campground with smoke. The fire, which was arson, has been raging for a week and a half and is only 65% contained now. When we were there, the smoke had just come into their area and hung heavily over the river blocking out the sun.

My pictures will show the smoke, and because of it, we didn’t stay long. But, we did stay long enough to get acquainted with the community and their passion for their hobby. One couple took a good deal of time with us, and you’ll see their pictures in the next post. Kenny wasn’t panning because he fell the day before and was resting. I’m sure he panned the following day.

For Richard and I, we are back following our hobby passions.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Back to where I started: A point and shoot camera

It might seem like I’m going backwards, but I’m not. I’m simply covering all my photography needs. Well, not maybe all, but at least the need to not get caught without a camera.

You must have been caught in a circumstance where you said, “I wish I had my camera!” That happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I had just left a meeting about 35 minutes from home and there was the most fantastic sunset, and I didn’t have my camera! By the time I got home, it was over. To overcome that, I purchased a Sony Cyber-shot camera. This morning I gave it a trial run while walking my dog.

It did well in the areas that I would use it. This model detects whether you are shooting a landscape, portrait, close up, night shot, etc. I haven’t figured out whether I can override its Auto Intelligence mode. What it calls macro doesn’t give bokeh (blurry background).

Of course, there’s nothing like my Nikon DSLR, but the Sony fits in my purse (It’s smaller than my cell phone.), and I’ll have it with me at all times. It’s also useful when you’re at a wedding and want to take your personal shots. Its small size won’t interfere with the professional photographer.

So here are some shots from today’s effort in going backwards.

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No traffic; no light trails: Sacramento, California

The challenge: to learn how to shoot light trails. The second challenge: Not a lot of traffic to create an effective composition!

That’s the way it was on Friday night when I joined a group of photographers to shoot light trails near Old Sacramento. I did succeed in overcoming the first challenge–I now know how to shoot light trails. However the second challenge left me disappointed. You’ve been there before. You have this image in your mind, but in the real world, it doesn’t happen.

Even though there were not enough cars running through intersections, I did have a great time. The group from Sacramento Photographers is great. There’s always someone to help you, and you learn by just talking to them. Oh, the pizza at the end just capped the evening. I’m ready to find traffic now!

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Out and about: Effie Yaw Nature Center (a local treasure)

Where would you go to photograph deer and wildlife? Around Sacramento, you would head for the foothills or the Sierra Nevada mountains–or maybe not. Recently I went to the Effie Yaw Nature Center and found deer and other wildlife within 30 minutes from my home. This place is a true treasure.

Yes, the animals are well fed and not afraid of humans, but they make for good practice. We didn’t get through the entire center because hunger and heat intervened, but I’m going to go back. I’m also going to take my younger set of grandkids for a visit once the weather gets cooler.

Best of all, this center is on the American River which is still picture perfect even in the drought we are experiencing. Here’s a peak at the Effie Yaw Nature Center.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Happy Birthday Ryan: How to throw a kid’s party without the mess

Children’s birthday parties have changed–from home to party place. I usually don’t post my family’s birthday parties, but this one will be an exception. It was my younger grandson’s 6th birthday, and he wanted it at Chuck E. Cheese’s. Doesn’t every kid?

The staff at the restaurant were great. They kept the kids busy. Every child had a cup full of coins to play with. By play, I mean they played arcade games and received tickets as they went along. Even if they lost the game, they received one or two tickets. There are two sides to the play area; one for young children and the other for older ones. My granddaughter, at 3 years, stayed in the small kid area, while Ryan tried his luck in the bigger kid area. It was difficult to capture pictures at this party because the children were so excited and busy. My grandchildren have become used to me and my camera and are now turning around, not cooperating. I had the camera on aperture priority and auto sometimes, because I had to shoot quickly.

It became easier when pizza (which was pretty good) was served and Chuck E. Cheese himself visited. The only downside to the party was that the mouse was working two parties at once. Did you know that Chuck E. Cheese is a mouse? Then the child and a chosen adult get to go into the ticket machine where tickets are blowing around. Whatever tickets the duo get to grab are theirs to keep. The prize is the big 1,000 ticket which also blows around. If you win that one, you get $1,000 additional tickets. You’ll have to look at the pictures to find out what happened for Ryan and his dad.

The children leave the party stuffed with pizza and tickets which they redeem at the redemption counter. I remember having birthday parties for my boys at our home or the park. We played all sorts of games to keep them busy, fed them lunch and birthday cake and gave them party favors. And, when the kids left, I had to clean up the house. If you can afford it, Chuck E. Cheese is a better option.