What would you do if every day for the past couple of weeks brought fog and rain into your hometown and your camera was packed away? You’d do what Christine, Marlene and I did. One day, it wasn’t raining, but fog was still hanging out as a fine mist. We took our cameras out for a walk in the fog!
Actually, I enjoy photographing in fog. It adds a mood to the images. We chose to visit nearby Gibson Ranch, which has been featured in this blog a few times.
Our visit was mostly around the pond since they closed access to some of the trails. But that was okay because I don’t like being out in the damp air for too long. The geese came out of the water when they saw us thinking we had food.
We found some horses out in a pasture.
We also walked over to the stables where we found a couple of barn quilts. These are designs painted on wood.
And, how lucky could I get. I found rust! My friends weren’t interested in these old farm equipment pieces, but I was.
I’ll end with one of the two peacocks I saw roaming the grounds. However, he wouldn’t cooperate and spread his tail feathers.
This ends my adventure in the fog. My visit was on December 22nd. We’ve had one sunny day since then. You know what I’m wishing for in the new year!
The night would be perfect: some clouds and sun. This was a rarity for us in Sacramento lately. Taking the opportunity, Laura and I went to photograph the sunset at Gibson Ranch Regional Park.
This is a Sacramento County park and equestrian center that has picnic areas. a dog park, small lake, and other activities. It’s a perfect place that is local to catch a sunset. We were not disappointed.
Before sunset: The equestrian area was gated off, but these facilities were available to photograph.
As the sun was getting low in the sky, fishermen were still trying to catch their limit.
And I became taller! Okay, with the help of my shadow!!
Finally a great sunset and lake reflection!
After all those weeks of overcast and rain, I was a happy camper! The damp, overcast and rain did come back, so I was glad we went that evening.
Stop. Look. Listen. Doing those three things will help you discover the abundance of wildlife you have nearby. You have wildlife in your yard, nearby park, local pond or lake and just about anywhere around you. We often overlook opportunities to photograph these animals because we are so used to having them around us.
We live in a community with beautiful green belts, old oak trees, a creek and the wildlife that enjoys it. I walk my dog, Gem, every morning. He and I are used to seeing a variety of animals each morning. Sometimes we even catch the nocturnal skunks if we’re out early like at daybreak during the summer. I’ve picked him up three times when I’ve seen coyotes. Twice, I’ve seen deer looking around for something to munch on.
Beyond my complex, I’m fortunate to live near parks and nature centers where wildlife abounds.
Let’s start with the pond we have in the middle of our senior complex. It has fish for catch and release, turtles and the usual geese and ducks.
Oh, we must give special attention to our wild turkeys that seem to take over the place only to be daunted by the coyotes. I’ve only seen coyotes while walking my dog and I’m without a camera. You’ll note that the last group of turkeys is not that sharp. That’s because it was taken with my cell phone, which doesn’t have a great camera. I just wanted you to see how they congregate. These turkeys are protected so there’s no thinking of enjoying a Thanksgiving feast with them on the platter.
Moving a little beyond my community, about 15 minutes away (I gage in time not miles!), is Effie Yeaw Nature Center. It’s right on the banks on the American River. It’s nature at its wildest. I’ve been there and seen deer carcasses that have been ravaged by vultures and other animals. On the brighter side, most of the time the deer know that humans are not their predators.
About the same distance, but in a different direction is the Gibson Ranch County Park. It has stables and a pond. On a recent visit, a family was feeding the squirrels. This one was a cutie. And I found a goose that was not a Canada goose.
Further down the interstate, about a total of 30 minutes away, is the Vic Fasio Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area. We find mostly birds when we go around the dirt route, and in this drought, they are even a rare sighting. Here are a great egret and blue heron I photographed during our last visit.
From squirrels to birds, wildlife is around us. What non-domestic animals live in your neighborhood or nearby? Do you have feeders to attract wild birds? Look through your archives or take a nature walk with your camera. Maybe some of those flowers have bees looking for nectar with which to make honey? Lizards, praying mantis or spiders may be lurking around the rocks. Oh, how about butterflies? Let us see your wildlife. Remember to link to this post and use the Lens-Artist tag.
I had fun and learned some new things while responding to Sophia’s Exposure challenge. I hope you did too. Next week I’m pleased to tell you that our guest host is Jude of Cornwall in Colors. Look for her challenge.
If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.
I dug deep into my archives to find images for Sylvia’s (My Colorful Expressions) challenge. I just wanted to see what my earliest photos looked liked. And this is what I found: little or no editing, lots of HDR, and hardly any cropping. Through Sylvia’s challenge, I could see how much I’ve learned.
When I started photography, HDR was the BIG thing. That’s the reason I moved up from the Nikon D3100 to the D7100. The D3100 didn’t do auto bracketing. Looking at the photos, I can see that NIK Color Efex does a much better job of creating that type of image.
I love to photograph doorways and doors. The more rustic the better. And if the door is red, wow! Anyway, here they are, photos from 2014 and 2015. I did a small amount of editing. I just couldn’t help myself!
I’ll end with this barn at Gibson Ranch. The sun was situated just right to shine through the open doors. Oh, yes, it’s red!
Thank you Sylvia for giving me this opportunity to go through old photos. It’s amazing how much you can learn when look at where you’ve been. Remember to link to Sylvia’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
It was my pleasure to challenge you last week, and we enjoyed all your wonderful local vistas. My son is on his way to recovery and feeling better. Thank you all for your kind thoughts regarding his well-being. This is truly a wonderful and caring community.
Next week Tina will be presenting the challenge, so be sure to look for her post.
Whether in the city or country-side, I love photo walks. Thank you Amy of Share and Connect for choosing this topic. It’s a great way to relax, observe, see opportunities and shoot pictures. However, here in Sacramento, between the pandemic and smoke from fires, taking photo walks has been minimal. Of the few activities this year, my trip to the Sacramento Zoo and Gibson Ranch stand out.
The Sacramento Zoo. I love the zoo, and typically spend 2 hours walking it. It closed early on in the pandemic and when they were permitted to reopen, it was under strict guidelines. We needed to make online reservations, you couldn’t request a time slot, and they only let in a certain amount of visitors at a time. My time slot came early in the afternoon. Typically I would get there when they opened in the morning before the big cats took their naps. However my ticket was for 1:30 p.m. Wow, animals that were traditionally inactive in the morning were active. Here are some images from that zoo afternoon.
The flamingos were grooming.
The black-crowned cranes were stand-offish.
The red pandas were awake!
The zebras were playing.
Another time we went to Gibson Ranch in Elverta. I hadn’t been there in a long time and wanted to get familiar with my new 80 mm macro lens. I didn’t think I’d be able to do much true macro work, but I wanted to see what else it could do. Gibson Ranch has a pond, barn, animals, horse stables and horses. It’s typical to find families feeding the ducks and geese, horses being groomed and rode, and people taking trail rides.
Donkeys were in the pasture.
Goats were resting.
This horse was in the trail ride area.
My macro shot of water dripping from a pipe.
Walking a horse down the road.
I’ve since used my macro lens on flowers, etc. It’s great.
There are so many other places to stroll about with a camera in the Sacramento area. I’m just waiting for the smoke to clear!
I knew Gibson Ranch Park in Elverta wasn’t the best place for macro shots, but you can use a macro lens for more than just close up photography. Yes? Well, I gave it a try when Marlene, Linda and I went to to the park. I hadn’t been there for a while, and I wanted to practice with my new macro lens for the Fuji camera. It performed well.
There were the usual amount of ducks at the pond.
And there were geese!
And a squirrel enjoying a peanut tossed by a young boy.
And Gibson Ranch has other animals too.
There are also stables where horses are boarded. In one area, trail rides are offered.
Oh, yes, I did manage to get a couple of close up/macro images too.
Now I have to find some flowers and bugs to practice on!
I love that the Golden Hour comes early now that the days are shorter and we’re back on standard time. It’s sweet to shoot when the sun is low on the horizon, creating glows and shadows.
We were at Gibson Ranch Regional Park in Elverta recently to catch the sunset. Before we got to the Park, there were abundant clouds in the sky. However, by the time the sun was setting, the clouds had vanished, leaving just small wisps.
When you visit this Park, you’ll find chickens, peacocks, various birds that feed in the pond, and you may even see a horse or two. Horses are boarded at the Ranch, and frequently you’ll see them being groomed or ridden.
And, everything looks even more beautiful during the golden hour.
My crystal ball won’t tell the future, but it sure is fun to take on a photo outing. After trying a couple of my photo buddies’ crystal balls, I decided to get one. They are fun, but my 4.2 inch is heavy and bulky to carry around. I found an old point and shoot camera bag that it could fit into, and it helped to carry it over my shoulder during a July 4 morning shoot at Gibson Ranch with Laura.
If you’re thinking of buying a crystal ball/orb, don’t go bigger than mine. Photo buddy Karen has a 4″ and 3″. She prefers the 3″ because it fits into a jacket pocket and is lighter to carry. I find the smaller orb more difficult to shoot through and to get some of the background identifiable in the background. One recommendation is to get one that sits on a crystal base rather than a wood base.
If you haven’t shot through a crystal ball, it gives an upside down image of what you’re shooting and looks almost like a fish-eye effect. Here’s one:
Of course, you can right side up the image and have the background upside down. In this picture, the blurred background is what you see in the ball. My goal is to learn how to crop out the ball’s base. Just another challenge.
Speaking of challenges, I have been attacking Photoshop, but not on Mondays. We can schedule, but things do come up. Last week I broke open “Photoshop for Lightroom Users” by Scott Kelby. I’m learning some of the tools and to do little things right now. I’ve also investigated some of the other software I have as I edit.
So gaze into my crystal ball, enjoy and have fun!
The pond at Gibson Ranch is great for young fishermen.
I got closer as he walked.
I enjoy the pond’s still water.
We met an Appaloosa and her owner.
She just had her bangs combed, and I couldn’t resist!
Many horse owners board their horses here. This is a hay barn.
The hay barn through the ball.
A horse and rider.
You can also get to Dry Creek at Gibson Ranch.
We took turns holding the ball. I need to turn a tripod into a ball stand.
I love the creek. So serene.
Back at Gibson Ranch. Here’s a view of the pond through the ball.
Pardon me, just walking through! The ball image is right sided and the barn is upside down.
This horse owner posed for us. I left her upside down.
It’s one of my favorite places to practice. I’ve learned how to shoot sunsets, sunbursts, animals, water fowl, events and buildings there. And, best of all it’s close to home! Gibson Ranch is a park where people board and care for their horses. They also train them there. It’s a place to hold large events like the Civil War Re-enactment. Most of all, it’s peaceful.
When you visit you may see children feeding the ducks and geese, or a father and son fishing. With two playgrounds, it’s also a wonderful place for a family to picnic and play.
For me, it’s a great place to practice photography. On a recent visit, that’s what Marlene and I did. We walked through the horse grounds, caught peacocks high and low with our cameras and tried to have as much patience as the egret had as it was trying to fish.
Here’s our visit to Gibson Ranch and my practice session.
I love the rustic look of the buildings.
A barn cat.
Getting up close and personal with a peacock. They don’t seem to mind people.
Inside the horse barn.
A bridle and rope.
A peacock watches the horses.
Hay in the barn.
Equipment waiting to be used.
This wheelbarrow gave me some Lightroom practice in working with exposure.
Politics, I really don’t want to get into that subject, but I am showing you images from a Civil War Re-enactment. So, indulge me with one question: Why has it taken so long to gain equality since that epic war? Okay, two questions: Are we there yet?
Last post’s commentary was regarding the Union camp Marlene and I just happened to walk into because it was closer. The Confederate camp was a little down the road, and the Gibson Ranch pasture land between them was reserved for the battle. I was amazed at how few participants the Confederates had. There were about 1/3 of the tents than in the opposition camp. One of our photographer’s husband was wearing a Confederate cap and was asked to join in the battle against the Union. They lent him a uniform and off he went on his adventure.
Of course, his adventure was the battle of Appomattox Court House , fought on the morning of April 9, 1865. It was one of the last battles of the Civil War and a Union victory. I was wondering how they would re-enact the scene. We did see gun fire (not real bullets) and men (and women in this case) fall to the ground. Soldiers came in on horse back, guns blazing. However they were at the other end of the pasture, and my 300 mm lens couldn’t capture the shot with pinpoint focus. It wasn’t until the battle came closer that I was able to get good shots (with my camera). All in all, they did a pretty good job of presenting a production of this battle.
You can see for yourself in this second post that contains shots of the battle and the Confederate encampment. All politics aside, it was a fun and educational day.
When we got to the Confederate side, they were already getting ready for battle.
They didn’t have the standard confederate uniforms.
And they didn’t look as “military” as the Union.
Their horseman were ready too.
This is the laundress and cook. She needed to take a breather, feeding the entire camp.
Here the horseman got close enough for me to capture their part of the battle.
Walking to battle.
The Confederate cannon. They had this one in the open and two more behind trees.
They don’t fight battles this way any longer. No more standing in lines to get shot.
The Union army is getting closer to the Confederate side.
The Confederates bring their cannon closer to the front line.
The dead lay on the field. The white flag is not a sign of surrender, it’s a signal flag.
The Union cannon is coming.
The Union fires its cannon.
The Union has basically won the battle.
The Union acknowledges the Confederacy as they surrender.
Slow Shutter Speed 