Posted on by Anne Sandler · 44 Comments

Lens-Artists Challenge #414: Harmony

Such a simple word with different meanings for everyone. Typically, harmony is associated with music. However, Ann Christine associates it with color: Harmony is the combination of separate but related parts in a way that uses their similarities to bring unity to a painting, drawing, or other art object.

I see harmony in nature, and I find joy in capturing it with my camera. During a photo outing a few years ago, we were driving along on curvy Highway 49 and saw this field of golden poppies–the California State Flower. Oh the harmony of orange and green. Add in the rugged rocks on the hillside, it was just beautiful.

I’ve been on that road many years since, but have not been able to find the same scene. I’m so glad I have these images.

We were heading to a town in Gold Country called Jackson, and on the way back we stopped in another small town, Dry Town, to capture some more poppies.

Here it was the placement of the poppies that created a harmonious scene. Again yellow, green and brown. Just lovely.

So there you have my harmonious joy. Thanks Ann Christine for helping us notice harmony in our lives. When you post your response, please link to her post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Oh the bridges we crossed last week. They were just great. Thanks for all your contributions. I’ll be leading next week’s challenge, so stay tuned. In the meantime stay healthy, safe and be resilient.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 28 Comments

Lens-Artists Challenge 104: Doors/Doorways

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!

Let’s start with a couple of HDR taken from the Sacramento Delta.

Reflections of me and my late photo buddy Greg. Why do I look so wide and he doesn’t?
How many colors can there be on one old rusted truck?

I do love red doors, actually anything red!

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Downtown Sacramento
Fire Station, Fiddletown. Notice the little fiddle on the barn window.
The Yuba Theater in Downieville.

Here’s a unique door knocker in Fiddletown and a double door entrance in Jackson.

Take a look at this old structure in Amador County.

And this one from Bodie, a ghost town. This was another HDR.

Another HDR image from the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery. I like the reflection and iron work in the door.

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.

 If you, or any of your photo friends, would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, just click this link and join us: https://photobyjohnbo.wordpress.com/about-lens-artists/

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

Tuesdays with seniors: Part two of Amador County

Isn’t it great that we can just take a day during the week and go shooting–with a camera! Now, I don’t want you 9 – 5’ers to get upset, but we’ve earned the right. You see we’re retired, older and want to do what we can while we can. That’s why a few of us decided to designate Tuesdays as our get away day. And its been great.

The town of Jackson was our destination this time, but you know we never know where we’ll end up. Greg wanted to show Marlene and I Michigan Bar Road. I had already been on part of that road with him, but got too self assured and shot HDR handheld. Mistake! So I was glad to be able to get a second chance. For, Marlene, it was new territory.

We simply drive around (Greg has 4-wheel drive and knows the area so he drives), stop when we see something to shoot and sometimes never reach our designated destination. It’s okay because there’s always next week.