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Milky Way, sunflowers and refrigerators: A week in my life

What do the Milky Way, sunflowers and refrigerators have in common? Nothing really, except I experienced them all in one week.

Let’s start with the fridge. I bought a new fridge on June 9, it was delivered on June 11. By the time the installers were done, they had scratched one of the doors, and the ice maker didn’t turn off after 24 hours. Okay, they wanted to send out another fridge on Sunday. But I was supposed to spend the night up at Blue Canyon Airport with my husband Richard (our observatory is there) and a couple of my photo clubs were coming up to shoot the Milky Way. So I changed my plans and arranged to come home with another photographer.

While the Milky Way wasn’t spectacular, I did learn a great deal. This was the first time I was able to shoot it and not get a light tan background when processing in Lightroom. My fellow photographers were more than willing to help. And, they enjoyed mingling with the astronomers.

Back to the fridge which wasn’t delivered on Sunday because the order never made it to delivery. So the second fridge was to come on Monday, June 15. It did, but by the time the installers left, it had a dented door and again–the ice maker didn’t work. Richard discovered that the water had not been hooked up properly! The third fridge was scheduled to be delivered on Wednesday, June 17.

Meanwhile, Tuesday evening, Marlene and I went in search of sunflowers. By the time we found a field in Woodland, going to Davis first, the sun was low in the sky. Most of the sunflowers were in the process of turning around toward the sun and drooping. This was the first time I actually felt in total control. I decided to do close ups and take advantage of the back-lit flowers. I’m focusing on manual for about half my shooting time now. You’ll see the result. The old car was an added bonus. I shot HDR handheld.

Okay the fridge again, It was delivered on Wednesday and I warned the guys that they were to take care not to scratch or dent the doors. They were told to also install it properly and hook up the water. They thought I was a controlling nut case until I told them that this was the third unit.

No scratches or dents, but when my husband checked, the water was not hooked up! Richard hooked up the water while I thought I was living in a script of the Twilight Zone! This morning, my 72nd birthday, I went downstairs and saw about 10 ice cubes in the freezer bucket. I started singing the birthday song. This was a great present!

So was my week of the Milky Way, sunflowers and refrigerators!

Posted on by Anne Sandler

On the road again: Sedona, Arizona, the final chapter: Catapillar Point, Out of Africa and Tuzigoot

It wasn’t supposed to be a journey’s end, but it was. We were going to take a day on our way home, from Sedona, to drive through Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Parks, but I fell on the way to Bakersfield. It’s amazing how people rush to help when you have gray hair! I’m okay–just a couple scrapes, one big bruise and a sore shoulder. With that happening, I decided it would be best to head home.

Yes, I’m disappointed because those National Parks are my favorite. I’ll try to get there in the fall. In the meantime, I want to show you a little of the Out of Africa Wildlife Park. This isn’t like a safari park where you drive through and the animals are walking about. This park is a sanctuary. On this trip, we saw a small animal show, a tiger swim and play show and rode through an area where the animals roamed free. You’ll see from the pictures that these animals are very used to humans, especially the giraffes! The zebras can become a little testy!

Tuzigoot is a National Monument of Native American ruins. When you see the small rooms, you’ll wonder what the Southern Sinagua tribe would think if they saw our large dwellings! We decided not to visit their other dwellings, Montezuma Castle and Well, because we saw them during our last visit.

Caterpillar Point  was our last stop on this trip. It was a rocky stream bed, some small water falls and lots of wildflowers including a century cactus bloom.

Take a look at our last two days before we ended our journey and headed home.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

On the road again: Sedona, Arizona, part 3

How can a week go by so fast? We start our trek home tomorrow, hoping to take three days and drive through Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. 

But, our time here has been wonderful. I didn’t tell you that we met our friends Sandy and Ken here. We also came to Sedona five years ago with them. It’s been great sharing this beautiful area with them. Tonight I’m going to show you some more highlights. Please understand that we did not go into Sedona proper, just through it. It’s become crowded and commercial with so many timeshare companies wanting to sell their plans. And, now if you don’t want to go on one of the many jeep tours, you can rent your own.

We didn’t rent one, didn’t go on a jeep tour, but decided to take the scenic Verde Canyon Railroad 4-hour ride. None of us was up for long hikes this trip. We also walked and stepped over the stream at the Call of the Canyon, state park. So here are some images from those activities.

Yes, the week went by so fast that I’ll have to continue showing you this trip on the way home.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

On the road again: Sedona, Arizona, part 2

Days! I do wish we had more days here in Sedona. Full days push us to the point of exhaustion, so we try to just go to one or two places each day. That’s not enough to see all there is in Sedona or the surrounding area. But, at our age we do the best we can.

Today, I’ll show you some of the better known sights. Since we were here in 2010 and visited these areas, we didn’t do too much during our visit. One sad fact is that Sedona has haze that was not here in 2010. It does make it difficult to do photography, at least for an amateur. The saving grace is the breeze/wind that comes in every afternoon. Not only does it help to cool us off, it pushes out the haze.

I’ll be finishing the Sedona series at home since we have only one full day here and then we start the trek home. Yes, I’d like more days in this area.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Music, music, music: The Sacramento Music Festival, Sacramento, California, part 2

Will we have a music festival? That’s the question we hear asked each year. This year the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society put on its 42nd festival and made money by working with an all volunteer staff and cutting down on venues outside of Old Sacramento.

We are not involved in the yearly pre-planning, but only work the festival during the weekend. It’s fun and I love listening to the youth bands, called the Next Generation bands. And you never know who will drop in and jam with them. This year our usual 3 1/2 shifts were lengthened to 4 – 4 1/2 hours. But, that still left us enough time to see acts and listen to wonderful music.

And, we have one of the half days off. Ours was Monday. Because we had the closing shift Sunday night and are not used to staying up after midnight, we didn’t go in Monday morning. We did help break down the venue. Why does it always take less time to break down than put up? It’s the same when you travel. It takes longer to get there than it does coming home!

Home was sweet on Monday morning. I had time to prepare for our out of town dinner guest.

Will there be a 43rd festival? I’m sure they will have it. This format worked, and the newspaper reported that a small profit was made. Till next year!

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Music, music, music: The Sacramento Music Festival, Sacramento, California

Four days of music, music and more. The more resulted in a pound weight gain! I wait all year for the brats, kettle corn, and ice cream: jazz, dixieland, rag, rock and country. What would you do at a music festival besides listen to wonderful music and eat fun food? Well, we work at the Sacramento Music Festival too.

Should I call listening to talented youth bands work? Probably not, except for the night we closed and our last band set ended at 11 p.m. That was too late for kids and seniors! Our venue is free for the public while most other venues are by paid admission only. So, our attendance varies between 50 and 70 people who come and go during the sets. Some youth bands have a strong following and attendance can go up to 90.

We enjoy working here because it’s a small venue with little clean up and the kids are great. In fact, some are equal to the professional bands we listened to. Many of the local youths are graduates of the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society’s, sponsor of the festival, music camp. In fact, local professional musicians are involved with these young musicians and their musical education.

I also used this 4-day festival to practice photography. Each day, I had a particular goal in mind. Many times, you cannot do photography and enjoy the event. But, while I was shooting, I could still hear the music. And, the performers don’t mind having someone take their pictures.

Confession, we did not go in on Monday except to help tear down our venue.  Yes, there is such a thing as too much music, music and more! This a 2-part post.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Practice, practice, practice: Dry Creek Park, West Roseville, California

They say that practice makes perfect, Well, I’ve been practicing every day even if it is only for the 365 challenge. It has helped, but I’m far from perfect! But then, who is perfect?

I like to go to Dry Creek because it is so close to my home and is beautiful. I’ve practiced with my ND filter, macro lens, 50 mm lens and just to shoot. The last time, I went with Richard and Gem. The boys walked while I went down to the water to shoot. In the summer, the area is a great swimming hole for children, and it’s harder to shoot.

In this post, I’m going to show you how beautiful this creek is. However, with the drought, the water level is really low. I’m not sure how the creek will hold up during the summer. Let’s hope we get some rain this fall and winter. After all I will still be practicing!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 1 Comment

Back in time: Civil War Re-enactment, Gibson Ranch, Elverta, California, part 2

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.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Back in time: Civil War Re-enactment, Gibson Ranch, Elverta, California

It was one of the most brutal wars, and one fought on our soil–the Civil War, north against south and sometimes brother against brother. It was something to enter a time warp and see the encampments as they may have been during the civil war. I felt immersed in the culture and people. But, it was a re-enactment at Gibson Ranch. That is the very same ranch that we photographers visit to shoot horses, ducks, and a sunset.

Marlene and I first visited the Union camp just because they were near the parking lot. Except for a few cars, portable toilets and large trash bins, we walked back in time. As much as I appreciated the effort to keep things as realistic to the time period, it was tough to photograph because of all the modern day stuff visible. But it was just a challenge.

This will be another two part post. Today I’ll focus on the Union encampment and tomorrow the confederate encampment and the battle.

Here’s what it was like pre-battle in one of our bloodiest wars.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Yes, this is Scotland or as close to it as we can recreate: Scottish Highland Games, Woodland, California, the games.

Athletes who train, bands that practice, dancers who start at an early age–they were all there and from different countries. I didn’t realize how big time these games are. Children came from Ireland to compete in what I call the “Drum Major” competition. I’ve tried to find the correct name, but was unsuccessful. Who knows, I might be right! But they were there at the Scottish Highland Games.

I was impressed about how precise everything was. Uniforms had to be just so, routines had to be exact and the throw length in the games was measured. It was pure talent. So take a look at these people of all ages who trained and practiced. I hope you will take the time to view more than the normal amount of images.