Every time I think a challenge is probably the most difficult, there’s another one coming along. This time, Tina is asking us to pick no more than five of our favorite photos. I don’t know about you, but it’s much easier for me to pick favorites from someone else’s images.
I know you expect me to post flowers, but in this photo, the praying mantis was what I was after.
You also know I’m a member of our local zoo. I happened to be talking to a docent when I think we woke up this flamingo. Quick shot!
I happened to be invited to photograph a super moon that was to appear near our State Capitol building. So glad I was there.
I miss our annual Sacramento Music Festival, especially seeing Tom Rigney and Flambeau.
My fifth and final picture is…yes, a flower. A lotus.
Thank you Tina for this wonderful exercise and trip down memory lane. When you post your five favorites, please link to Tina’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Last week we saw portraits of all kinds. It was beautiful and fun. Next week Egidio will be challenging us, so stay tuned! In the meantime, stay safe and live in gratitude.
I’m not a fan of gardening. Somehow, digging in dirt is not appealing. But I do enjoy others’ efforts. I enjoy the beauty and joy flowers bring to our eyes and other senses. This week Ann-Christine asks us to pick our favorites! That’s difficult. I suppose I like roses and sunflowers. Oh, but, then there are tulips, orchids and lotus.
Roses. Here are two from my rose garden. This garden was here when we bought the house and I’ve managed to keep it going. I’m lucky to live next door to a wonderful gardner who showed me how to deadhead them. So I go out with a long-sleeved shirt and gloves, hoping they won’t get mad at me for trying to help them. Those thorns! From my garden.
We have several public rose gardens in the Sacramento area. One of them is the McKinley Rose Garden. Each year they host a photography contest. I’ve received an honorable mention and won first place. Here are two from that garden–not the winning images.
Each year Ananda Village in Nevada City hosts a tulip festival. I’ve gone each year except for the two Covid years. Here a two images from this April. You’ve probably seen them in this blog.
This year, I went to the Horton Iris Farm. They mainly grow to sell. A few of us were taking pictures. When photographing flowers, I do mostly macro. I guess I like the challenge.
Speaking of macro, whenever I need an emotional lift, I go to my local Green Acres Nursery. On this visit, a cactus lifted my spirits and the orchid had me smiling with its beauty.
Oh my, I almost forgot the sunflowers! They bring me such joy. Each year we would go out looking for great sunflower fields and then head over to Metzger’s Zinnia patch. For the last 2 years, I missed this opportunity because of the drought, gas prices and Covid. But, photography lets us enjoy the past.
Wildflowers are nature’s gift to us. Here are two wildflower images of poppies near Jackson and purple flowers (I don’t know their name) at Pacific Grove.
Last is the lotus. Each year the pond at Land Park, Sacramento fills with lotus blossoms. Here is my attempt at a black and white conversion.
Thank you Ann-Christine for helping me remember the joy flowers bring to me. When you respond to this challenge, remember to tag Ann-Christine’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Last week we learned a valuable lesson with Patti’s One Subject Three Ways. I enjoyed seeing all your responsesAmy will be challenging us next week, so look for her post.
Let’s go back 21 years when we moved to Sacramento, there was maybe one week of triple digit temperatures during the entire summer. We’ve already had that many and it’s not even the end of June! The heat stiffles any desire to grab a camera and go out for the day. Enough griping!
Recently Marlene and I took advantage of a morning when the temperature was to max out in the 90s and went to William Land Park in Sacramento to photograph the lotus blossoms. I think they were just as affected by the heat as we were. Also the cluster of lotus were far away from the bank of the pond. Getting super close was not possible. Here are some of the blossoms. The close ups are well cropped.
What truly impressed me was the size of the leaves. They were impressive. The lotus aren’t the only attraction at the pond. There are others:
Also, in today’s world, I always get pleasure from the kindness and friendliness of others. We met three women who saw our cameras and asked us to take their picture with their cell phone. We talked with them. They offered advice on how I could reduce the pain in my hip. They also had us take a picture of each of us and them with our cameras. Here’s the one I took of them and Marlene.
This last picture was taken just before entering the pond area. It’s not a lotus but I liked the lighting.
It’s supposed to be cooler this week, so maybe I won’t be so grumpy! We’ll see what July brings. In the meantime, enjoy your summer and stay safe.
I look down more than up. But, after reading Sofia’s challenge, I think I may be looking up a bit more! She is encouraging us to post images where we’ve looked both ways and post our discoveries.
While I may not have my neck cranked up, Richard, my husband, does. Okay, he has his telescope pointed at the skies. He’s an astronomer/imager and has captured some beautiful galaxies and nebulas with his telescope, camera and computer. So for my looking up portion I’m posting a few of his pictures. Here are some nebulas and galaxies.
Now, my turn. Here are some images taken while looking down.
Looking down a mountain from Foresthill and looking at the American River from a bridge at William B Pond.
I love these challenges because they get me thinking about how I shoot. This week’s Lens-Artists challenge is from Patti Moed and is on symmetry.
I mostly shoot asymmetrical because I find it more pleasing to my eye. However, I do like to do macro shots of flowers and tend to fill the frame in camera. When I do shoot symmetrically, it’s usually a road or building. Again, this is mostly institutively since I don’t have any art training.
So, with that in mind, here are my examples of symmetry.
Vertical
This tree divides the image in half.
This walkway leads your eye down the path.
Although not exactly identical on both sides, it does lead your eye down both sides of the hotel.
Horizontal
This sunset is a traditional horizontal image.
This lotus blossom seems to be looking in a mirror!
Radial
This lotus blossom leaf was so round an big, it formed a bowl, resulting in two circles.
This busy round-a-bout caught my eye because of the circle. Of course, I shot it in an asymmetrical fashion!
Thanks again Patti! I loved this challenge, and I’m looking forward to next weeks’.
It’s important for us to be inspired all the time. Inspiration is what makes us get up in the morning, especially in this COVID year. Nature truly inspires me to get out with my camera. Nature doesn’t understand pandemics, politics, or other things that affect us humans emotionally. It just goes through its cycles and begs us to visit. Thank you Tina for creating this Lens-Artist challenge. It had me thinking positively.
So, I went through this year’s images to find nature’s inspiring moments. Although there are a lot less then in years past, there were enough to keep me inspired!
A dark, chilly and gloomy day doesn’t seem to be a day to visit the Sacramento Delta, but we did. The Sacramento river is always nice to visit. On this overcast day, the river was quiet, giving us beautiful reflections.
We also made our yearly visit to Yolo County’s almond orchards while the trees were blooming. There were beautiful skies that day. How inspired can you get!
Early on in the lockdown, Richard and I escaped to the snow. He wanted to see whether his favorite star gazing area was snowed in. This is shot on the road near Blue Canyon. I love that I can visit, but don’t have to live in snow!
And finally, I have my first rose in my garden and an image of a lovely lotus blossom. The lotus aren’t with us very long, but they are beautiful. My rose garden had a tough time this year with the extreme heat, but they are still blooming.
I’m hoping that next year I’ll be inspired by more of nature’s wonders. Thanks again Tina!
Heat! That’s the challenge summer brings to the Sacramento area. Due to climate change, our infrequent triple digit weather has become the norm. Add to that, we need to stay away from our rivers and lakes because of social distancing. It’s not my favorite season. But the flowers are blooming and I love macro and close up photography.
So here are some macro/close up floral images for Amy’s summer challenge:
As I’m posting this, they are predicting a high of 98 degrees and right now it’s 92 degrees. My garden will be pruned tomorrow morning! There might be a photography tutorial in my future this afternoon.
Get your telephoto lens ready, it’s that time of the year. Lotus flowers bloom locally each year at William Land Park in Sacramento. They take up one end of the small lake, and they are beautiful.
This year, I couldn’t believe how big the leaves were. They were almost as spectacular as the blossoms.
I wasn’t alone on a recent Saturday. There were many others, most were wearing masks, including photographers visiting. Most of the other photographers had super long lenses balanced on tripods. I wish I could see what they were getting. I had a 200 mm reach and was doing fine hand-holding my camera.
Of course you know I love to do close ups. Some cropping in post processing were done to these images. Okay, maybe a lot!! Love my new camera!!
Yes, goodbye to 2019!! I can’t say that it’s been the worst year, but it hasn’t been the best for me personally. I feel like my photography journey is on a roundabout and is unsuccessful in getting off to continue down the road.
I think my health is under control now, but with the beta blocker I’m on, any shooting beyond 8 p.m. is not happening. I just get too tired, but my heart is beating better. I call it my new normal!
December has been a rainy, cold, overcast and damp month which adds to the photo blues. I’ve tried to make the most of partly cloudy and sunny days, but they are few. Here, in California, December, January and February are traditionally our rainy months. The rest of the year is pretty dry, so we are hoping for more rain, and, of course, more complaining. My photo buddies and I are trying to think of more indoor places to take our cameras to. You might see some familiar places in the next couple of months.
Jeanne and I went to William Land Park to catch some Fall Color in mid November. There was barely any left, but we did shoot for about an hour.
The remains of a lotus flower.
Great atmosphere for an outdoor lunch.
Grooming in the sunshine.
Reflection.
A standing beauty.
Lighting creates beauty.
You know I can’t resist flowers!
Next is Effie Yeaw. Marlene and I went to capture the deer rutting. They weren’t rutting that morning, but there were many deer.
We got there early enough to see fog on the ground.
It’s rained enough for moss to grow on the trees.
A buck posing.
A young buck on his way into the trees.
Having a conversation!
Just a beautiful scene.
Who are you looking at?
Let’s get out of here!
Hey, wait for me!
Oh, I did get my calendars, and they look good. But, they are not exactly the way I wanted them to be as far as lay out. There’s always 2020. If I don’t blog again before, Happy New Year!!
They are so beautiful, but only bloom once a year. But, that’s also what makes the Lotus flowers so special. The flowers in this post are from the Vedanta Society of Sacramento in Fair Oaks (Where last year’s images were shot.) and my chiropractor’s farm in Auburn. Who would have thought that a small Lotus pond would be on a farm!
At the Vedanta Society, the mature Lotus were more inside the pond and the buds surrounded them on the outside. That made shooting them a little tricky, but with the lens extended all the way out to 140 mm and creative cropping, I managed.
At the farm, it was just the opposite. The featured image is a black and white from the farm. No matter, they are beautiful no matter where they are. And, pictures are a way of enjoying them all year round.
Except for the last two, these were taken at the Vedanta Society.
Not a Lotus.
Pretty rose.
This Magnolia blossom ends the images taken at the Vedanta Society
Slow Shutter Speed 