My macro lens has been sitting in the camera case for a long time. It must have been calling to me because I got the sudden urge to take it to my local Green Acres Nursery. They don’t mind photographers walking around with cameras.
I was there about an hour, taking pictures. I focused on the task, and left relaxed, feeling good and not thinking about what’s happening in the world. Here are some of the beauties I photographed.
I hope these flowers relax you as taking their photos relaxed me. Take care and live in gratitude.
I’m twisting again! My last outing has to be this morning’s outing because I’ve already posted on the zoo–my real last outing. Gosh, this is getting confusing.
Anyway, it’s tulip time so I went off to Jensen Botanical Garden, in Fair Oaks, to photograph their small tulip patch. This park is close to my home, and a much easier ride than driving to Grass Valley to photograph the tulips at Ananda Village.
You never know what you’ll come across when you go to a public park–like these girls being photographed. I asked what the occasion was and was told they were just having fun.
Then I came across another group taking pictures. This time I didn’t ask what they were doing. I didn’t want to intrude because the picture taking looked formal. However, I was spotted with my camera aimed and ready, and I received a nice smile. I also stopped to photograph a mother and child. The mother saw what I was doing and gave me a smile of approval.
So that’s what I did this morning. What an amazing morning! Tulips and more!
Thanks Ann-Christine for this fun and easy challenge. Last week Egidio had us running wild. There were many ideas for WILD! I enjoyed them all. Next week, I’ll be leading the challenge, so remember to look for my post. Until then, stay safe and live in gratitude!
When I started photography, the first thing I wanted to learn was how to get that soft background behind a flower. I didn’t know the term for that was macro photography and that soft background was bokeh. This led me to truly appreciate floral beauty and the gardeners who create that beauty. Ann-Christine’s challenge this week is on gardens.
I do appreciate the wonderful volunteers who work hours to keep our public gardens looking gorgeous for us to enjoy. One of those gardens is the WPA Rock Garden in Land Park, Sacramento. It’s a small one acre hillside garden comprised of a series of rock-lined beds and meandering paths. The garden was established in 1940 through the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression.
Aside from one paid employee, the garden is taken care of by volunteers who do a fantastic job. Whenever I see a volunteer, I always thank them for making this possible for me to photograph.
Here are some photos I took on a recent visit this month.
Situated in Land Park and near the pond, the garden gets a lot of park visitors who are curious and just enjoy both the park, pond and garden. It’s a wonderful place to relax.
There are many gardens in Sacramento for us to photograph and I appreciate this opportunity to show you The Rock Garden. Thank you Ann-Christine. When you post your response , please be sure to place a link to Ann-Christine’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Last week we zigged and zagged. What a fun challenge from Patti. Next week Sofia will present her challenge so be sure to look for her post.
Thank you Sofia for this wonderful challenge. You would think that as much as I enjoy floral photography, this would be an easy challenge for me. Well, when you have a lot of choices, it’s hard to pick what you think is the best. So, I narrowed it down by floral venues and seasons in my area.
Looking back at these images, I realize that I enjoy getting very close with my macro lens. In fact, most of my pictures are close ups! I don’t do much editing. I start in Lightroom, and if necessary bring the pictures into Topaz for sharpening. Typically I don’t have to do anything with color adjustments. The flowers do that for me. I might put a slight black vignette in to accent the flower.
Let’s start with April. That is tulip month. Each year wonderful volunteers at Ananda Village, Nevada City, plant a tulip garden that is terraced and open for the month of April. It became so popular and crowded that they started selling tickets for certain start times. During the last 2 years, we chose to photograph a small tulip patch at our local Jensen Botanical Gardens. If we go early enough, we are the only photographers there.
Ananda Village
Getting up close at Jensen Botanical Gardens this year.
Horton’s Iris Farm in Loomis is a commercial venture, but they don’t mind us photographing their beautiful blossoms. I’ve never seen such a variety of colors.
We are truly missing Daffodil Hill which closed in March of 2019, the day after our last visit. It was so crowded and people were not sticking to the paths, trampling the flowers. We arrived when they opened. By the time we left, traffic was backed up to get in. This was a family run, free event. It’s sad that visitors abused it. I think they needed to do what Ananda Village did.
Our community suffered another loss last year with the draining of the pond in William Land Park. It was drained because of the bird flu and its proximity to the zoo where many birds are housed. Here’s a lotus in color (with a visitor) and one I processed in black and white. I edited the black and white first in color and brought it into NIK Silver Efex.
I cannot forget my sunflowers. Each June I look forward to going out the the fields, ignoring the bees, (I’m allergic to them.) to soak up happiness.
I’ll end this post with my favorite–roses. These are from the McKinley Rose Garden in Sacramento.
I had a lot of fun choosing these flowers and I hope you enjoyed them. When you respond to this challenge please remember to link to Sofia’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
Last week we saw and enjoyed delicate images of all sorts in response to Ann-Christine’s challenge. They were all beautiful and some very clever. Next week, look for John’s challenge.
It’s been raining in California since late December. At first it was welcomed in this normally dry state, but now in February, with two atmospheric rivers passing through, we need a break. We photographers need some sunshine or at least a cloudy day!
Here’s a photo taken this week of the little creek in my neighborhood. It just about crested after one of the storms. Don’t worry it flows into the American River. But this happened overnight! The next day it was at normal flow.
Needing to take our cameras for a walk, we visited our indoor favorite, the Antique Trove in Roseville. There’s always something new to photograph. This time I decided to give myself a macro lens challenge. I photographed everything up close. I did have fun.
Here’s a sample.
We had a respite yesterday with just clouds. That was great. Sun would be even better!
One morning, I was feeling the need to take my camera for a walk; maybe a macro walk. So I put on my macro lens and went over to my local Green Acres in Citrus Heights. I like walking through their garden and they don’t mind me taking pictures.
Here’s some of what I captured that morning.
With my macro need taken care of, I felt much better and the day seemed brighter.
What’s a rock garden? Wikipedia has a full history and description for you here. Our small WPA Rock Garden was built by the WPA in 1940. The WPA was an employment and infrastructure program created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 during the Great Depression. In 1988 Daisy Mah, a park employee, put her vision for the current garden into fruition. Its paths wind in, out and around, and is maintained by a group of volunteers.
We enjoy walking through the garden looking for small gems. Marlene was with me and is good at finding insects, but none were found that morning. But there were many beautiful floral delights. Here are some of them.
This was a great way to end a visit to the zoo. We’ll be back!
There are days when you just need some therapy–Macro Therapy. I’m fortunate there’s a Green Acres nursery, in Citrus Heights, about 10 minutes from my home. Recently in July was one of those mornings. I was feeling a little blah so I grabbed my macro lens and camera, and off I went.
Green Acres is great because they don’t mind us coming in with our cameras, taking our time and taking home picture memories of their products. Here are half of mine from that morning.
I still need to process the rest, so be on the lookout for more gorgeous flowers. Oh, macro therapy does help!
When you have thousands of pictures, how do you pick just three? It’s difficult, but Sarah of Travel With Me has given us this challenge. I’ve taken it on and here are my three.
My first photo is of Waterton Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park, in Canada. I like it because when I decided to try processing it in black and white, it took on a whole new dimension, almost like a sketch. I love black and white, so when I think an image has a tonal quality that may fit, I try it. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but this time it did. I typically process black and whites in NIK Silver Efex. This won a prize in the Motherload Fair, Sonora.
Next is a macro that almost took first place in the In Focus competition. This means it made it to the final table. That doesn’t matter to me because I just like it for the color, seeing the hair on the leaf and the water drop that’s just hanging on. I process all my photos in Lightroom and may have brought this into NIK Color Efex. I just can’t remember. I’m sure I’ve posted this before in an LAPC post. This is truly one of my favorites.
My third image is definitely a recent favorite of mine. I love the flamingos at the Sacramento Zoo. I had already taken a few photos of them, looking for a “keeper.” I was thinking sometimes you’re just not in the right place at the right time. I was talking to a docent about the birds who were taking their naps and this one opened one eye and looked at me. I’m so glad it opened it again after I got my camera in position. This time I was in the right place at the right time! This was processed in Lightroom and Topaz sharpener AI. It did take “Picture of the Night” at the Sierra Camera Club general competition.
As I said, I have many more favorites. This was a difficult challenge Sarah, but worth the exercise. Thank you! Remember to use the Lens-Artist tag when you post your reply and link to Sarah’s original pose. Tracy’s Surreal challenge last week brought us many amazing photos to look at. I’ll be posting next week’s challenge, so be sure to check back.
A rose will always be a rose! And I do love them. They are the only plants I personally take care of. I have a small but beautiful rose garden. But today I’m writing about my adventure at the McKinley Park Rose Garden in Sacramento.
Every year they have a photo contest to see which photographer will win the coveted first place prize. Last year, I was lucky enough to win first place. This is the winning photo.
This year I also went down to the garden to take photos. That day, the wind was blowing and the roses were either on their way out or budding. But with my macro lens on my Fuji, I did my best. I used a high shutter speed and hoped for a slight breeze. Of course it was the last week of the contest–no going back another day! You know I procrastinate.
Here are the best of lot. We are allowed five entries. In 2020 I received an honorable mention.
We’ll see what happens and I’ll let you know–even if I don’t place.
Slow Shutter Speed 