Midtown Sacramento – Slow Shutter Speed

Posted on February 10, 2018February 10, 2018 by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

Getting some exercise: Midtown Murals

One of the things I love about photography is the exercise you get both physically and mentally. Last week’s outing in Midtown Sacramento offered a major amount of both.

This was my third time out to capture the murals, and I tried to get a different slant on the paintings I shot before. Most of these were painted as part of “Wide Open Walls,” a festival held all over Sacramento in the summer of 2017. Some of the paint is fading already, while some colors are bright.

I also tried to capture some other sights like lines, patterns and textures. It was a fun morning with the Sactown Photogs. And of course, a lot of exercise!

Posted on September 25, 2017 by Anne Sandler

An artistic festival: Wide Open Walls, Sacramento City

I’ve said it before–I’m not an artist. But, I’m in awe of anyone who can visualize and create art. Recently, in August 2017, the city of Sacramento held a festival, Wide Open Walls, that enabled artistic visions to become reality, as murals, on various walls in the city. I wasn’t able to shoot during the festival since we were away, but was eager to see the results.

Murals are not new to Sacramento’s Midtown. Greg Morris (RIP) took me there a few times to view them in the alleys. He would tell me that the best time to shoot the murals was on Sunday because there was less traffic. But this time, murals were more predominate on the walls of businesses and out of the alleys.

I did go to midtown with photo buddies Karen B and Ray on a recent Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed the morning. We did a great deal of walking, shooting and resting. It left me in awe of the various artists’ talent. And, Midtown is not the only location. They are all over the city. Next time, we might walk downtown to see these amazing works of art.

Here are some of the murals I took pictures of. In some instances, I’ll show you the entire wall and then a portion of it. They were too large to do justice in one shot. No captions necessary.

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Anne Sandler

Combining passions: Return to Midtown Sacramento

My combining passions has nothing to do with returning to Midtown, but everything to do with my love for photography and Toastmasters. I’m currently much better at the latter (being a DTM), and gaining skills daily on the former! I took the bold step of starting a photography club within Toastmasters about six months ago.

That was a big step because of the time dedication it needs. We now have nine members and hope to get to 10 soon. We call ourselves, “All About Photography,” and follow the Toastmaster format. Since we are an advanced club, you have to be in a basic club to join. It has been fun for me and the other members as we learn from each other. Our skill set ranges from beginner to professional. I’ll tell you more about the club and show you some of the members’ images too in a future post; but, now–back to Midtown.

Our guide, Greg Morris, loves this area and will take us down alleys, along the railroad tracks and some places that I wouldn’t go if we weren’t together. I’ve shown you some of the murals painted on walls and garage doors in a prior post and I want to show you some more.

So, here’s at least an example of one passion!

This mural was along side a cloting store specializing in gently used articles.

Part of the mural was painted onto the concrete parking lot.

From the same mural. I don’t know why their heads were in animal’s mouths!

There are many old victorians in Sacramento. This is one of them.

Another victorian. When they are well kept they are beautiful.

This is Sandra Dee’s, a soul food restaurant. You can see the mural painted down the brick wall of the eatery.

I loved the mural and shot some single images.

I’m thinking they may be of musicians who played there.

Whoever painted these did an amazing job.

I need to go back there an taste the soul food. I hear it’s good, but greasy.

This small mural in in their parking lot.

Greg befriended a homeless man named Timothy.

Timothy was carrying a book he was reading and told Greg all about it.

From what I heard, they got on other topics too.

I liked the fencing on this home. Someone told me it was a harlequin pattern.

This is a view of an apartment building in an alley.

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Anne Sandler

Urban art: Midtown, Sacramento

Actually, I’ve renamed this area of Sacramento Morristown! Yesterday afternoon, I went along with Photo buddy Greg Morris to shoot some of the wall murals. As a former resident, he knows the area well and is always discovering new places to shoot. I had a lot of fun seeing awesome murals, old buildings and decay.

There are a lot of stories to be told in Midtown: the art, the people and the structures all give you an inkling of how people live there. Withing a few blocks you can go from decaying buildings to upscale eateries and shops. Well, I’d better let the images tell you more. This will probably be a three part post. I’ll begin with a couple of murals and people.