Posted on by Anne Sandler · 14 Comments

What a museum: California Museum

Grab a cup of coffee or tea and relax because there a more than my normal pictures in this post. I was surprised and amazed at the amount of information and presentation at the California Museum. Two hours wasn’t really enough to absorb everything especially when you are photographing the exhibits.

Here’s the introduction to the place in the gift shop.

The visiting exhibit, Celebrate Women, was geared to women and young girls, helping them understand that they can aspire to be like many of the famous role models. Each exhibit had a view screen with more information. You can see how inviting the exhibits were. Because I was busy taking photos, I didn’t look at the exhibit screens and probably missed a lot. What we do for cool images! Writing this blog, I know I have to go back, without my camera.

The stairs offered us photographic opportunities too!

We will get back to the inside exhibits, but we did go outside to the back courtyard. I should say the beautiful back courtyard. One wall was artistically done with encouraging statements, and architecturally all the buildings surrounding it blended.

Various nationalities have left their impact in California. We know the Chinese and Mexicans certainly left their imprint in California. A lot of space was given to these nationalities showing and explaining their contributions to what California is today.

We’ve learned that the Chinese helped build the railroads and more. But, how about the food we enjoy today.

Mexicans brought their culture and holidays like Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead. Below are three-sided cards made by school children to honor the holiday. The painting struck me as amazingly detailed.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the Filipino influence on California history. It is described in this exhibit.

Of course, the entertainment industry had and has a big impact on California. Here are three showcases honoring the entertainers and the industry.

One hallway, honoring our Native American cultures, which I think was a permanent exhibit. Artifacts were behind glass and the hallway was dark. Meaning, difficult to photograph. I did get some pictures from the ceiling. The beautiful paintings ran the entire hallway.

We can’t forget about health. A considerable amount of space was dedicated to healthy eating.

Before we left, the last exhibit I saw honored the nurses who helped us through the darkest days of the Covid pandemic.

I’ll say it again, The California Museum was amazing. I will go back!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

Starting the new year off right: Bok Kai Temple; Sikh Temple

I should say this visit was the second start of the new year. The actual first outing was to capture the super moon on January 1. It didn’t go well. First my fixed F/4, 300 mm was way to long to capture anything but the moon, and I didn’t bring another lens! Then the moon came up between two trees. I got the moon sharp, but the tree branches were soft.

So, we’ll begin my year at the Bok Kai Temple in Marysville and the Sikh Temple in Yuba City. We started with the Bok Kai Temple. Our docent Ric Lim gave our group of about 6 photographers an amazing tour. The Chinese history in Marysville is rich and still continues today. The Temple is small, but we managed to take photos anyway. He also took us to the former school house which is now a museum.

Gold is what brought the Chinese to this area many generations ago and loyalty keeps some of the older Chinese in the community. Carrying on the legacy is important. Parades are still celebrated, the Temple is open for worship and occasionally the community is called upon to pray that Marysville does not flood.

After lunch, three of us wandered into Yuba City and found the Sikh Temple of Yuba City. I found a worker and asked if we could go in. “Sure,” he said. He helped us cover our heads after we took off our shoes. I also asked if we could shoot inside. “Sure, no problem,” he said. We did eventually get asked to leave. I think it was because we were getting too close to the alter. I’m sorry we didn’t arrange for a tour which would have given us a better understanding of what we were experiencing.

Be prepared–there’s a lot to look at! This may not have been my first outing of the new year, but it was great!

 

 

This was a labor union building that is across the street from the Temple.
A cabinet full of herbs in the labor union building.
One man is recreating this mural out of concrete on the adjacent lot.
He created the pattern by dowsing.
This is a foot of the dragon.
We are going into the schoolhouse.
This dragon has led many parades. The original dragon, Mulan, was retired and now resides in a closet.
This is a sample of some of the tapestries.
These doors are inside the museum.
A closer look at one door.
The Temple entrance.
The Temple doors.
This incense cone helps prayers to up to heaven.
Inside – the back alter.
Another part of the alter.
Match sticks.
Oil lamps outside also help prayers on their way.
A gazebo near the entrance.
We’re now at the Sikh Temple.
The outside is painted blue and white.
The front door.
Inside the building.
I moved closer.
This was as close as I dared to go. I would love to know what all this means.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

A wet weekend, what’s a photographer to do? Free museum day: The Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park

You make plans and then need to change them. But, this was a welcome change. It’s raining here in dry California. Although this is a warm storm and will do nothing to help the snow pack, it will help put some water back into the lakes and rivers.

We, photo buddy Marlene and I, had planned on visiting museums for about 2 hours on Saturday, but changed it to a day of shooting when we knew we couldn’t go to Crockett on Sunday. The three we visited were the Leland Stanford Mansion State Park, the California Automobile Museum and the Museum of Medical History.

It was a full day of walking, bending and kneeling. Great exercise! In today’s post I’ll show you images from the Stanford Mansion. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t allow us to shoot inside the mansion. It was beautiful, with some of the restored, original furniture like a side board that looked like a locomotive. Leland Stanford was President of the Central Pacific Railroad of California.

Build in 1857, the Stanfords purchased the home in 1861. Over the years the home grew from its original 4,000 sq ft to 19,000 sq ft. After their son’s death  1884, Lealand and Jane endowed the Leland Stanford, Jr. University in 1885. Today that college is a part of the University of California system. It was amazing to go back in time, yet be surrounded by today. The home is tucked in the midst of office buildings.

Enjoy the outside of the Stanford Mansion.