photography – Slow Shutter Speed

Posted on November 18, 2024 by Anne Sandler · 53 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #325: Gratitude

Each year I set an intention, not a resolution. This year it was gratitude. So, thank you Tina for rolling in this challenge towards the end of 2024. For me, gratitude is a choice you make every day. Living in gratitude makes your personal space better no matter what is going on around you.

I am so grateful for my family who were there for me in 2009 when I had heart surgery. They continue to be there for us, helping in many ways and sharing life cycle joys. I have pictures of my two granddaughters to share. The first is of my younger granddaughter, Olivia, waiting for her birthday party guests to arrive. This was taken in October 2018. She’s grown a lot since then. But the memory of her excitement will always stay with me.

Meanwhile, more recently, my older granddaughter, Madison, was getting ready for her wedding. Of course grandma had to take the pictures. The morning was just bursting with love.

I’m also grateful for my two grandsons Christopher, a teacher, and Ryan, a high-school student.

When you have pets, they are family. I’m grateful for all the loyal and loving dogs we’ve had. Here are Molly (now deceased) and Gem (who is 14 years now but a puppy in this picture).

Memories are something I cherish. I guess that comes with age. Richard and I took wonderful trips in our trailer. It’s my favorite way to travel. I’m so grateful we chose to travel this way while we could.

I can’t end this post without mentioning how grateful for my passion for photography. It’s helped me find many friends and has shown me the wonderful area I live in.

Remember, when the going gets tough, find something you’re grateful for. And, yes, there’s a take away for you in every circumstance. The world is a lot better when you concentrate on gratitude. Today, I’m grateful for the LAPC community.

Thanks Tina! I think we all needed to shift our mindset to gratitude. When you post your blog, please remember to link to Tina’s challenge and use the Lens-Artist tag. Last week Patti had us concentrate on details, and we saw wonderful images in your posts. Ann-Christine is up next, so look for her challenge. In the meantime, live in gratitude each day.

Posted on January 6, 2024 by Anne Sandler · 56 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #281: Favorite Images of 2023

Do resolutions truly work? Which is more important, looking back or moving forward? In our Lens Artists community all three are important. With this challenge we are looking back at our favorites from 2023.

And we are looking forward to 2024 as we welcome Ritva of Ritva Sillanmaki Photography and Egídio of Through Brazilian Eyes to the Lens Artists team. We know they will bring their marvelous photography, extensive travel experiences, and fresh insight to our weekly challenges. Please join us in extending a warm welcome to them. Click on the links to Ritva and Egídio’s blogs at the end of today’s post to follow them and receive all of our upcoming Lens Artists challenges.

And now for my favorites of 2023. My feelings about 2023 are all over the place. Very positive and enjoyable and then very difficult. Let’s talk about the first part of the year which was wonderful with my trip to Melbourne Australia. My friends Sandy and Peg and I were able to visit and photograph with Leanne Cole for three wonderful days in Port Campbell. Here are some favorites from that trip.

And you know how much I love photographing macro subjects. Here are three of my flowers and some of their guests.

Here are some single favorites.

The difficult part of 2023 came in August when I was rearended and suffered a severe whiplash. I wasn’t able to do photography for a few months. And if it weren’t for my wonderful photo buddies taking me to places close and for short durations, I would have gone bonkers. You don’t know how important that camera is until you can’t use it!

January has me looking forward to more photo opportunities. I’m trying to add more time to the outings without traveling far. I don’t make resolutions, but I do pick words. This year is gratitude. Living in gratitude. And, I’m grateful for all of you in the Lens-Artists community and look forward to sharing photos with you in 2024.

Here is a list of our team. Please be sure to follow us so you don’t miss a challenge!

Tina of https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com/
Patti of https://pilotfishblog.com/
Ann-Christine aka Leya of https://lagottocattleya.com/
John of https://photobyjohnbo.com/
Anne of https://annegeephoto.com/ (aka Slow Shutter Speed)
Sofia of https://photographias.wordpress.com/
Donna of https://windkisses.com/
Egidio of https://egidio.photography/ (aka Through Brazilian Eyes)
Ritva of https://sillarit.com/ (aka Ritva Sillanmaki Photography)

Next week Patti will be leading the challenge, so look for her post. Let’s have a great 2024!

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Anne Sandler · 5 Comments

Going indoors!

During our three-week rain, we were needing to get out with our cameras. So, we decided to re-visit our favorite indoor venues: The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento and Antique Trove in Roseville.

We’ve been to the Crocker Art Museum many times so as I walked around I was looking for new art and maybe a new slant on things. I settled on shadows. Here are some art and shadows.

Some walls and indoor architecture were interesting also.

We are in the new building which is attached to the old building across the courtyard. This is their dining area. The cafe has been closed since the Pandemic.

The Antique Trove always has new items and booths to explore. I was attracted by the neon signs. Of course all of them were advertising beer.

Here are some other items I found interesting.

Where do you go when it rains and you want to take your camera out? We have more museums to explore in the greater Sacramento area. We do need some more rain to get us out of this drought, but maybe not those atmospheric rivers we had. If I had my way, it would rain at night and the sun would shine during the day!

Posted on April 28, 2022 by Anne Sandler · 21 Comments

A lingering cold: Horton Iris Farm, part 2

I’ve been down and out with a week long cold. I guess you realize that I’m not happy, especially having to miss a photo outing. Even Gem is upset because he’s getting a very short walk each morning.

Fortunately, I do have the second part of last week’s post to show you. Last week you saw the beautiful iris blossoms at Horton Iris Farm in Loomis. Now I’ll show you the rest of the farm.

When you come into the farm, there’s this cute bird feeder.

Then there are methods of transportation.

More flowers and farm art (old machines).

It’s a large farm, so there’s plenty of space for landscape images including a pond.

So that’s Horton’s Iris Farm. Now back to nursing this s****d cold!

Posted on April 20, 2022April 20, 2022 by Anne Sandler · 27 Comments

Growing more than just flowers: Horton’s Iris Farm, part 1

I walk Gem every day. He has two routes: one is 1 1/2 miles and the other 2 miles. This gives us the opportunity to see the neighbors’ gardens grow. These walks make me think of personal growth. When do you stop? I don’t think we ever do.

Which brings me to my photography journey and the reason I started this blog many, many years ago. This was to be my journal showing the progress of my photographic ability–which when I began was practically non-existent. I decided not to take classes because I didn’t want homework and still shy away from challenges that want you to take new photos. So, by asking questions, making mistakes, camera clubs with juried competitions, and field experience I’ve come along and progressed. And, I’m still learning!

I now find myself giving advice to new photographers and can hold my own with other seasoned photo hobbyists. I may have picked the long route to get here, but I arrived anyway.

Have you taken on something new and followed your own path to success? I’d like to hear about it.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures taken at a recent visit to Horton’s Iris Farm in Loomis. We may have been a bit to early to catch more of their beautiful irises. Horton’s is a farm where they grow and sell plants. You can buy plants at their farm or online. You can also cut your own bouquets. They also grow zinnias and sunflowers, and have a pumpkin patch in October. Enjoy!

Next week I’ll show you more about this farm. It’s more than just irises!

Posted on January 11, 2022 by Anne Sandler · 16 Comments

Catching Up: Swans at Mather Lake

Things happen and sometimes get us off track. I realized that I haven’t been keeping up with my personal posts that I do on Wednesdays. So….I’ll make up for lost time.

Mather Lake is a small lake, and part of the Sacramento Regional Parks System, at the southern end of Sacramento. It’s a great place to photograph swans and other small wildlife like beavers, etc. So I said I’d go and crossed my fingers, hoping there would be swans more in the middle of the lake so I could capture them with my 300 mm lens.

Again, I will thank my friend Ray who made me a short monopod for my heavy lens. Wow, what a difference! We walked around the lake and I was happy. There were many Mute Swans, and some were by the shore! Here’s some of what I captured.

We didn’t see any other critters, but I was happy with these swans. I think they are so graceful in the water. On our way back to our cars, I spotted a juvenile swan. I looked it up and it was a juvenile. It was by itself so maybe it was mature enough to be on its own.

This is not my “Swan Song.” There will be more catching up posts, in addition to my regular LAPC weekly post, soon.

Posted on January 8, 2022 by Anne Sandler · 47 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #181: Double Dipping

This week Tina encourages us to share photos from other challenges in which we participate or places in which we post. I’m typically not one for taking part in challenges except of course for LAPC. For the last year and a half, I have waited, with joy and anticipation, until 9 a.m. PST for the latest LAPC challenge to be posted. Then I would formulate my response and go through my archives. This was an enjoyable experience as I revisited former outings, bringing back fond memories.

And there I stay. You can call me one-challenge-Anne! But I do post in a few other places. First is the juried competition club Sierra Camera Club. I have gain so much knowledge by having my photos judged and critiqued. I’ve also found critiques of fellow members’ photos invaluable. Here are some of my past entries. With each entry, I choose a picture that will give me feedback in different areas.

The Sierra Camera Club is a member of the Photographic Society of America which I also joined. I quickly joined one of their Projected Image Division groups (PID). Each month we upload two images to be critiqued by the group members. I used the knowledge gained in the Sierra Camera Club to good use while looking at and critiquing the other group members’ photos. It’s all a wonderful learning experience. Here are some of my entries.

And finally, my own group of seniors, Camera Totin’ Days. We go out once a week, take it easy, enjoy shooting our photographs and then eat lunch. Here are some images from our outings.

Now that John, Sophia and I are joining the Lens-Artists team, I’m looking forward to some new experiences. Patti will be leading our next challenge so be sure to visit her Pilotfish blog or to watch for her post in the Lens-Artists Reader section.

Posted on October 30, 2021 by Anne Sandler · 25 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #172: A Day of My Week

Busy, is the way I describe most of my weeks. They may start out with a blank calendar, but end up full. When I sometimes have a few days blank, I enjoy relaxing and catching up with stuff at home. But the one constant is my weekly photo outing with friends.

Amy is asking us to post about one day of our week. Here’s mine.

Early this month, Marlene, Laura and I went in search of Fall color in an area called Hope Valley. It’s a day outing since the drive is about 2 hours long. This day did not disappoint us. Colors of orange, yellow and rust were waiting for us on the aspen and other trees.

Here are some of the images gathered that October day.

October 9 was a fun day outing during our week. Thank you Amy!

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Anne Sandler · 26 Comments

Sacramento is getting more interesting: Wide Open Walls, part 1

I love it when it’s Wide Open Walls week. This is when Sacramento City invites artists to paint murals on sides, backs and sometimes fronts of buildings. Over the years we’ve seen beautiful art pieces decorate the city. It’s no exception this year. We went out three times to find the new murals. We found some of them, some of the old ones and structures, etc.

So, here’s part one of our adventure!

Posted on August 11, 2021 by Anne Sandler · 4 Comments

Macro practice: Green Acres Nursery

If you want to photograph macro, go to your local nursery. Most owners don’t mind you walking around with your camera. So, whenever I want to take my macro lens out and aim it at flowers, I go to Green Acres Nursery. And they recently opened a new nursery in Citrus Heights not far from where I live.

If that wasn’t enough incentive, Ray wanted to practice with his new lens that does macro images. So off we went. I was more than pleased. Not only did I find a great spinner for my front yard, the flowers were under a net covering so they were not getting direct sunlight! Wonderful!!