Oh, it is tough to get back into routine after a vacation. Almost over a sore throat, I checked to see what outings I hadn’t shown you before we left for our Panama Canal trip. I found this delightful winery in the Delta region sponsored by the Yolo Arts and Ag Project.
It was delightful because of the photo and artistic opportunities the Heringer Vineyards offered. There were many photographers and artists in attendance. Although late in the season, some grapes were still on the vine and beautiful against their colorful leaves.
All wineries have tasting rooms and beautiful grounds. Being in the Delta, the Sacramento River is nearby.
And there were many painters sketching and painting the beautiful scenes.
Let’s not forget the traditional old and rusted farm equipment.
My camera always leads me to plants, and that morning was no different.
I think this was the last outing planned by the Yolo Arts & Ag Project for 2025. They will start again in Spring 2026. I do appreciate the opportunities they offer us.
Help, I’m in a deep rabbit hole—again! I was trying to find a simple definition of resilience for you, but I got into an environmental and scientific discussion on the subject. The simplest definition I could find: Resilience refers to the ability to successfully adapt to stressors, maintaining psychological well-being in the face of adversity. It’s the ability to “bounce back” from difficult experiences.
Are you resilient? I’ve made this my intention for 2025. I think we will need it as we face a troubled world, especially here in the U. S. To me, resilience is the ability to make your way through adversity, finding happiness along the way.
How does that apply to photography. As photographers, we find resilience in nature and interpretate it in our photos.
Mountains in Lassen National Park can be 27,000 years old. More recent volcanic activity has created changes in the ecosystems in the park. Some haven’t changed in those years. They are resilient.
Another natural example are our trees. The General Sherman Sequoia tree in Sequioa National Park is 2,200–2,700 years old. It’s still growing taller and wider. Yes, resilience.
And what about those plants, given a small amount of dirt, that seem to push through rock and survive.
We can also photograph metal. I love to photograph metal when it ages and becomes rusty. Metal is strong and resilient, used in gates, trains, cars and more.
People are resilient also. Just ask any mother about resiliency!
Families show resilience through traditions carried through generations, like Christmas and Chanukah.
History teaches us about resilience. Wars, natural disasters, rising out of poverty, and more. Although horrific to some, in 1846 the Donner party showed survival resilience. Their story is told at the Donner Memorial State Park, and nearby Donner Lake is named in their honor. https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=503
The current fire storms in Southern California are testing people’s resilience. People have died, more are displaced and homes are gone. When the fires are out, residents will have to muster up more resilience as they rebuild their lives.
My challenge for you this week is to find how your photographs portray resilience. How do they speak to you?
We had a lot of fun in last week’s challenge, Favorite Images of 2024, and I enjoyed seeing and reading about your selections. Thank you John! As you respond to this challenge, please link to this post and use the Lens-Artists tag. I do want to see all your resilient images. Next week, Ritva will lead our third challenge of the year. Be sure to look for her post. In the meantime stay healthy and live in gratitude.
It’s so close to Thanksgiving here in the U. S., and it’s time to soul search and find what we are truly thankful for. I am truly thankful for the Yolo Arts & Ag Project. Each spring and summer the Project arranges for artists and photographers to visit farms and ranches in Yolo County. It’s refreshing for a suburbanite to get out into the country and experience amazing lifestyles. This outing was to Turkovich Family Wines in Winters.
The farms/ranches are open to artists/photographers twice a month for 4 hours in the morning. Sometimes we have full access and others limited access. Here we were able to ramble around the entire ranch. They had a small tasting room outside near the patio.
An artists sketches on the patio while the tasting station is being set up.
While roaming, I saw other artists busy creating. It’s interesting to watch them. Each has their own method of producing beautiful art.
I’m not sure what trees were on the property, but I did see nuts and fruits in the orchard.
And what would a winery be without grapes?
But there is work to be done.
I’m not sure what is in these containers. Grapes? Wine? I’m not sure of the process, and we are not to disturb the workers.
I just can’t close a farm visit without rust!
Thank you Yolo Arts & Ag! It was a great year of visits.
I’ve been talking a lot about how much I love rust – it’s patina and texture. Believe it or not, I’m going back to June when we visited 3M Ranches in Yolo County. Oh, I do love and appreciate those wonderful farms and ranches that allow us to visit their property.
Here’s a little about 3M Ranches from their website:
M Three Ranches is a family-owned farming operation providing high-quality agricultural products for food processors and handlers. We use technology advancements and sustainable practices to ensure high yields and returns for both our clients and our landlords. Having been farming for over 50 years in the Sacramento Valley, our farm is recognized as being a lead grower of tomatoes, peppers, garlic, seed crops, olives, walnuts, and almonds.
These rusty pieces were tossed in a junk pile just waiting for photographers to go crazy. That seems to be a standard way to take care of unwanted things in the country.
Yes, I’ll probably bore you with more rust in the future, but it’s so worth it!
I’ve learned another thing about the way I take photographs, and thank you Patti for this challenge that gave me the lesson. I tend to photograph wide as in landscape or close as in close up or macro. In this week’s challenge, Patti wants us to focus on details, meaning getting closer or moving around our subject. It just so happens I already did that a few weeks ago.
My friends and I were roaming around the Yolo County countryside when I saw a complex that featured a rusted wheel sculpture in front of a nondescript building. You know I like rust. Since I was driving, I pulled in and announced I was getting out to photograph the rusted wheel.
My first mistake was not taking a full wide angle picture of the wheel. I just ran over and started photographing pieces and details, missing the image of the entire wheel. It’s amazing how excited I can get about rust, and isn’t that what Patti asked for? Here’s what I photographed, but unfortunately I can’t show you what the whole wheel looked like! I think you can tell from the first image.
As a bonus, when I looked inside the wheel, this is what I found.
So while a good image may bring in the details, I will remember to take a wide angle of the whole! Lesson learned. The building was a community center, complete with pool.
When you post your detailed images, be sure to link to Patti’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Silence was truly golden last week as we all replied to Egidio’s challenge. I loved the relaxation I received when viewing your posts. Next week Tina will be challenging us, so look for her post.
In the meantime, go wide, medium and close! We are always learning.
Through LAPC’s wonderful community we learn in many ways: from the challenge itself and in the responses. Sometimes when I’m challenged with the challenge, I wait. I want to see what you have presented to get my creative juices flowing. I can then come up with a twist. This week, with Ritva asking us to post common objects in an uncommon way, I was stumped. So I’ve decided to show you objects that were taken with my camera during outings.
Let’s start with buildings. I do like to photograph tall buildings that have reflections. It’s the architecture that attracts my eye and then the reflection is a plus. Sometimes, the reflection isn’t of another building, but the clouds.
Since I live in the suburbs, I enjoy riding out to see what I can find in the countryside. Fortunately, here in Sacramento, it’s not too far. There are plenty of barns, in use and abandoned, to keep me busy. Yes, that’s a faded pink barn you see in the middle photo.
I just love the texture and color of rust. As I photograph objects and tools, I wonder how they were used, why were they just thrown out in a pile or neglected and how long they’ve been sitting in that junk heap.
I also love trees. They have a story and beauty of their own. Some have amazing bark, some show the way the wind caused them to lean, some show off colors as they let their leaves fall to the ground, and others have burls and greenery growing out of their trunks. What caused two trees to grow together. Oh what stories they can tell!
Last is the Sacramento Historical City Cemetery. There is a great history of the City’s famous, the generations past and the new arrivals. I like the headstones that are from the 1800s. They are beautiful and show how the deceased was loved. The following is one monument for a child. One side, facing you, is giving the date of his birth; the other side, the date of his death. Each side having loving words. How can you not feel the sadness and sense of loss experienced 142 years ago.
So these are the objects I’m drawn to. It’s sad that I’m not drawn to still life photography. But that’s what makes this community so great. I can enjoy your still life images. Thanks Ritva for challenging us this week. When you do respond, please link back to Ritva’s wonderful post and tag Lens-Artists in WordPress.
Last week, I enjoyed seeing all your shorelines. How beautiful and different they were. Next week Egidio will be challenging us. I wonder what it will be. Check for his post to find out! In the meantime, stay safe and have fun.
For more information on how to participate in our fun challenges, please click here.
When I first readAnn-Christine’s challenge, the song “The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round” came into my head and I can’t get it out. My youngest grandchild is 13 years, and I still remember that song. I’m hoping to get some of you to find it catching also. No, I’m not mean; I just like company!
Okay getting serious now, circles have no beginning or end and are continuous. I’ll start with metal and rust. I love the texture and patina of rust as it ages.
Nature’s floral treats are round also.
Now to round out my post with some fun single images.
Darn, I couldn’t find a bus with wheels. We’ll just have to imagine it. When you respond to this challenge, please link to Ann-Christine’s amazing post and use the Lens-Artist tag. Last week we learned some compositional rules. Thanks John. All your responses were great. Next week Patti will be challenging us, so be sure to look for her post.
Guest host Jude of Cornwell in Colours picked the perfect challenge for me because I love textures. I don’t mean the nice blended textures you put behind your subject ( Which I can’t do yet!). I mean the texture of your subject. We are drawn to color and texture.
For instance I love the colors of rust and its gritty texture. You’ll notice as it ages, the colors change and the metal degrades, adding to its beauty.
I also find texture in old non-rusted metal. This old worn large propeller from a ship shows lines and textures when photographed close up. You can just feel how its been worn during its use.
Each year Sacramento hosts Chalk It Up where artists draw with chalk or liquid chalk on a sidewalk square. The grit of the sidewalk and chalk create a texture no other canvas can duplicate.
A lion’s mane has texture although you wouldn’t want to get close enough to feel it!
Wood is another favorite texture of mine. It can be tree bark or siding on a building. It draws you in with its variation of color and natural design.
Last, plants give us the feeling of texture in their form, color and shape.
There are many more examples of texture, but I’ll stop here. Texture is all around us. Take it in, feel and experience it. Thank you Jude for helping me realize how important texture is to photography. When you respond to this challenge, please remember to link to her post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
Thank you all for responding for my challenge last week. I enjoyed learning about your amazing local wildlife. We saw birds, foxes, porcupines, bears, deer, squirrels and some small insects and bugs. It was great. Next week Tina will be leading the challenge so be sure to look for her post.
If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.
I was out lensed as usual. Laura and I went for a tour around the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area before it got too hot for us and the birds. Laura is a great nature photographer and uses a zoom that extends to 600 mm lens. I use my trusty 300 mm lens. You can understand what I mean by out lensed! But, we have great fun and lots of laughs. I’m happy when a bird is spotted close enough for me to get a good picture.
This big bird did get close enough; almost too close. We couldn’t figure out what he was doing since he wasn’t spraying crops. I just kept thinking of Sesame Street’s Big Bird. That’s what happens when you’ve raised kids!
This Great Blue Heron was just about close enough for me. He was still and watching his prey.
It’s tough getting old. In fact, this week, it’s been painful to walk the dog because of problems in my right foot–arthritis. I know I’ve seen better days. In fact Richard and I always talk about it. “Remember when we…….?”
But I don’t think that’s what Tina had in mind when she challenged us to post pictures of items that have seen better days. Over the years, I’ve taken many, a lot, an enormous amount, zillions of pictures of things that have seen better days. It was difficult to find them in the archives, so I picked two from each year. I love texture, rust and anything old. Here is what I found.
When I first started photography and going on outings we frequently passed this house that became more dilapidated each time. The boat “The Point Reyes” was another draw for photographers. However one group decided to do steel wool photography on the stern and caught most of it on fire. Imagine lighting steel wool on an old wood boat! This was particularly sad because the boat had rested there a long time. She’s still there, minus much of her back.
Apple Hill is a Fall favorite of ours, and one of the farms has old trucks and equipment. A small town off the I-80 has an old hearse and the garage that housed it.
On one of our farm trips, the buildings, except for the family home, were left to do their natural thing. Here are steps of the interior of a building and the window of another. Also the “Spirit of Sacramento” has been left to die a natural death. She’s usually on the dry ground, but at this point it was a rainy winter and she’s in a large puddle.
The small town of Rough and Ready may have been rough, but they weren’t ready for Marlene and I to visit. We couldn’t find a parking place and residents weren’t friendly. We did find some old stuff to photograph. These may not be that old, but they’ve seen better days.
And, last, on a more recent outing we came across this old house on our way home.
As we remember the days behind us, let’s make the most of the ones ahead! Thanks Tina for this fun challenge.
Slow Shutter Speed 