It’s like chocolate, there’s never enough. Okay, sometimes I’ve reached my full level of chocolate, but it’s always good. That’s the way a visit to a lotus pond is, always delightful. Sometimes I like watching the people more that shooting the flowers. Onlookers faces light up, and smiles are abundant. Nature does have a way to bring joy into a bleak year.
So, here’s the rest of my images from William Land Park in Sacramento. If you looked hard enough through the large leaves, you could see some floral reflections.
And then some lucky duck finds a rainbow.
And now on to the Vedanta Society of Sacramento and their small lotus pond. This was a quick visit, and I was dismayed to miss seeing the peacocks. Usually they roam around the area. And in the water lily pond, I saw only leaves, no flowers. But the lotus were not disappointing.
Lotus, like chocolate, begs to be re-visited. Maybe soon, at different angles, different time of day? And did you know that lotus bring you good luck? After posting part 1 of my lotus images I was asked to join the Lens Artistsgroup. I am honored!
Get your telephoto lens ready, it’s that time of the year. Lotus flowers bloom locally each year at William Land Park in Sacramento. They take up one end of the small lake, and they are beautiful.
This year, I couldn’t believe how big the leaves were. They were almost as spectacular as the blossoms.
I wasn’t alone on a recent Saturday. There were many others, most were wearing masks, including photographers visiting. Most of the other photographers had super long lenses balanced on tripods. I wish I could see what they were getting. I had a 200 mm reach and was doing fine hand-holding my camera.
Of course you know I love to do close ups. Some cropping in post processing were done to these images. Okay, maybe a lot!! Love my new camera!!
I wasn’t enthused, but I do enjoy shooting with Laura. In fact I haven’t been enthused about many shoots this year. It’s not been a wonderfully healthy year for me, so I’ve stayed close to Sacramento. And, I haven’t been overjoyed with my images either. I may be just too critical, or it might be that I haven’t traveled any distance to shoot something different.
So when Laura suggested we look for Fall color in Napa, I said the vines are turning brown. She said they were changing color! She also wanted to pick up some wine. Off we went down the Silverado Trail where many wineries and vineyards are found.
She was right. The vines did give us some color. The fog gave us some drama. The eventual sun gave us some good lighting. And, Laura got her wine!
I’m glad I went on this outing. All I had to do was sit and enjoy conversation while she drove.
I admit it, I am tenacious. I don’t give up easily. I mentioned in my last post that we went back into the Park to find Polebridge and Bowman Lake but the road was closed because of fire. So instead, we took a path near Lake McDonald. It was smokey, but not that bad.
On the way home (the trailer), we decided to drive up to the Hungry Horse Dam and Hungry Horse Lake. It was a worthy trip. There are so many lakes in this area, and they are beautiful. While there, we met a family from Kansas doing a whirlwind road trip. After they left, I realized how lucky we are to be living on the West Coast. In Sacramento, we are 2 hours away from mountain life and beaches. We enjoy visiting several lakes and are surrounded by rivers.
Back to GNP and surrounding area. This trip would be perfect if it wasn’t for the smoke and the haze it creates. When you see the clouds emerging from the dissipating smoke, you realize what a beautiful sky it is. However this trip, we’re not seeing it. I’m hoping that for at least one day, it will clear. I don’t give up!
From the Lake McDonald shore.
Another shoreline view. I’m getting pretty good at using the dehaze slider in Lightroom.
The sun is peaking through the clouds and haze.
Last on of Lake McDonald.
Along the path.
A sunlit creek.
Colorful West Glacier.
This part of West Glacier is right outside the Park entrance.
This little village is quaint.
Hungry Horse Dam.
Hungry Horse Lake and reservoir.
The Dam.
Another lake view.
The Hungry Horse River. Not too much water is being let out to the river.
South Lion Lake. Just outside of the Hungry Horse Dam area.
It was a wonderful day. The park is magnificent and large, and the weather was delightful. While we didn’t expect any flowers this late in summer, we managed to find small blooms in the Botanical Gardens. The gardens were large and separated into different areas. We managed to walk through the entire garden before we stopped for lunch at the Golf Course.
After lunch we rode the miniature steam train and went to shoot the carousel (merry-g0-round). But, we didn’t get to everything. Maybe we’ll go back. Right now it’s in the high 80’s and low 90’s in the Sacramento area so we stayed local yesterday and visited the Sacramento Zoo.
In this post I’ll show you some of the Botanical Gardens. In my next post, I’ll show the rest. I hope those of you who are enjoying summer, are cool!
It was desperation that pushed me out the door on Labor Day. I knew I wouldn’t be able to shoot for at least a week after foot surgery. Laura and I visited downtown Sacramento and the Capitol building during the morning. I knew enough not to be out all day because surgery was early the next morning.
In my last post, I showed you the various statues, sculptures and street life around the Capitol. We shot outside for about two hours. But, it was getting late in the morning and tourists were walking around–a great time to go indoors and see our State Capitol. Part of the first floor is a museum, one wall gives a history of all the California counties and houses the Governor’s office. It’s a beautiful building with an amazing rotunda.
I was amazed it was open on a holiday and very glad I felt desperate enough to want to get out and shoot.
Here’s a glimpse of the California State Capitol.
The Capitol building shot from across the street.
One of the sculptures outside the rotunda.
I liked the lines in this shot.
A closer look at the capitol as the sun shines down upon it.
A bronze sculpture in one of the second floor’s door way.
The beautiful rotunda.
Another view of the rotunda.
One of the planters set into sort of a mini rotunda.
The hallway leading to offices.
Here’s a room inside the museum.
They had docents in some of the rooms.
We weren’t allowed in if there wasn’t a docent in the room. We had to get creative with shooting.
A stairway.
More from the stairway.
And, the former Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bronze bear statute.
Knowing I’d have to be house bound for a week, I wanted one last photo outing before I had foot surgery. Photo buddy Laura suggested that we go to Sacramento shoot the statues and buildings. We left at 8 a.m. (Laura can always get me out early.), and it was wonderful. The streets were empty on Labor Day, and the parking was free.
Laura works downtown and knew where to go, park and shoot. Walking the streets, we stopped and shot whatever was in interesting and ended our morning at the State Capitol building. As morning grew closer to afternoon, tourists started to come and gave us the opportunity to shoot around them. I found it fun to include them in the shot.
That was Last Monday and Tuesday I had my foot surgery. I’ve spend the last week being a couch princess, processing images, posting blogs and reading tutorials. Tomorrow I’ll be going shooting with Greg and Marlene. I told Greg that I would take his back seat, use a pillow to rest my foot on, and bring a book and read if I get tired or find it difficult to shoot.
I don’t know what or how I will shoot, but I do know that I won’t be house bound. One day out!
Here’s a peak at Sacramento. I’ll show you the State Capitol in my next post.
This is the first statue we came upon. I’ve seen this before and still don’t know what it is or what it stands for. But it is bright!
This was the second statue. I think it’s bronze in two pieces.
I took this opportunity when I saw the two sculptures in one shot.
This was the second grouping of sculptures we saw. I’m only showing you one. I’m hoping you can read the words on the base.
This is a close up of one face. I like the work on this.
Here’s the other side and another set of words.
Statues like this one are guarding the doors of the government buildings. This is just one example.
This sculpture is dedicated to the men and women who lost their lives in service to the public.
My favorite. A mother consoles her daughter as the folded American Flag sits beside them.
Here’s a closer look.
The Sacramento Convention Center.
A man carries bags of recycling material passed a bicycle rack.
Just two of the transportation modes in downtown Sacramento.
Sacramento is known as the City of Trees. Here’s why.
Where would you go to photograph deer and wildlife? Around Sacramento, you would head for the foothills or the Sierra Nevada mountains–or maybe not. Recently I went to the Effie Yaw Nature Center and found deer and other wildlife within 30 minutes from my home. This place is a true treasure.
Yes, the animals are well fed and not afraid of humans, but they make for good practice. We didn’t get through the entire center because hunger and heat intervened, but I’m going to go back. I’m also going to take my younger set of grandkids for a visit once the weather gets cooler.
Best of all, this center is on the American River which is still picture perfect even in the drought we are experiencing. Here’s a peak at the Effie Yaw Nature Center.
The American River.
More of this beautiful river.
Looking the other way.
Another view.
Getting close to the water.
Even though the water is down, it has a pretty good current.
A dragonfly. My photo buddy had a better angle and a better picture.
I think this is a turkey vulture.
I just liked the cloud formation. Just imagine living there with the Center and river as your view.
The mamma deer.
The dad.
They camouflage well in the brush.
I was amazed that I was able to get a sharp image with the deer behind the brush.
Yes, I’m trying to learn the new lingo. That’s one of the reasons I retired. I couldn’t keep up with the “20 and 30 somethings” colloquialisms, and it was time at 69 years! Hanging around with the peeps from Sacramento Photographers, a group on Facebook open to people who like photography, was fun.
I went out to the Tower Bridge with the intent to put my camera on manual, shoot with it on manual and get some light trail shots. I accomplished my task and also did some HDR. I don’t know why I didn’t shoot the HDR shots on manual rather than staying in my comfort zone at aperture priority. There’s always a next time.
Hopefully that next time will be with the Sacramento Photographers. They have one event a month, and the members are eager to share and help. They will also go out and invite the group at the spur of the moment like last nights activity. I’m looking forward to going out with the peeps again.
Close up of one of the bridge’s towers. The setting sun is filtering through. HDR image.
The bridges control tower. HDR image.
The docks near the bridge. HDR image
The setting sun on the Sacramento River. Only I would try to take bracketed shots when there is a moving boat! The HDR software did a great job. You can barely see the boat anyway.
Another HDR shot.
Here comes the boat. Not HDR.
The underside of the walkway leading up to the top tier vantage point. Shot on manual mode.
You can see the walkway and the bridge now. Manual mode.
Another bridge shot on manual mode.
It’s getting darker now and I got closer. Again, manual mode.
Light trails. This wasn’t a very great perspective, but I chose not to get hit by a car! Also, there wasn’t much traffic. But I got light trails. Manual mode.
