Yes, back for more–murals. But this is the last of the art gracing the buildings in downtown Sacramento for this year.
First, I’ll show you my favorite mural of my last two outings.
Next are two murals that I thought were great. The first, for me, is a new take on “Rosie the Riveter” an icon from WWII and the other is a great design. I’m posting a version that shows how the artist wrapped it around the corner of the building.
Now we have two murals with children in mind.
I’ll finish this post with some murals I liked.
I’m sure Wide Open Walls will continue next year. Sacramento is so beautiful with its public art. Thanks to all the artists who contribute their talents year after year.
What’s your photographic groove? What type of photography do you truly enjoy doing? I didn’t really know the answer to that question when I first began photography, and it took me a while to find it!
I realized my photographic groove when I bought my Fujifilm XT3. I had all sorts of lenses for my Nikon D7100—ultra-wide, macro, telephoto, and the zoom from 18 – 200 mm. I could photograph all I wanted with those lenses.
First, I found I hardly ever used my ultra-wide lens, my landscape shots didn’t warrant it.
The prime F/4 300 mm was used maybe four times a year at wildlife areas.
The macro was used when I was around flowers and insects.
My walk-around lens, the 18 – 200 mm was used the most.
When I switched to the Fuji two years ago, I bought the two lenses that would give me the same range as my walk around Nikon lens. I wanted a third lens, but which one. After trying a couple, thank you Action Camera in Roseville, I settled on a macro lens. I quickly sold my Nikon macro. No need for redundancy. I’ve thought about buying another Fuji lens but why. If I want a telephoto or ultra-wide, I still have my Nikon set up.
I quickly realized how much I was enjoying the macro lens.
So, what’s my photo groove? Macro. I love shooting macro. It’s a challenge that I enjoy even on breezy days. I still go after great landscapes, sunsets, and wildlife. But when it comes down to it, macro Is my photographic groove.
Now that I’ve told you my story, what’s your photo groove? What gives you that sense of accomplishment? Of joy? Of completion? Your challenge this week is to show and tell us about what type of photography you enjoy the most. I used my choice of lenses to find my grove. You may have a different way. If you don’t have a favorite, that’s okay. Show us your wonderful images and tell us about them. Who knows, doing this exercise may help you realize your photo groove.
Thank you guest host Sarah Wilkie of Travel With Me for the exercise of picking out three of our favorite images. And thank you to all of our other wonderful July guest hosts, Aletta, Jez, Andre and Tracy. When you reply to this challenge, please link to this post and use the lens artists tag. I’m looking forward to seeing your groovy photos. As your LAPC team resumes our rotation, Patti will present next week’s challenge. Be looking for her post. In the meantime have fun and stay safe in your travels.
We weren’t hunting with guns; we were hunting with our cameras — for murals. Each year Sacramento hosts Wide Open Walls and invites artists to paint amazing images on the sides of buildings. These paintings are huge.
We never get to see them all, so we photograph what we can. Some are from years back, but they are new to us. I’ve shown you some before. This year we only saw a fraction of the new art. I guess we’ll have to go back.
I was shooting with my Fujifilm, so I didn’t have my ultra-wide 10 – 20 mm lens available. But I think the 18 to 55 mm did a good job. Sometimes I had to angle the image to get the entire mural in.
Here are some of these colorful masterpieces. Click on each image to see it in its entirety.
We heard there was a mural of Ruth Bader Ginsberg painted before her death. We hunted and found it in an alley behind a restaurant. Some great murals are in alleys, but I’m hoping they do another in a more prominent location.
While hunting for these murals, I found other things to photograph which I’ll show you in another post. Hopefully I’ll go hunting again for murals soon!
When the going gets tough, the tough plow through it! Marlene and I walked between four and five miles the day we walked the length of the Embarcadero in San Francisco. Now that may be nothing to younger folks, but to seniors with feet and leg issues, it’s success!
Yes, we got some good images that day. In my previous post (part 1), I showed you some of people I photographed and told my interpretation of their stories in the captions. Some, I didn’t need to interpret like the old dog being helped into her stroller. I talked to her owners who were intent on making her last years as easy as possible.
However, I couldn’t resist taking pictures of buildings, structures and crowds. It’s amazing how many people can move along a street without problems. I also took some pictures from the ferry we picked up in Vallejo. So, to finish off our trip to San Francisco, I have some more to show you.
Skyline taken from the ferry.
Beginning our walk.
Sometimes you just have to get those lines.
A sculpture.
Can you imagine people buying gifts to commerate their prison visit!
A tour boat leaving the harbor.
Coming down the stairs to the bottom level.
Getting close to Pier 39.
Fortunately we didn’t have to pay the big bucks to park.
Looking over the street.
This was beautiful finding a boat within a structure that framed it.
I always try to keep my promises. The operative word there is “try!” In my last post, I said that I would be going out to shoot Christmas lights when my friend Jean got her new camera, and I kept that promise. I was really dragging that night, and I’m so glad that my promise got me up and out. We had a lot of fun in the short time we were taking photos.
Our adventure took us to the Fab 40 area of Sacramento–an area of old beautiful homes. This neighborhood’s holiday effort didn’t compare to the residents of Dove Court in Orangevale; but with my fatigue and Jean’s knee, it was perfect. We walked the two blocks, shooting and talking with some residents. I saw two displays I liked and had fun zooming my lens.
Oh, Jean’s new camera is a tiny Panasonic mirrorless that does a lot. It made my Nikon D7100 look huge and feel heavy! I hope she finds a great deal of joy in using it.
Happy 2018 everyone. My wish if for you to have good health, prosperity and fun!
I liked this display because of its simplicity.
This one is simple too.
This seemed to welcome you.
I think I like this side shot even better.
This I shot in three parts.
On the side lawn the display continued.
And the final piece of the display.
This was a wreath that was hanging from a wire going across the street. Below it, was a string of lights. The following zooms are of this wreath.
I tried different angles.
Different shutter speeds.
And different focal lengths.
This zoom was of lights on top of a small tree.
This zoom was of lights on a small tree covered in lights.
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.
This one was part of a strange mural.
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.
A flower from the garden.
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.
Slow Shutter Speed 