Not having been around many horses, I take advantage of every opportunity to photograph them. For me, they are gentle giants. When the Yolo Arts & Ag Project invited us to visit the Pine Trails Ranch in Davis, I went to see what the horse ranch was all about.
The first horse to greet me was this friendly one. He came right up to the opening in the gate, poked his head through and grabbed my attention. I was able to pet him and visited him more than once.
Next I saw this beautiful horse wearing a fly mask.
There were a few horses in a row of stalls. Now, can any photographer not take a photo of leading lines?
One horse owner didn’t mind me taking pictures of his horse.
Lessons were in progress. The young girl was waiting her turn and warming up her horse, while the woman was just finishing. After the lesson the horse was waiting to be groomed.
I was lucky to find another horse owner cleaning her horse’s shoeless feet. She said her old horse didn’t need shoes because she wasn’t that active. But, her feet needed to be taken care of.
I also found some interesting scenery to photograph.
I enjoyed my morning at the Ranch and my time with the horses! Thank you Yolo Arts & Ag!
Think Anne, think! What inspires you? Patti is asking us what inspires me! My pondering was interrupted by a late breakfast at our Club House for newcomers who moved in while the complex was in lockdown. Now with relaxed rules, we can enjoy community life again.
At that breakfast, an artist, Al Fichera, who paints on his computer via a Wacom Tablet approached me to tell me how much he enjoyed my photography. “You’re a great photographer. You must have had some art background.” If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I’ve had no art background and deem myself not the creative type. Al went on to say I must know composition instinctively. The conversation went on a little longer and in the end, I was truly inspired. Below is one of his pictures.
For me, my inspiration comes from people. Bob Scheibel, professor at L.A. Pierce College, inspired me to write. He held my hand through my first three articles for the L.A. Daily News in their weekly Neighborhood section and then let me fly on my own. This was during my first semester at Pierce in the journalism department. With his inspiring me, I went on to win Columnist of the Year in 1987. The plaque is on my wall.
Inspiring me personally are my dear friends Carol and Alyse. Carol was handed a death sentence by a doctor. She had multiple things wrong with the worse being Polymyositis, a degenerative muscle disease. To her doctors’ amazement, she lived for 23 years, before she died, when she was given less than one year. Her courage to withstand pain and her will to live was truly inspirational.
Also inspirational is Alyse who care gave to her all those years. I would stay with Carol to give Alyse some respite.
Alyse is on the left and Carol on the right. As you can see, this was taken on their 76th birthdays.
Now on to photography. I’ve often called my dear friend Marlene Frankel my photo muse. While she didn’t directly inspire me, just being out in the field with her helped made things click. For instance the photo triangle finally made sense while shooting with her. If I have a camera question, she’s first on my list to call. We’ve had a lot of fun together and she’s a sometime contributor to LAPC.
Marlene on left; Anne on right
The next photographer to inspire me is Lucille Van Ommering. When I was entering two photos for the In Focus competition, Lucille took me under her wing and gently showed me how to print out my pictures. I remember telling her, “Wow, Lucille, I’ve never seen my photos that big!” She not only printed them, but showed me how to mat them. I left her house so inspired! Thanks Lucille!!
One of the photos she printed for me.
Next is the Yolo Art & Ag Project that invites artists and photographers onto farms and orchards for a morning of fun. I would never have been able to get onto the properties otherwise.
Taken at the Clarence Scott Ranch
And finally the LAPC group under the leadership of Tina, Patti, Amy and Ann-Christine. You inspire me with your kind comments on my posts and your faith in asking me to be a guest host for this great group.
I was worried that my younger grandkids, 12, Ryan, and 10, Olivia, would become bored during this farm visit Woodland and the Clos Cavanis Farm–a Yolo Art & Ag project. So I made sure they had their cell phones with them for picture taking. There would be no animals, orchards or farm machinery to look at but just the house and barn.
As per the flyer, “Preserving history is important to Van and Catherine Overhouse. That explains why they spent the last two decades bringing their 1868 Victorian Italianate home back to life. “We saved the house” says Van who recently completed repainting the exterior- which took 2 years working 40 hours a week – the final stage in the restoration.”
So I thought we’d be just photographing the house and barn–a quick trip. Olivia had dabbled with painting, so we talked with the artists. We also took pictures. The kids settled on macro work with their phones. They both took excellent pictures, and Ryan caught on quickly. It also helped that Catherine had baked delicious scones for us to taste. We were there 1 1/2 hours, and Olivia asked to come to the next farm visit so she could bring her paints.
Here are some of my pictures of this beautiful restored home.
We then went to the Mezger Family Zinnia Patch which was close by. Each year the Mezger’s grow zinnias and encourage the public to come and pick the flowers. They also provide vases when available. People who pick the flowers are encouraged to share them with “shut in’s” who can’t get out to see their beauty otherwise. Olivia picked some flowers for her mom. Here are some of my photos.
If Olivia still wants to, she will come with me in August and paint. I’ll bring chairs, do my photography and relax. Not a bad morning!
Heat and drought! Not a good combination. We are in the midst of wildfire season here in the west, and Northern California is getting its share. But what makes us smile are the sunflowers. Yes, it’s also sunflower season here.
In the middle of June, the wonderful Yolo Arts & Ag Project brought us to the Elkhorn Basin Ranch in West Sacramento. It was going to be a hot day, so we got there early. Artists and photographers were lined up to sketch, paint and photograph the cheerful sunflowers.
Now these sunflowers were grown mainly for seed to ship overseas, and to my surprise, they were not super tall. I’m short and I always have a difficult time to photograph fields even with my three-step ladder. I was in photo heaven. Also the farm manager allowed us to walk into the field a little bit.
So, here are some of my images from that morning.
An artist stops to smile for the camera.
Before we reached our destination, we did stop to take images of this orchard.
The Elkhorn Basin Ranch is owned by the Yolo Land Trust and leased to Don Beeman and Garcia Farms.
I love suburbia with all its conveniences, but I also like to visit the forests, beaches and country sides. The Yolo Arts & Ag program allows me to take my camera onto ranches, orchards and farms that open their facilities to artists and photographers for two half days a month. It’s a great opportunity for us to wander in and out of barns, see old machinery and have a glimpse of a life we don’t live.
The Hungry Hallow Ranch in Capay was a large facility that gave us access to the entire property. But when we entered, we mostly saw machinery in barns, old vehicles, young olive trees and hay bales. Marlene, Ray and I said that there was nothing new here. Richard was excited saying that this is what he loved to photograph.
I think Richard was right. I did find a lot to photograph and learned a lesson. Don’t judge a photography shoot by first glance. I made the most of our morning. I took close ups of machinery.
Then there was an artist painting.. There were many, but I liked this shot the most.
And the olive orchard. You can see that the trees were young.
And the barns.
I also found a grape vine or two, a wood pile large enough to cover the side of a barn and an awesome tree.
It ended up being a fun morning of discoveries. And lunch was at our favorite Road Trip Bar and Grill in Capay.
The season has begun. Each month (Not every month during the pandemic.), during spring and summer, Yolo Arts & Ag hosts local farms and orchards for photographers and artists to spend the morning, doing their art. While I don’t get to all of them, I’ve taken the opportunity to go to most and I haven’t been disappointed. In March we were invited to the Oliver Farm in Woodland. Marlene and I took the opportunity.
Sally Oliver has left the farm buildings as was after her husband passed away 2 years ago. The almond trees are gone and she now leases the grounds to a certified organic farm, producing radish seeds and curly chard among other rotating row crops.
I found the old buildings a photographic delight. Here are some images taken that morning.
Some buildings.
I think I’d rather shower!
Old equipment, also called farm art.
Inside door of a building. Maybe what used to be a bunk house.
Stairs leading to the second floor.
Front of the main house.
Another perspective.
An amazing, twisted tree.
Old truck in the barn.
Stuff left in the barn.
An artist paints.
A window in one of the buildings.
On the way home, we stopped to take pictures of wild mustard growing in an orchard.
The next visit is scheduled for May. Where will Yolo Arts & Ag take us?
Fortunately I’m getting used to driving the various county roads in the rural areas of Yolo County. I was alone on this July expedition to the CR25 Ranch in Esparto, but remembered some of the roads from last month’s journey when Marlene road with me. The CR25 Ranch is located on the County Road 25!
I like getting out into fresh air and drive around the countryside. And, I’m lucky that this scenery is a little more than an hour away. This ranch is not as large as some of the others I’ve been to, but there was enough to keep me busy for 1 1/2 hours.
This horse was alone in a pasture. He was midway, but my Fuji camera with lens extended to the full 200 mm was able to capture him in focus. I cropped him in Lightroom. Here’s the result.
Here are some landscapes of the ranch, showing pastures and barns.
This ranch may have been small, but it did have its share of “ranch art!”
A few of the cows came down from mid-pasture to get some water. One of them stood out. Was he trying to stick his tongue out at me. Also, it was good that it wasn’t a frosty winter day or else that tongue would have stuck to the watering trough.
I’m enjoying the new camera and still learning more about its capabilities. It does more than I’ll ever use! Where will Yolo Arts take us this month?
I’m not fond of waking up in the dark to catch the golden hour in the morning or going to bed late in the summer to catch the evening blue and golden hours. So that leaves me mostly under the mid morning sun for most of my photo outings. No, I’m not going to post all my photos taken under the sun, just the ones that resonated with me when I read Amy’s challenge for the week.
There have been a few times when the timing was right on for me. One was at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, California. We caught the afternoon golden hour when the sun cast a beautiful glow on plants and animals. We were vacationing with my cousins in December 2016 . They are the couple walking out of the oasis.
The next set of images were taken during my favorite time of day, mid afternoon sun! (It’s not really!) My friend who lives in Sun City, Lincoln brought me to a tree where herons and egrets and other birds nested. I didn’t have my long lens with me, so I returned on my day to pick up my grandkids from school. My kids also live in Lincoln. Again, I seem to use the opportunity rather than make the opportunity! I’ve named this tree “The Nesting Tree,” and have brought other photo buddies to shoot there. Taken April, 2019, you can see the sun casting shadows on the birds bodies and feathers.
This last set was taken during a Yolo Art & Ag outing to Capay Valley Ranches in February, 2019. Every summer, Yolo Art invites artists and photographers to various ranches, farms and orchards to record country life. We were there mid morning (usually from 9 to 11 a.m.) Here, again, the sun created beautiful shadows.
While I may not get up before dawn, I still enjoy getting out in the sunshine. Thank you Amy for this great challenge.
It’s time again to wander, or should I say get lost, down those country roads in Yolo County. Each year Yolo Art & Ag sponsors monthly visits for artists and photographers to farms in the county. I have certainly benefited from these sojourns. I grew up in the city, and I’ve been able to see first hand how a farm operates.
Harrison Farms, featured a sunflower field and a some farm animals. When Marlene and I arrived, we stopped at the sunflowers first. Typically, bee keepers put hives near the fields and this was no exception! But the bees are so busy, they don’t bother someone who is allergic like me! As a field, this one wasn’t spectacular but individually the flowers were fun and pretty to photograph.
And then there was the farm itself. The pond was photographic.
There was also a small garden.
They also had a walnut tree grove.
It was an easy and fun visit. I wonder where we will go in July?
All the comforts of suburbia are great and I love it, but it’s nice to visit the country once in a while. Thank goodness for the Yolo Art and Ag project which gets us out into the country and on farms and ranches that we would otherwise not gain entry.
This was the case during a recent Thursday when we went to visit the Clarence Scott Ranch in Winters. This Ranch has a bit of everything and lots of scenery for photographers and artists. Hay and cattle are their predominat income sources.
I’ve begun to rely on just one lens when I go on a photo outing. It challenges me, and it’s easier to carry. And, at this point, less weight is important to me since this year has given me a few health challenges. My gear consisted of my Nikon D7100 and the Nikon 18 – 140 mm lens. It’s hard for me to grasp that my camera is OLD now and reduced in price for less than half of what I paid! But it’s the same for a car. Once it’s off the lot…….
On the way home, we stopped to photograph sunflowers and zinnias in Woodland. You’ll see these in my next post. Right now let’s look at the Ranch. The clouds were spectacular!
Artists and photographers were busy too!
I was also fortunate to watch a woman shoeing her horse. A first for me!
Slow Shutter Speed 