This week, Patti of P.A. Moed asks me to focus on telling a story with my photos. “Sometimes, if we’re lucky, we can convey a story in one image; other times we need several. For this challenge, we’ll set a limit of 5 photos per story.” People-watching is a favorite pastime for me. I do not eavesdrop; instead, I try to imagine what is happening and capture the emotions.
Festivals and Events
Renaissance Fayre
Father and son act at the Renaissance Fayre
Amgen Cyclist – thoughts?
Amgen Tour of California. How would you caption this?
Summer is heating up here in Sacramento. We are alerted that a heat wave is approaching. Years ago, my grandchildren joined a swim team. That meant all-day swim meets on Saturday. I had my camera ready for action.
What is this swimmer thinking?
Such enthusiasm
Pep TalkCheeringCongratulations
Summer = Watermelon
Helping hand
Getting directions at the American Museum of Natural History
Lost visitor
Father and son. What’s the story?
Teaching
Many docents can be found at the zoo or museums. They provide valuable teachings to the community. Thank you.
Explaining tools at a Big Truck event in Roseville
Spining explained
Creative Energy
Berkeley Kite FestivalChanukah CelebrationFolsom 4th of July ParadeSpray paint art on the Embarcadero. This artist was less than friendly.Chalk it Up is held once a year in John C Fremont Park
Caught in the Act
Fisherman’s Wharf in San Fransisco provides plenty of photo opportunities for people-watching. I captured this local character as he counted his earnings.
This week Tina from Travels and Trifles creates a Lens-Artists challenge focused on Spiritual Places. While many associate spirituality with religion, the Oxford Dictionary defines it as “relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things”, a much wider interpretation.
While photographing buildings, I inevitably find myself in front of a religious site. It may be a church, temple, or synagogue. There is a quietness to these places. Some may call this respectfulness.
One place that gives me a sense of peacefulness is located in Grass Valley. Ananda Village and Crystal Hermitage Garden exude calm.
Many visitors enjoy the tulips in the spring.
Looking over the Sierras.
Churches
Rio Linda, CaSacramento, CaJackson, Ca.
Churches that started as a different building, and churches that have been repurposed.
Saw this in Lincoln, Ca.
On the main street in Zionsville, Indiana this Methodist Church transformed into an art gallery. It sits vacant and is looking for a new purpose.
Congregation Beth Shalom in Marysville, California. This building was once a boarding house. It is now making another change.
Donner PartyGround Zero 911Rosie the RiveterRosie the RiveterMemorial sites let us remember
Cemetery
Walking through a cemetery, looking at the gravestones, imagining the history, and taking in the flowers provides me with some quiet reflective spiritualness.
I end at the gravesite of my parents. They both are Holocaust Survivors.
My brother pays respect to my parents. There are no markers for my family from Poland for at least 3 generations due to World War II.
Many ask why stones and not flowers are left at Jewish graves. Upon researching this I found that there are many plausible explanations for this tradition. I would like to think of the remembrance of those who come before me.
Brian said “What has been happening recently is a bit of fragmentation around the world, a disconnect. But we always have been made up of pieces.” He wants to see some of my fragments photographically.
Forgotten History
Bodie Historic State Park in California is a photographer’s dream location for fragments of history. Located in the Eastern Sierra Mountains it now is a historic ghost town. Left as it was.
An outside look. Here I tried some photo editing. HDR, Adobe Photoshop, some B&W
A look inside
Bodie Cemetery. Many children among the gravestones.
This week, Donna of Wind Kisses is hosting the Lens-Artist Challenge with a focus on, What’s Bugging You? She thinks that the true challenge here is that encounters are rarely purposeful, and bugs are never willing participants. Some will flitter around and finally land on a leaf. Some pollen collectors will ignore the photographer and some will look straight at you.
Plenty of things are buggin’ me, but this post is strictly about the ones found in nature. I captured most of these images in California. The arachnids I discovered on The Big Island and in Kauai. All except the first one were found outside of a dwelling. Unfortunately, last night as I sat down to watch television, my Moxie kept looking at the lampshade. And there I discovered a VERY unwanted intruder. I captured it in a jar and took a photograph.
Who is this uninvited intruder?
Now I get to the real purpose of this particular blog. Insects I come across in nature. They are usually found around flowers, and I do appreciate their reason for being. The only one that I did not capture, and I have found no reason for being is the mosquito. In some seasons I appeal to them more often. Other times, I can go a long time before their nasty bite comes along. I am not a fan of putting on insect repellant either.
Busy Bees
Photography leads to learning about my images. I did not know the difference between honey bees and bumble bees.
This is the first photograph I sold. It was taken at Effie Yeaw.
A Photo's Worth 