photography – Page 6 – A Photo's Worth

A Photowalk in Niles

Getting away with photo friends and introducing them to my brother Alan made for an enjoyable and interesting day. My brother lives in Freemont, Ca. and found this little old town flavor in Niles about a mile from his address. Car loaded with friends, cameras, and gas we headed off to Niles. I was driving Subi Blue, and just as we started the infamous I symbol appeared on my dashboard indicating a low tire sensor. We boldly continued the two-hour journey.

After passing under a railroad trestle we arrived in Niles, Ca.

This old restored gas station serves as a meeting spot for car enthusiasts.

Unique stores line 1st Street (Main Street). Forget trademarks here. Plenty of antique stores, but since we are here on a Thursday we find many stores closed.

My brother served as our own personal guide to a town he walks around frequently. He knows most of the small business owners and often photographs events in town. The weather cooperates and we found plenty of photo opportunities in nature and architecture.

This wisteria tree has over the years intertwined with another tree.

I liked the way the light fell on these hats

Silent movies and Charlie Chaplin have solid connections with Niles, Ca. On our way home, we drove through Niles Canyon used as a backdrop for cowboy films in the early days of movie-making.

I was sorry this museum was closed on Thursday.

It turns out the air in the tire was low, so off to find a working air pump, and tossing in a bunch of quarters, and home we went.

This little Tortuga Talavera followed me home.

And we returned safely.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge # 171 Weird and Wonderful

This week Ann-Christine invites me to have the opportunity to share my weird and wonderful images in this challenge! By accepting this challenge I will showcase some of my images of natural weirdness, items I found strange to photograph, and images I created through photo techniques.

This mutant Sunflower captured my attention! Was it an overachiever?

Here in Sacramento we are starting to get a taste of autumn. On Sunday we experienced record setting rainfall. They called it a bomb cyclone. It was time to dust off those raincoats and galoshes. Since California has been in a drought many of us were caught off guard. My puppy Moxie has never experienced rain, and was not too impressed. She was glad to wear her raincoat for our many, but quick outings. After the rain I just discovered the weirdness of mushrooms popping up. One minute nothing, the next minute fully formed fungi. Don’t know the toxicity of these mushrooms, but I am taking no chances on Moxie discovering them.

Just a couple of mushrooms found in my garden today!

The next couple of images are part of the life cycle of decay. There is a certain beauty in observing rot.

These post have changed over the 30 years in my landscape, yet there is life.

Tis the pumpkin season. I see the heart of the pumpkin!

The salmon come up the American River to lay their eggs and die.

A certain weirdness to the play of fish and bubbles.

This image speaks to me. It says, “Halloween is just around the corner. Get those treats ready or you will be tricked!”

The following are strange images I came across.

There are probably *drivers* on the road who follow this sign. Not me! Beliefs are another story.

What do you see? Found around old farm machinery.

Does this meet with your definition of weird?

The following images were created by painting with light.

What’s happening on the farm?

Started this post about a month ago. I’m just now catching up.

Three weeks after spine surgery, and I am out with my friends and my camera. For California we are having a wet winter/spring. Hopefully, this will quell the noise of a drought during the summer. Our group has to be flexible because each day brings a chance of rain.

I brought my Fuji x100f which is a light mirrorless single focus camera. My first outing was to two farms in Woodland, Ca. Yolo County farms provide a time once a month where photographers and artists are invited to visit. This time our invite was to Valley Oak Wool Mill and Fate Sole Olive Oil Orchard.

Came a bit late for the full tour of the Valley Oak Wool and Fiber mill in Woodland, Ca.

Walked around to another farm that produces olive oil.

Yolo County Art & Ag monthly invites artists, and photographers to enjoy the scenery and get to know a bit more about their local working farms.

We stopped for lunch in the city of Woodland for some Thai food at Bangkok Cuisine.

Fixing musical instrument in Woodland, Ca

Spring is here and I have been out taking many photographs to share in the upcoming posts. Stay tuned!

Lumbar Spine Decompressed

No more tingling feeling! Sometimes tingling can be caused by excitement. That’s good. But the tingling, numbing feeling I lived with is not. Surgery on March 8th went well. New equipment now makes this microscopic surgery possible. Nerves are given room to be “happy”. My doctor’s term. Herniated disc relieved.

I went home with a bunch of pain medications, walker, and instructions. No bending, twisting, lifting and stretching. Given all the information regarding taking opioids I was very careful, and only needed relief for a couple of days. At my 1 week follow-up a new med was added to try and alleviate back pain. 12 days out and I am much improved. I expect physical therapy will start after my 6 week follow up appointment. Muscles are healing. Back pain is telling me so.

Started getting out for short trips. We had a sudden burst of spring-like weather and so on Sunday we drove over to the American River at Sailor Bar. Got my Fuji x100F out for a couple of pics. I realize that taking photographs will also be limited while I heal. Eye-level only for a while. My CTT group had a virtual outing this week. We were asked to post photos and explain our processing ideas. Here is my contribution.

My husband is serving as my driver while I am recovering from surgery. No one wants to be driving around while taking pain meds. And also with my limited flexibility I will not twist and turn easily. Sunday, the weather was nice and we went out Sailor Bar. Located a short mile from my house. This is off the American River. When I processed the photo I wanted it to look old fashioned so I used some of my quick plug-in tools. First I went to Lightroom and cropped the image. Took it to Topaz Studio where I added a wood-like texture. Brought it to Luminar where I found a Sepia tone, and added a slight vignette.