Author: circadianreflections

My name is Deborah Zajac. I'm a photographer living in Nevada at the base of the Eastern Sierras. I am a passionate nature, landscape, night/astro photographer. I shoot predominately in color and use Nikon Digital Cameras, and lenses. I hope you enjoy seeing some of the photos I've taken while on my travels. Please feel free to leave a comment I'd love to hear from you.

At the Portal

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Yesterday 4 friends and I went  to Pfieffer State Beach in Big Sur, California. It’s about 100 miles south of my house. Theresa, Dali, and I went in one car and we met our friends Alex, and Rainey in Carmel. From there we caravaned to Pfieffer State Beach. The goal; A couple of times a year the sun sets behind “The Portal” a huge rock island with an Arch through it which allows a sun beam to come through. It’s been on our “to shoot” list for awhile.

We went early to get the lay of the land, and have lunch. We planned a picnic pot luck. We had sandwich fixin’s, chips, dips, fruit, pasta salad, olives and feta cheese, pickles, and Dali brought cake; Chocolate Mocha Cake. Three layers with a chocolate mousse filling inside.

I had great will power and only had one little piece. It was delicious! I might add that in addition to this Dali also brought along for the drive some Mochi, and other Japanese cookies! I wish I had his metabolism!!!

Nature or a previous rock sitter had decorated our spot,

We had a picnic crasher too,

Dali or Theresa threw it a piece of bread and I missed the focus so he’s not as sharp as I’d like. He was quick! Quicker than me that’s for sure.

He struck a handsome pose hoping for more handouts,

After lunch Dali and I hiked up the mountain to check out the view from the cliffs. The hike up was pretty steep. The terrain was mixed. Sand dunes, loose sandy soil, rocky out crops, and bushy bits. In places the trail was washed out and I went up the wash to meet up with the trail nearly at the top. Dali being braver than I went up the wash the whole way. I think the climb was only 150 ft or so, but steep. Our friend Steven had warned me to be careful going up…if I went up. Thank you Steven!

The view of “The Portal” from the cliff,

Shooting into the sun…challenging to say the least! I used my 2 stop Graduated Neutral Density filter to try to balance the light. It didn’t quite work out. I needed my 3 stop. I thought I had packed it but mistakenly grabbed my Reverse Grad instead so I used a layer mask in Photoshop to lighten “The Portal”.  I like the sunburst and the flare.  After a few more shots up here we hiked down to the beach to pick my spot to shoot the sunset.

The sun began to set and the light changed…this is what we came for!

…and,

A large wave came through the Portal splashing what looks like liquid fire! It was so neat. As the sun was going down more and more

photographers arrived to take photos of this event. I think there were close to 30 of us out there. It was great fun. We all agreed this is a place we’d like to come back to again.

After the sun went down we packed up and went into Carmel for a hot dinner, then we said farewell to Alex, and Rainey, and headed home.

 

 

 

 

The Portal

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Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

This is a neat place to catch the sunset when the ray comes through the Portal and has been on my “to shoot” list for awhile. Several friends and I planned well in advance and using a guide called TPE we picked a day that worked for 5 of us to drive the 101 miles from my house down to Pfeiffer Beach to catch this sunset and photograph it.

It was a fun day filled with lots of laughter and a great picnic. Near sunset many other photographers arrived. I think there were more than 30 here this evening. This is a spot we all want to photograph again.

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 18mm f3.5, f8, 1/60s, ISO 200, Manual Mode, Triggered with Remote Release Cable/Intervalmeter

Bread Stuffing Beginnings

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Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

My favorite recipe for Bread Stuffing is from my first cookbook Betty Crocker. The orange book with the pie sections on the cover, and in each section there is a food item. I can’t find the edition or year mine was printed.
It’s really old and falling apart, anyway the Bread Stuffing is simple. Bread, Butter, celery, onion,salt, pepper, sage, and thyme. I add chicken stock to keep it moist since I don’t stuff the bird. I bake mine in a casserole dish.

When making a small batch I use:
1 loaf of white bread, torn into bite sized pieces
2 sticks of unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
1 Tbs Ground Sage- add more or to taste
1 Tbs Thyme- add more or to taste
1 14oz can of Chicken stock- less salt
In a large pot melt the butter. When melted stir in 1/3 of the bread pieces and mix, add the other ingredients and the rest of the bread. Mix well. Add chicken stock to moisten.
Put into large casserole, cover and bake for 45 minutes to an hour.

I use my hand to measure my herbs, and I taste. When it tastes the way I like it I mix it then put in the dish to bake. I don’t usually pull out the recipe anymore.

The house smells great! Dinner should be done in 40 minutes or so.

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 35mm f2, 1/200s, ISO 640, Aperture Priority

The Table is Laid- waiting for the feast!

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I’ve  got my table laid for the Thanksgiving feast. The only thing missing is the food. Dinner will be about 4PM today. I am not usually too late.

Here is the table:

I have loved Spode’s blue and white dishes for as long as I can remember. When I found Thanksgiving plates back in the early 90’s I purchased 12 of them.

Here is a close up of a dinner setting:

I never did find matching pieces like bread plates or bowls, but that’s alright I like to mix, match, and blend in the old, new, and different patterns too.

Back in the mid 90’s I went through a Ceramics phase and when I saw a mold for a Turkey Platter I purchased it. I painted it blue and white to match my Thanksgiving dinner plates. I recall how the ladies in the shop thought I’d made huge mistake painting my platter blue and white. They were painting theirs in the rich colors of Fall. When my platter came out of Kiln there was a gasp or two. I was thrilled with it. To this day it’s one of my favorite pieces.

There is still much to prepare for our Thanksgiving feast. It’s with a heart full of Thanksgiving and happiness that I  baste, whip, stir, and dance around my kitchen trying to choreograph the perfectly timed meal.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! May your day be filled with love, family, friends, and a good meal.

Water Lily

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Water Lily, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

From the afternoon I spent at the Flower Conservatory in San Francisco.
No tripods were allowed so I used my monopod…something I’ve rarely used. I’m not very steady with it.
This was in a huge pool in the Aqua Plant Room. I love the bright yellow-orange center with the purple.

Nikon D90, Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8@170mm, f3.5, 1/640s, ISO 800, Aperture Priority

“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.”- John Wayne

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Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Myself and two friends, Dali, and Anne spent Sunday afternoon at the Flower Conservatory in San Francisco. It was forecast to rain all day. We wanted to get out and shoot so we found an indoor venue.

I used my Nikkor 80-200mm with Canon 500D close up filter to get this shot. Using that filter on my lens took my working distance from 10 feet to about 15 inches!
I did find I had to do the macro rock to get anything in focus. I had to use my monopod as Tripods were not allowed. I’m not too steady with it- I need to use it more to get the hang of it I suppose.

Nikon D90, Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8@ 145mm, f3.5, 1/50s, ISO 800, Aperture Priority

Twilight from Lands End

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Twilight from Lands End, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Myself and two friends spent the afternoon and evening in San Francisco. We ended our day here on the cliffs at Lands End. The lights had just come on the bridge before I shot this scene.The sun had gone down several minutes earlier. The color faded all too quickly.
That big cargo ship took nearly an hour to be piloted into the bay. I think it was only going 1 knot.

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 17-35mm@ 32mm, 1/4 second, f/16, ISO 200, Manual Mode, Triggered with Remote release cable/intervalometer