“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” ― Eudora Welty
Star trails from Aug. 14/15, 2010 at Henry Coe State Park, California.
121 Frames @ 17mm, f/5.6, 40 seconds, ISO 400
Nikon D300s and Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 AF-S
Stacked in CS5 and ran it through my standard ACR sliders, then tweaked then foreground a bit to bring it out more. Polaris the North Star is dead center.
© Copyright 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
A friend and I went south to the town of Morgan Hill about 30 mins. from me to Henry Coe State Park to shoot the stars for Star Trails, and we hoped for a nice sunset too.
Arriving early we scouted the area and found a couple of really beautiful oak trees that we thought would make a lovely foreground to our star trail photographs.
We set up camp which for me is a folding chair, tripod, and camera gear then waited for the sun to set.
The sunset was so golden, and even with my LB ColorCombo Polarizer and SinghRay2 stop soft edge Grad ND filter the sun was hot, and I had lots of sun flare. I actually think it came out cool looking in this photo.
© Copyright 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved
After this we moved across to the opposite side of this hill to set up for the Moon Rise. The colors on this side of the valley were so much prettier
than the sunset.
I loved the bands of red and blue. One of the beautiful oaks made for a lovely foreground.
© Copyright 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
After the moon rise I moved locations to set up and start my test shots for my star trail sequence. Here’s the second test shot.
I was lining up the foreground and Polaris, the North Star.
© Copyright 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
We weren’t alone up there last night. There was also an Astronomer hobbyist taking photos of the stars and nebulae with his star tracking gear, and telescope mounted to his camera. It was such a wonderful evening chatting with him and looking through his large telescope at Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon.
I’m still working on my Star Trail photograph. I hope to post it tomorrow.
Nikon D300s
Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8AF-S
Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
I needed to do some weeding today so decided to take my camera out with me. The bees obliged.
I saw a new sparrow all fuzzy but didn’t get a good shot. I hope it comes back. It’s eying my Hummingbird feeder. I’ll keep the bird feeder full to tempt it too.
Bees, Gathering, Pollen, Blossoms, Agapanthus, Lily-of-the-Nile, Nikon, Nikkor, San Jose, California, Backyard Gardens
A Vested Interest, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004.
© Copyright 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
It has taken me a long time to upload this photo. I’ve been waiting until I had the skill and technique to convert this to something less modern looking. Thank you Theresa and Glenn for setting up this great afternoon!
Glenn is a re-enactor and they had arranged for a group of us to be down on the battlefield during the battle to take photos. I had a lot of fun and found it quite challenging. This was definitely a growing experience from composing the shot right through to the very end in my digital darkroom.
Nikon D300s
Nikkor 70-300mmVR
Central California
Civil War re-enactors
1860’s
This evening I met two friends from my Night Photography group at Stanford University to do a little night shooting.
I’ve been wanting to re-do Hoover Tower since my last visit there. We met in the Rodin Sculpture Garden. Tonight there were very few people around so I actually got a shot sans people of the The Gates of Hell.
© 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
Then we moved over to the Weeping Angel. A beautiful sculpture and the burial site of the Stanford’s son.
© 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
Then we walked over to the main plaza and the quad where we shot Stanford Memorial Church. The light behind the stained
glass window was on tonight. This is the first time I’ve seen that. I’ve been there 3 times for night shoots in the last year without it
being on so this felt really special. It’s gorgeous!
© 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
Finally we shot Hoover Tower. We moved around the campus to several different locations to shoot it. This shot I took
early on while in the Blue Period is my favorite one of the Tower out of tonight’s shots.
© 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
It’s a beautiful campus. I wouldn’t mind going back to photograph it all over again.
Nikon D300s
Nikkor 17-35mm AF-S f/2.8
© Copyright 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
After scouting out a couple of other locations my friend Alex and I headed to Wilder Ranch to check it out too.
The houses were closed for the day, but there were still a few barns open and some farm animals were still out in the pastures and paddocks. This scene I shot through a window in barn that housed old horse drawn carriages, lumber, and machinery that is used on farms.
For the Historians-
The park covers approximately 7,000 acres, with 34 miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails winding through coastal terraces and valleys. Several buildings once belonging to the Wilder family have been restored. You can explore the history of early ranchers and farmers along the Central Coast through tours and living history demonstrations. The site was originally the main rancho supplying Santa Cruz Mission, and later became a successful and innovative dairy ranch. The grounds include Victorian homes, barns, shops, gardens, and a historic adobe. Major wetlands restoration projects have attracted some of the original flora and fauna back to the area.
PP- Vibrance, clarity, contrast, brightness, cropped and resized.
Nikon D300s
Nikkor 17-35 AF-S f/2.8
© Copyright 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
“I found an alter by the sea;
I walked around it eying every
angle, marveling at the beautiful
gifts placed there by those who before
me stopped here long enough to reflect on nature,
life, and the things that matter.
Did those who built it gain strength,
Hope, faith, their centered place?
I found an altar by the sea,
I added nothing, but took away
a memory of how it looked today.
An open temple full of grace.
~ Deborah M. Zajac
Ano Nuevo California State Park
Pacific Ocean
Bones
Shells
Driftwood
Nikon D90
Nikkor 80-200mm AF-D
Circadianreflections Blog 
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