California – Page 11 – Circadianreflections Blog

Sunset Los Gatos, California

April 10, 2014April 10, 2014Posted in California, Landscapes, PhotographyTagged CA, Los Gatos, San Jose Nature Photographer, Santa Clara County, SunsetsLeave a comment

It was a gorgeous sunny day yesterday. The temperature was in the low 80’s. Late in the afternoon I noticed clouds forming and thought the sunset might be a colorful one, so I packed up a light-weight kit and headed over to Vasona Lake.

I had another view framed, but the clouds and color didn’t drift that way, so I turned around and found the color there.

P52 14/52 Tunnel View in Golden Hour

April 7, 2014April 7, 2014Posted in California, Landscapes, Photography, Travel, US National ParksTagged Golden Hour, San Jose CA Nature Photographer, Travel and Tourism, US National Parks, Yosemite National Park1 Comment

I ventured North-east to look for Wildflowers then went into Yosemite National Park to photograph the river, and waterfalls, but couldn’t be in the park and not go up to Tunnel View. I swung by here earlier in the day to see how it looked and thought it would be a good place to shoot the sunset since the clouds were getting thicker by the hour and by 3PM Half Dome was covered in clouds.

I made two images up here a cool version using my Singh Ray LB Color filter then removed the filter and made the warmer image you see here. I’ll share the cooler image soon since I like them both.

This is all the color we got this evening. More clouds rolled in obscuring the sun and blocking any more color. By 7:40pm I was in Pearl (my car) with the heater on thawing out my very cold fingers still hoping the color would come. There were only 3 photographers set up waiting and hoping outside on the observation deck; everyone else had left. Shortly after that all the color faded completely and He-Man and I headed home relaxed, and very content.

Travelerette on the Wildflower Trail

April 6, 2014April 6, 2014Posted in California, Photography, Travel, WildflowersTagged San Jose Nature Photographer, Spring Wildflowers, Toys in photos1 Comment

Myself and He-Man headed north-east to Sierra National Forest looking for Spring Wildflowers. We found a few mountain sides covered in California Poppies, and several other Wildflowers in bloom.

We saw Blue Dicks, Lupin two types Miniature, and a larger purple one Mountain? There were buttercups, and Goldfields, Chinese Houses, a tiny white flower like Baby’s Breath, but not. I need to ID that one, and lots of grass! The recent rains really greened things up nicely.

We got to the Trail-head in the late morning with the sun shining, but the Poppies decided to sleep late on this Saturday morning.

We hiked about 2 miles round trip on this trail, then headed to Yosemite to check out the waterfalls, and do a bit of hiking there. Images to follow.

Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8| Hand-held- Sierra National Forest, California USA

Who says Polka Dots and Stripes don’t go together?

April 2, 2014April 2, 2014Posted in California, Photography, TravelTagged Lion Fish, Monterey Bay Aquarium, San Jose Nature Photographer, Travel and Tourism5 Comments

The Lion Fish shows us how to do it.

This is an image I made while at the Monterey Bay Aquarium last Saturday. I think he looks lovely in this royal blue watery background. I am going to look for these patterns, and colors to add to my wardrobe this summer.

A morning at the Aquarium

March 31, 2014March 31, 2014Posted in California, Photography, TravelTagged Low Light Photography, Monterey Bay Aquarium, San Jose Nature Photographer, Travel and TourismLeave a comment

Since it was supposed to be a rainy Saturday my friend Dali and I headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We met early at a favorite coffee shop then drove a little over an hour south to get there just before the Aquarium opened. We anticipated a big crowd; it being a Saturday, and rainy. There was already a line to purchase tickets when we arrived.

We headed straight for the Jellyfish tanks since those are very popular, but we got side-tracked by the scuba-divers in the BIG tanks. They were cleaning the glass, and both little and big kids found them fun to watch.

…and now for some fish!

There are two Octopi here. This top one is the smaller of the two. They’re both pretty large.

This bottom one is enormous!

This Stingray came out of the deep blue and looked so graceful and hypnotic swimming through the tank.

Finally we got to the Jellyfish! I have a lot of Jellyfish images to go through, but here’s one of my favorites.

By noon the Aquarium was pretty crowded, so we headed to the cafe for lunch. I didn’t take any foodie images, but I did take a photo of the entrance to the Cafe. I liked the lines, and color contrast.

Then we went back upstairs to find some animals and fish we missed earlier. I’ll be working on those images soon, but here’s one gem we found. Isn’t it pretty!

It was a tricky venue to shoot because most the tanks were dark and back-lit. In addition to that the lights in the halls and galleries were pointing into the tanks which caused reflections of the bulbs, and glare on the tank glass, also there were reflections of the people, and the room on the glass. To clean up the images I cloned out some of the light reflections, and the worst of the muck that was floating in the tanks.

I used a Nikon D700 with a AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G lens, and to keep the shutter speed up my ISO varied between 1000-2500. I used a little noise reduction in a few of these images.

It had been many years since my last visit. I really shouldn’t wait so long between visits.

Morning Moon

March 25, 2014March 25, 2014Posted in California, Landscapes, PhotographyTagged landscape, Lonely Tree, Moon, San Jose Nature Photographer, Santa Clara County3 Comments

While waiting for the sun to crest the mountain tops to the East I turned to look southwest and captured the Moon shining down on the little tree that sits atop the summit of The Steep Hill.

Nikon D700| AF Nikkor 28-105mm micro| Hand-held

Ruffled Feathers

March 12, 2014March 12, 2014Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Nikon, PhotographyTagged Allen's Hummingbirds, Birds, Birds in the Wild, San Jose CA Nature Photographer2 Comments

Ruffled Feathers, originally uploaded by CircadianReflections Photography.

Another Allen’s Hummingbird image I made last week-end. He has a little smudge on his breast that I’m tempted to clone out, but I also like him the way he is in his natural environment. What would you do clone it out, or leave it?

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