Category: California

Sutro Baths in Moon light

Posted in Astrophotograhpy, California, Nikon, Photography, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , Leave a comment
Sutro Baths in Moon light, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Via Flickr:
Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

This is from my archives. I’ve wanted to shoot this scene with the full moon for about 2 yrs. Unfortunately when the moon has been full it hasn’t quite lined up or the weather didn’t cooperate. So when I had a waxing  gibbous 3/4 moon I went up to the city to get this shot as “practice”.
Since I’m spending a good deal of time at home these days I’ve turned my mind to cleaning out my closets, freecycling lots of clothes, cleaning out my 2012 files and reference materials…I shredded and recycled about 20 pounds of paper, and culling my photo files. While doing that I have discovered photos that are worth working on…like this one.

This is a two image composite. I took the foreground photo then switched lenses to my 70-300mm and shot the moon. Both images were taken the same night within minutes of each other. I blended them in Photoshop CS6. Someday I hope to get this shot with a bit of atmosphere and the full moon lined up just right.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 17-35 & 70-300mmVR

 

“It is the sweet, simple things in life which are the real ones after all.” Laura Ingalls Wilder

Posted in Birds, California, Copyright 2013 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved., hikes, Nature, Nikon, Photography, WildlifeTagged , , , , , , Leave a comment

Via Flickr:
Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 70-300mm vr

 

Northern Harrier on the Hunt

Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Nikon, Photography, WildlifeTagged , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

This Harrier was just one of many great birds I saw when I got out for a day of birding recently. The Harriers were flying low over the ponds, and marshes all day long. Whenever they were near, or overhead the Snow Geese, White-Fronted Geese, Ibis, and Coots would take to the sky. The noise was amazing to hear.
Late in the afternoon  we saw a Harrier chasing a Snow Goose, the goose dived into the marsh grass with the Harrier in hot pursuit! We waited with anticipation to see if the Harrier would come up with the Goose. He did not! That was one lucky goose.

Northern Harrior on the Hunt                                                                 Nikon D300s| Nikkor 80-200 @ 200 + Tamron 1.4x TC| f8| 1/800 sec| ISO 500| Hand-held and shot from the car window

There must have been a Harrier nearby to create this stir-up

White Fronted Geese

Snow geese in retreat…

Snow Geese in Flight

a couple of Greater White-fronted Geese enjoying the pond,

Greater White-fronted Geese

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Marsh Wren

Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Nikon, Photography, WildlifeTagged , , , Leave a comment
Mash Wren, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Via Flickr:
This is my first Marsh Wren capture on film. I tried to get one back in 2010 and have been trying since. My friend Alex told me what this bird was then and how hard they are to get on film. Boy, was he right! They’re flity little things. This one  was busy hopping from reed to reed, but thankfully he wanted to be in the sun after days of rain, and didn’t retreat inside the reeds so I was able to capture him on film.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 80-200 @ 200mm+ Tamron 1.4xTC|f8|1/800s|Manual Priority| Hand-held

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The Dicken’s Fair

Posted in California, Photography, TravelTagged , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

The Great Dickens Fair
The Great Dickens Fair

I had the pleasure of spending the day with several friends at the Dickens Fair in Daly City, CA yesterday. We arrived when it opened and stayed until closing time.

The Chimney Sweep above is one of the first characters we saw after we checked in our coats, and umbrellas.  He and his colleague  were very funny, friendly, and lovely.

Isn’t his costume terrific!

The two gents below were in a Portrait studio having their photo taken when I spied them through the window. They didn’t smile for the camera back then.

Two Gents posing

There were plenty of shops carrying Art, crafts, and wares throughout the streets of Dickens London…Whispers from the Past,

Whispers from the PastNutcrackers,

NutcrackersGlitz and Glamor-High fashion

Womens Head Dress

Undergarments… These are Live Mannequins. Each lady posed for 30 minutes then was replaced by a new live mannequin.

Live Mannequin Window Display

Corsets on display at Dark Garden

…and a Food & Drink. At the Pub of course!

Pub
Pub

It was a lovely way to spend a rainy, and windy Saturday. The shows were all beautifully performed and were hilarious. I have a lot more photos to go through, and more keepers than I thought I’d have. The venue was very poorly lit  from a photographers point of view, and made it quite challenging getting a sharp, well-lit photo.

If you haven’t been to the Dickens Fair I recommend it.  I have to thank my friend May for getting a group of us together to go. Thanks May! ( I hope you can see May’s  Dickens Fair photos, they’re really good. Click the link! )

Nikon D700| Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-D| Nikon SB600

 

 

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The Warrior of Pelt and Bone

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The Warrior of Pelt and Bone, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Via Flickr:
Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

He was a drummer/musician at the West Valley 25th Annual Pow Wow. I wish I knew more about him. I didn’t have a chance to talk to him. He was resplendent, ominous, and intriging, and I had a dozen questions in my mind I wanted to ask him.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 80-200@ 135mm| f4.5| 1/1000 sec| ISO 800| Manual Priority| Hand-held

Moonrise in Yosemite National Park

Posted in California, Landscapes, Nikon, PhotographyTagged , , , , 2 Comments

Via Flickr:
Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Please click on photo to view  it larger, and then if you’d like to view  it on black once in the larger screen mode press L on your keyboard. It looks better I think.

My flickr contact Lynne said she’d like to see this in Black and white. That got me thinking about it, and then I began to play. Finally I’ve come up with something I like. What do you think Woman?

Single frame; Nikon D700: Nikkor 80-200mm @200mm| f10| 1/200 sec| ISO200| Manual Priority| Tripod w/cable release

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