California – Page 19 – Circadianreflections Blog

Alpine Glow on Cathedral Peaks and Echo Peaks

September 4, 2012September 4, 2012Posted in California, hikes, Landscapes, Nature, Nikon, Photography, TravelTagged Bands, hiking, John Muir Trail, Nikon D700, Photography, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite WildernessLeave a comment

Myself and 7 other members of a Meet-up group I’m in backpacked to Upper Cathedral Lake in Yosemite Wilderness. for an overnight photography adventure. It’s a 3.5 mile hike starting at 8500 ft, and topping out at 9500ft. I took my Garmin for the stats, but haven’t uploaded it yet.
My legs are dead tired after hauling my body plus 20+ pound pack up there, but it was so worth it!
It’s gorgeous up here. We lucked out it was too cool for mosquitoes. I didn’t get eaten alive at all. There were only a few other campers up here making it really enjoyable considering it was a major holiday week-end in the United States, and the valley was packed with people.

After picking a site to set up our base camp we set up our tents then grabbed our camera equipment and trekked over to the south side of the lake to shoot the sunset. We didn’t get any color in the sky as it stayed flat all afternoon and evening, but the Alpine Glow on the mountain peaks was lovely.

Birthday feast.

August 29, 2012August 29, 2012Posted in California, Nikon, PhotographyTagged baking, birthdays, D700, Home cooking, Lasagna, Nikon, PhotographyLeave a comment

Heman asked me if I would make his favorite entree: lasagna, and his favorite cake; Marble for his birthday. There was no way I would ever refuse. So I spent the day cooking and baking.

I started the red meat sauce first. Once that was simmering I started on the cake:

No one was here to lick the spoon, beaters, or bowl

After I mixed up the yellow cake I held some back to add the chocolate for the marbling.

Once the cake layers cooled I was ready to assemble the two layers, and frost it.

It turned out light, with a wonderful crumb, and very moist.

We like this cake chilled so straight to the frig it went. The red meat sauce was finished so I could assemble the lasagna next.

I use ground beef, a wee bit of ground pork, and 3 cheeses to make this dish. Here’s the second layer.

The house smelled wonderful today and I was really hungry by the time it came bubbling out of the oven,

I served the lasagna with a green salad, garlic bread, and a table Cabernet by BV Coastal Estates,

Heman loved it, and no one left hungry. I think I’ll leave the clean up for a bit and go take a walk. I’m stuffed!

Nikon D700| Nikkor 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 micro

half-the-time lasagne (tuck-shop.com.au)
My Birthday Cake (adrianlupsa.wordpress.com)
You Don’t Need a Special Occasion to Brighten Someone’s Day (berries.com)

Mission Peak via Horse Heaven trail

August 25, 2012Posted in California, hikes, PhotographyTagged Fremont CA, hikes, Mission PeakLeave a comment

Untitled by dmzajac2004 at Garmin Connect – Details.

The Moon and Martian Triangle

August 24, 2012August 24, 2012Posted in Astrophotograhpy, California, PhotographyTagged Astrophotography, Mars, Martian Triangle, Moon, Nikon D700, Photography, Prime lenses, Saturn, SpicaLeave a comment

The Moon and Martian Triangle, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

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

I had to be up rather early for work so I didn’t stray farther than the end of my driveway to take a photograph of the Martian Triangle with the Moon before it set.
If I’m not mistaken above the Moon is Spica, to the right of the Moon is Mars. Above Mars is Saturn. Please tell me if I got that mixed up. Thank you Jackie for telling me about my error. It’s corrected now!

See the “Martian Triangle” in the Sky Tonight! (universetoday.com)
Have You Noticed The Martian Triange In The Sky? (fox41blogs.typepad.com)
Young crescent moon, Spica, Mars and Saturn in August 20 sky (earthsky.org)
Waxing crescent moon, Spica, Saturn and Mars in evening sky (earthsky.org)

Misty Valley

August 19, 2012August 19, 2012Posted in California, Landscapes, Photography, TravelTagged James Longenbach, Landscapes, Nikkor, Nikon D700, Photography, Poetry, Views from the RoadLeave a comment

This poem Mist Valley
by James Longenbach came to my mind when I came across this old photo of mine a few days ago.

At the end of August, when all
The letters of the alphabet are waiting,
You drop a teabag in a cup.
The same few letters making many different words,
The same words meaning different things.

Often you’ve rearranged them on the surface of the fridge.
Without the surface
They’re repulsed by one another.

Here are the letters.
The tea is in your cup.

At the end of August, the mind
Is neither the pokeweed piercing the grass
Nor the grass itself.
As Tony Cook says in The Biology of Terrestrial Mollusks

The right thing to do is nothing, the place
A place of concealment,
And the time as often as possible.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 17-35@26mm| f11| 1/60sec| ISO 200| Manual Priority| Tripod

Swanton Berry Farm

August 17, 2012August 17, 2012Posted in California, Photography, TravelTagged Davenport California, Decay, Nikon, Nikon D700, Old Trucks, Strawberries, Swanton Berry Farm, triptych2 Comments

Swanton Berry Farm, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Full disclosure I bought the cake and not at Swanton’s. I was just fooling around with a triptych idea last month and forgot about it until a Triptych challenge came up in a group I’m in this month. This isn’t eligible as it was taken in late June and July.

Swanton’s Farm is on Hwy 1 in Davenport, CA. It’s been there for as long as I can remember. You can pick your own berries. Inside the store you can buy jams, and fresh berries, and pies and you pay for it on the honor system.

I’m going to miss strawberries when they go out of season. I eat them by the basket full during the summer months.
I only eat fresh fruit and veggies in their true season. The exception is Bananas. Do you?

“Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.” Neil Armstrong

August 11, 2012August 11, 2012Posted in Astrophotograhpy, California, PhotographyTagged Astro-imaging, Astrophotography, D700, Neil Armstrong, Nikon, Perseid Meteor, Prime lensesLeave a comment

My friend Dali and I went out last night to watch and photograph the sky hoping we’d see and capture a meteor or two streaking through the night sky. We saw one huge fire-ball streaking over our heads and I’m going to blend those exposures in the future and share them, but there were a few like this that I was fortunate to capture on film. Do you see the faint one below this big one and sort of center? My camera caught several like that, but I wondered all night if my eyes were playing tricks on me.
The weather was perfect too. It was a lovely night for star-gazing.
The Perseids peak tonight. If you get a chance to go out and watch the sky I recommend it.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 18mm| f3.5| 23 sec| ISO 400| Manual Priority| Tripod

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