Category: Landscapes

In the Face of the Sun

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Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
“To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.”
~ Langston Hughes-Dream Variations Sunrise over Lick Observatory San Jose California Last week on the 21st of March several friends and I rose before dawn to meet to photograph the Crescent Moon rising over Mt. Hamilton, and James Lick Observatory in San Jose, CA.

We also knew that shortly after the Moon rose the sun would also rise over
Mt. Hamilton, and the observatory, but we needed to change our location
to get the angle right. Arriving at our chosen place; a wide open field that once was a neighborhood, long torn down;

the only reminders were the scars of streets, foundations, and the trees, shrubs, and grass which dripped with morning dew.

We walked carefully through it avoiding the holes that housed the Gophers who reside there now until we found just the angle that faced the Rising Sun.

We set up our tripods, camera gear, and we donned special armor this day; a filter to protect and shield our sensors, and eyes.

Then we waited and watched the brightening sky for the first little glimmer of the golden halo that announces the rising morning star!
Blended double processed frame + 1
Nikon D700 & D300s| Nikkor 80-200mm + Tamron 1.4x Extender
How I made it
When I took the photograph I used a Solar filter which protected my camera’s sensor, and my eyes.
This is what it looks like RAW from my camera. I really like all the foliage in silhouette, but I knew in order to recover the color
of the sun I would lose all that detail.
I wanted a finished photograph that included the silhouetted foliage, and color in the sun.
To do that I would have to blend or combine at least 2 frames. I made a copy of the negative above then uploaded that into my photo editing software Lightroom 4.
Then I removed all the color and silhouetted foliage in order to recover the sun’s color.
Once that was done I had this frame. I made another copy of my original negative then uploaded both it,
and the edited negative above into Photoshop CS5 where using layer masks I blended the two frames together.
It was pretty, but I thought it lacked something to make the composition balanced, and a bit more interesting so I added a Golden Eagle.
A photo I had taken back in January of this year. I cloned out the sun flare spot, and added my copyright signature et Voila! Fini!
My companions that morning have published their photos from the morning which
you can see by following the links here, here, here,and here,

An Ice Plant Sunset

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

I decided to spend the night in Santa Cruz the night before shooting the Moonset at Pigeon Point Lightstation. I would be able to sleep in an extra 40 minutes. Which meant I could sleep until 3:45AM and only drive 30 minutes to my shooting location, and I would get to spend some time with my friend Rainey.  We met at the University of Santa Cruz Arboretum to photograph the Allen’s Hummingbirds that return each February to the succulent garden at the Arboretum. They are so cute, and very active. This guy hardly stayed still 2 seconds together.  He looked kind of cross about me taking his photo a few times. You don’t suppose he’s sticking his tongue out at me do you?

We stayed at the Arboretum until closing time then we went to Vasili’s Greek Restaurant on Mission Blvd. for dinner. We shared an order of SPANIKOPITA: Spinach and Feta Cheese Baked in a Filo Dough Triangle which was served with fresh sliced lemon to squeeze over the warm filo triangles, and an order of KEFTETHAKIA: Greek Meatballs. These were served sitting in a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil, and garlic vinaigrette.  These were to die for! We both wished we had ordered these for our entrée.

We both ordered the HORIATIKI SALATA for our entrée.  A salad of  Capers, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Bell Peppers, Red Onions, Feta Cheese, Pepperoncini & Greek Olives, tossed with a light vinaigrette and topped with a slice of fresh French bread for dipping into the vinaigrette. They offer 2 sizes small and large. The small was  more than plenty.

Neither one of us had room for dessert. I will definitely be returning to Vasili’s.

From here we went over the Natural Bridge State Beach to shoot the sunset. (See 1st photo) After the sun went down, and the color faded we began to pack up and call it a night, when a woman who parked in the spot next to me asked,” Are you taking photos of that thing in the sky? What is it?” I looked up and saw what looked like a rocket streaking across the sky heading southwest with a long contrail then at that moment something broke off the contrail and it fell toward the sea.

and the end of the contrail with the little piece falling off …

Then it just disappeared. Poof. It burned up. A meteorite? Space junk? We have no idea. There was nothing in the paper. Perhaps it was  just a flare? It made for an interesting end to our afternoon and evening.

Rainey and I went for a coffee, then said good-night  as we both had early wake-up calls. Her’s for work, mine for a Moonset.

Santa Cruz, California, Natural Bridges State Beach, Nikon D700| Nikkor 17-35mm & 80-200mm| Induro Tripod| Dinner photo taken with my iphone

 

 

Winter Yosemite February 2012

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

This is a very popular photo spot in Yosemite National Park,and while here to shoot the Horsetail Fall annual event we stopped here. A companion whom I drove up with had never been to Yosemite before so this was a “must see” stop for him. Even though I missed the snow in valley, I have to admit the colors, and textures here were marvelous.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 18mm Ai-S| f16| 1/30 sec| ISO 200| Manual mode| Tripod|

Horsetail Fall II

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

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

I was fortunate enough to have the time free to be able to return to Yosemite for another chance of seeing Horsetail Fall light up on Thurs. Feb. 23, 2012.

This event though possible each year isn’t guaranteed. All the elements and conditions must come together to see it.

On Thurs. the sky was blue and clear. I hoped it stayed that way right up until sunset.

This trip was an encore to the trip here February 18, 2010 to see Horsetail Fall light up. I’m in several Photography related Meet-up groups and I went up with several photographers from one of these groups.

14 photographers from a Bay Area Meet-up made it this year. I rose at 12:01AM on Thurs the 23rd then dressed, ate a light snack, got my gear in the car and left at 2:30AM to meet 2 companions 30 minutes away. From there we were to car-pool to Livermore an hour away to meet several more photographers. Then we car-a-vanned to Yosemite.  We arrived at our first shooting location in the park before 8 A.M.

There we started photographing in the cold 32 degree morning at Swinging Bridge. We weren’t alone. Down on the river we ran into Michael Frye and 3 of his students who also decided to get an early jump on the day.

From here we went to several well-known and wonderful spots in the park where we spied a Coyote catching a vole, and  the view from Tunnel View never disappoints. Some of my companions saw and photographed a Bobcat! I’m sorry I missed that. I was in a car ahead of them and missed it completely.

Mid afternoon we made our way over to our ” secret spot” to photograph we hoped the sun hitting Horsetail Fall.

We didn’t expect anyone to be in this spot. It’s not well-known. We arrived to find it as expected empty. We fanned out and set up our cameras, tripods, trail stools, and some stretched out on the soft pine needles and took a nap.

About an hour later a lone man slowly walked by nodded and kept walking. 20 minutes later he came back with his camera and tripod.

20 minutes later out of the trees came Michael Frye and his 3 students. His face was full of surprise to find such a large group there already.

A little later another lone man emerged from the trees with his camera and tripod. There were about 20 people there by then.

Right on time the light on the cliff face began to change and the show was on. All joking and talking stopped as we jumped into action and soon all you heard was the soft beeps of camera AF motors, and shutters clicking. Once in a while I heard Michael giving his students a direction or making a comment. Then right before the color reached its peak a couple came walking up and sat down to watch the last few minutes of the phenomenon.

At the peak there was a spray of mist or perhaps evaporation that could be seen fanning out from the cliff face that added a wonderful glow to the show.

As you see there’s very little snow up there. We were really lucky this year to see this.

Because the sky was clear the whole mountain had a glow so I framed more of El Capitan to capture it. In less than 10 minutes it faded completely so it was time to pack up.

Isn’t it wonderful how something can look so different from day-to-day. My  photograph taken on Tues. Feb. 21, 2012 is here.

It was a day filled with laughter, adventure, good people to hang out with, and at the end of the day Mother Nature’s light show was the Pièce de résistance.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 80-200@ 105mm| f16| 0.4 sec| ISO 160| Manual Mode| Tripod w/timer| Circular Polarizer

Related articles

Horsetail Fall 2012 Nature’s Gifts

Posted in California, Landscapes, Nature, Nikon, Photography, TravelTagged 5 Comments

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

Copyright © 2012 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved

Each February there is a possibility for a fantastic natural light show in Yosemite National Park at a waterfall called Horsetail Fall. The conditions have to be just right to see this phenomenon.  There must be a clear sky with sun shining, and there must be water flowing in the fall. If these conditions exist during a two week window in February the setting sun shines its rays directly on Horsetail Fall lighting  up the water so it looks like lava flowing down the cliff face. With so little rain and  only a few snow storms this year there hasn’t been much to melt or water flowing in Horsetail fall.  As we got closer to the date this phenomenon is possible it seemed doubtful that there would be much of a show this year. Fortunately late in Jan. and early February we had a couple of snow storms in the Sierras making it likely there would be something worth driving up to see if  we had a sunny day with little to no clouds during the window of opportunity.

Yesterday the clouds showed clearing, it was fairly warm, and it was predicted to be the Peak day for the sun to light up the fall in the 2 week window, so myself and two friends went to Yosemite to see if it would happen.  Last year I went but the clouds moved in right before the sun set and blocked the sun so it was a non event. I went two times last year and it didn’t happen either time  I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case this year. The last time I witnessed the phenomenon was in February 2010.

Driving into the valley we saw signs of melting snow all along the roads, and the sky had some clouds, but the sun was lighting up the mountains and cliff faces so we had high hopes we’d see it this year. Arriving at our chosen spot we set up our tripods and cameras then waited for sunset and hoped the sky stayed clear. We were thrilled to find very few people already there. We were expecting a large crowd of photographers. The large crowd never materialized. There were about 50 photographers and spectators in all. A really small crowd compared to previous years I’ve been there for this event.  There was one family whose teenage girls found a fallen tree to sit  on, and throw rocks into the Merced River and be…girls giggling and talking “girl stuff” just above and behind me. After 30 minutes or so I overheard one young girl say, ” You mean we drove all this way just to sit and watch a rock!” I can’t tell you how hard it was for me not to die laughing! I bet she thought we were nuts!

There was just a thin stream of water flowing, but when the last rays of daylight hit the fall it began…slowly the water began to glow gold then gradually it got redder and redder peaking in just 5 minutes then it  began to fade. It was over in less than 10 minutes. Like Christmas and Fourth of July fireworks you don’t want it to end, but end it does and all too quickly!

The weather is getting warmer so there may be more water running by the week-end. I am planning to go again. Can it be prettier and more magical than this? …we’ll see.
Nikon D700| Nikkor 80-200mm@ 145mm| f8| 1.0 sec| ISO 200| Tripod|

Pigeon Point Bluff Sunrise

Posted in California, Landscapes, Nature, Nikon, Photography, TravelTagged Leave a comment

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

The window next to my computer faces south. Running east to west are the Santa Cruz mountains. On the other side lies the Pacific Ocean.  All this week just before sunrise the southern sky has had some beautiful color so I decided to get up early to drive over the hill to Pigeon Point for the sunrise.  There were clouds in the sky which gave me hope that this morning would be another beautiful sunrise.

This morning just before the sun rose over the mountains this is what it looked like:

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

I wasn’t disappointed. This was worth getting up early and driving 47 miles to see.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 17-35 @35mm| f22| 0.3 sec| ISO 200| Manual Mode| Tripod