Nikon – Page 33 – Circadianreflections Blog

Thursday Doors 39/52

September 29, 2016September 29, 2016Posted in Art, Doors, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nikon, Photography, Thursday DoorsTagged Art, Carved Doors, Door Panel, Nikon, Photography, Thursday Doors48 Comments

For this week’s Thursday Doors I have returned to my NYC trip files to share another ancient door panel from the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art).

The plaque beside the panel says:

Carved Door Panel

Present-day Uzbekistan, Samarquand, Timurid period

(1370-1507), late 15th century

Wood (cypress); carved, with traces of paint

Culture- Islamic

H-82 in (208.3 cm)
W- 30 3/4in (78.1cm)
D-2 1/2in (6.4cm)
Wt. – 127 lbs. (57.6kg)
Made in Present-day Uzbekistan, Samarqand

This door is said to have been found in a secular building in Khokand, in present-day Uzbekistan. The intricate carvings of the interlaced vine scrolls seen here may be compared to similar relief decoration in stone carvings of the fifteenth century and to contemporary manuscript illuminations. The establishment of royal workshops throughout Iran during the fifteenth century fueled a unity of design across media, resulting in the emergence of common regional design vocabularies.

Carved Panel Door

Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5

This post is part of Norm 2.0’s Thursday Doors. If you love doors and would like to see the doors others are posting, or post doors you’ve photographed and join other door lovers from around the world click here.

At the end of Norm’s latest Thursday Door post is a little Blue Link-up/View button click it to be taken to a page with all the links to view all the posts, and add your own if you’re a door enthusiast too.

More to come…

Flight of the Fiery Skipper

September 28, 2016September 27, 2016Posted in Butterflies and Skippers, Nature Photography, Nikon, PhotographyTagged Fiery Skipper, ICM, Impressionist Photography, Insects, Intentional Camera Movement, Nature Photography, Nikon, Skippers, Slow Shutter Speed34 Comments

While #1 Grandson played quietly without me I took advantage and tried to catch up on emails and news at my desktop computer which is near a window that looks out on the backyard. Suddenly in the corner of my eye there was fluttering, and streak of color!

A Fiery Skipper was drinking the nectar from the tiny Lantana peddles! My camera never too far out of reach was in my hands quick as you like, and me making a mad dash for the backyard! Using a strip of lattice work on my patio cover as a blind I quietly positioned myself and took several images of the skipper at its meal. Most were sharp as a tack and show the skipper very well, but today I like this one the most. The movement shows their flightiness, and speed of the Skipper; how quick and nibble they are!

The image has an Impressionistic feel that resonates with my soul just now.

Flight of the Firery Skipper

No doubt in time I’ll be sharing one or two of those sharp as tack images I made, but today let’s be nibble and quick and fly with the Fiery Skipper! 🙂

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5| image made 9/21/2016

More to come…

Plan B is for the Birds

September 26, 2016September 26, 2016Posted in Birds, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Birds of Prey, Insects, National Wildlife Refuge, National Wildlife Refuges in California, Nature, Nature Photography, Nikon, Photography, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, San Jose California Nature Photographer, WildlifeTagged Birds, Birds in the Wild, Deer, Doe, Dragonflies, Ducks, Fawn, Insects, Nature Photography, Night Heron, Nikon, Northern Pintails, Peregrine Falcon, Pied-billed Grebe21 Comments

My original Photography plans for last week-end fell apart mid-week when one of the friends I was going with fell ill. Rather than go anyway which didn’t sit well with me or my friend Theresa we two switched gears and decided to go birding in the Central Valley to see what birds if any had arrived early.

I had read a few reports of early migrants in the area; we hoped to find one or two, and spend some time catching up with each other.

I left for T’s house early (6:30am) so we’d get to the Refuge in the morning when the birds are more active.

We found the first pond completely sans water. Fish and Wildlife have just started filling the ponds we discovered. Many of the ponds we’re used to seeing full of water were bone dry, but it is early in the season!

Just as we were starting the auto-route we spied a Doe and her Fawn in the tall grass. I didn’t get an image of them together. Mom decided her male Fawn was too close to the road and moved to higher grass. Honestly, I think she looks young!

Doe Deer Female

The Fawn has two little adorable antler nubs. Fawn Male

Early arrivals: There were quite a few White-fronted Geese on the little islands in the ponds that had water.

White-fronted Goose

Northern Pintails, and Shovelers are showing up, but I didn’t make any images of the Shovelers they were too far out. You see a Northern Pintail in image above giving me a one wing salute. 🙂

Among the usual suspects here were thousands of Dragonflies,

Dragon Fly

Pied-billed Grebes

Pied-billed Grebe

Night Herons; most were deep in the foliage, but one was on Sentry duty,

Night Heron

We saw a female Harrier flying low in the distance hunting, a few Red-tail Hawks, and as we approached the tree the Bald Eagles hang out in there we saw there was a Peregrine Falcon perched on a snag surveying the land.

Once the Eagles return I doubt we’ll be seeing this Falcon in this tree. 🙂

Plan B turned out to be a great day, and it was lovely hanging out with Theresa. You can find her images on flickr here.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm VR| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5

More to come…

Thursday Doors 38/52 West Cliff Inn

September 22, 2016September 21, 2016Posted in Architecture, Nikon, Photography, Thursday DoorsTagged Historic Buildings, Italianate style architecture, Lynch House Santa Cruz CA, Nikon, Photography, Santa Cruz California, Thursday Doors, West Cliff Inn39 Comments

After photographing the Harvest Moon (image here) last Friday night I was walking up the hill to the car when I couldn’t help but notice, and remark how lovely the West Cliff Inn looked all lit up, and her transom window over the entry door looked lovely too.

My friend replied, “There’s your next door!”. Don’t you love friends that support our thing for doors? I do! 🙂

West Cliff Inn/Lynch House Santa Cruz, CA

West Cliff Inn- Lynch House

For the History Buffs:

“Most of those who descended on California during the Gold Rush never struck it rich. One exception was prospector Sedgewick Lynch, a carpenter-turned-49er who made his fortune in the gold fields, then made his way to Santa Cruz. Lynch continued to use his carpentry skills; he built the original Santa Cruz wharf, among other local projects.

In 1877, Lynch built his family manse on a bluff with a commanding view of the ocean, just a short walk from the lighthouse. The Lynch House was among the town’s most prominent residences, constructed for the then-startlingly high cost of $12,000. The house was initially the only home on the cliff, but by the turn of the century, similarly grand neighbors joined it, giving birth to the nickname “Millionaires’ Row.”

Over the next hundred years, the Lynch House morphed from family home to hospital, to office space and vacation rental. By 2004, it was dilapidated. But the Italianate Grand Dame of West Cliff Drive was in luck; the new owners wanted to save the historic property, so they undertook a complete renovation to the building.

Four Sisters Inn’s President Shelley Post collaborated on every phase of the rehabilitation project, and her strong knowledge of what guests want influenced many design decisions. For example, soaking in a large tub after a long day at the beach is on Shelley’s list of favorite things, which is why almost every room soon had a deep soaking tub.

Work began in 2004, and by June of 2007, the Lynch House was as beautiful as ever, ready to welcome Santa Cruz visitors under her new name: Four Sisters Inns.”~westcliffinn.com

~westcliffinn.com

I remember when the house was looking quite run down. I am so happy it was restored and converted to a B&B and preserved as an Historical Landmark in 2007. It looks beautiful today.

Nikon Df| Nikkor 20mm f/1.8G| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5

More to come…

September’s Harvest Moon

September 18, 2016Posted in Moon, Moonrise, Nikon, Photography, Santa Cruz CA, Walton LighthouseTagged After Dark Photography, Harvest Moon, Moon, Moonrise, Night Photography, Nikon, Photography, Santa Cruz California, Walton Lighthouse34 Comments

A friend and I went over the hill to Santa Cruz, CA this month to photograph the Moon rising above Walton Lighthouse. We both really like having water in the image, and pretty foregrounds.

We knew there wouldn’t be much time to shoot since the Moon would need time to climb to get above the Lighthouse, and it’s getting dark earlier.

When we got out of the car and looked at the horizon and lighthouse we groaned. There was a thick band of fog just sitting on the horizon. We wouldn’t see the Moon until it got above that! Time wouldn’t be on our side.

The sun had set and the sky was getting darker…finally I saw the top of the Moon above the fog bank.

Harvest Moon 2016

The Moon got high enough for me to make it out almost completely.

2016 Harvest Moon

It finally got out of the Fog only to be obscured again. I tried to get a few more images, but it was getting too dark to keep the foreground in the image, and I wanted that. I was also a bit frustrated with the wind, and shaking from the passing cars which shook my rig, and the pier I was photographing from. I deleted quite a few blurry images.

The color of the Moon was gorgeous though, and it was big being so close to the horizon. It would have looked much larger when it was just above that tree line if I could have seen it then. Maybe next month. 🙂

“The September Moon is called the Harvest Moon or Corn Moon because this is the time to finish harvesting the corn and other crops before Winter. The bright moonlight gives farmers a little extra time to harvest their crops before the first day of Fall. “~sfgate.com

Nikon Df| Nikkor 200-500mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5

More to come…

Thursday Doors 37/52

September 15, 2016September 15, 2016Posted in Manhattan, Museums, New York, Nikon, Photography, Thursday's DoorsTagged Ancient Doors, Beveled Style Doors, Carved Doors 9th Century, History, Manhattan, Metropolitan Museum of Art NYC, Museums, New York, Nikon, Photography, Thursday Doors33 Comments

I didn’t get out on a Doorscursion this week so I’ve dug into my NYC trip files to post a door from my May 2016 trip.

One of the “must do” places we visited was the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art) there I spied many doors on display!

Here’s one I photographed:

Pair of Carved Doors in the Beveled Style: 9th Century

Information from the MET regarding the pair:

“This carved pair (with 31.119.2) of teak doors imported into Iraq from Southeast Asia is probably from a royal or domestic residence. They epitomize the Beveled style—a symmetrical, abstract, vegetal form—and were probably originally painted and highlighted with gilding. The doors are said to have been found at Takrit, but were probably originally made in Samarra, the palace city of the Abbasid caliphs for a brief time in the mid‑ninth century.”

Carved Doors 9th Century

I loved finding ancient doors in the Museum. It was nice to know that there have been door lovers for a long, long time, and some thought to save this lovely pair. 🙂

Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5

More to come…

Trailhead to the Stars

September 11, 2016September 11, 2016Posted in Astro Photography, Night Photography, Night Sky, Night Sky Imaging, Nikon, Photography, Star Trails, Starry NightTagged Astrophotography, Marin County, Mt Tamalpias, Nikon, Photography, San Francisco Bay Area, Star Gazing, Star Trails, Starry Sky38 Comments

Last night I met Gordon, and some other friends in a Meet-Up group we’re in up on Mt. Tamilpias in Marin County to photograph the sunset, and then image the night sky.

There was an Astrology lecture in the Amphitheater so the park was open much later than it normally is which allowed us to stay late. YEAH! Normally the park closes a bit after sunset.

This is 74 frames stacked in PS CC 2015.5.

4 planes, and one shooting star flew through the sky while I was imaging. I didn’t see the shooting star at the time as I was looking away helping a friend with her settings and intervalometer. I was thrilled to see I caught it on film though.

It was a lovely night, not windy, or cold, and the company was great!

Nikon Df| Nikkor 20mm f/1.8G| Delkin Digital Film

More to come…

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