“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” ― Eudora Welty
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
White Yarrow- from a quick hike Sunday morning. I went early while the wind was calm. I was the only person on the trail both going and coming. It was wonderful having the hills to myself for just a little while.
Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm + Canon 500D Close-Up lens| Delkin Digital Film
More to come…
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I don’t have a May lily to share today, but I do have a sunny Narrow-leaf Mule’s ear. I made this image up in the mountains above Santa Clara Valley last Sunday evening.
I hope you’re all having a wonderful May Day, and week-end.
Nikon Df| LensBaby Composer Pro w/soft focus optic + 8mm macro converter| Delkin Digital Film| Hand-held
More to come…
Copyright © 2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I went for a short hike Sunday evening with friends, and found it super cold and windy up in the mountains above the valley floor. There were so many beautiful wildflowers up there, but it was so windy I only made a few images of flowers. Macro photography and wind just don’t play nice with each other.
Nothing to do then, but find a composition and wait for Golden Hour, and hope that the clouds that rolled in don’t block up the sun and we get some color.
My fingers got so cold I couldn’t feel the heat from my hand warmers, and I was having trouble feeling my shutter button. After Golden Hour myself and a friend called it and started back down the hill to the car. About halfway down the colors in the sky popped. I had to stop to photograph it.
I hiked down pretty fast after the sun sunk behind the mountains, and once in my car I cranked the heater as high as it would go, and waited for another friend who drove up with me. She and several others braved the cold and wind further up the trail.
I’m glad I didn’t hike back to the car earlier. I would have missed this!
Nikon Df| Nikkor 17-35mm| Delking Digital Film| Tripod| PS CC 2015 & On1 Photo 10| Single exposure
More to come…
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I’m dipping into my archives for my post to Thursday Doors this week because I didn’t get any images of pretty or interesting doors this past week.
Sveadal located in Morgan Hill, Ca is a little Swedish village that one must pass through to get to a popular Santa Clara County Park called Uvas Canyon. I pass through this village when I go looking for waterfalls in Winter.
“In 1926, the Swedish American Patriotic League purchased 110 acres of beautiful mountain property for a potential retirement home that soon evolved into a summer resort. It has a beautiful Clubhouse, recreational facilities including a swimming pool, tennis courts, playground, ball field, picnic and camp grounds, two creeks and two outdoor dance floors. There are 49 private cabins and 10 rental units. ” ~Sveadal.org
This past January while on my out of the area after photographing waterfalls, and little cascades here, I stopped to make some images of the doors in the village.
Nº D10– I really like the shape of the rails, and color scheme of this cabin right down to the delicate white curtains. The listing awning over the French Doors with its shingles covered in moss is also quite charming I think. 🙂
…Nº D10
Shed Door– the rust and mold caught my eye. It gives the door more character I think.
Nº D6-The scalloped trim on the portico, the panel door, the 9 paned windows with their shear white curtains, and the smoke stack…this is where I’d like to be tucked with my camera, a good book, plenty of tea, wine, food that isn’t fussy or too complicated to prepare, and He-Man, and Diva Dog for the week-end.
I also love the patina on the fence in front of Nº 6. I wonder what metal it is made of? Iron?
Apparently Fairies, or Hobbits live here. Unfortunately, not one Fairy or Hobbit answered the door. I love this and want one in my yard. I wonder what the story is behind it? Is this a tradition I wonder?
For the History buffs I will let Ted Olsson’s speech given on the 100th Anniversary of the Swedish American Patriotic League speak to that here.
There’s a bit more to see here, and I’m sure more than a few hidden gems. I hope to find those in future trips back to the area.
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, or add your own.
Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015
More to come…
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Saturday a girl-friend and I went hiking up in the hills about an hour northeast from home. We were on the hunt for Spring wildflowers. We hiked just over 5 miles and saw so many beautiful flowers at peak bloom.
Spring and Winter Vetch, rose clover, and small head clover are abundant up there. It was lovely to see carpets of colors this year. What to show you first? I’ll start here 🙂
This little cluster is not much bigger than my pinky fingernail. I haven’t identified it yet. It’s not in any of my reference books. It’s a new flower for me.
Bee fly on Milk Thistle. I love Thistle.
After hiking downstream a mile and quarter we hiked back and headed to Little Yosemite Gorge and Fall. There are several places to stop to take photos of the little rapids; we stopped at one after going up to the Fall which was packed with kids and adults climbing over the rocks and wading in the pools at the bottom of the cascades. We didn’t spend much time there. I need to head there first next time.
Bellardia- another new wildflower on my list. I think the rains awakened seeds long dormant. It was so exciting seeing new flowers this year.
and one last one for today…Elegant Clarkia. I haven’t seen this for several years. Isn’t it beautiful!
I went on a little hike Sunday night too and found more wildflowers. It was really windy and cold so I didn’t take too many images of the flowers. I hope to get back up there when the wind dies down. It was a good week-end for me exercise and photography wise. I hope you all had a great week-end, and your week has started off good too!
Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm macro lens + Canon 500D Close-Up lens| Delkin Digital Film| Hand-held and tripod| PS CC 2015
Lens choice reasoning- Since I would be hiking uphill, and a distance for 5+ miles I wanted to keep my gear to a minimum, because I had to carry extra water just in case. The place we were hiking didn’t have potable water, and I didn’t want to pack my water filter. I carried 32 ounces of water, my tripod, 5 filters, and my Canon 500D close up lens, my LensBaby, and a few other items I felt were necessary. Having a light weight macro lens option was my old Nikkor 28-105mm micro lens. It gives the ability to shoot both macro and landscapes which is a perfect solution for what I like to photograph when hiking. It’s not a true 1:1 macro lens rather it’s 1:2, but with my 500D attached I can get closer to 1:1. I realize I’m compromising image quality doing this, but with good technique, and post development I hope to make up for some of that.
Keeping my pack weight down on longer hikes is much more comfortable and enjoyable for me and worth the compromise.
More to come…
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Killdeer-
The Killdeer is a year round resident in California, and gets its name from the shrill, wailing kill-deer call it makes. I love their big eyes.
Happy Earth Day!
Nikon D300s| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015|
More to come…
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
In W.R. Hearst’s heyday of the 20’s and 30’s he would invite many of Hollywood elite to “come to the Ranch and ride with me.” Some of the famous who stayed there are:
Winston Churchill, Howard Hughes, Charlie Chaplin, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Cary Grant, Mary Pickford, David Niven, and Jean Harlow but, many more influential and famous people stayed there as well.
Hearst had rules that must be followed or you’d be asked to leave. Our guide said if you were asked to leave you weren’t invited back!
The Rules: “No drunkenness, no bad language or off-color jokes and, above all, no sexual intercourse between unmarried couples.”
Unmarried couples had to stay in a room with two beds. Each room had a bathroom.
On our tour of the upper floors we saw several of these lavish guest rooms.
Guest Rm II Door
Guest Room door detail
Guest Room II- A dinner suit laid out for a guest on the bed as it would have been in the 20’s and 30’s. Hearst did serve beer, and wine our guide told us, but it wasn’t allowed in the guest rooms, and neither was food.
Guest Room Door III
Guest Room III- these rooms were off a narrow hallway on the north side of the Castle. We climbed a very narrow circular staircase to reach them. The windows of the guest rooms faced East. The artwork, and lamps, and furnishings were gorgeous.
The separate sleeping beds for unmarried couples was a bit hypocritical of Hearst considering he lived in the Castle with his long time Mistress Hollywood actress, and ex-showgirl Marion Davies.
This door was in the North Bell Tower .
Nikon Df| Nikkor 24-70mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015| Hand-held
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, or add your own.
More to come…
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