Category: Photography

Gray Flycatcher

Posted in birding, Birds, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Flycatcher, Nature, Nature Photography, Photography, San Jose California Nature Photographer, Santa Clara County BirdingTagged , , , , , , , , , , , 22 Comments

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I went birding on both Saturday and Sunday this past week-end hoping to find two birds I’d never seen or photographed before. I got lucky with really good looks on the first bird on my list: The Gray Flycatcher.  A “lifer” for me!

Gray Flycatcher

There were other birders there looking for the same bird which made the experience more fun and exciting. It also helped to have several pairs of eyes, and ears on the lookout.

Gray flycatcher

It’s migrating south, and this one is further west than it’s regular migration route.

Gray Flycatcher

He was pretty far away from me, and in the shadows of the trees so I boosted my ISO to keep up my shutter speed to prevent blurring, and these images are cropped.

Sunday I went back to look for the second bird on my list, but I was not successful.  I’ll have another go this week-end if I hear it’s still in the area.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Professional Digital Film| Tripod|

Note to self- take the bug spray! I got eaten alive by mosquitoes!

More to come…

 

Draw-a-Bird Day Anna’s Hummingbird

Posted in Anna's Hummingbird, Art, Bird Art, Create Art Everyday, Fine Art, Pen & Wash Watercolor, Photography, Watercolor, Watercolor PaintingTagged , , , , , , , 34 Comments

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

How neat that Draw-a-Bird Day falls on Mother’s Day in the US this month. I hope all Mothers everywhere have a wonderful day!

For this month’s Draw-a-Bird Day I painted an Anna’s Hummingbird.

Watercolor- Anna's Hummingbird

Not without much trial and error though. This is my 4th attempt. The first 3 have been shredded.  I couldn’t get the proportion right; it was too short, too fat, too long, or too thin.

After talking to Myriam  about my trials with it she asked me if I had used a ruler or my grid? I hadn’t.  On this last try I used the ole pencil ruler trick and got a lot closer to what I wanted in terms of size and proportion.  Thank you Myriam!

I’ve been following watercolor artist Alan Owen on Youtube for quite awhile, and he always adds a matte board frame to his piece on completion, and the work that looked great before the matte frame looks more like art with it. I tucked that thought away to get some matte boards.  Lately fellow blogger Jodi over at lifeinbetween.me  has been adding a matte board frame to the work she shares and it just looks terrific. I went over  to the art store early this week and finally bought a few to see how my bird watercolor pieces look.  I like the way it looks. It dresses it up. 🙂  He-Man said I need to get frames now and hang them. We’ll see.

My muse for this Anna’s Hummingbird is an image I made in March this year.

Anna's Hummingbird Female perched on a branch

Myriam thought it would make a wonderful subject for a drawing or painting. I think so too.

This is part of Draw-a-Bird Day over at Laura’s Createartevery.com . To see all the bird art posted today click here.  Scroll down to the comments to see the links to all the posts shared this month. 

To read the original story of how Draw-a-Bird Day got started click here

Images- Nikon Df| Delkin Digital Film| Nikkor 105mm & 200-500mm lenses| PS CC 2015

More to come…

Thursday Doors 18/52 Historic Alviso Revisited

Posted in Alviso CA, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Doors, Nature, Photography, Santa Clara County, Shorebirds, Thursday Doors, Urban DecayTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 28 Comments

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I went out to Alviso, CA this past week to look for a Little Stint which is a shorebird, and very rare to this area.  I didn’t see the Little Stint unfortunately, but  I did see a neat rusty, and sagging door at the old Bayside Canning Company. This Canning Company has been closed since 1936.  I blogged a little about the Canning Co. & town here.

Rusty Door- Photography

The city is letting the buildings decay, and they are currently being used by the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory. 

The Little Stint has been hanging around the Western Sandpipers, and I did see some that were close to me. Sadly the Little Stint wasn’t hanging out with this group.

Western Sandpipers- Photography

There are deck walkways that take you right across the top of the marsh and you leave

the deck via a  facade like doorway to the levy’s that surround the ponds. You can walk around these or just gaze at the view.   Back in September 2009 I happened to be there early in the evening for Golden Hour; it was gorgeous.

Alviso Golden Hour Fall 2009

Top two images- Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015

Bottom Image- Nikon D90| Nikkor 70-300mm VR| SanDisk Digital Film| PS CC 2015

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…

 

 

 

What’s Blooming?

Posted in California Wildflowers, Close Up Photograhy', Flower Photography, Macro Photography, Nature Photography, Nikon DF, Photography, Santa Clara County, White Yarrow, WildflowersTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , 18 Comments

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.

White Yarrow Image

Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm + Canon 500D Close-Up lens| Delkin Digital Film

More to come…

 

 

Happy May Day!

Posted in California Wildflowers, Diablo Mountain Range, Macro Photography, May Day, Photography, Santa Clara County, SunflowersTagged , , , , , , , , , , 22 Comments

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.

Lensbaby w/soft focus optic- Flower

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…

Sunset on Mt Diablo Range

Posted in California, Landscape Photography, Landscapes, Nature Photography, Nikon DF, Oak Trees, Photography, Santa Clara CountyTagged , , , , , , , , , , 30 Comments

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.

Landscape Photography

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…

 

 

Thursday Doors 17/52 Sveadal

Posted in Architecture, California, Photography, Sveadal, Swedish American Patriotic League, Thursday DoorsTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , 23 Comments

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. 🙂

Swedish Architecture-Photography

…Nº D10 

Swedish Architecture-Photography

Shed Door– the rust and mold caught my eye. It gives the door more character I think.

Sveadal Shed

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.

Swedish Architecture-Photography

I also love the patina on the fence in front of Nº 6. I wonder what metal it is made of? Iron?

Metal Fence Patina

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?

Carved house from tree stump

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…