Category: Uncategorized

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
No green thumb am I. No, I planted a Hydrangea bush many years ago and I thought it died after the first winter. I had mentioned to a dear friend Jeannie G that I was going to rip it out. She said, "NO! Don’t do that it will come back." Jeannie has a wonderful green thumb and can grow anything so I followed her advice.
Fast forward many, many years…to my utter amazement this plant has flourished without much help from me!
It is a sweet reminder of my dear friend whom I miss very much. Love you Jeannie!

I added a texture to this photo to try and camouflage the bright highlight on the vase. I had the vase on my desk next to the window. I don’t think I was too successful it’s still distracting, but I like the stems and the bit of green for color contrast.

Nikon D300s |Nikkor 18-200mmVR @ 65mm| f5.6| 1/13 sec| ISO 400| Manual Mode| Hand-held

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

I had been looking forward to a good friend coming to town for months. We planned a reunion of sorts. Big Jay, myself, Downhill Dali, Tj, and the Cheeky Monkey spent the day up in Northern CA shooting the landscape then we met some more Photographer friends here for a Night shoot. We arrived early enough to catch both the high tide, and sunset.

The Point Reyes is an abandoned wreck that is quite a tourist attraction in this little town along Hwy 1.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 17-35 mm @ 17mm| f9| 1/60 sec| ISO 200| Manual Mode| Tripod

Inverness, California, Point Reyes National Seashore; Wreck of the Point Reyes

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

I made it up to the Pole this morning in my best time ever. The steady stream of people coming and going so early this morning was amazing. I usually come here during the week when there are a lot fewer people. This is just a small sample of the people up here. The entire area was full of people! See the moon? It’s tiny, but still out.

The wait to get a shot of yourself at the Pole was going to be a long wait so I walked over to the elevation marker and took a self-portrait over there where there were only a few people.

Hike Details:
Time to the top: 1h50m
Total miles hiked- 6.2 – I started from Vineyard at 320 ft.
Total ascent- 2,197 feet
Total time-3 hours!

Nikon D90| Nikkor 17-35@ 20mm| f6.3| 1/1000 sec| ISO 160| Manual Mode| Hand-held

Fremont, California, East Bay Regional Parks; Hiking; Photography

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

I saw this big guy on the Peak Trail on my way down from Mission Peak this morning. It’s the biggest I’ve seen so far this summer, and I just know Dali would liked to have seen and photographed this "kitty"!

It was a great hike. I made it to the Pole in my best time, and I was going up the "The Steep Route".
I do believe going up the PG&E trail with all it’s ups and downs giving me an Interval workout has really paid off. This was without a doubt the best I’ve ever felt going up this mountain.

Hike details:
Time to the top: 1h50m
Total miles hiked- 6.2 – I started from Vineyard at 320 ft.
Total ascent- 2,197 feet
Total time-3 hours!

Peak Trail; Mission Peak Hike; Fremont, California, Nikon D90, Nikkor 17-35mm lens

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Red-Breasted Sapsucker

My first time seeing this bird, and capturing a photo of one too! He was flitting around this trunk in Big Trees State Park on the North Grove trail.

I came up with Downhill Dali to see the Dogwoods in bloom. We were supposed to go with a huge Meet-up on Sat. but rain and T-storms are predicted all week-end canceling it. The forecast is right. It’s been raining since last night.

Nikon D90| Nikkor 80-200mm @200mm| f4.5| 1/50 sec| ISO 500| Tripod

Bird identified using this book:

http://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Field-Guide-America/dp/0792253140/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307217278&sr=1-1

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
I hiked up Mission Peak for a second time in 2 days with a few folks who are also training to hike up Cloud’s Rest this summer. I and 2 others started up the trail about 5:45pm and got as close to Mt. Allison as we could for sunset shots by 8:05
Mt. Allison is 85 ft higher than Mission Peak. The hike is a bit longer too at 3.8miles.
I was slower climbing up last night than I was on Weds. morning. My legs were tired!

We had hoped to shoot star trails while up, but as you see the clouds blew in obstructing our view of the stars. At 10pm we called it a night and headed down. This is my last shot of the night.
The cities are Fremont, and several others that have almost merged into one huge metropolis. Far out to right is Oakland, CA. The little blip of light you see on the mountain are a couple of hikers making their way down from Mission Peak.

Nikon, D300s, Nikkor 17-35mm, Fremont, California, Long exposure, city lights

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

My plans to spend Memorial week-end in Lassen were canceled due to many of the areas being closed because the snow level is still so high.
So,myself, Downhill Dali, and The Cheeky Monkey went to Big Sur for a day.

Hay Stacks, Big Sur, Monterey County, Hwy 1, California, Coast, Pacific Ocean,

Nikon D300s|Nikkor 17-35mm|