Tag: California

Rice Silos of Central Valley

Posted in Agriculture, California, Nikon, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , 13 Comments

Copyright © 2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS  RESERVED

While in Central Valley CA. a couple of weeks ago birding I also made a point of stopping to photograph these silos in the late afternoon light.

Rice Silos Central California

I’m  enamored with silos and the reflection was particularly nice at this time of day.

It was the tail end of the Rice harvest while I was there, and there were harvesters in the fields, and many semi-trucks driving to the Silos to deliver their loads.

In the shadow  under the Silos there’s a semi, and its driver who spied me and my girl-friend making images of the silos…he scooted behind his rig. There really was no need though. I could barely see him with my eyes! 🙂

I hope you all have a lovely week-end!

Nikon Df| Nikkor 17-35mm| Delkin Digital Film

More to come…

 

 

Thursday Doors 40/52

Posted in Architecture, Doors, Nikon, Photography, Thursday DoorsTagged , , , , , , , 25 Comments

Copyright © 2016 Deborah M. Zajac  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I can’t believe how fast this week has flown by! Thursday sort of snuck up on me so I’ve reached into my “walks around the neighborhood” files for this week’s Thursday Doors post.  Although, this particular neighborhood is the hilly one I stretch my legs in and a 10 minute drive from my “hood”.

N°12359

I confess the beautiful brick work, and topiary caught my eye before the door did.

N°12359

a look at the front of the house,

N°12359

Writing this up my spell checker didn’t like the word “snuck”. It likes sneaked better, but I don’t say sneaked in this sense…so, I looked it up to see if I’ve been saying the past tense of sneak wrong my whole life.   Apparently, I’m not alone and a lot of people say snuck, but I’d be correct using the word sneaked.

I think I’ll just leave it as an irregular verb and say snuck, and ponder it awhile as I’m writing this in the wee hours of the morning without my brain stimulating cup-a-tea. 🙂

What do you say; sneaked, or snuck?

Nikon Df| Nikkor 24-120mm| Delkin Digital Film

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…

 

 

 

Thursday Doors 32/52 Little Red Riding Hood’s Grandmother’s House

Posted in Legoland California, Nikon, Photography, Thursday Doors, U. S. Theme ParksTagged , , , , , , , 19 Comments

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Daughter and I took #1 Grandson to Legoland California this week. We spent 3 days visiting the park. It was a first time visit for us, and we all really enjoyed it.

I didn’t get a door post scheduled before I left which means I’m late this week with my post, but I want to get my post out in the week thereof. 🙂

I hoped there would be an interesting door or two and there were!

What luck on the Fairy Land Cruise we spied Little Red Riding Hood knocking on Grandmother’s Door! Grandmother's House Door

When she got inside she noticed that Grandmother had changed since her last visit! But, my oh my Grandmother, what BIG CUPBOARD doors you have! 🙂

Grandmother's House Legoland California

I don’t know how many Lego bricks it took to make Little Red Riding Hood, or the Big Bad Wolf, and a few other pieces in this set, but it and the other builds are incredible!

I have more doors, but will save them for another post.

If you’d like to see other doors posted this week click here. That link will take you over our Thursday Doors host Norm Frampton’s Thursday  Door page.

Nikon Df| Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 VR -rental lens| Delkin Digital Film

I’m really, really behind with emails and reading posts. I’ll be catching up this week!

More to come…

Sunflowers

Posted in Agriculture, Flowers, Nikon, PhotographyTagged , , , , , 20 Comments

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I went with a group of friends to Central Valley Sunday to photograph Sunflowers which are at peak right now.  The fields of yellow are quite beautiful.

Sunflowers

The flowers were facing east…anticipating the sunrise perhaps. They were back-lit so, I used my flash to open up the shadows, and keep the sky blue.

These don’t look like they’re the type of Sunflower that produces seeds, and they’re not very tall. Perhaps this crop is used to make cooking oil or feed crop? I’m just guessing though.

Nikon Df| Nikkor 24-70mm| SB600| Delkin Digital Film

More to come…

 

Thursday Doors 26/52: N°1005

Posted in Architecture, Cowboys, Event Photography, Horses, Nikon DF, Photography, San Benito County Rodeo, Thursday DoorsTagged , , , , , , , , , , 30 Comments

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Wow, this week is the halfway point for my year commitment to posting a door a week on Norm Frampton’s Thursday Doors! This year is just flying by!

While I was at the Rodeo last week-end hanging around the stables photographing competitions, and candid portraits I noticed the stable doors, so of course this week I’m sharing Stable Doors and a very shy horse.

N°1005 -I couldn’t get this horse to stick its head out the door for the life of me! I think I needed to have a carrot or sugar cube instead of a camera.

I do love the bits and pieces hanging from the opened half of the door.

Stable Door 1005

…a close up of the latch,

Stable Door Hardware

A Cowboy practicing his ropin’ in front of a Stable Door N°1022

Practice makes Perfect

Lassoing a dummy cow/bull in front of a Stable Door N°1022

Practice makes Perfect II

…and this blond beauty at N°1002 wasn’t shy about poking its head, and nose out to find out what the heck all the clicking was about. 🙂

Copyright © Deborah M. Zajac ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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.

Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm & 80-200mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5| Hand-held

More to come…

Thursday Doors 20/52 Worn and Weathered

Posted in Architecture, Barns, Nikon, Photography, Thursday DoorsTagged , , , , , , , 17 Comments

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I’m in NYC this week with my two sisters having our first annual Sisters Trip, and it’s also our premiere trip to NYC!  When this post goes public it will be our first full day in the city. I’m so excited!

Not finding a good door over the week-end before I left, and knowing I wouldn’t be online much this week I dipped into my archives for this week’s Thursday Doors post.

I spotted this old barn or garage  in Maxwell, CA while birding. earlier this year.

Old Barn

I’ll catch up with you all when I get back!  You know I’ll be looking for doors while there.  I wonder how long it will take to get my sisters hooked on doors and windows? 🙂

I’ll be posting on Instagram while there so, if you’re wondering what I’m seeing while there you can find my Instagram page here.   I share more of my personal life on Instagram so images aren’t always pretty. Fair warning! 🙂

Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm| Delkin 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…

 

 

 

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…