What’s Blooming

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

White miniature rose in full bloom from my yard.

White miniature rose- photography

Nikon Df| LensBaby w/Soft Focus Optic and 16mm macro converter| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015

More to come…

Sunset Martin’s Beach

Copyright © 2016 Deborah M. Zajac
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I had the pleasure of joining a favorite Meet-Up group at Martin’s Beach near Half Moon Bay Saturday evening. The waves were amazing. They crashed against the rocks with fantastic booms, and they made cracking sounds as they came rushing toward the shore. I’d never heard that before. It was like ice cracking. Have you heard that sound in the ocean before?
The waves were higher than I expected;  I got soaked up to mid calf. My high top hiking boots, socks, long underwear and pants were soaked.
I took off my boots and socks and spent the rest of the shoot barefoot. I should have taken my Wellies! I was quick to get my camera/tripod rig up above my knees more than once during our time here. 🙂

The atmosphere was incredible while we were there. When we arrived the sun was hidden behind thick clouds, but trying so hard to burn a hole through them, then the fog rolled in, bringing more wind, and a light rain of sand and spray. It was take a shot, clean the lens, cover the camera, and lens, take a shot, clean the lens over and over again.  Then about 20 minutes later the fog mostly cleared out leaving a thin layer of damp and mist in the air.

This was taken right before the sun set completely. I was hoping for more color, but I won’t complain. It was beautiful, and really nice to hang out with friends I hadn’t seen in awhile.

 

Sunset Martin's Beach Half Moon Bay

I got my tripod in the shower and cleaned off straight-away, but I’m off now to clean my filter, lens, and probably my sensor since I have more spots of dust I’m cloning out than I like.

I hope you’re all having a lovely Sunday!

Nikon Df| Nikkor 24-70mm| Tripod|B+W 6 Stop Neutral Density Filter| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015, LR CC, On1 Photo 10

More to come…

Iguana-Male

© 2015-2016 Deborah M. Zajac
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

While in Belize and Honduras last September we saw quite a few Iguanas. They’re the biggest I’ve ever seen!
I also didn’t realize they can be orange.

Iguana Male

They’re so prehistoric looking aren’t they.

Here’s the back end of an Iguana showing its huge tail, and really long toes.

Tail of Iguana Male

Another one chillin’ high over the Ladies Den

Iguana Male Honduras

Some of the Females hung out together in the shade on a slab of cement:

Iguanas Females

… and this one posed for me. “)

Iguana- The Poser

We saw some really neat wildlife in addition to the Iguana while on this trip. The Capuchin Monkey’s were super cute! I’ll be sharing images of them in the future.

Nikon Df & Lumix FZ200| Hand-held

I hope you all have a great week-end, and to those of you in the northeast USA I’m keeping you in my thoughts, and am hoping the storm isn’t too bad.  Stay warm and safe!

More to come…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mixed bag…

Copyright © 2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Here are several macro images I made while working on my Project 52.

An alternative to the “Nut Job” image from Week 6

The Nut Job Alternative

Soft notes on the wind…

From early Feb. 2015
From early Feb. 2015

Clockworks…from late Jan. 2015

Time Piece

Spring! From mid Feb. 2015

Spring in the Garden

Nikon Df| AF-D Nikkor 105mm Macro lens| Hand-held & Clockworks and Nut Job were Tripod shots with SB910 and SB600 Speedlights

More to come…

Life in the Garden

Copyright © 2014 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

#1 Grandson, Diva Dog, and I weren’t the only ones in the backyard soaking up the warm rays of the sun after the rain.

Life in the Garden

It was on the brick flower border sunbathing until I scared it with my camera. It sought the shelter of the AC unit. I crept as closely as I could to make this image of it, but I pushed my luck moving too close, and off he ran under the unit, and out of sight.

Nikon Df| AF Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D micro lens @f8| 1/1000s| ISO 400| Hand-held

More to come…

Eastern Sierras Day 2- 21 minutes in Nirvana

Copyright © 2014 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

We scouted a few areas for Moon-set/Sunrise and we all fell in love with Intake Lake 2. We were planning to camp on Night 2 and instead of camping a little further north we change plans and camped at Intake Lake 2, and we all agreed it would be a great location for the morning’s shoot. We could sleep a few minutes longer, and be in our chosen spots well before the fishermen arrived.  We set up our camp, made dinner, and shortly after dark I crawled into my tent and bag and fell into a deep sleep. My alarm was set to 4:30AM again.  I didn’t even take pictures of the campground!

I slept pretty well. I only stirred when my hip started to ache. My pad wasn’t as full as it should have been. When my alarm went off I turned it off and dozed in my warm bag, dreading getting out of it, and facing the cold morning, and dressing, before making the trek up the bathroom.  I should have dug out my slip-on pair of shoes the night before, but forgot to do that.  Jonathan was out of his tent first and came by mine and rattled it, asking if we were up. Rainey had bunked with me since I have a two person tent. We both murmured, “yes, I’m up.” Next, I heard Rene unzip his tent, and then Jonathan’s car alarm went off, no doubt waking the whole campground! Nik was sleeping in the car and when he got up to exit he set off the alarm.

Someone set the alarm after Nik got in to go to bed. 🙂 As if the alarm going off once wasn’t bad enough somehow it got triggered a second time! I got up and out of my bag and tent after that. I’m sure the whole campground was ready to stone us to death! Hopefully they all were able to get back to sleep.

We dressed, grabbed our bags and headed for the lake for the Moon-set/ Sunrise as quietly as we could.

I found the spot I had chosen the day before, but I was so far from everyone else so I moved to the beach with Rene, and Rainey.

I was very glad to have the company. Daylight was coming fast, and for  21 minutes I was in Nirvana!

Moon-glow on the Eastern Sierra Peaks

Moonset over Intake Lake 2

Pink clouds and Moon-glow on the Eastern Sierra Peaks

Moonset over Intake Lake 2

Alpine Glow on the Eastern Sierra Peaks

Alpine Glow over Intake Lake 2

It’s not often one gets Moon-glow, Color, and Alpine Glow all in one morning! I couldn’t have ordered a more perfect morning shoot. There were even Trout jumping high out of the water to catch breakfast. I wish I timed my images better to have caught just one, alas…I didn’t.

Shortly after the color faded we were packing up when a group of fishermen came to fish where we were. We welcomed them with open arms, and wished them well with their endeavors, and went on our way to find other photographic jewels around the lake.

Rainey, Rene, and I hung out together while Nik,and Jonathan went their own way. Rainey, Rene, and I went around the lake to try and find a Grebe that was swimming around the lake. We weren’t able to get the second inlet to find it, but we did find a lovely little cascade of water we stopped to photograph, and along the way we found a memorial.

Memorial at Intake Lake 2

Intake Lake 2 hike

I used my Lensbaby Composer Pro II with Soft Focus Optic to try some landscapes. I like the dreamy, painterly

feel the images have.

Fallen tree on Intake 2

Fallen Tree on Intake 2 Lake_5384

Fishing

Fishing

The color of the morning was gold

Autumn Gold

Intake 2 was my favorite location this trip.  It’s a great place to camp, and there is plenty to photograph

here.

Cameras: Nikon Df, Nikon D700

Lenses: Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8,  Nikkor 180mm f/2.8d, LensBaby Composer Pro II w/Soft Focus Optic

More to come…