Photography – Page 41 – Circadianreflections Blog

P52 34/52 Dawn Santa Clara County

August 24, 2014August 24, 2014Posted in California, hikes, Landscapes, Photography, Project 52-2014Tagged Dawn, landscape, Lonely Tree, Photography, Project 52, Sunrise4 Comments

Mornings are arriving a little later, and chillier these days and with that I’m finding it a little harder to get out of the house for a hike or walk. Once I get out I am usually very happy that I did.
This morning was especially nice as we had a lot of clouds which meant there might be some color, and I got lucky and had “God Rays” too, and there was a bonus; the sign marking the trail’s boundary is gone!

YEAH! I have spent years framing around it, cloning it out, or cropping it out. It was lovely shooting and not have to deal with it, or deal with it later in post development. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they don’t replace it, and if they do they put it somewhere that doesn’t hinder the view.

Morning’s Golden light on Delicate Arch Moab, UT

July 30, 2014July 30, 2014Posted in hikes, Landscapes, Photography, TravelTagged Arches National Park, Delicate Arch, Golden Hour, hiking, Landscape Photography, Morning, Photography, San Jose California Nature Photographer3 Comments

Alex, Theresa, and I started our hike to Delicate Arch at 4:10am and got to the Arch in 42 minutes with only head-lamps for light. There was only one other car in the parking lot when we arrived. We met the two guys that it belonged to on their way down.

The trail-head to Delicate Arch is right off the parking lot at Wolfe Ranch inside of Arches National Park. The elevation gain is about 500 ft up rough and steep terrain. Length of the hike is 3 miles round trip. Most the trail you’re hiking on giant slabs of sandstone. The trail is marked by cairns, but some are widely spaced so, if not carefully looking for them you can miss one.Theresa and I missed one on our first hike up to Delicate Arch back in 2010 we ended up about quarter of mile off course and had to back-track to find the trail.

The last bit of the climb is along the side of sandstone fin. There are several steps and a path that was carved out of the stone that wind their way up to the Arch. This part of the path is fairly narrow and has no cable or guard rail- If you fall you could be toast.

Here’s an image Theresa took of us hiking down that part of the trail. That’s Alex, with me in the lead, and Theresa’s shadow on the sandstone wall. Thank you T for giving me a copy of this image! xx

Image by Theresa Johnson. Used with Permission — Image by © 2014 Theresa Johnson. Used with Permission

There was no one else up at the Arch when we got there, but it wasn’t too long before other hikers were coming up the trail, and by 6AM there was quite a crowd, and it was getting warm already. We stayed up through Golden Hour and when the light went flat we packed up and hiked down, starving and ready for breakfast then a nap.

More to come…

NIkon D700| AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8| Tripod

P52 27/52 Chocolate chocolate chip Bundt Cake

July 4, 2014December 9, 2014Posted in Food Photography, Photography, Project 52-2014Tagged baking, Bundt Cakes, Chocolate, Food Photography, home-made cakes, Photography, Project 52, San Jose California Nature Photographer7 Comments

Busy morning bakin’. Just waiting for this super rich, moist cake to cool before glazing with a semisweet chocolate sauce.

Miam, miam!

Nikon D300s| AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G| SB600 camera left low @ 1/4pwr

Addendum: Melissa of http://melissabluefineart.wordpress.com/ is craving a good chocolate cake and asked for the recipe, so for you Chere Melissa here’s the recipe.

This is a recipe from Taste of Home- Ultimate Chocolate Cake

I made the chocolate sauce by melting 1.5 cups chocolate chips with a 2-3 tablespoons of milk. Drizzle over the cake when completely cooled letting it run down the sides of the cake. Enjoy!

Busy Bee

June 1, 2014June 1, 2014Posted in California, Insects, Nature, PhotographyTagged Bees, Insects, Photography, San Jose California Nature Photographer2 Comments

I found a swarm of busy bees early one morning last week busy at work Pollen Gathering.

I thought they must have just begun their day’s labors as they didn’t have any pollen on their bodies yet.

I like the faint motion of the wings in this image.

Hope you’re having a great week-end!

Nikon D300s| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4| Hand-held

5/52 “To travel is to live.” âHans Christian Andersen

January 27, 2014January 27, 2014Posted in PhotographyTagged Bokeh, Photography, San Jose Nature Photographer, Strobist, TravelLeave a comment

5/52 “To travel is to live.” âHans Christian Andersen, originally uploaded by CircadianReflections Photography.

Via Flickr:
Copyright Â© 2014 Deborah M Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

It will be 5 years this Fall since I’ve been to France. I’ve been 3 times, and there is still so much to see and do, and the language yet to master.
I hope to get back there and travel in different regions, but no matter where in France I go vibrant, and bustling Paris beckons me, and I’ve still not seen Versailles!

Prairie Falcon

January 21, 2014January 21, 2014Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Photography, WildlifeTagged Birding, Birds in the Wild, Photography, San Jose Nature Photographer7 Comments

Saturday last I had the pleasure of Dali, and Rainey’s company for a few hours of birding.

We headed south about an hour from home hoping to spot Golden Eagles. We hadn’t gone too far down a country road when I spied a falcon on top of a telephone pole. I quickly pulled over and turned off the car so we could take photos without the vibration of the engine.

None of us was positive about the bird’s ID at the time, but we were excited because we knew it was a bird we hadn’t seen before. Here’s how it looked when I first saw it.

With both Rainey and I clicking away we spooked it and he planned to flee the scene.

Ready for Take Off!

Take off!

In Flight—

I was thrilled when I uploaded the images to find I had captured the whole sequence of flight on film. Upon closer look I thought this might have been a juvenile Kestrel, but Rainey confirmed it is a Prairie Falcon. A first for the 3 of us.

We also saw two Golden Eagles, which were flying away from us too fast to capture a photo. Later we saw a Bald Eagle sitting in a tree. Dali got the POD (Picture of the Day) as he got a good image of it. I wish I could show you, but at the time of this writing he hadn’t posted it yet. I was too slow to get the car parked, and out so, I missed the shot. When it got spooked and took flight another Bald Eagle took off with it. We hadn’t seen that one due to tree cover.

We saw this Loggerhead Shrike sitting on a wire. We hoped it would spot something good to eat and dive for it, alas it never did.

We also saw this pretty little Savannah Sparrow—X Marks the Spot:

Savannah Sparrow: Closer Look–

Other birds of note that we saw were: A Red-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-billed Magpie; (see Rainey’s image here) White Crown Sparrows, Acorn Woodpeckers, and Red-tail Hawks.

It was good birding. I hope to get out there again this week-end. With luck I’ll see the Eagles again.

All photos were taken with a Nikon D300s and AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4 lens

A Birthday Prince

My first Grandchild turned 1-year-old yesterday. I can’t believe how fast this year has flown by. It seems like it was yesterday he was born.

The changes have been surprising, and awesome to behold…

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months with Uncle…he smiles, and laughs now!

5 months

6 months

7 months looking more toddler and boy like each day…

8 months

9 months Photo courtesy of Allison Zajac.

10 months

11 months

1-year-old

I feel so blessed to see him everyday. He’s starting to walk, taking up to 12 steps at a time now, and real words should be coming soon too. I am looking forward to seeing the changes, and the look of wonder and awe on his face as he discovers more of his world.

Nikon D700

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: