Travel and Tourism – Page 5 – Circadianreflections Blog

A morning at the Aquarium

March 31, 2014March 31, 2014Posted in California, Photography, TravelTagged Low Light Photography, Monterey Bay Aquarium, San Jose Nature Photographer, Travel and TourismLeave a comment

Since it was supposed to be a rainy Saturday my friend Dali and I headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We met early at a favorite coffee shop then drove a little over an hour south to get there just before the Aquarium opened. We anticipated a big crowd; it being a Saturday, and rainy. There was already a line to purchase tickets when we arrived.

We headed straight for the Jellyfish tanks since those are very popular, but we got side-tracked by the scuba-divers in the BIG tanks. They were cleaning the glass, and both little and big kids found them fun to watch.

…and now for some fish!

There are two Octopi here. This top one is the smaller of the two. They’re both pretty large.

This bottom one is enormous!

This Stingray came out of the deep blue and looked so graceful and hypnotic swimming through the tank.

Finally we got to the Jellyfish! I have a lot of Jellyfish images to go through, but here’s one of my favorites.

By noon the Aquarium was pretty crowded, so we headed to the cafe for lunch. I didn’t take any foodie images, but I did take a photo of the entrance to the Cafe. I liked the lines, and color contrast.

Then we went back upstairs to find some animals and fish we missed earlier. I’ll be working on those images soon, but here’s one gem we found. Isn’t it pretty!

It was a tricky venue to shoot because most the tanks were dark and back-lit. In addition to that the lights in the halls and galleries were pointing into the tanks which caused reflections of the bulbs, and glare on the tank glass, also there were reflections of the people, and the room on the glass. To clean up the images I cloned out some of the light reflections, and the worst of the muck that was floating in the tanks.

I used a Nikon D700 with a AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G lens, and to keep the shutter speed up my ISO varied between 1000-2500. I used a little noise reduction in a few of these images.

It had been many years since my last visit. I really shouldn’t wait so long between visits.

Daybreak St Thomas Is.

March 27, 2014March 27, 2014Posted in Photography, TravelTagged cruise, San Jose Nature Photographer, St Thomas Island, Sunrise, Travel and Tourism1 Comment

I took this image in September 2012 while on a Cruise.

I woke up early to catch the sunrise then I watched us pull into the harbor, and finally dock in port. The Captain and Crew did what I thought was an amazing job of docking the Freedom of the Seas; an enormous ship! We pulled in backwards or in reverse and basically paralleled parked that baby behind a Disney Cruise ship and the end of the pier, and floating next to dock were lots of sailboats anchored near the docking lane like these in the image. It really was the most memorable docking in my life to date. The sunrise was quite beautiful too.

Sunrise Oxbow Bend and Mt Moran

September 30, 2013September 30, 2013Posted in Copyright 2013 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved., Landscapes, Nature, Photography, TravelTagged Grand Teton National Park, National Parks and Monuments, Teton Range, Travel and Tourism, United States, Wyoming3 Comments

I took this on day 2 of my Yellowstone – Grand Tetons Trip. Usually, I would have been here an hour before sunrise waiting to see if the magic would happen. We got a late start departing from the Inn on this morning, and by the time we parked and I found this composition to shoot the sun was already cresting the mountains. . The clouds started to take on color, and the mountain peaks glowed that wonderful pink and gold we call Alpine Glow.

The river was still, the reflections crisp, and there was a fine mist hanging low over the water. Even though there were at least 75 other photographers lined up around this bend it was quiet, peaceful, and so beautiful.

Arriving at a destination just in time find my composition, set up my equipment, then have all the elements of nature come together to make it all worth while just doesn’t happen to me often. This was magical! A morning I’ll remember forever.

Fall color is in full swing there. You see some of that on the right side of the bank. I was so happy to see and photograph a little Fall Color. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it to the Eastern Sierras this year.

If you’re finally old enough to go on a Road Scholar Trip I would do it! I had a great time, and met lovely people. I’m looking forward to my next Road Scholar trip.

The Mesquite Dunes and Amargosa Range

June 20, 2013June 20, 2013Posted in PhotographyTagged Death Valley, Nikon, Photography, San Jose California Nature Photography, Travel and TourismLeave a comment

The Mesquite Dunes and Amargosa Range, originally uploaded by CircadianReflections Photography.

Via Flickr:
Copyright 2013 Deborah M Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

This is from my May trip to Death Valley. It was windy most the time I was there the first two days, but on this evening the winds subsided a little, and the sky was blue so He-Man and I struck out across the flat toward the Dunes. I stopped a few times along the way to capture vistas of the dunes and mountains behind them.
There was sand in the air and blowing off the dunes. You can kind of see that on the dune in the sunlight on the bottom left if you look around the edges around it. It gave the image a softness I like. I also liked the shadows and light on the dunes and mountains.

I rented the new Nikkor 80-400mm G for this trip and I used it to take this photo.
Someday I’d like to upgrade my 70-300mm VR with this lens.

I’m also trying out On One Perfect Suite 7 Premium. I’m a week into the 30 day trial. I’ve used Perfect Portrait quite a bit, and Perfect effects, and focal point.
I haven’t been able to figure out how to access Perfect Layers from LR yet so I sent OnOne customer service an email asking them how to do that. I’ve heard from them this afternoon, so I’ll try it tomorrow.
I’m not really skilled in Lightroom either, but with Adobe’s new Creative Cloud scheme that requires a monthly fee I’m looking into different software to do the layering development work I need.
So far I like Perfect Portrait, and Effects a lot. The presets are really nice and you can fine tune them. On this photo I used Tonal Contrast, and in the Landscape Preset Folder I used Fall Enhancer. In Lightroom I tweaked the highlights, shadows, exposure, clarity, and did a little dodging and burning. Then to finish up I went into CS6 to add my watermark, and resize the photo for the web. I know…I need to figure out how to do this Lightroom. I think it’s possible.
For help with the techniques and “how to’s” in Lightroom I’m using the book by Scott Kelby called the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 book for Digital Photographers, and John Davenport’s Youtube.com Let’s Edit series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfmccqzrt18

I’ll let you know how I like Perfect Layers in the coming days.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 80-400mm at 112m| Circular Polarizer| Tripod

Photographing the Mesquite Flat Dunes, Death Valley, CA (pamphotography.wordpress.com)
Sand Dunes in Death Valley (tctravelers.wordpress.com)
Sand Dunes (ecdcphotography.com)
Zabriskie Point Sunset (circadianreflections.wordpress.com)

Polaris over the Charcoal Kilns Death Valley National Monument

June 2, 2013June 2, 2013Posted in Astrophotograhpy, California, Copyright 2013 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved., Nikon, Photography, TravelTagged Astrophotography, Death Valley National Park, San Jose California Nature Photography, Travel and TourismLeave a comment

A year or two ago I saw my friend Rick Whitacre’s photograph of the Charcoal Kilns with Star-trails and loved it so much I hoped to photograph it myself on my next trip to Death Valley. The first two nights of my recent visit to Death Valley National Monument I had clouds or partial cloudy skies, but the last night the sky was clear so He-Man and I headed to the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns so I could make a photograph of the kilns with star-trails.

He-Man and I drove out the Charcoal Kilns arriving just before sunset. I got my gear out and started planning and plotting my composition. Once I found my composition I started thinking about lighting the kiln doors. I went inside several of the kilns to check out the size of the opening, and where the best place to stand might be. I’m glad we arrived here while it was light enough to see inside each kiln. If I had arrived in the dark I would have been a little apprehensive about critters sleeping inside the kilns, but they were empty. On a side note: They’re huge inside!

He-Man was going to light the doors for me so we did a timed test-run to see if he would be able to get all the doors lit in one 2 minute exposure. I had purchased a Brinkman light (thanks Marsha for the model info!) I also brought my Rogue Gels along to use to change the light from white to an orange-yellow to look like there was fire in the kilns, but when it got dark enough to start shooting we did another trail run using the light, and it wasn’t quite as bright as I had hoped for. Thinking that might happen I also packed my Nikon SB600 Speedlight. I taught He-Man how to set the flash off then we did another trial run. Loving what I saw using the Speedlight I made my final test shots for my star trails then set up my Intervelometer to begin my series.

It was quite a bit cooler up here than it was down in the valley so I needed my jacket before I wrapped up for the night. There was a Hoot Owl in the trees behind me softly hooting, and there were crickets chirping, but no other sounds. He-Man had gone to the car to read and wait for me. It was peaceful. I found my “happy place” here.
Thank you He-Man for lighting each door so well and for going with me! I’m really happy with this photo.

A couple of my friends have also traveled to Death Valley and made their own photo here please take a look!

Phil McGrew- Startrails over Wildrose Kilns

Alex Baranda- Stars and Kilns

For the History Buffs-

Wildrose Charcoal Kilns

“In 1877 construction on the kilns was completed. The produced charcoal that was used as fuel for two silver-lead smelters that George Hearst had in the Argus Range 25 miles away. The kilns operated until 1878 when the Argus mines shut down.

There are 10 kilns which stand 25ft tall, and have an approximate circumference of 30ft. Each kiln held 42 cords of pinyon pine logs, and would burn for a week producing 2,000 bushels of charcoal.” ~Digital Desert.com http://digital-desert.com/death-valley-history/wildrose-kilns.html

February’s Full Moon over the South Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge

February 26, 2013February 26, 2013Posted in California, Copyright 2013 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved., Nikon, Photography, TravelTagged Astrophotography, Moon, Nikon D300S, Photography, Travel and Tourism4 Comments

February’s Full Moon over the South Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

I met a group of Photographers early this morning to photograph the Moonset and I hoped I’d get my timing right so I could get this shot lined up.
It’s been really, really great the last week having clear skies in the city.

The Dicken’s Fair

December 2, 2012December 2, 2012Posted in California, Photography, TravelTagged CA, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Christmas Carol, D700, Daly City, Fairs and Festivals, Nikon, Photography, Prime lenses, The Great Dickens Fair, Travel and TourismLeave a comment

I had the pleasure of spending the day with several friends at the Dickens Fair in Daly City, CA yesterday. We arrived when it opened and stayed until closing time.

The Chimney Sweep above is one of the first characters we saw after we checked in our coats, and umbrellas. He and his colleague were very funny, friendly, and lovely.

Isn’t his costume terrific!

The two gents below were in a Portrait studio having their photo taken when I spied them through the window. They didn’t smile for the camera back then.

There were plenty of shops carrying Art, crafts, and wares throughout the streets of Dickens London…Whispers from the Past,

Nutcrackers,

Glitz and Glamor-High fashion

Undergarments… These are Live Mannequins. Each lady posed for 30 minutes then was replaced by a new live mannequin.

…and a Food & Drink. At the Pub of course!

It was a lovely way to spend a rainy, and windy Saturday. The shows were all beautifully performed and were hilarious. I have a lot more photos to go through, and more keepers than I thought I’d have. The venue was very poorly lit from a photographers point of view, and made it quite challenging getting a sharp, well-lit photo.

If you haven’t been to the Dickens Fair I recommend it. I have to thank my friend May for getting a group of us together to go. Thanks May! ( I hope you can see May’s Dickens Fair photos, they’re really good. Click the link! )

Nikon D700| Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-D| Nikon SB600

Dickens Christmas Fair, Nov. 23-Dec. 23 (sfgate.com)
On 200th birthday, there’s no ‘bah humbug’ for Charles Dickens – Articles (religionnews.com)
On Charles Dickens’ 200th Birthday, There’s No ‘Bah Humbug’ (huffingtonpost.com)

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