I'm happiest when I have my macro lens on my photographic camera. Yep, I beloved macro and shut up photography. But Patti is correct in this week's claiming of getting shut and closer. Getting close to the subject changes the story slightly. My images are cropped sections of a larger surface area, simply I believe the feeling is the same.

To begin, we visited the Manetti Shrem Museum, an art museum on the U. C. Davis campus. More what's inside, I love the exterior. All the lines and angles. They can also exist found inside. The first image shows some of the exterior every bit seen from the hall in the museum. The second photograph is cropped in to prove more of the detail in the metallic. The shadows also add blueprint to the image.

The second fix shows a wintertime scene at Donner Lake. Photographed from the roadside, the long, curved driveway invites the viewer toward the home. I drastically cropped in the image to show the window and its reflection which creates a design of its own. I'grand glad we tin can ingather in a photo and respect the owner's holding.

Next nosotros have a path at Fort Ross on the California Coast. Uncropped it shows a winding path leading through a tree umbrella. Cropped, the focus is on the detail of the copse.

Terminal we have an old farm building. This was taken at one of the Yolo Art and Ag Project subcontract visits. In the landscape a photographer is taking a picture of the aforementioned building. In the shut up, I focused on the window. Processing it in black and white added a more than realistic quality to the age of the building. Exercise you think the photographer was doing the aforementioned thing?

Thanks Patti for showing us how getting closer can change the look, feel and story of an image. And thank you Tina for encouraging us to detect our oddest ends last calendar week. Next week, Ann-Christine will lead our challenge. Delight recall to link to Patti's postal service and tag Lens-Artists then we can find your post in the WordPress Reader.

 If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, we have easy to follow instructions. Just click this link and join us: https://photobyjohnbo.wordpress.com/about-lens-art ists/

Architecture surrounds u.s. whether information technology'southward a historical building, a small shop, a dissimilar sort of abode or an iconic skyscraper. In this week'southward challenge, Tina encourages u.s.a. to share our images of interesting architecture, opening the field to what is fascinating to us.

While California is known for cities like Hollywood and San Francisco, it is primarily an agricultural state. In Sacramento nosotros are then close to a countryside of farms, ranches and orchards. Hither are ii state houses, very different in compages, that I've visited through the Yolo Arts & Ag Project.

  • Clos Cavanis Subcontract
  • Oliver Farm

Shut to Sacramento is Donner Lake, a busy place for summertime and wintertime recreation. Some people live there full time and some have homes to enjoy as a go away. Here is a wintertime scene.

Nosotros also have buildings of historical value. One is the Gibson House, It was listed in the National Register of Celebrated Places in 1976, in Woodland and some other, bulging in the front for years, is located in Locke which is a historic district. I think it's amazing that information technology is still standing.

And, of class there's Folsom State Prison. Its architecture gives the states a hint as to its age–141 years. Congenital in 1880, it'southward a minimum to medium security prison and houses but men.

Side by side is Sacramento's very own Belfry Span. Spanning the Sacramento River, it connects Sacramento to West Sacramento, and is used as a branding image for many ad campaigns.

And finally, my favorite building, the CALSTRS edifice. In the picture above, it's located just later on another astonishing architectural wonder, the Pyramid (The Ziggurat) Function Building. Here you can encounter it up close.

This ends my bout of interesting architecture in and around Sacramento. Thanks Tina for this fun challenge!

Not having been around many horses, I take reward of every opportunity to photograph them. For me, they are gentle giants. When the Yolo Arts & Ag Project invited us to visit the Pino Trails Ranch in Davis, I went to come across what the horse ranch was all about.

The start horse to greet me was this friendly ane. He came correct up to the opening in the gate, poked his head through and grabbed my attention. I was able to pet him and visited him more than once.

Next I saw this beautiful equus caballus wearing a fly mask.

There were a few horses in a row of stalls. Now, can any lensman not take a photo of leading lines?

One horse owner didn't mind me taking pictures of his horse.

Lessons were in progress. The young girl was waiting her plough and warming upwardly her horse, while the woman was simply finishing. After the lesson the horse was waiting to be groomed.

I was lucky to find another horse owner cleaning her equus caballus's shoeless anxiety. She said her sometime horse didn't need shoes considering she wasn't that agile. Only, her feet needed to be taken care of.

I also constitute some interesting scenery to photograph.

I enjoyed my morning at the Ranch and my time with the horses! Thank you Yolo Arts & Ag!

Think Anne, recall! What inspires you? Patti is asking u.s.a. what inspires me! My pondering was interrupted by a late breakfast at our Club House for newcomers who moved in while the complex was in lockdown. Now with relaxed rules, nosotros tin can enjoy community life once more.

At that breakfast, an creative person, Al Fichera, who paints on his computer via a Wacom Tablet approached me to tell me how much he enjoyed my photography. "You're a bully lensman. You must have had some art background." If yous've been reading this weblog for a while, you know I've had no art background and deem myself non the creative blazon. Al went on to say I must know composition instinctively. The chat went on a petty longer and in the end, I was truly inspired. Below is one of his pictures.

For me, my inspiration comes from people. Bob Scheibel, professor at 50.A. Pierce College, inspired me to write. He held my hand through my first three articles for the L.A. Daily News in their weekly Neighborhood section and then let me fly on my own. This was during my first semester at Pierce in the journalism department. With his inspiring me, I went on to win Columnist of the Twelvemonth in 1987. The plaque is on my wall.

Inspiring me personally are my dear friends Carol and Alyse. Carol was handed a capital punishment by a doc. She had multiple things wrong with the worse being Polymyositis, a degenerative musculus disease. To her doctors' amazement, she lived for 23 years, before she died, when she was given less than 1 yr. Her courage to withstand hurting and her will to live was truly inspirational.

Also inspirational is Alyse who care gave to her all those years. I would stay with Ballad to give Alyse some respite.

Alyse is on the left and Carol on the right. Every bit you tin see, this was taken on their 76th birthdays.

Now on to photography. I've often called my dear friend Marlene Frankel my photo muse. While she didn't directly inspire me, just existence out in the field with her helped made things click. For instance the photo triangle finally made sense while shooting with her. If I have a camera question, she's first on my listing to telephone call. We've had a lot of fun together and she's a sometime contributor to LAPC.

Marlene on left; Anne on right

The next photographer to inspire me is Lucille Van Ommering. When I was entering two photos for the In Focus competition, Lucille took me under her fly and gently showed me how to impress out my pictures. I remember telling her, "Wow, Lucille, I've never seen my photos that big!" She not simply printed them, but showed me how to mat them. I left her firm then inspired! Thanks Lucille!!

One of the photos she printed for me.

Adjacent is the Yolo Art & Ag Project that invites artists and photographers onto farms and orchards for a morning of fun. I would never take been able to get onto the properties otherwise.

Taken at the Clarence Scott Ranch

And finally the LAPC grouping under the leadership of Tina, Patti, Amy and Ann-Christine. You inspire me with your kind comments on my posts and your faith in asking me to be a invitee host for this great group.

Just putting this post together has inspired me!

I was worried that my younger grandkids, 12, Ryan, and x, Olivia, would become bored during this subcontract visit Woodland and the Clos Cavanis Farm–a Yolo Art & Ag projection. So I made sure they had their cell phones with them for picture show taking. There would be no animals, orchards or farm machinery to look at only just the house and barn.

Equally per the flyer, "Preserving history is important to Van and Catherine Overhouse. That explains why they spent the last 2 decades bringing their 1868 Victorian Italianate home back to life. "We saved
the house" says Van who recently completed repainting the exterior- which took 2 years working
40 hours a week – the final stage in the restoration."

So I idea we'd exist simply photographing the house and barn–a quick trip. Olivia had dabbled with painting, and so we talked with the artists. We also took pictures. The kids settled on macro work with their phones. They both took excellent pictures, and Ryan caught on quickly. It too helped that Catherine had baked delicious scones for u.s. to taste. We were there 1 1/ii hours, and Olivia asked to come to the adjacent subcontract visit and so she could bring her paints.

Here are some of my pictures of this beautiful restored home.

Nosotros then went to the Mezger Family Zinnia Patch which was close by. Each year the Mezger'south grow zinnias and encourage the public to come and pick the flowers. They also provide vases when available. People who option the flowers are encouraged to share them with "shut in'south" who can't go out to come across their beauty otherwise. Olivia picked some flowers for her mom. Here are some of my photos.

If Olivia still wants to, she will come with me in August and paint. I'll bring chairs, practise my photography and relax. Not a bad forenoon!

Estrus and drought! Not a proficient combination. We are in the midst of wildfire flavor here in the w, and Northern California is getting its share. But what makes u.s.a. smile are the sunflowers. Yes, it'south likewise sunflower season here.

In the middle of June, the wonderful Yolo Arts & Ag Project brought united states of america to the Elkhorn Basin Ranch in West Sacramento. It was going to exist a hot day, then we got there early. Artists and photographers were lined up to sketch, paint and photograph the cheerful sunflowers.

Now these sunflowers were grown mainly for seed to ship overseas, and to my surprise, they were not super tall. I'yard short and I always take a difficult time to photograph fields fifty-fifty with my iii-stride ladder. I was in photo heaven. Also the farm manager immune u.s. to walk into the field a picayune chip.

So, here are some of my images from that morn.

An artist stops to smile for the camera.

Earlier we reached our destination, we did stop to have images of this orchard.

The Elkhorn Basin Ranch is endemic past the Yolo Land Trust and leased to Don Beeman and Garcia Farms.

I love suburbia with all its conveniences, but I besides like to visit the forests, beaches and land sides. The Yolo Arts & Ag program allows me to accept my camera onto ranches, orchards and farms that open up their facilities to artists and photographers for 2 half days a calendar month. It'southward a great opportunity for united states to wander in and out of barns, see sometime machinery and have a glimpse of a life we don't live.

The Hungry Hallow Ranch in Capay was a large facility that gave united states of america access to the entire property. But when we entered, we mostly saw machinery in barns, old vehicles, immature olive trees and hay bales. Marlene, Ray and I said that there was nothing new hither. Richard was excited saying that this is what he loved to photograph.

I think Richard was correct. I did find a lot to photograph and learned a lesson. Don't gauge a photography shoot by start glance. I made the most of our forenoon. I took close ups of mechanism.

Then there was an artist painting.. At that place were many, only I liked this shot the nearly.

And the olive orchard. You can encounter that the trees were young.

And the barns.

I also found a grape vine or two, a forest pile large enough to cover the side of a barn and an awesome tree.

    Information technology ended upward being a fun morning of discoveries. And lunch was at our favorite Road Trip Bar and Grill in Capay.

    Fortunately I'm getting used to driving the various county roads in the rural areas of Yolo County. I was alone on this July expedition to the CR25 Ranch in Esparto, but remembered some of the roads from last calendar month'due south journey when Marlene road with me. The CR25 Ranch is located on the County Road 25!

    I like getting out into fresh air and drive around the countryside. And, I'chiliad lucky that this scenery is a fiddling more than an hour away. This ranch is non as large equally some of the others I've been to, but there was plenty to keep me busy for i ane/ii hours.

    This horse was lonely in a pasture. He was midway, but my Fuji camera with lens extended to the full 200 mm was able to capture him in focus. I cropped him in Lightroom. Hither's the upshot.

    Here are some landscapes of the ranch, showing pastures and barns.

    This ranch may take been pocket-sized, simply it did accept its share of "ranch art!"

    A few of the cows came downwards from mid-pasture to go some h2o. One of them stood out. Was he trying to stick his tongue out at me. Also, it was good that it wasn't a frosty winter day or else that tongue would have stuck to the watering trough.

    I'1000 enjoying the new photographic camera and withal learning more about its capabilities. It does more I'll ever utilize! Where will Yolo Arts accept us this month?