Month: December 2017

Weekly Update: Dec 20, 2017

Posted on by Annie

A day late, a dollar short (well, more than that thanks to holiday shopping!), but here’s the weekly update… From the coastal views in Santa Cruz to the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas to the confines of a very busy RV park in the heart of LA freeways is definitely a shift in perspective and scenery to fit into one week. The highlight of the drive across the state west to east was seeing both Coalinga and Visalia, two towns I’ve always wanted to see. Now I can cross them off my list 🙂 I spent two nights inside Sequoia…

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Tower Hill Gardens

Posted on by Annie

Seems that while parts of the US and Canada are going to be getting cooooold weather soon, I feel like I need help all those affected feel warmer with a throwback to a September outing with photos I haven’t published yet. Today’s feature, then, spotlights the Tower Hill Botanical Gardens, in Massachusetts. It was a lovely sunny day, and spending it with two old friends made it even better. We wandered around looking at exhibits and flowers, pointing out crazy colors and lovely peppers and wonderful arrangements. The fall crocuses were out (yes, some kinds of crocuses do bloom in…

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Sunday Serenity: Practice

Posted on by Annie

There are all kinds of focus in this world: today’s to-do list, plans far into the future, politics, family, work, and so on. Today, as I set out on a sunrise walk, my focus was on photography and, more specifically, on practicing with a new lens. It’s actually an old lens, though. It was one of my dad’s for his Minolta camera back in the 1970s, and I asked him for it a few years ago after I found it languishing in a drawer. I found an adapter to mount it with my Sony A7 and then I realized it…

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Sierra Foothills

Posted on by Annie

I’ve been spending the last few days in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. With the right light and some hiking, I’m amazed how beautiful this area is. Wandering around the campground in Sequoia National Park and found this watery shot after scooting down the rocky hillside. Literally on the side of the road for a different shot, and saw this as I got back in my car. It turned out to be the much better shot. And, well, you can’t mention being in Sequoia National Park without showing an actual Sequoia. The branches start at about 120 feet…

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Weekly Update: Dec 13, 2017

Posted on by Annie

Every morning for the past week, this has been my view stepping outside my trailer. Man, sunrise on Monterey Bay just does NOT get old. And this is the beach I walked on almost every day. Again, never gets old. My campsite was on the bluff overlooking the beach, and this view is looking straight out from my picnic table. I did some playing around with HDR photography this week for a photo challenge, and liked how it played up the tones of the fragmites (those frond things) and deepened the overcast skies (thanks, Thomas Fire, for all that haze……

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