From Spring to Summer Sun! Sunflowers in Yolo County! 7/1/16

In my last two posts, we traveled to San Francisco in Spring to visit Golden Gate Park which comes with copious flower sightings such as the Historic Japanese Tea Gardens  and the Queen Wilhelmina Tulips Gardens.

Now, fast forward four months to July and I was looking forward to a trip to Yolo County for an excursion to some of the many sunflower fields.  It's a foray that I'd been wanting to do for years and I was determined to go this year. 

I set out bright(ish) and early to try to capture the sunrise over a field of flowers.  I was only semi-successful.  I'm just teaching myself about filters so a lot of this was experimentation.  I was hoping for some clouds in the sky to add to the drama of my photos but there weren't any to be seen on this hot summer day. 

That hawk was very interested in seeing if I was looking for breakfast like he was.  He followed me around a couple fields and, at one point, was staring at me so intently that I thought maybe he might try to eat ME.  lol  I wish I had my zoom lenses since he was all but posing for me, but, alas, I hadn't brought them.

He finally flew off when he realized I was only interested in flowers that day.  The next group of pictures were all taken at the same field which is actually in the first picture.  I used various Neutral Density filters when I was facing the sun.  I decided from this experience that I need a gradient or graduated filter for this type of thing.  

 One thing I did really like about both the filters and the fisheye attachment that I used off and on, was the sun rays effects they produced.  

I love how the telephone pole looks like a floating cross on this blessed morning. 

One cool thing were the bees!  Soooo many bees!  Of course the farmers need bees, so they even hire out hives from beekeepers in order to make sure all these important crops are well-pollinated..  

And the bees weren't even worried about me.  So as long as I was careful to not get too close, they just went about their business.  :-)

This next photo was taken with my fisheye attachment.  Unfortunately, you get a serious black vignette from the attachment.  When you crop the photo to edit it out, you lose much of the fisheye effect.  It's still a cool lens to have in some instances and definitely allows you to capture a wider view, such as having the cool furrows visible in the picture below.

In the next photo, I was able to keep some of the fisheye effect.  The trick is to not fully zoom in on your primary subject.  Give yourself some room to crop.  Which works when you are taking a landscape-type photo. 

I love the varied faces of the bright sunflowers!

I moved on to my next field.  I was driving toward the Yolo County Airport in the hopes that I might see some Hot Air Balloons aloft.  However, there weren't any to be found.

I did find some fuzzy white balls that added a nice contrast against the sunflower fields. 

Have you ever looked at the back of a sunflower?  You really should!  Next time you buy one from a farmer's market, turn it around.  They are so intricate with loops and whorls.  And they're fuzzy! Beautiful coming or going. 

 Even the leafs are cool!

I took a couple of detours from sunflower fields because I found some amazing farms with some interesting sights that needed to be documented. 

In both of the next two photos, I used the fisheye attachment, which created some amazing sunbursts!  And I just loved the water from the sprinklers with the dark furrows and bright-green, young crops. 

And I used the wide-view to capture the lines of the poles and furrows as well as the wheels with the water. 

Across the street was an antique sign.  I couldn't get a photo that really captured it's charm though. 

Down the road was a field with a tractor in it that I thought would look cool with the fisheye and wide angle.  I was not wrong!

In the next field there was some beautiful wheat growing which I tried to capture with the sun behind it.  It turned out well, except I do wish I had a filter that fit the fisheye lens.  Again, it gave me a great sunburst effect. 

Even the weeds at this farm were beautiful!!

I had lots more adventures driving around Yolo, but this seems like a good place to pause for now. :-)

Until next time!

xoxo

Nikon D3300 w/18-55 lens, filters, and fisheye attachment

Closing Out My Birthday With Food & Tulips - San Francisco 3/16

I've spent my last two posts are two amazing places in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.  The exciting and educating California Academy of Sciences  and the historic and beautiful Japanese Tea Gardens.

The day was drawing to a close and my lovely daughter had to drive back to Los Angeles the next day.  So we decided to have dinner in the park and then she and I would head back inland.

But first, we had to walk back to Rose's car from the gardens.  On the way, I couldn't resist taking this awesome picture of Beethoven.

Okay, okay.  So it's not Beethoven himself.  He is dead after all!  This is a copy of a statue in New York City and was gifted to the city of San Francisco in 1915.

I also couldn't resist taking a picture of the succulent garden in from of CalAcademy.  I don't think the photo does justice to how vibrant and beautiful these are though.

My sis suggested the Beach Chalet, which I've actually always wanted to eat at.  But alas, it was super crowded (as I guess it usually is) and we would have had to wait at least 45 minutes.  Then we were told that the kitchen was extremely backed up and that getting food would probably take another 45 minutes or longer.

So, no thanks.  We decided to head down Highway 1 to the Cliff House, another restaurant I've wanted to try.

It's right on the ocean (Next to the absolutely gorgeous Sutro Baths) and the views are breathtaking.  There was a storm out to sea that made it look like a dream.  And right on cue, a large ocean-going ship sailed out from the Bay and headed to the shipping lanes.

This is the view of the Sutro Baths from the observation walkway on the Cliff House.

And, the sky and ocean was so incredible, that I have to post more photos!  #SorryNotSorry

Looking North, the sky and ocean became a soft pastel watercolor.

And another ship exited the Golden Gate and sailed into the storm.

I must say, my food was amazing. I had the best of the bunch, which is a good thing since it was my birthday!

I started with an endive and spinach salad with mushrooms and bacon vinaigrette.

And finished with a delicious pork chop crepinette with roasted Brussels sprouts and crisp discs of potatoes on top of a bed of mashed potatoes with a yummy sauce.  There was also an amazing pistachio mixture stuffed inside the caul.  It was just tender and full of flavors!  And there was bacon. 

After one last look at the gorgeous sunset,

We headed over to the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden.  

I love tulips.  And they had the most gorgeous deep purple ones!  

And the windmill, which is so photogenic.

I did not enhance the color in the next photo.  There was one sole lavender tulip in with it's deep purple brothers. 

And of course there were other flowers as well. 

Unfortunately, it was the end of the season for the white and yellow tulips.  So I don't have any good shots of those.  I did include the bed of white tulips with the windmill in this next shot.

But since purple is my absolute favorite color, I was extremely happy that they were still in full bloom. 

One last shot of the dramatic windmill, but this time in black and white. 

And a view of the garden with blue (?) trees in the background.  I'm not sure why they are blue!  But you can see the structure of the garden with the border of hedges and purple flowers.  In the center are the deep purple tulips around a center bed of, I think, multicolored poppies.  And the white tulips are in the foreground.  The windmill is to the left, out of frame. 

And in the back are GREEN trees.  I swear.  Something I did in post production made part of the sky and tops of the trees have a blue haze.  lol  

A beautiful place to be sure.  And we only covered about a 10th of Golden Gate Park!  It has many, many wonders left to explore.  Just a word of caution, be aware of your surroundings at all time.  There are many homeless and transients in the park and you just want to be alert. 

Until next time!

xoxo

Nikon D3000