Easter Drive to Amador County - 2016

Okay, I'm doing a "throwback" post even though it isn't Thursday.  ALL my posts tend to be throwbacks since I take so many shots and then have to weed through them and do the basic post-production!  

When I'm feeling at my most reflective, I take to the roads to view the beauty of this wonderful planet we call home.  Easter 2016 was no exception.  My daughter was still away at school and I didn't really have any plans.  I visited my mom for awhile and then decided to head up to the foothills to find a flower farm I had heard of, appropriately named the Amador Flower Farm.  

It was a gorgeous day for a drive and I was looking forward to communing with nature so I headed up Highway 16 to Plymouth.  

I saw a lot of beautiful and interesting sights on the way, but rain was a possibility so I tried not to stop until I reached the farm. But at one point I saw these lovely pink bushes in the rolling green hills and couldn't resist. I parked on the shoulder and got out to hike for a better advantage.

  

There was a muddy little creek running through the property; my ideal spot for a horse ranch!!!  

If only.  :-)

When I headed back to my car, I saw this drainage ditch under the highway and thought it would make a cool photo.  Feel free to disagree.  lol

When I'm on one of my photo jaunts, I look for the beauty in everything!  When I got to the farm, I found beauty in spades!  I also found crowds and crowds of people!  I hadn't checked their website recently and didn't realize that they were having a massive Easter egg hunt.  But I was able to sneak in some good shots in spite of the crowds.  

The place is surrounded by vineyards and beautiful lilacs were in bloom.

There were also jonquils and daffodils aplenty!

But ya know purple is my favorite color so one more of the lovely lilacs. 

But the clouds were so gorgeous and the sky so blue that even the bare vines made for stunning shots!

Luckily when I got there, the egg hunts were well in progress so the crowds did start to thin out a bit as I walked around.  They have some delightful gardens and lawns for folks to wander through and even picnic which I saw many families doing.  I contented myself with getting some close up shots of the flowers.  

One of my mom's favorites:  Iris

I love this next flower and shot.  Bokeh!

I don't know what it is; it looks like a purple poppy which I didn't even know was a thing!

And there were some red ones too.  Well, red and pink

Now these are tulips (I think) lol.  

Once you get past the gardens and the middle where the little store is, the flower fields, more grapevines, and a beautiful little marshy creek invite you to keep walking. 

The creek bed was absolutely FILLED with Calla Lilies

 So beautiful!

Almost immediately upon arriving, I noticed another of my mom's favorite flowers, Wisteria.  And it was surrounding one of my favorite things, angel figures.  But all day there was literally always some one taking a photo of family or friends at this lovely setting.  

I was thrilled when, as I was wandering back through on my way to the car, I found it empty. 

I must have this once a get my dream ranch. I've always wanted to have a special prayer chapel setting. 

As I was just entering the parking area, I saw this family in one of the garden picnic areas.  I could not resist snapping this perfect family Easter outing.  

 And then a little Killdeer led me to my car.  I didn't know they had parking attendants!

As I got in my car, I saw that a cloud had formed a beautiful heart.  It seemed so apropos and I knew my Heavenly Father was smiling down on us on this perfect Easter morning!

And with that, I got in my car and headed on down the road.  I had seen several things that required being turned into photographs!

xoxo

Nikon D3000

Experimenting With Photoshop Filters

This was fun...  I think these turned out so cool!!

All photos taken with my Nikon D3000 using telephoto lens to soften the background and enhance detail.

Above is a pot of Iris on a flat headstone.  Taken in Sacramento Old City Cemetery in March 2015.

I used Photoshop Elements 11 and make a duplicate background layer and then added a watercolor filter.  I then changed the opacity on the watercolor layer to about 60%...basically until I felt enough of the back ground was through to add detail.

Next, I added a Layer Mask to the duplicate filter.  Using the brush feature,  I went over certain areas with the brush to further bring through the background to enhance shading and add more depth.

I like it!

Next up is...

This is another photo from my Sacramento Old City Cemetery visit.  

This one I did very similar to the first.  

I created a duplicate background layer.  This time I chose the Pastels filter and manipulated it with the sliders until it looked interesting to me.  I did not make it at all transparent this time.  

I added the Layer Mask to the duplicate layer and then used the brush again. This time, I went over the entire Robin to bring it through and make it clearer.  I left just a bare edge with the Pastel filter; I've learned the hard way when editing photos that if you err on the side of grabbing part of the background, it's very noticeable.

So Pretty!!

Last for today is this coy horse...

I loved this horse when I was out walking about Gibson Ranch County Park one day.  I have another photo (that I will post below) in color and he is just a gorgeous, different looking equine.  

After I had taken a couple photos (I always take at least 4 of the same subject haha), he turned a little and angled his head like this.  Posing for me, but playing coy.  However, there was one problem.  He has a slightly unattractive redness outlining his eye.  It was way more noticeable when he tilted his head like this.  But loving the pose, I tried to save the photo.  

I chose the Sketch filter and then selected Pen and Ink.  There are four color choices and I chose black (obviously).  Again, I just played around with the settings until I got it where I loved it.  

This was the easiest to edit.

Here is the same horse, in living color. 

xoxo

Testing My Newly Learned (And Still Working On It) Composite Photo Skills

This is a composite of a grave marker that touched me.  I love the inscription which says:

My wife how fondly shall thy memory

be enshrined within the chambers of my heart

(illegible) worth was only known to me

and I can feel how sad it is to part.

Sacramento Historic City Cemetery

Composite of three photos.  

• White Iris from the City Cemetery for the background, changed into Water Paper and then darkened and blurred. 
• Full photo of the headstone.
• Photo of just the inscription which was then sharpened and made slightly transparent.

Nikon D3000 with telephoto lens edited in Photoshop Elements 11

Photo by:  Jeanette 
Taken in March 2015

xoxo