Snow Moon - First Supermoon of 2020! February 9th 2020 - Yolo County, California

 Another outing with the Olympus camera Test and Wow program.  This time I wanted to see how it held up in low light by shooting the supermoon.  To be honest, the resulting photos were a bit noisy.  But let it also be known that I am hit or miss when it comes to night shots.  lol  But that won't stop me from trying!  

But usually I  do some research and refresh my memory on settings and tips.  But on this trip, I didn't really do that because I didn't even have a tripod available and just kind of decided to head out on the spur of the moment. 

I had one main target.  The Milk Farm sign off Interstate 80 in Dixon. 

This is an historic landmark of sorts which was almost demolished.  But it still stands to this day and most folks probably drive by without even much of a glance. 

The Milk Farm Restaurant - which the sign originally heralded - was built in 1928 and was featured in the famous Saturday Evening Post in 1940 which kind of put Dixon's dairy industry in the spotlight. 

I remember stopping there on church outings back in the 70's & 80's (even though now it seems like that is just a hop, skip, and jump away so it's weird that we always were ready for a rest stop at that point back then!)

And then it closed in 1986, the year my daughter was born, due to serious wind damage.  But residents of Dixon didn't want it destroyed, so the building was dismantled and placed in storage and the sign was left standing!

It has a cow jumping over the moon and I thought it might actually frame the supermoon and look cool!  But!  I needed a lot of things to happen right for the perfect execution.  And it didn't.  haha

But to start, I pulled over at the Yolo Basin Wildlife Area (where surprisingly the gate was open) to see if I could get a photo of the moon over Sacramento with some water.  

Again, no tripod so I shot all semi-longer exposure by putting the camera on the roof of the car.  :-)

I propped it at the right angle by using my fleece jacket.  :)  Luckily the moon was pretty low to the horizon in all of these shots. 

This first one was a closeup of just the moon with the 300mm lens.  It was super, super noisy!  I used DeNoise to try to tone it down with mixed results. 

A slightly less cropped version with less noise. 

I kind of like this one shot between two trees! Noisy, but looks cool. 

And now!!  The famous Milk Farm Sign!

And the story is that I sat here in my car - in some driveway to a farmhouse (which was pretty long so I didn't have anyone wondering about me - or so I thought).  I sat there for quite some time waiting for the moon to rise high enough to get over the sign and HOPEFULLY be in the right spot.  

It was a little bit cold and a little bit scary, but I was just off the freeway so I didn't think a serial killer would get me.  

But!  I think I was even more nervous when California Highway Patrol car pulled up and parked just off the road kitty corner to me.  After about 10 minutes, the car started up and pulled closer to me and the copy put his spotlight on my car.  He walked over and I, slightly embarrassed, explained what I was trying to do. 

He said he was on his lunch break and said he would hang around to make sure I was okay.  I, again slightly embarrassed, told him that I would just leave because I had taken some test shots of the sign illuminated by my car's headlights and it wasn't really bright enough to see the sign.  

He very sweetly offered to put his car spotlight on the sign so we gave it a try. 

It worked!  Kind of!  It was actually even better when the moon was above the sign (which took about 10 more embarrassing minutes) and the sign was not so backlit!  With both my headlights and the spot light this time, the moon DID align how I had hoped and I was able to get a shot that is halfway decent!!

The Moon Jumping Over The Cow Jumping Over The Moon over the Milk Farm!

I used post production in Photoshop to lighten the sign a bit more and bring back some detail in the moon, but having the CHP spotlight on the word "Milk" really helped me achieve my whimsical dream.  :-)  

The very nice CHP officer and I parted ways after I promised to drive safely back home.  He seemed quite amused that I had driven 20 minutes and sat in my car for about 20 minutes to get one crappy photo!  lol  

xoxo

Sunflowers at Sunset - Woodland, California June 21, 2020

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows follow behind you

~Maori proverb

More social distancing with flowers!  This time in Woodland at three of many sunflower fields growing in Yolo County this time of year. I came to see some sunflowers but got sidetracked by a little bird watching place nearby that my co-worker Yvonne had told me about.  More on that in another post. :)

When I finally tore myself away from the Egrets and Herons and made my way to my planned location just a bit up I-5, it was getting dark and the sun had pretty much set.  But the sky was a beautiful orangey-pink, the mountains were blue, and the fields were bright with green and yellow. 

It's a bit late in the season and it's been HOT so a lot of the flowers were going to seed and starting to brown and droop.  But they were still a gorgeous sight to behold. 

I learned a little something from Reddit recently regarding the two different sunflowers seen in the photo below.  

The smaller, multi-clustered flowers (that we sometimes notice on the side of random roads here in California) are the male pollinators.  The tall, strong seed-bearing sunflowers are, of course, the females.  Girl power baby!

You know me and know I have to do a couple "stylized" photos every time.  :-)  To me, there is beauty in every stage of life.  Not always the stereotypical "beauty", but beauty none the less. 

This picture is similar to the first one, I know.  But I just loved the way some sunflowers have their heads held high to catch the last rays of the setting sun.  And this time I found three more closer to me!

More "style"! 

This is the backside of the sunset.  Pro tip:  After the sun has set (or risen), look to the opposite horizon to catch the last bit of the beautiful show of light and color!

Here is another example of the male and female flowers.  This farmer's field had a thick row of male flowers planted between every 10 or so rows of females.  

This is the opposite side of the road.  Strong and beautiful females tower over there male pollinators with the orange Western sky and beautiful trees in the background.  

And this is probably my favorite shot of the day so I saved it for last.  So gorgeous.

Such a peaceful and perfect way to end a Sunday night after a pretty stressful/anxiety-filled week/weekend.  

Till next time.  

xoxo

Sony A350

Note: all photos taken by Jeanette H. (author/photographer) at sunset/blue hour with handheld DSLR at 400 ISO (Sorry for any grainyness). I've learned that the used 300mm zoom lens I bought has a lot of chromatic aberration which sucks to a certain extent (especially with birds and wildlife) but isn't a deal breaker for non-pro photos.

Rounding Out Yolo County - Davis Arboretum & Dixon Sunflowers 7/2/16

Continuing on my quest to see as much of Yolo County as I could in one weekend, my daughter and I headed West on I-80 for a walk in the University of California - Davis Arboretum and then a quick shopping jaunt at the Vacaville Outlets.

On the previous day, I put many miles on my car and body to check out beautiful Sunflowers, busy bees, and cool-looking farms.  I also stopped for to talk to a turkey vulture and see some graffiti before visiting safflower fields and hiking along Cache Creek.

So it was nice (for me...not so much for her) to have my daughter drive me and spare my poor, old car.  Plus, she has air-conditioning.  And it was hot. But we knew that there would be at least some shade and hopefully some cool critters to see.  

First spotted was a gorgeous Green Heron who was hoping to catch some lunch in the algae-covered water. 

  

There were some interesting spectators who didn't want to be that lunch...

But Mr. Heron kept trying anyway.

There are lovely plants and flowers at the Arboretum of course.  Such as these gorgeous white an purple blooms. 

I made a cute, scaly friend who was just hanging out on a tree trunk. 

There were a profusion of these lovely pink and yellow spotted flowers.  I tried a couple different edits...

I was fascinated by these gorgeous yellow balls growing on this tree!  They were amazing!

We crossed the Love Lock Bridge to head back to the car.  It was almost like being in Paris!  Except Paris took all their locks down.  

We made a brief stop to visit the matched-pair of black beauties in the horse paddock.  These sweet boys didn't want to move from under the shade on this hot day. 

We headed for the Outlets, but had to stop for gas.  When we did, we saw another incredible sunflower field behind the gas station on Pedrick Road.  It was perfect with the foothills in the background!

Like the other sunflower fields, there were hundreds of busy bees buzzing around.  I took advantage of this to try to take a "trendy" photo with some good success!

There were almost as many photographers and selfie-artists in the field as there were bees.  And I got photobombed by one.  haha

A lot of the flowers in this field were deformed, which was interesting.  I wonder why?

One last shot with the furrows filled with precious water.  

And then we were on our way.  

There were some spots I missed on my weekend which will have to be visited at another time, such as the lavender farm.  Which will just give me reason for another roadie!

xoxo

Nikon D3300 18-55 lens

Yolo County - Laughing in Flowers July 1, 2016

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "The earth laughs in flowers".  I like that visual!  What a great description for fields of flowers with bees humming about them, contributing to the happiness of the earth.

In July and August, Yolo County, California is definitely laughing with many fields full of gorgeous sunflowers lifting their heads to the sun!

As I meandered down the county roads on this beautiful July morning, I saw some other bright fields of yellow and red thistle-like flowers that I couldn't quite identify.  

A quick google search told me that I had found the source of a substance that many people use on a frequent basis - Safflower Oil!  That's right, these beautiful fields were filled with safflowers.  

And the bees loved them as much as they loved the sunflowers found nearby.

I headed up Highway 16 in search of something more on the purple side.  Unfortunately, I never did.  So I guess I'll revisit that next lavender season.  But I was content to explore along the beautiful Cache Creek/Bear Creek.  

It was getting pretty hot on this day where temperatures were close to the century mark.  So I had a brief walk at an interesting looking spot along the highway and river, north of Esparto, CA.  I pulled off where the road was wider than usual and happily parked under a tree.  

In fact, it was blooms of golden and white cotton-like seeds, spilling down the sides of the nearby trees that had caught my eye at this particular junction. I had to get out for a closer look.

Then I found a path that led through the dense brush and scrubby trees towards the river, which I could hear rushing by. 

On my way, I had to pass through a really cool manzanita forest.  I couldn't capture how otherworldly it seemed amongst the tall, red trunks with the light barely coming through the canopy overhead.

The trunks were such a beautiful color and had these amazing curls on them. 

When I made to the river shore, I found I wasn't the only creature who had sought out the cool of the bank to relax.  There was a lizard and a rabbit that I didn't get a shot of.  A bit more willing to stay put for my intrusive photos was a small, skinny, blue dragonfly. 

The creek running through the canyon was so cool and the swirls of the rapids were soothing.  It was such a bummer that I forgot my water shoes and towel at home!  

I had a little sandy beach with green grass, shade, and granite boulders to sit on.  But most of them were occupied by little dragonfly friends.

I hiked back to the road and down to a curve I had passed through earlier.  I thought it might make for some good photos.  On the way, I found an interesting dead tree with more of the cottony seeds that I though made for an interesting look.

Looking back North, the river and surrounding green was in stark contrast to the barren, brown mountains around.  Just a month into summer and one can easily tell that El Nino did not alleviate the harsh drought.  At.  All. 

It was getting too hot to be out and about, so I headed back to my car and turned back onto Highway 16.  This time I retraced my route and headed Southeast.  I had seen an old bridge off the road that I had to check out.  

It was a cute, one lane bridge.  Cache Creek was spread wide beneath it and there were lots of swallows and lizards about.  

I, of course, had to explore underneath. There was some slightly scary graffiti down there!

But there were also lots of beauteous things, such as cattails!

I sat on the shady bank by the cattails for a little while, just enjoying my surroundings. I was reminded of a book I enjoy..."Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen.  In it, Fanny says, "I shall soon be rested.  To sit in the shade on a find day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment."

The old bridge was as a silver crown on an emerald claddaugh ring, with my hands holding the perfect picture and my heart. 

Finally feeling refreshed enough for the hot drive home, I left my sanctuary. Even though I was tired and hot, I could resist one more stop when I passed another sunflower field right off the road.

  

  

I love these next three photos.  They look very similar, and they are indeed of the same flower.  A very dedicated and busy bee was hard at work.  He was covered with bright yellow pollen and looked so amazing!  I had to do a little "study" of him; the photos get progressively closer to him. 

  

This particular sunflower seemed to be much farther along in it's life cycle and was released a ton more pollen, which can bee (pun intended!) scene in the last picture.  Sooo cool!!

What a fun, but somewhat exhausting (mostly due to the heat) day.  Can't wait to go again!  I'll leave you with another quote which I completely believe in my bones. 

"Mother Nature is always speaking.  She speaks in a language understood within the peaceful mind of the sincere observer." ~~ Radhanath Swami

xoxo

Nikon D3300