A Few Of My Favorites...

 

"You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, all the books you have read, the music you have heard, and people you have loved."

~Ansel Adams

Photography means a lot to me, but I sometimes sacrifice the quality of my photos, so I can get a picture in the moment. Bird photos sometimes have to be taken, before you think about whether the opportunity will be for the art, or whether it will be to build your yearly bird list. I try really hard to bring the two together, but oh boy, there are challenges. Weather. Birds that seem to fly at the speed of sound. I am getting older, so I am having a bit of a tremor in my hands, which might be from arthritis. There are a lot of factors. But here I want to share the ones I got right, or at least, okay. There is a lot of emotion here. They reflect happiness, sadness, serenity, wonder. It has been quite a year, filled with, you know LIFE. Each year I try to get a photo good enough to enter into the Audubon Photography Contest. Hopefully, 2026 will be my year!

My Year End Favorites

B/W 2024 #3

 

“There are no facts, only interpretations.” 

~Friedrich Nietzsche 

 

I went to the archives for this one. I just didn't do anything this past week that inspired me, so I thought maybe I missed an opportunity in the past, and yes I had. We visited Alameda a couple years ago, in search of some nifty little shorebirds and ducks. Well, we weren't very lucky about finding the birds, but we did find a magnificent view of San Francisco and the bay, and in the case of this photograph, Mount Tamalpias peeking out of the fog that was surrounding the bay! I think the black and white gives it a haunting feel. Not scary necessarily but rather in terms of history. That view has been there forever. Just think about how many folks stood in the spot I did, and appreciated the natural beauty in front of them. 

 

One of them might have been my dad, who worked his whole career in Alameda, at the Navel Air Station. He and I both enjoyed a love fort the bay, and the mountains surrounding the Bay Area. Mount Tam is just one of the mountains that inspires me, and it does in almost every way! We have been to the top only once, so I think this summer would be a good time to maybe do some photos of the gorgeous views that go on forever, and of course a sunset over San Francisco would absolutely fill my heart. In fact, Mount Diablo, Mount Hamilton in Santa Clara County, Mount Lassen, all the way up in Lassen County, and finally gorgeous Mount Shasta, might also be a fun way to shake up the subjects a bit. And in that there are birds everywhere, well, that just makes for one beautiful day! Black and White or color is just beside the point!

 

 Elevations

 

Mount Tamalpias... 2,571

Mount Diablo... 3,849

Mount Hamilton... 4,265

Mount Shasta... 14,179

I hope I can move beyond my fears and go. I really want to break out of the box of reluctance and travel anxiety I live in. I want to experience new things, especially when my love of birds and photography calls me at the same time.

 

 

This Autumn's Last Gift

 

"I stood in a clearing among a stand of beech trees, leaves as red as rubies, branches black as jet. It was sunset, and shafts of richly colored sunlight struck through the delicate pillars of the tree trunks, as if though the lancet windows of a cathedral."

 

~Kate Forsyth

Bitter Greens

 

In my sadness, I thought that I would probably never see a sunset again, as beautiful as a sunset from way atop Grizzly Peak in Berkeley, or from an unobstructed view of my beautiful Pacific, from Ocean Beach, in San Francisco, but last night the sky burned with every bit as colorful beauty as I have ever seen in those other two places. And it doesn't hurt my heart to say... I am home now. I have found a new creative love in enjoying the birds at the protected areas along the San Joaquin Delta, and my camera has found purpose. And I even have my beloved Mount Diablo to remind me, San Francisco, and all the places that live in heart, aren't so far away, and are just right on the other side of the mountain waiting for me. If I can see Mount Diablo... I am okay. I am Okay. Better yet... I am in love. Autumn 2020 had one last gift for me. My heart is healed.

 

Woodbridge Ecological Reserve

Lodi, California

December 12th, 2020

~Carly

December 12th 2020

Stockton, California

Come Little Leaves

"Mindfulness arises when you allow your attention to fall effortlessly on the breathing point

 like an autumn leaf falling on a lake of still water."

~Amit Ray

Beautify Your Breath - Beautify Your Life

Breathe deeply. Just breath. Take an aspirin. And breathe. Just breathe. Remember to breathe. That's the advice I continue to give myself, but I am not sure my inner scared child is interested in taking that advice. Breathing is a given. We must breathe to live... right? It's pretty simple. But for me, relaxing and chasing away to fear, doesn't have as much to do with breathing, as it does with jumping into a bunch of leaves, and soaking the beauty. I guess that at the end of the day, I would rather photograph a beautiful sunset, and jump in a pile of leaves, than breathe. It's probably a good thing that elections aren't held in April, because spring blossoms do absolutely nothing for my nerves! LOL.

Please vote on Tuesday!

PLEASE!

Mount Diablo 

Contra Costa Count, California

 Central Valley Sunset

#45 Leaf Of The Day
November 5th 2018

Photographed October 11th, 2018

Tilden Park, Little Farm

Nikon

~Mood: Stress

~Me