Fun with Lensbaby Spark

The Lensbaby Spark is a specialty lens with a hand adjustable bellows to vary the focus in an image. It also comes with aperture shape discs that you put in to add a particular shape to the bokeh. The results are fun and often surprising. This photo reminds me of a drawing class exercise I did years ago. Kind of an arty dreamscape... must do more...

Bobcat with Shasta View

Bobcat with Shasta View,

from my morning walk.
I like this little bobcat as an addition to a landscape photo. Used my (Canon) 70D with the 40mm 2.8 stm lens. The "shorty forty" is small and light  and a great morning walk partner with my camera.

Lake California Landscape

Looking west from the clubhouse parking lot where there's a bit of a rose garden.

Send Back the Clouds, Photo Landscape

Yay! The great clouds came back on Friday and I found some shooting time. This one is looking east over the Sacramento River from Riverview Drive in Lake California.

Landscape Looking East

There were magnificent clouds this afternoon, but I was working and by the time I got out to shoot they were dissipating. Still I like this landscape shot looking east in Lake California; the haze contributes nicely to the aerial perspective. I used the Canon 100mm L 2.8 IS lens, which is a macro but shoots everything beautifully.

Fire Season Sunset 2013

Already fire season here in California. Shot with the Canon EF-s 17-55 f2.8 lens, near the office in Lake California.

Clouds over the Sacramento River

I shot this thru some trees while perched on a steep hillside overlooking the Sacramento river. Luckily I was wearing my hiking boots as it was a bit of a scramble to get back up the hill! Taken about 6 pm, 1/100 sec @ f/16 iso 100, 21mm with Canon EF-s 17-55.

Here's Lookin' at Moo, kid!

This little cow was quite interested in what I was doing. Or perhaps she was simply enjoying the lovely early morning golden light!

A DSLR camera is the best toy!

A view of Mt Shasta from the airpark in Lake California. Shot from a low angle, used the Tamron 70-300 and edited in Lightroom 4. It was very windy, but I figured that if my foreground was out of focus, the wind blur would not be too much of a problem.

spring shooting is the best!

A view of Lassen from Cottonwood Creek via Lake California.

Taken with my Canon EF-s 17-55 f 2.8 lens, recently purchased from the used dept at Adorama Camera online.

Cattle Pond Smokey Atmosphere

Smokey day at the cattle pond in Lake California, soon after the Ponderosa fire roared to life. Another photo shot with the Tamron 70-300. I like to shoot landscapes in portrait orientation so I get a greater feeling of distance.

Tamron SP 70-300mm F4-5.6 VC on Canon T3i

After much reading of reviews, I purchased the Tamron 70-300mm F4-5.6 VC lens and here are a couple of images I took this a.m. So far I am quite pleased with the quality of the pix and the lens as well. Many review sites are maintained by pro photogs with pro gear and it is a little hard to find recommendations for a "good enough" lens for an amateur with the entry level dslr.

Skyscape in Lake California

Smoke is good for adding some atmosphere to a sunrise landscape photo with clouds. I got up early ;^) and enjoyed the morning.

Log and Thistles in Red Bluff

Got a chance to photograph  some of my favorite things this morning, like an old log with dried up thistles. Slight cloudiness and smoke in the atmosphere made for a more delicate light than is usual in August in northern California.

Old Log in the Pasture Photo

On Sunday I went for a walk in the pasture by the river. It so reminds me of being a kid when I loved playing in the woods and fields. But now I have a nice camera to go with ;>)

I decided to take my lightweight nikon L110 on my morning walk so I could exercise and take photos too. This camera is ez to use and has a long zoom, but it does not have manual settings so ya point, ya shoot and ya fiddle in photoshop. I was very surprised to see that the Canon zoombrowser ex software readily imported the jpgs from the sd card. Cool!

Hay Bales and Trees Acrylic Landscape Painting

Hey look, I made a painting from one of my recent photographs taken near the Equestrian Center in Lake California. This is 8" x10" acrylic on multimedia artboard, which I used for the first time and quite like! Fast and fun work using Chroma Interactive Acrylics.

acrylic landscape study and studio painting

I have been working with the interactive acrylics lately, am beginning to really like them. They are versatile, spontaneous yet changeable. I bought a stay-wet palette which helps to keep the paint at a workable consistency. Did this study at Discovery Park in Red Bluff, then did a larger studio piece
from that.
study 9x12" on w/c paper
painting 16x20" pintura painting panel

2 colors, one oak tree oil painting study

A painting experiment using only ultramarine blue and raw sienna plus white. The canvas is
12"x6" stretched linen; the subject is a dead oak tree.

oil landscape painting, "Manzanita in the Yard"

Oil painting in the morning, ahh, it smells like art! 8x10" oil on a raymar panel. The morning sun lights up the rugged golden fields here in Lake California; I'm really feeling the beauty today!
$95.00 thru paypal. Includes US shipping.