Hike and Shoot - Lupine Fields of Folsom Lake (Not Motorcycling Content).

I recently joined some photographers' social clubs. One of them had a meet to explore and shoot pictures of the Lupine fields of Granite Bay State Park, besides Folsom Lake. 

The Lupines are in full bloom right now, although they are much diminished from previous years due to the severe drought we are currently enduring. 

Nevertheless, it was a fun photo shoot, made some new friends, also with some people who were out there exploring with their kids in tow, and they modeled for us, which was great! 

Since I have all the requisite model releases now, I am sharing the pictures here with you. I hope that you enjoy them! :)

A Walk in Fields of Purple.

Save A Horse, And Ride The Motorcycle.

There is always a good reason to go ride and to go take pictures, but sometimes the good reason is also for a good cause. 

All About Equine in El Dorado Hills held a fundraiser today, so I rode my own steel horse there to support them. It was open to the public to picnic, and wander the stalls, and look at the Horses and other farm animals that this animal rescue takes care of, and puts up for adoption. 

I was there as part of a photography group - which had organized a photo shoot for the benefit of this rescue organization. We had so called backstage access to the horses, so in addition to pitching in a few funds to keep the wheels turning at this rescue, we were also donating our pictures to them (in my case those that were any good, animals are hard to photograph), or the ones that the rescue might want to use. They have many good looking and some very friendly horses up for adoption. I didn't take a picture of every one of them. 

This rescue does not adopt out gnarly or ragged rescue horses, they rear them back to health (if need be), before the horses are put up for adoption. 

If you or your friends love horses, please feel free to help spread the word. There are animal rescue organizations which go belly up all the time - in fact All About Equine has even rescued horses from other rescues which had failed. 

Here is their info: All About Equine.

I am posting up some pictures, that I took this day. I was here for about 2 hours, talked to the volunteers, talked to the photographers, roamed the grounds etc, before stretching the legs of my steel (well, aluminum mostly) horse for the rest of the afternoon. 

Friends..

Looking through a new lens.

Spring is finally upon us. Even though it feels like it arrived in February, as we didn't really get a Winter season with all it's accompanying rain this year, in another week it will officially be the end of the rainy season in California and the beginning of the sunny season. 

As if on cue, I picked up a new Nikon last week, I have been wanting one for a few years now, watching and waiting for just the right one for me, and finally pulled the trigger last week on a Nikon. I could have waited till the end of the year for better deals this holiday season, might have even saved some money, but I couldn't fathom the thought of going through three more seasons before finally getting my hands on one. This certainly wasn't an impulsive instant gratification thing, I have been waiting a few years for this. 

I haven't had much time to get familiarized with the new equipment and lenses, just a couple of outings on a mostly rained out weekend, before work has separated me from my new love. 
Foolishly, I had jumped right into very shallow depth of field snaps - to mixed results. This camera is unforgiving of rookie mistakes, and a shallow depth of field requires you to nail the focus exactly where you want it to be. Yet here I was fiddling with AF areas and modes etc. as I played around, even throwing in focus and recompose into the fray. I didn't always succeed, actually mostly didn't, but maybe more practice will make perfect. 

What follows are a few examples of my goof ups, which I felt were decent enough to share. Here is to hoping that I get better, much better. That would be something! :)

Hopefully you would enjoy looking at these, even if they are nowhere near perfect!

A Rose at Villa Toscano, an Amador County Winery.