April 8, 2008

Young's Winery

A local winery jumps into spring a little early. This winery has wonderful wine (a little on the expensive side for this area.) They also have the most beautiful setting and gardens. Many a wedding has been performed here.

PS. I am so frustrated with my security settings being mysteriously reset and I don't know enough about computer settings to change them back. I still can't comment on anyone else's photos, but I look at them every day. They are wonderful!

April 6. 2008

Our camera club was allowed to photograph the old and deteriorating Preston Castle in Ione, CA. It was originally built in 1864 as a home for wayward boys...otherwise known as a juvenile detention center...until 1960, when the state abandoned the building for new quarters for the boys. Now, the Preston Castle foundation is trying to raise money to bring the castle back to it's former glory. Our camera club had the place to ourselves and it was a photographer's dream with the ambient light streaming through dusty windows and everything in the place rusting, rotting and falling apart. What fun!

UPDATE:

For some reason my security settings changed overnight and I cannot make comments on anyone's photos...not even mine. So, I'll add the following:

I have some more photos of the place in my El Dorado Camera Club gallery.

Prior to this place being built, these boys (some of them as young as 7) were held at either San Quentin or Folsom prison. Much worse places. During it's heyday, this place taught the boys a trade so that when they were released they would have a job skill. The castle was also minimum security and it was a beautiful building. They had many amenities that the town boys didn't have available to them.

Merle Haggard apparently spent some time behind these walls.

April 4, 2008

Stars and stripes and stripes

April 2, 2008

This is one of the oldest wineries in California and it's not in Napa or Sonoma. It's in the small town of Placerville in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near my home. This is the original winery, which is still in use by the owners, but it is no longer open to the public. They've moved the tasting room to a newer building on the property.

March 31, 2008

My camera club visited a local hotspot called Daffodil Hill, which is near Sutter Creek, CA. The Daffs were in full bloom and it was a glorious spring day. The place didn't open until 10:00, which made the light a little dicey, but my camera club is not afraid of a challenge. This little girl's parents were taking a bunch of pictures of her and, as I was standing there watching, I decided to snap one myself.

March 23, 2008

I was asked to photograph the Easter happenings at church today, particularly the Easter Egg hunt that started at 11:00 in the morning with the sun blazing. All my outdoor photos had blinkies everywhere. What to do...what to do? Shoot everything anyway.

Maybe next year I can try to talk them into a sunset egg hunt. Lovely golden light...

Somehow I doubt they will buy it.

March 22, 2008

I took this yesterday on our way to dinner...my husband took me out to celebrate my birthday. I thought swingsets were appropriate to celebrate being another year older...and deeper in debt thanks to my photography hobby.

This photo was actually taken at an old one-room school house that is still in use as a community center.

March 21, 2008

Give 'em the boot.

For some reason the guy that owns this property puts old boots on top of all the fenceposts all around his property. This is just a small sample of his collection.

Happy first day of spring...and happy birthday to me.

March 20, 2008

Revealed

Kinda cheating today because I took this photo a couple of days ago. Even though I took some photos yesterday, I haven't finished processing them yet. Besides, it's my birthday tomorrow and everyone knows you get to celebrate the whole week of your birthday (I'm sure that's written in a rule book somewhere.) So, I'm taking a little break from all the photo processing I have been doing.

I saw this painting leaning up against the wall in Pottery World...waiting to be displayed on the store wall with all the other paintings. Someone apparently wanted to sneak a peek at it.

I thought it was rather revealing.

march 19, 2008

Yesterday, my youngest son and I went down to Sacramento to the IMAX theater to see "I am Legend", which is one of the scariest movies I have seen...especially on that huge screen. But, aside from the scare factor, I really liked the message. Since we were right down town next to the capitol and the convention center, we walked around a little looking for photo ops and Arnold. Didn't see Arnold, but I did get a few shots in...this being one of them.

PS. There is no truth to the rumor that my son and I screamed like little girls during the movie.