Sonoma Coast California - Landscape Photography

little cows on a big hill on the way to the coast

trail above the sea with a view for miles in every direction

above Wrights beach campground

creek meeting the ocean

wild Yarrow on the cliffs 

The lovely Sonoma County California coast.

Recently I got a new lens, the Nikon 18-140mm. It's the first zoom I've purchased since my first kit lens 18-55mm which came with my first SLR many years ago. I generally don't use zooms and prefer a fixed lens but I would like to start capturing more birds and wildlife, so entering the zoom lens reality seems necessary. It did alot of research and considered the 2.8f stop lenses and thought those would be the best option, mostly at the recommendations from other photographer friends who mainly shoot portraits and weddings and need good low light capabilities. I shoot outdoors almost exclusively so I took a chance on the 3.5-5.6 and I have not been disappointed yet, I love this lens! 

 I also did some portrait photography recently, which was alot of fun, volunteering in Santa Rosa last month for the Help Portrait organization which was indoors and the images were great, and the focus was fast and clear.  I have mostly used the 35mm fixed lens for the last many years on my D7000 and it has been my favorite lens of all and so versatile, but now this new 18-140mm is currently living on my camera. It's a bit heavier, but so nice to use. The zoom is tight so the lens does not creep and the image quality is wonderful. I also got some macro attachments for super close ups. More of those images later :)

White on White - Greece travel photography

lots more kitties to come.....

  

a little cafe with pillows on the bench outside for relaxing, it's all about taking your time and enjoying food and the simple pleasures

 in the early mornings it's just you and the kitties

Just returned home from two weeks in Greece. It's been many years since I have been able to travel abroad and Greece has been #1 on my list for the last 20+ years. It was even more wonderful than I could have imagined. The light, the food, swimming in the Aegean, and everyone was so friendly and welcoming. 

If you see someone twice they are lit up to see you again like you are old friends. That is something I do not experience living here in California where most people seems to just be going 90 miles an hour nowhere. 

I decided to do the first blog post in white images since the white was the first impression I had arriving at 6:30 am in a small whitewashed town.  Bright white everywhere overwhelming and so refreshing to the senses. Lots more images to come from my trip ;)

Sonoma County California Coast

A day at the coast recently, bright sun and so warm for this time of year.

Pretty Pastel San Francisco

A few lovely places in San Francisco. 

Around just about every corner there is beauty to be found in this city ;)

San Francisco photography - A day trip to the city

Daydreaming of travel.....

Paris

view from the Eiffel tower

 

 

 

 

 

sweets shop , Paris


Just over two years ago , my husband and I moved from Maui Hawaii to Northern California
( why did we do that ?...... )
and on our way we went to Europe for 2 months, since all our stuff was in storage , visiting France and Italy.
We spent a good part of our time on a couple of farm/homesteads , me doing gardening and my husband doing woodwork , in trade for staying with these very fun , sweet and generous folks , staying in amazing old , ancient really , stone houses and working on our french all the while ... We went through the organization, WWOOF . I also did this kind of traveling 10+ years ago when I went to England for 6 weeks and Ireland for 4 months. I've also traveled to Bali , Thailand, New Zealand , Hawaii many times , Mexico , Guatemala , needless to say , I've got the travel bug pretty bad.. I've been daydreaming of traveling again lately . I would love nothing more than to get on a plane and fly some gorgeous place in the Mediterranean , camera in tow , and just wander . Since we moved here 2 years ago , the farthest I've gone is to San Francisco which is only about an hour away. Anyway, I was looking through my Europe pictures last night and decided to revive some of them from my archives.so here they are ... we can armchair travel together :)