"Save the Gilroy Hills"

A woman I recently met (Janet) is heading an effort to STOP development of a section of land in the foothills of Gilroy. She and her committee of neighbors have been distributing flyers, intercepting & informing citizens, and collecting signatures in hopes of convincing Gilroy City Council members to first postpone approval of the project, and eventually disallow it. I don't live in Gilroy, so even though I was sympathetic to her cause, I didn't intend to get involved. Click on a photo to view a larger image.

Then I read an article about a photographer who took pictures for a conservancy in the Sierras that was trying to protect a tract of land from development, and I thought that's what this committee needs: photographs that will show exactly what will be destroyed if the development is approved. The next day I received an email from Janet asking if I would be willing to take photographs that the committee could use in their campaign to save the land. (Don't you just love how the forces of the Universe work?) Even though the hills are very dry with little green left in the grasses, the combination of rolling hills with oak trees is very compelling, especially when the morning light accents the amber grass. I even spied one last remnant of wildflowers.

I did not have access to the land which is cordoned off with a chain link fence. By climbing on a step ladder I was able to shoot over the fence...and when that was not possible, I included it as artistically as I could.

I don't normally get involved in causes or issues, but this turned out to be an interesting project. I sent over 30 photographs to the committee.

Filoli Garden

Click on a photo to view a larger image.
"Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life."

It is from this credo of original owner William Bowers Bourn II that the name Filoli was created for his 654 acre estate in Woodside, CA. The house, formal garden and surrounding acreage is now owned by The National Trust for Historic Preservation and is open to the public.As much as I love flowers, public gardens are not among my favorite places to photograph them. This visit to Filoli was a shoot-out with members of the photography club, and we took advantage of a once-a-month-after-hours-artists'-access to take advantage of late afternoon light and no crowds.The formal garden includes an assortment of individual, smaller gardens, fountains, a pool, several ponds, and a nursery. As I wandered from the Rose Garden to the Daffodil Meadow to the Woodlands, past the Sunken Garden, and on to the Terrace, I looked for hidden treasures, details that would make unique photographs. In an obscure, back corner I found a set of distinctive, patina covered patio chairs...

and in the retail nursery,
a statue of Buddha hidden in plain sight.

As I waited to meet up with the others at the end of our time, I started playing with double exposures. I took the first image of a mostly green succulent and then overlaid it with a similar, but larger one with magenta lined leaves.

You can see more photos from Filoli on my Flickr photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suebrazelton/

June Full Moon: Changing Light

Click on a photo to view a larger image.
These three photographs of the June full moon show how the light changes as the sun sets.

This spot at Chesbro Reservoir is a perfect location to photograph the June full moon because the dip in the landscape lines up so nicely with the moon's rise. Moon rise was a full 45 minutes before sunset so I knew the moon would be very faint against a still bright sky. Normally, I like to use a long telephoto lens so the moon looks HUGE, and catch it when it first appears, but at Chesbro, the water and hills are as much a part of the composition as the moon. I chose a shorter lens so I could include the foreground grass and trees to frame the rise. I underexposed the shot to bring out more color.

All the elements came together for this shot taken just minutes before sunset. The sky was dark enough for the moon light to glimmer through, but not so dark that the contrast between sky and moon was greater than the camera sensor could capture. And the layers of warm, sunset color are always appreciated. I don't normally take vertical photographs, but the line of reflection in the water seemed to call for it.

This last photo was taken ten minutes after sunset. I zoomed in to give more size to the moon. Without the sun to warm it, the light turned a cool blue. At this point the moon was very bright against the dark blue sky. To prevent it from being completely blown out, I used a graduated neutral density filter and underexposed the shot. In post processing, I isolated the moon & darkened it to bring out the orange.

I hope you enjoyed viewing my moon shots
as much as I enjoyed taking them.