California

Limestone Canyon Photography Truck Tour

Published: Sat, Jun 15, 2019
Written by GizellaN
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Categories: Blog, Flower Photography, Irvine Ranch Conservancy, Landscape, Photography, USA
Tags: California, Irvine, Irvine Ranch Conservancy, Limestone Canyon, truck tour

A couple of months ago I signed up for a 6 hour long truck tour in the mountains right behind us. It’s an area that is not open to the public, but the Irvine Ranch Conservancy organizes programs there that you can attend. I was very excited about this truck tour, but unfortunately it had to be cancelled due to rainy weather. Luckily, I was able to sign up for a different day for a 4-hour long tour on June 8th.

The group met Donna, our driver, and the other 4 volunteers at the Augustine Staging area, where we started our trip on this truck:

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Visiting The Sinks – The Grand Canyon of Orange County

Published: Mon, May 13, 2019
Written by GizellaN
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Categories: Blog, Flower Photography, Landscape, Photography, USA
Tags: California, Hike, Irvine, LetsGoOutside, Limestone Canyon, The Sink

On Saturday my husband and I enjoyed another wonderful hike. We only had to drive 5 minutes to the trail head, and after about an hour or so hike we reached a lookout point from where we were presented with the above view. This is called The Sink – I believe this one is the West Sink. We didn’t have time to hike another mile to see the East Sink, but we’ll try to do that next time. These are natural sandstone formations, which are sometimes referred to as Orange County’s miniature Grand Canyon. Here are a few images from our hike.

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Beach Hopping in Laguna Beach (Lensbaby Blog Circle)

Published: Mon, Oct 01, 2018
Written by GizellaN
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Categories: Blog, Lensbaby, Lensbaby Blog Circle, Photography, Photowalk, Sol 45, USA
Tags: California, Laguna Beach, Lensbaby, Lensbaby Blog Circle, Sol 45

To my delight, I was able to join a group of wonderful Lensbaby photographers from around the world, and take part in their monthly Lensbaby Blog Circle. At the beginning of the month we all feature images in a post created with various Lensbaby lenses on diverse topics. To visit all the blog posts you just need to sit back, enjoy a post, then click on the link posted at the end of the post to hop over to the next one. I’m very excited to be part of this group.
For my first Blog Circle post I am featuring images from Laguna Beach, California. I have just received my new Lensbaby lens, the Sol 45. I had seen a lot of wonderful images taken with this lens in our Facebook group and on Instagram, and I was very eager to try out myself. On the first day I had it, I created some macro flower images in my backyard. They turned out delightful. But I wanted to see what kind of pictures I can create in a non-macro environment. I decided to go on a beach hopping tour – visit my most favorite beaches in the town of Laguna Beach and just shoot, shoot, and shoot.

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Eclectic Venice Beach with the Burnside 35

Published: Sun, Sep 16, 2018
Written by GizellaN
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Categories: Blog, Burnside 35, Family Trips, Lensbaby, Photography
Tags: Burnside 35, California, Lensbaby, Photography, Venice Beach

Last Sunday we made a family trip to Venice Beach, CA. It was 5 years ago when we were there last time; it was during my brother’s visit from Hungary.
This place was a very interesting, eclectic place back then too, but it felt even more unusual to me now. Lots of buildings were boarded up, restaurants/street food stands were closed, and the homeless population has boomed since the last time we were there.
Since this was a family walk, I shot pictures with my Burnside 35 lens. I find this lens useful when I am not on my own shooting schedule, and I only have short times to stop and focus on something before I take the picture.

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