Saturday, April 14, 2012

The few minutes photo adventure

"I'll be back in a few minutes."
That's what I told Miranda as I was watching the storm clouds move overhead near sunset. I was in the garage just about to get greasy trying to build up an old bike from left over spare parts. I popped out to peak at the clouds and then thought "You know what, the bike can wait."

The wheat fields right across the street from the Nugget Market were a wonderful shade of green right now, I stopped by and got this shot two days ago on my way between assignments,

so I figured it'd be a quick trip there and back for a similar type shot.

As I pulled into the shopping center parking lot a faint rainbow started to appear in the southeast, almost the exact opposite direction I was going to be shooting. If I wanted to catch it I was going to have to find someplace else, quick. I pulled right back out of the parking spot and sped my way up to Poleline Road. Before I made it to the stoplight the rainbow was gone. Crap. But there were more clouds moving thru and if another rainbow appeared I needed to be in a good spot.

Up Poleline I went to another wheat field we pass on the way to Costco. The plow lines in it were quite exaggerated and made for a good vanishing point photo.


I was about 6 miles from home and started to debate wether to head back or try going up to the area with oak trees past Woodland. A nice big cloud was heading towards Davis that could make for a good shot. But it had been a while since I'd been to the fields up the road and wanted to see what might be growing there. I tried a few quick spots before getting to the oak I wanted in sunflowers last summer. A thin line of color from what was probably a gorgeous sunset over the Sonoma or Bodega Bay area popped right behind the tree to give some brightness to an otherwise dark image.


I started the drive back, on the scenic route of course, and noticed a big puddle on the side of the road next to two trees. I don't know why I decided to stop here but I'm glad I did. With the tripod center post reversed to get the camera as close to the water as possible, the reflection turned out pretty nice. Because of how the tripod was set up this image is upside down.


Back to Poleline, a.k.a County Road 102 in these parts, I went, happy with a decent outing. The northern edge of Woodland is the industrial area. The lights at dusk there can be quite pretty. And with the rains filling up a few drainage ponds I found another good reflection spot. I'm not sure what they're processing at this plant but the steam clouds flowing out into the cold air of this storm helped accent the lights of the factory and sunset.


With a few minutes turning into 180 minutes it was time to head home where Miranda made sure to remind me of my earlier comment. But she knows that my time moves at a different pace when I'm on a photo adventure.