This was my first photo contest. I entered 19 photos and won 13 ribbons on twelve of them (one received 2 ribbons, one a Best of Division). Yes, I’m proud. But I am also humbled by all the beautiful pictures I was surrounded by from the enormous talent of many fine photographers here in Plumas County. It was an honor to be among them.
These photos – the exact same photos that were on display at the fair – are for sale.
The Taylorsville Silver Buckle Rodeo has been a fixture in Plumas County since 1949 – the year of my birth. I’ve enjoyed the rodeo many times over the years, especially when I was a youth in the 60s. I went to the Taylorsville Elementary School in the 4th grade (1958-59) and broke my first bone jumping off the deck railing of the Taylorsville Tavern. But I saw a real bone breaking at the CCPRA Silver Buckle Rodeo one year during the calf roping event. Quite a visual for a young boy and I cringe to this day thinking about it.
Because of my health restrictions, I wasn’t going to be able to go to the actual rodeo event. I enjoy making pictures of horses though, so I thought I might be able to get access to the grounds the evening before and the morning of the rodeo, before they opened the gates to the public.
North Valley Road is in a remote area of Plumas County, CA. North Valley Road and its intersecting streets connect Greenville, North Arm, Taylorsville and Genesee around the north side of Indian Valley. It’s a beautiful drive that I didn’t appreciate enough when I was a young school boy in the 1960s. There was a time that this road was merely a challenge to a new driver looking for excitement and confronting fear.
Today, I meander. I take in all the rare beauty, enjoy the smells. And I take extra care
On the last morning of March 2015, I found myself looking for pictures at one of my favorite locations, the far end of Quincy Junction Road. The sun had been up barely a half-hour, fog was lifting off the pond and Spring geese were having their breakfast and morning bath.
Capture: Nikon D810, Tamron SP 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC USD at 200mm, f/11, 1/80s, ISO 200
Processing: Adobe Lightroom 5.5, Photoshop CC 2014
During a recent drive through the Feather River Canyon and into the rolling hills near Oroville, CA, I sped past a tree with bare branches at the top and what looked like a couple large birds perched up top. As I drove by, I thought they might be eagles or maybe osprey, which are fairly common where I live. But they looked bigger. I was on my way to The Bay Area, so I hoped they might be around on my trip home a few days later.
And they were.
Back in the early 80s, I found an interest in photography. I bought the latest Canon film camera, an A-1, lenses, filters and an assortment of other gear. The hobby began, as many of my hobbies do, with research and plenty of reading and, in this case, looking at the pictures of many photography artists of that time. My enthusiasm also took me to school - I enrolled in a B&W photography course at a college in San Mateo, near where I was living at the time.