Wild Iris

by Sherri on April 29, 2009

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Wild Sierra Iris, Cronan Ranch Regional Trails Park, near Coloma, California.

These beautiful Wild Sierra Iris were growing along the trail at the Cronan Ranch Regional Trails Park, the day of our hike with friends. They are a common wildflower here in the Sierra Foothill’s and can be found along many hiking trails. One of the other places I have found them is at Hidden Falls Regional Park in Auburn.

The original image did nothing for me, but I didn’t want to dump it. It was taken at 1:00 in the afternoon under harsh lighting. It also lacked vibrance. I decided to work with it a bit in Lightroom 2 and this is what I came up with. I set the Clarity to -100 to give it a softer look and set the Vibrance to +70, which made the colors pop. wild-iris3
This is what this photo looked like straight out of the camera.

I have 2 questions for my viewers.

1. Which one do you like best?

2. Can you identify this species of Wild Iris?

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5 Simple & Fun Lightroom Tips

by Sherri on April 22, 2009

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Love Comes Softly movie set at the Cronan Ranch, Pilot Hill, California.

For all you Lightroom lovers out there, here are a few simple tips you can try to improve your photos, or to simply give them a new look.

Want to make your photos look like a painting? You can do this by simply adjusting the fill light. For this photo of the movie set, I adjusted the fill to 45.

Make your colors pop. Try using the Vibrance Slider instead of the Saturation Slider. It will brighten up only the areas that need to be brightened up, not everything in the photo. In this photo of the Narcissus I adjusted the Vibrance to +100.

Add “punch” to your photos using Clarity. Clarity adds midtone contrast to your photos, which makes them appear to have had the midtones sharpened. For this photo of the famous McArthur-Burney Falls in Northeastern California, I set the Clarity to +100.

Give your photos a soft, diffused look using Clarity. To achieve a soft look, try adjusting the Clarity in the negative direction. In my photo of the Mystery Rider, I adjusted the clarity to -100. This also works really well when shooting portraits.

Turn your color photo into an antique looking photo. You can do this easily by using the Antique Grayscale (similar to Sepia) Preset. Check out this photo of the Three Amigos.

There is really no right or wrong. Just experiment and have fun!

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Take a Hike!

by Sherri on April 20, 2009

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Baby Boomers take a hike at the Cronan Ranch Regional Trails Park, Pilot Hill, California.

Last weekend, Jeff and I rounded up a group of our “Baby Boomer” friends and returned to our new favorite place to hike in the Sierra Foothill’s, the Cronan Ranch Regional Trails Park near Coloma. [click to continue…]

Mystery Rider

by Sherri on March 23, 2009

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Man riding his Palomino, Cronan Ranch, Pilot Hill, California.

Yes, I am definitely “hooked on horses” lately! I couldn’t resist capturing this guy riding his horse through this little opening in the oaks. It already had a mysterious look to the scene. So, I decided to add to that look, by doing a little experimenting in Adobe Lightroom 2.1.

To get this look, I used the “Direct Positive” preset, which gave it the color tone. Then, I set the “Clarity” to -100 in the Develop Module. That gave it the dreamy, mysterious look.

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Long Valley Trail

by Sherri on March 19, 2009

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Man horseback riding on the Long Valley Trail, Cronan Ranch Regional Trails Park, Pilot Hill, California.

Horseback riding doesn’t get any better than this. These two were out for a Sunday ride, on one of several Cronan Ranch Trails, the Long Valley Trail. The trails here offer spectacular views, access to the American River, wide-open spaces and a whole lot more.

For more information on the Cronan Ranch, click on the El Dorado County category on the sidebar of this blog.

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Horseback Riding at the Cronan Ranch

by Sherri on March 17, 2009

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Woman riding her horse at the Cronan Ranch Regional Trails Park, Pilot Hill, California.

If you are looking for a great place to trailer your horse in the Sierra Foothills, be sure to check out the Cronan Ranch. It offers 12-miles of multi use trails, plenty of parking and it’s FREE! You can also ride your horse right down to the South Fork of the American River and have a picnic. I sure wish I had a place like this to ride, when I had my horse!

The Cronan Ranch Regional Trails Park is located on the corner of Hwy 49 and Pedro Hill Rd. in Pilot Hill. You can download a copy of the Cronan Ranch Trails Park Guide here.

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Cronan Ranch Regional Trails Park

by Sherri on March 14, 2009

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Movie set for Michael Landon Jr.'s film "Love Comes Softly," Cronan Ranch Regional Trails Park, Pilot Hill, California.

We returned to the Cronan Ranch for another photo shoot and hike a few days ago. This time around, the grass was green and it was even more beautiful than it was during our first visit to the park on New Year’s Day.

We plan to return again soon to capture more rafting, kayaking and canoeing photos, as well as wildflowers. We hear the wildflowers put on a pretty good show there. It should get good in another couple of weeks or so.

To see more photos of the Cronan Ranch Regional Trails Park, please refer to my El Dorado County category on the sidebar of this Photo Blog.

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Whitewater Rafting in California’s Gold Country

by Sherri on March 11, 2009

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Early season rafters, paddling a smooth section of the South Fork of the American River, near Coloma, California.

This photo was taken during my photo shoot this past Sunday, at the Cronan Ranch Regional Trails Park.

One of the great things about living in Auburn is it’s location. We are located in the heart of the California Gold Country and in the midst of one of the best recreational playgrounds in the country. Within minutes, we can be hiking, skiing, mountain biking, whitewater rafting, kayaking, canoeing, trail running, gold panning, fishing to name just a few. [click to continue…]

Snowy Red Barn

by Sherri on February 28, 2009


Snowy red barn, rural Auburn, California.

This photo of the snowy red barn was also taken the day of my photo adventure across the Foresthill Bridge.

Here is another photo of the same red barn, that I took a couple of years ago. I have always had a love and attraction for old barns, in particular red ones.

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Foresthill Bridge in the Snow

by Sherri on February 27, 2009


Foresthill Bridge in the snow, Auburn, California.

After photographing the American River from the Foresthill Bridge, I walked around near the parking area to get a photo of the bridge itself.

This bridge stands over 700 feet tall, is the tallest bridge in California and the third tallest bridge in the country.

As many times as I have driven over it, walked under it and viewed it from many different perspectives, I had never seen it in the snow and had never walked across it until February 13, 2009!

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