Towns & Cities

Historic Auburn Courthouse in the Snow

by Sherri on January 5, 2010

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The Historic Auburn Courthouse & Museum in Old Town Auburn, California. This photo was captured last month, during a rare low snowfall and developed using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.

Capturing a photo of the Historic Auburn Courthouse & Museum in the snow is a rare opportunity. In fact, this was only the second time I have had the opportunity to capture it in the snow. There was a lot more snow this time and my photos are much better. That said, I've decided to replace the images which are currently in our Auburn Gallery, with new images from the storm last month. The Auburn Courthouse (which was completed in 1898) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It also contains a museum and gift shop, which are open to the public free of charge. If you love the California Gold County, Auburn, History and Architecture, you owe it to yourself to visit the Historic Auburn Courthouse (Placer County Courthouse), one of Northern California's most beautiful buildings. Location: Placer County Museum, 101 Maple Street, Auburn, California.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

by Sherri on December 21, 2009

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A snowy morning on Lincoln Way, Auburn, California. This was taken during our recent "Sierra Snowstorm."

Dear readers of this Blog, We hope each and every one of you have a wonderful holiday season this year. We are spending Christmas at our "Little Cabin in the Woods" in Auburn, California with our families. This year, we are making 2 crock pot meals (Chicken Stew & Pot Roast) instead of Mexican food, which has been a tradition for many years. It would be really cool if you would share how you are spending your Christmas this year, in the comments section below. Thanks for visiting and sharing! Jeff & Sherri Meyer

Cold Tone Horse

by Sherri on December 16, 2009

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A cold, lonely horse in a pasture in our rural Auburn, California neighborhood. This photo was captured during the "Big Sierra Snowstorm" last week.

You must be thinking what a silly title for a post. I agree. I had a hard time coming up with one. In fact, I nearly asked for help. Then, I had one of those "ah ha moments" and decided to call it "Cold Tone Horse," because that is the treatment I gave this image when I developed it in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2. The original image lacked something for me and I wanted to do something different. Since this horse appeared to be cold, I decided to add to the cold look by using the Preset "Cold Tone" in Lightroom. I have 2 questions for you:
  1. Can you figure out what other 2 creative techniques I used in Photoshop CS3 to create this image?
  2. Does it work for you?
Thank you for visiting. If you would like to leave a comment, simply click on the "comments" link (add your message in the box) at the bottom of this post.

Go Girls!

by Sherri on December 14, 2009

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Sherri & Cocoa running in 8" of snow in our front yard, during the "BIG Sierra Snowstorm" last week. This image was processed using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.

It's hard to believe, that 1 week ago today our front yard looked like this. What a fun day it was and one that will never be forgotten. This is only the 2nd time in 22 years we have had this much snow! Although I wouldn't want to live where we would have to dig our way out, I would like to experience a snowstorm like this 2-3 times per year! More photos of this epic storm to come...

The BIG Sierra Snowstorm

by Sherri on December 10, 2009

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This snowy landscape image was taken in the field below our cabin (Auburn, California), during this weeks "Big Sierra Snowstorm." It was developed using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.

WOW! In what seemed like a split second, we went from Fall to Winter here in the Sierra Foothill's! A major storm blew through here on Monday and it was (and still is) a winter wonderland! The big storm dumped about 8" of fluffy white stuff here at our cabin, which made for unlimited photographic opportunities. Jeff & I captured nearly 600 new images. Some of the "keepers" have been uploaded to facebook already on my personal page. Soon, I will be adding more to my Business Fan Page. I will also be adding additional images to this Photo Blog. Here is a partial list of subjects we photographed:
  1. Scenes in our rural Auburn neighborhood - barns, landscapes, cabins, unique scenes and more.
  2. Nature close ups including leaf patterns, ice cycles, red berries.
  3. Unique holiday decorations - peace signs, Santa riding on a Longhorn and more.
  4. Old Town Auburn all dressed up for Christmas.
  5. Scenes along Lincoln Way including the Chamber of Commerce, & street scenes.
  6. Adventure - 4x4, cross country skiing.
  7. The American River in the snow.
  8. Some of Auburn's Icons - Historic Auburn Courthouse, Volunteer Fire Department & Foresthill Bridge.
NOTE: If you are looking for any of these Auburn subjects that were captured during this weeks Sierra Snowstorm, let us know. We can arrange to send you a private gallery of those subjects. The images will be available for ordering as a print and for licensing. We offer commercial, editorial & personal image licensing. To learn more, please see our Ordering Information page. Thank you for visiting! ~Sherri

Top 10 Lightroom Tweets of the Week

by Sherri on December 4, 2009

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Residents of Hart Memorial Park along the Kern River, Bakersfield, CA. This image was developed using a combination of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 & Adobe PS CS3.

These are some of the birds that the couple in the previous photo were feeding. There were so many of them, they were really hard to photograph. I did manage to get one photo of them (this one) that I like. Normally, I would try to isolate one bird verses shooting a group of them, but that wasn't an option here. So, I zoomed in on the bird in the front (left) and used a shallow depth-of-field to throw the background out of focus. Okay. Let's get on with the main reason for this post - the "Top 10 Lightroom Tweets of the Week." Here they are in random order. NOTE: Please feel free to link this post to your site. The more folks that receive these tips the better! Happy Lightrooming and have a great weekend everyone!
  1. @terrylwhite Great deal on Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 $129 OFF http://bit.ly/8wJv1p.
  2. @AdobeLR Tom Hogarty (@LR_Tom) answers your Lightroom 3 beta questions on EXIF and Beyond - http://bit.ly/4Jou1a.
  3. @LRSecrets New Article: Metadata Presets http://bit.ly/8hTiZs.
  4. @xequals Obsessive about watermarking your images? Master watermarking with Rob Sylvan - http://bit.ly/35wE7G.
  5. @TheLightroomLab Keyword Sets Make Repetitive Keywording Push Button Easy in Lightroom - http://bit.ly/6FlDh2.
  6. @xequals More Lightroom Painter fun in this workflow too - http://bit.ly/6wAeiu.
  7. @heninger Its that day of the week - Lightroom Tuesday - tips, tricks & tutorials 4 the Lightroom-minded http://heninger.org.
  8. @xequals New on X-Equals - Mad Stacks Yo! – Stacking images in Lightroom - http://bit.ly/5uuR0v.
  9. @bbeazely Fading a Lightroom Preset http://tinyurl.com/yk75yzo.
  10. @TheLightroomLab Some great comments & questions on using 2 External Hard Drives in LR http://bit.ly/4Wy8Wr.
Reminder - Don't forget to join the NEW Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Group on Facebook. If you have any questions, comments, information etc. pertaining to Lightroom, this is a great place to post it. Visit the following link to join http://tinyurl.com/mzyqu4. In case you missed my previous "Top 10 Tweets of the Week" posts, you can view them all by clicking on the Top 10 Tweets of the Week category on the sidebar of this Photo Blog. You can retweet (RT) this post, by clicking on the lime green retweet button at the bottom of this post. It will take you directly to Twitter. If you don't know about the importance of retweeting, please refer to this post by Jim Goldstein. Thank you for visiting. If you would like to leave a comment, simply click on the "comments" link (add your message in the box) at the bottom of this post.

Beautiful Bakersfield, California

by Sherri on December 2, 2009

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Senior Couple feeding the ducks & geese at Hart Memorial Park, Bakersfield, California. This image was developed using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.

Bakersfield gets picked on all the time. People say it's ugly and there is nothing beautiful about it. Sure, it's not Yosemite, or Yellowstone, but I believe you can find beauty anywhere if you seek it. Jeff & I make the trek to Bakersfield each Thanksgiving to visit his Mom. I always bring my camera along too. Usually, I photograph out on the bluffs at Panorama Park, but this time I was determined to venture out to other areas. We drove out to Hart Memorial Park to see what we could find. We timed it just right, so the lighting along the Kern River was at it's best. Just love that late day light! We found this couple feeding the ducks and geese. They were enjoying themselves so much, I don't know if they were even aware that I was photographing them! Images of seniors (especially seniors engaged in an activity) are in high demand and there is a low supply of them. I don't have very many in my stock files, so this was a perfect opportunity to add to my collection. I did not get a model release from this couple, but I would like to. If anyone knows this couple, please let me know. NOTE: You can also see more photos of Bakersfield here. They are all available for licensing, or they can be ordered as a print. If you are interested in any of these images, please contact us. More photos of beautiful Bakersfield to come, so "Y'all Come Back Now, Ya Hear?" Thank you for visiting. If you would like to leave a comment, simply click on the "comments" link (add your message in the box) at the bottom of this post. Update One of the readers of this Blog has requested that I upload the original image. Now, you will be able to see the "before & after" shots of this image.
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Senior Couple feeding the ducks & geese at Hart Memorial Park, Bakersfield, California. This is the way the image looked straight out of the camera!

Top 10 Lightroom Tweets of the Week

by Sherri on November 13, 2009

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Fall colors along the North Fork of the American River, with the Foresthill Bridge in the background, Auburn, CA. I used Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 & CS3 to develop this image.

Are you ready for 10 more great Lightroom tips? I sure hope so. Because that is exactly what you are going to get. Here are your Top 10 Lightroom Tweets of the Week in random order. Please feel free to link this post to your site. The more folks that receive these tips the better! Happy Lightrooming and have a great weekend everyone! [click to continue…]

No Hands Bridge in the Fog

by Sherri on November 11, 2009

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No Hands Bridge surrounded by fog, Auburn, California. This image was processed using a combination of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 & Adobe Photoshop CS3.

No Hands Bridge is one of Auburn's famous icons. It is really fun to photograph it, especially if you are able to capture it when it is surrounded by fog! You can do a search on this blog to see more photos I have taken of it. Enjoy!

Fall Hike Along the American River

by Sherri on November 6, 2009

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Sherri & Cocoa hiking along the North Fork of the American River, Auburn, California. This image was developed using both Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 & Adobe Photoshop CS3.

It's been a couple of weeks since we took this hike. The color down in the canyon was looking pretty good then. This weekend, we are returning to a different location along the American River for more Fall photos. I'm really looking forward to getting out again. I've been tethered to my computer too long in one stretch. I should have some new Fall nature images up next week for you all to see. Have a great weekend everyone! Thank you for visiting. If you would like to leave a comment, simply click on the "comments" link (add your message in the box) at the bottom of this post. Visit our Stock Photo Website for links to photo galleries.