Hornitos All Souls Day Candle Walk.

On November 2, known as All Souls Day, in the small town of Hornitos, Ca.  a procession of several hundred people carrying candles and led by a local priest leaves the downtown plaza and walks to the cemetery located behind St. Catherine’s Church to honor those family members and friends who have passed.  At the cemetery, candles are placed on graves and a prayer is said.  A mass is then held in the small church. It is a tradition that has been carried over every year for the past 200 years.  I love to stay in the cemetery after everyone has left because it is beautiful, and gives me a moment to visit with many old friends. Enjoy your day.

Trumpet Vine

When I walked outside early this morning I noticed that the light was very soft. I grabbed my 180mm macro lens, camera and tripod and photographed the trumpet vine blossoms in my back yard. The yellow purple contrast was striking to me, In order to emphasize the contrast even more I used a very narrow depth of field and in addition I spot sharpened the yellow part.

Enjoy and keep on photographing!

 

 

Mit offenen Armen

Auf dem Rückweg von einem Spaziergang mit Anke bin ich wie immer über den Kirchhof unserer Kirche St. Raphael gegangen. Obwohl ich bestimmt schon hundert mal am Kirchenportal vorbei gelaufen bin, ist mir erst jetzt der ausdrucksstarke Türgriff aufgefallen. Das alte 50mm Minolta Objektiv das ich auf meiner Kamera drauf hatte, gibt dem Bild noch einen besonderen Look.

On the way back from a walk with Anke I walked as always over the churchyard of our church St. Raphael. Although I’ve certainly walked past the church portal a hundred times, I’ve only now noticed the expressive door handle. The old 50mm Minolta lens I had on my camera gives the picture a special look.

Sandhill Crane

Friedhelm and I went to the Merced Wildlife Refuge the other day. There were a lot of Sandhill Cranes though most of them came in after sunset. Still there were several groups earlier in the evening. Sandhill Cranes are noted for  their displays. This one is not coming in for a landing but jumping up trying to impress the crane on the left, who along with the others doesn’t seem to impressed.

Friedhelm und ich gingen neulich zum Merced Wildlife Refuge. Es gab viele Sandhill-Kraniche, obwohl die meisten nach Sonnenuntergang hereinkamen. Trotzdem gab es am Abend mehrere Gruppen. Sandhill-Kraniche sind für ihre Ausstellungen bekannt. Dieser kommt nicht für eine Landung, sondern springt auf und versucht den Kran links zu beeindrucken, der zusammen mit den anderen nicht zu beeindrucken scheint.