Welcome to The Delta the sign reads as you turn off I-5 and go west on Walnut Grove-Thornton Road toward Staten Island Road. Here are some pictures of tundra swans, sunset and twilight that I took along the way. In the distance you can see the levee that keeps the river water out of the fields in the summer but in the winter the fields are flooded becoming beautiful reflecting pools for sunsets and wildlife.

I took these pictures as the sunset on the last day, December 31, of 2011. I took them along Bacon Road, a levee road, along the Middle River in the San Joaquin River Delta near Stockton, California. The train trestle is one of several that the San Joaquin Amtrak Train crosses on its way from Richmond to Stockton to Bakersfield, California. The geese are flying toward the first quarter moon. The herons are perched in a bare tree in the middle of a swift current flowing in the river. It’s time to uncork the champagne. Happy New Year 2012!

The first two pictures are ones that I took recently of sandhill cranes flying over fields in The Delta near Lodi, California. The next four are some pictures I took today of tundra swans and a moonrise over Staten Island in the San Joaquin Delta Region near Walnut Grove, California. On Staten Island the fields are flooded during winter months creating a wildlife habitat. I used a Nikon D300s with a Nikon Telephoto 80-400 mm lens. I also used a gimbal ballhead on a tripod for support and to be able to tract the birds in flight.

Highway 168 West from Bishop, CA, on Highway 395, takes you up into the Eastern Sierra to a region called Bishop Creek. It has several lakes at different elevations that gives you diverse views and perspectives of aspens turning color in the Eastern Sierra. Here are 9 pictures of fall color in the Eastern Sierra from North Lake, to Sabrina Lake, and to South Lake. The tenth and last picture is one of  June Lakes Loop, between Mammoth Lake and  Mono Lake, CA, along Highway 395. I used a Nikon D300s camera with a Nikon 18-200 mm DX lens. I always shoot digital images in raw format and then process them in Photoshop. I like the views on roads less traveled.

I took these pictures while watching sailboats tack west down the San Joaquin River on a late Sunday afternoon. I was siting on the Brookside Levee Road near the Stockton Deep Water Channel. I used a Nikon D300s with a Nikon 70-300 mm telephoto zoom lens, a Nikon 12-24 mm wide-angle DX lens, and a Nikon 35 mm normal DX lens. An engaging day on the San Joaquin Delta. Smooth sailing.

After eating a lunch of crab cake sandwiches and sweet potato fries at Moore’s Riverboat Restaurant on the Delta Loop, I took some pictures on a drive along Grand Island Road. The road is a winding levee road that joins Highway 160 at Steamboat Slough Bridge. I found a wonderful Victorian style farm house and the historic Grand Island Mansion, an Italian Renaissance style villa, along the way. I used a Nikon D300s with a Nikon 18-200 mm DX lens. It was a beautiful sunny, Labor Day weekend among the pear orchards in the Sacramento River Valley Delta.

Traveling west on Highway 12 to Rio Vista from Stockton, California, I took two pictures of the perennial water hyacinths in an irrigation canal full of them. Also took some pictures of the Isleton Double Draw Bridge over the Sacramento River along Highway 160, River Road; a view of Riverside Elevators and Storage Company; and a view of the Sacramento River with Monte Diablo in the distance. I used a Nikon D300s camera with a Nikkor DX 18-200 mm lens. It’s a beautiful summer in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Region.

Here are some pictures I took on a recent day trip to Joshua Tree National Park on a hot Saturday afternoon. I was intrigued by and fascinated with the Joshua trees’ adaptation in the rocky high plains desert area of Southern California. Also I like the contrast of the clear blue sky with the desert landscape. I used a Nikon D300s camera with a Nikkor DX 18-200 mm lens. Happy trails.

Traveled to Locke, California, a historic Chinese town, from Stockton, by way of I-5 north to exit left on Walnut Grove Road toward River Road, a winding levee road along the Sacramento River. The town is preparing for the Spring Festival and Dedication Ceremony this Saturday, May 14. So lots of spring flowers are blooming everywhere. Here are some pictures I took of Locke and the flowers with a Nikon D300s with a Nikkor 50 mm 1.8 lens.