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Gallery: an October selection (2024)

November 1, 2024 / 49 Comments

There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

October this year has been a month of two halves. In the first half we were in California, road trip​ping around several stunning national parks, and, for a couple of days at the end of our trip, in Las Vegas. In the second half we were back home, getting over the jetlag, sorting a virtual mountain of photos and picking up the threads of daily life.

That daily life was punctuated by a book launch we organised for a cookbook published in support of Plan Zheroes. And by my birthday at the end of the month, when we had a fabulous lunch at Angela Hartnett’s Michelin starred restaurant Murano, a very special treat. We also spent a lovely family day at my nephew’s house, meeting my new great niece Verity for the first time (she was born just a couple of days before we left for California). In addition we had a morning at the Saatchi Gallery where my favourite exhibition was of textile sculptures by Nigerian Samuel Nnorom who creates his pieces from hundreds of bubbles made from traditional African wax printed fabric.

In my slideshow below I’ve included just a few photos from our trip as I know I’ll be sharing very many more in the weeks, even months, to come! My feature photo is one such, taken by King’s Creek in Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Technical notes

My California photos were all taken with my Panasonic Lumix bridge camera, while the ones from later in the month in and around London were taken with my phone. Most have been at least a little edited with Photoshop Elements and some more heavily edited with Nik Color Efex. 

As always I am linking my selection to Ju-Lyn’s and Brian’s Changing Seasons challenge. Use the arrows to navigate the slideshow if you want to see all the images.




49 Comments

  • Annie Berger

    November 4, 2024 at 22:28 Reply

    Belated happy birthday – happy that you enjoyed a fine meal at a favorite restaurant. How fun meeting your new grand niece on your return from California -lucky you.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      November 5, 2024 at 09:17 Reply

      Thank you Annie 🙂 It was good to have those treats waiting for us at home as otherwise I think I would have been wishing myself back in California. Actually, scrub that – I WAS wishing myself back there, treats not withstanding!

  • Rose

    November 2, 2024 at 20:55 Reply

    Lovely October photos, I especially liked the lake reflection photos. Happy belated birthday and congratulations on your new great niece! Can you tell me more about the cookbook, is that something the public can buy, or is it meant for professional cooks?

    • Sarah Wilkie

      November 3, 2024 at 09:33 Reply

      Thanks so much Rose 😊 The cookbook is very much aimed at the general public but we’re not set up to sell abroad unfortunately, as the postage costs and general hassle over distribution would make it not viable for the small scale we operate on!

  • Ingrid

    November 2, 2024 at 18:36 Reply

    Sounds like you had a very busy yet fun month. I loved my Lumix FZ300 and would still be using it, but I think I wore it out. I now shoot with a Panasonic GX8, but if we were to start traveling again (especially by air), I would probably get another bridge camera. They take great photos as evidenced by all the images you share on your blog.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      November 3, 2024 at 09:31 Reply

      Thank you Ingrid 🙂 Yes, the bridge camera is ideal for travelling which is when I do much of my photography. My current one is the FZ330, having been very happy with earlier models.

  • Anonymous

    November 2, 2024 at 12:58 Reply

    We stayed in a cabin just like that one in Kings Canyon, at Easter in 1967, except that when we were there the snow was about 5 feet deep

    Rosalie

    • Sarah Wilkie

      November 2, 2024 at 13:49 Reply

      That must have looked amazing but made exploring more challenging! If it looked exactly like this one it must have been the same one – all the others are attached pairs while this one stands alone, and it’s the only one made like a log cabin rather than planks. It’s the only original one and they call it the honeymoon cabin because it doesn’t have close neighbours! Although I suppose it’s possible that back in 1967 there were more of the original ones around, thinking about it …

  • Anonymous

    November 2, 2024 at 06:37 Reply

    Such striking shots, Sarah, and so diverse. I, too, am impressed with your organisation. Thanks for sharing your travels and gaze.

  • Alison

    November 2, 2024 at 01:28 Reply

    Stunning as usual Sarah. I love the photo of the tattooed cowboy, very colourful. I always enjoy your people photos. Happy belated birthday

  • Alli Templeton

    November 1, 2024 at 18:30 Reply

    Wow, you crammed a huge amount into your October, Sarah, as this collection amply proves! 🙂 The Yosemite valley looks quite literally awesome, as does the Bumpass Hell view and all your beautiful landscapes. The ‘bubble’ art also looks stunning – what a dazzling rainbow of colours! And, of course, I hope you had a great birthday – it certainly sounds as though you did – so from all of us in the Templeton household, a belated ‘Many Happy Returns’! 🙂

    • Sarah Wilkie

      November 2, 2024 at 11:07 Reply

      Thank you very much Alli 😊 It was a very packed October, especially the first half in the States! Yosemite was indeed awesome, as were many of the other landscapes we saw there.

  • thehungrytravellers.blog

    November 1, 2024 at 18:10 Reply

    A nicely varied month, ending with a birthday treat which is always good! Any picture we ever see of Yosemite takes us straight back there, what a wonderful, wonderful place it is. By the way, we have a niece named Verity, too.. see you in December!

    • Sarah Wilkie

      November 2, 2024 at 11:06 Reply

      Oh yes, Yosemite was wonderful! We were a bit worried about going back as we had such great memories and I’d heard it was becoming overcrowded these days, plus our itinerary had us there at a weekend. But we went into the valley early and had our first few stops almost to ourselves. Even later in the day we were able to get parked where we wanted to and to escape the crowds with a relatively short walk.

      Yes, looking forward to December 🙂 Drop me a line with some dates when you could be in London, when you have a spare moment!

  • Marilyn Armstrong

    November 1, 2024 at 17:24 Reply

    I always appreciate it when I am told what camera and lens were used, especially when I have the same equipment. I used to use that bridge Lumix MOST of the time, but eventually I felt it was time to really use my cameras. The 300 I had was a really great camera in all the ways that mattered. Good Elmarit lens, slightly wide to very long … and f2.8 across its range. I still have one, but I use my Olympus and my 25-200mm most of the time. It’s wide enough and long enough. Just a bit slow for working in shadow, so I keep a fast 50mm just in case.

    Beautiful, misty volcano. We have never made it to the far western national parks, but up to and including Grand Canyon, we’ve seen many others. We have been very lucky to have these places — and I hope we manage to keep them. Wildness matters.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      November 2, 2024 at 11:03 Reply

      Thank you Marilyn 🙂 My Lumix is the FZ330, a newer version of the 300, and has an excellent Leica Elmarit lens too. I gave up on carrying multiple lenses when I switched to digital as I was finding that a) carrying them was becoming a pain, literally (and as you know, I do most of my photography while travelling) and b) I never seemed to have the right lens on the camera for those sudden serendipitous moments so I was sticking to just a single flexible zoom like your 25-200, so having the others was becoming pointless!

      Yes, you’re very lucky to have that wonderful national parks system, we’re huge fans. We bought the America the Beautiful pass for this visit and got good value from it as we visited four in total, plus it also covered us for parking at Mono Lake 🙂

  • restlessjo

    November 1, 2024 at 17:19 Reply

    How perfect is that Mono Lake shot, Sarah! And I love the misty blues, though I know you said it was due to smoke. I like the zany building too. Obviously a good month coming up.

  • Anne Sandler

    November 1, 2024 at 17:17 Reply

    There’s so much to like about this post. But I think my favorite has to be the peeling wallpaper. I’m glad you enjoyed your birthday and I’m sending you belated birthday wishes. I’m also glad you enjoyed California. Mono Lake is beautiful at sunset, and you got to see three beautiful NPs.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      November 2, 2024 at 10:57 Reply

      Thank you Anne 😊 I took loads of photos at Bodie but there was something about that paper that captured the feel of the place for me. I also took loads at Mono Lake of course, although we were there first thing in the morning rather than sunset. As for national parks, we actually got to four as we were also in Death Valley near the end of the trip – I just haven’t got to that point in my editing yet!

    • Sarah Wilkie

      November 2, 2024 at 10:54 Reply

      It was – I actually thought of you and your recent posts from Tate St Ives when we were there 😀 Look out for him if he comes your way, I think you’d find it interesting.

  • Terri Webster Schrandt

    November 1, 2024 at 15:37 Reply

    Incredible images, Sarah! October was good to you and Happy Birthday 🎂 I was delighted to see the Mono Lake Tufas and the shot of Yosemite Valley in your collection. I also loved the image of the autumn leaves cascading down the wall. 🍁

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