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The Minarets at dusk

Friday, October 30th, 2009

I’ve always been attracted to rugged mountains and jagged peaks.  Some of my favorite mountain ranges have had this characteristic: the San Juans in Colorado, the Tetons and Wind Rivers in Wyoming, and of course California’s “Range of Light”–the Sierra Nevada.  As the Sierra moves north from its southern foothills, the peaks get more jagged and rugged, and this is especially evident around the Mammoth Lakes area.  Behind Mammoth Mountain lies the Minarets, a series of jagged peaks, located in the Ritter Range.

I took this simple, graphic, shot of the Minarets at dusk one night in early October 2009.  I waited as the cloud moved south from over Mount Ritter and Banner Peak to hovering over the Minarets.  It only stayed here about 1 minute, before disappearing completely.

The Minarets at dusk, Sierra Nevada mountains, California, October 2009


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A visit to Devil’s Postpile

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Here are some more images from my recent Sierra trip.  Before heading home, we stopped by Devil’s Postpile National Monument to go for a quick hike, and to check out the amazing display of columnar basalt present here.  It was kind of a cool morning, because they essentially closed the gates behind us for the year.  Its neat to know that you’re one of the last people to hike in a place for the whole year.  It was my second visit to the Postpile; although the face of the pile is best photographed in the afternoon (I’ve only been there in the morning), the tops of the columns can be photographed any time.  As it wasn’t overcast, I chose to take a more intimate view of the columns (i.e. excluding the sky) with my wide angle lens to show the expanse:

Columnar Basalt, Devil’s Postpile National Monument, October 2009

And I can’t resist a “self-portrait” in places like this, either:

Columnar Basalt, Devil’s Postpile National Monument, October 2009


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The Mountain Photographer

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

One of my very first photographic inspirations was Galen Rowell.  Before I was a photographer, I knew who Galen was, and I greatly admired his work.  I was always impressed by the intimate way in which he connected the viewer to the subjects in his images.  On top of that, I have always looked up to him as a human being as well.  For lack of better words, he just seemed like a good guy.  Those who knew him seem to be able to attest to that.

Galen and his wife Barbara lost their lives on the day my wife and I moved to California–August 11, 2002.  I remember moving into our apartment in 115 degree heat, turning on NPR that evening, and hearing about the loss.  It really was just that: a loss to the photographic community, environmental community, climbing community, and global community.  However, I think we’re fortunate that Galen’s photographs continue to bring us closer to our world.  This is due to a lot of hard work by his friend and family, and the brilliance of his photographs becomes quickly evident when you walk through his gallery in Bishop, CA.  People walk around silent, in awe…inspired.

On my recent Sierra trip, I was able to visit Mobius Arch for the first time.  Located in the Alabama Hills outside of Lone Pine, CA, Mobius frames the tallest peak in the contiguous U.S.–Mt. Whitney–perfectly.  Although Mobius has many alternative names, my favorite is “Galen’s Arch” as a tribute to Galen Rowell.

Making these images and thinking about my motivation for taking photos, I’m reminded of part of Galen’s writing:

The Mountain Photographer

My interest in photography did not begin with books or mentors, or with any burning desire to see the world through a camera.  It evolved from an intense devotion to mountains and wilderness that eventually shaped all parts of my life and brought them together.  Photography was never simply a hobby or a profession for me.  Once I began taking pictures, it became an integral part of my life.

Despite the occasional frustration, that’s how I view my photography.  I am grateful to have Galen Rowell to thank for both my early and continued inspiration.

Galen’s Arch by starlight, Alabama Hills, California, October 2009

Galen’s Arch at dawn, Alabama Hills, California, October 2009

This post also appears here, as part of the California Nature Photographer’s blog.

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Mono Lake sand tufas at dawn

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Mono Lake is one of the most bizarre, but most starkly beautiful places I’ve had the pleasure of visiting.  The water loss in the lake over the last 70 or so years has exposed the ghostly and oh-so-strange tufas–rock outcroppings made of calcium carbonate that form because of the lake’s chemistry.  Because of the tufa formations and the stunning Sierra Nevada backdrop, Mono Lake is also very popular with photographers.

On our recent trip, I arrived at the South Tufa parking lot at 6 am–1 hour before sunrise only to find 28 other cars in the parking lot.  Not wanting to be in every photographer’s shot, I left and drove to a nearby parking area, where I was alone.  I hiked to a “field” of sand tufas I know about and was grateful to put a new spin on an oft-photographed lake, as well as avoid the crowds at South Tufa (while I was hiking, I counted another 15 cars pull in the parking lot!).

The sand tufas remind me of something similar to Isengard Tower in the Lord of the Rings:

Sand Tufas at Dawn, Mono Lake, California, October 2009

Sand Tufas at Dawn II, Mono Lake, California, October 2009

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New images posted!

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Since returning from our Sierra trip, I’ve been editing photos, and have some new ones up on the website.  In true banzai* fashion, a friend and I made a run up to the eastern Sierra over the weekend.  We left after work on Thursday, and arrived in the Alabama Hills outside of Lone Pine about 11pm.  I shot some star trails of the now famous Mobius Arch (also called Galen’s Arch, after Galen Rowell).  After sunrise, we headed north, and shot up Bishop Creek to hunt for some fall colors.  In my last post, I summed up the difficulty we had finding fall color.  That night, we headed north and shot the Minarets at sunset.  The next morning, we visited Mono Lake at dawn.  At the South Tufa parking lot, I counted 28 cars when we arrived, one hour before sunrise.  Figuring on a minimum of 2 photographers/car, I bailed and went to the Navy Beach parking lot; we were the only ones there.  In my opinion, Navy Beach has tufas that are waaayyy cooler than the “regular” ones at South Tufa.  After sunrise, we went to Lundy Canyon, in hopes of finding fall colors there, then to Tuolumne Meadows for a hike to Cathedral Lakes.  Sunset at Olmsted Point, then to the Whoa Nellie Deli for dinner.  The next morning, we went for a hike in Devil’s Postpile, then shot home.

I’ll share some of the images from this trip in the next few posts.  However if you can’t wait, I’ve updated my Sierra Nevada page with new images, as well as Mono Lake.  I’ve added a new page for Devil’s Postpile National Monument as well.

Desert Bouquet, Autumn, Alabama Hills, California, October 2009

*See Phil Colla’s definition of a banzai photographer.

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Eastern Sierra Fall Color, 10/10/09

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

Greetings from Mammoth Lakes!  We just finished our second day of shooting and “chasing” fall color, amid what’s been called an atypical year.  After leaving work on 10/8/09, we drove to Lone Pine and camped in the Alabama Hills.  On Friday morning, 10/9, we drove up Bishop Creek Canyon, and found–as expected from reports–very little in the way of prime fall color.  That said, many thanks to Inge Fernau, who tipped me off to a good grove at Cardinal Pond, as well as some decent trees in the South Fork, near the “fake” waterfall.  It was nice to finally meet Inge in person at Cardinal Pond as well!  Here’s a shot from Bishop Creek Canyon:

Aspens and Sunburst, Bishop Creek Canyon, CA, October 2009

This morning, 10/10, we drove to Mono Lake for sunrise, then headed up to Lundy Canyon because we had heard word about a small grove in the day use lot.  We found the trees, as well as about 7 photographers.  However, on the way to Lundy, about 400 yards north of the Tioga Lodge on the north end of Lee Vining, we saw the best trees of the whole trip, with yellows, oranges, and reds:

Aspens at Moonset, Mono County, CA, October 2009

From what I could tell, there were few, if any, brown leaves.  This grove is best shot from the highway, as, in the interest of full disclosure, I may have been trespassing onto this grove.  I accessed it via a sagebrush escarpment to the south, and did not see the “no trespassing” signs until I walked back down the road to the south.  

After photographing this grove, we hiked into Cathedral Lakes in Yosemite.  Driving up Lee Vining Canyon, I saw little color at all from Hwy 120.

Thanks to all who offered advice, for the hard work on the Flickr group, etc.  

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Mammoth Peak at dawn

Monday, September 28th, 2009

I’ve been sitting on this image since we got back from our Yosemite* trip in August for two reasons.  The first is that I haven’t had much time to give it more than a half-hearted attempt.  The second is that I didn’t know how to process it.  I was photographing Mammoth Peak** from across Tioga Lake, and the sunrise really was beautiful, but the wind was howling, and I was disappointed with the RAW files that I got home with.  I did a rough edit, but haven’t yet made a good effort to edit it properly.

However, today I had a chance to sit down and play with it more.  This is actually a blend of 3 shots, using Photomatix, and a technique I’ve described previously.

Mammoth Peak at dawn, Yosemite National Park, California, August 2009

*Although Mammoth Peak is in Yosemite National Park, Tioga Lake is not–its just outside the east entrance at Tioga Pass

**Mammoth Peak is not to be confused with the more popular Mammoth Mountain, about 30 miles south

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A quick eastern Sierra fall color update

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Last night I received word from a friend who lives in Bishop about the status of fall colors in the eastern Sierra:

[On Friday (9/25)] We took a drive up Bishop Creek to see how the colors are.  The canyon is beautiful with reds, yellows and oranges.  South Lakes is already fading with lots of the leaves already on the ground.  North Lake is really nice and so is Sabrina.  Looks like fall came early in this area.  I’m told that farther north that the aspens are still green (Conway Summit and Virginia Lakes area).

[On Saturday (9/26)] We just returned from a day of wandering around with my sister and bro-in-law who are passing through.  Interestingly, there are lots of brown leaves and not much color up Rock Creek, while the June Lake loop is still green.

I’m thinking that I’ll be spending most of my time further north on my 10/9 visit…possibly June Lake, Lee Vining Canyon, and Lundy Canyon.

Enjoy!

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Friday Marginalia

Friday, September 25th, 2009

How much do you use social networking to promote your photography?  Is it useful to you?  Jim Goldstein wants to know.  He’s compiled the 2009 Photographer Social Media Survey.  It only takes about 10 minutes (I took it last night), but hopefully the results will give some insight into usefulness of tools such as Twitter and Facebook.

Inge Fernau has returned from what must have been an exhausting marathon trip to the eastern Sierra.  Here’s a detailed status report on the fall colors.  Also, G. Dan Mitchell updated us on Inge’s, as well as many other fall color reports (as well as some great shooting tips for the aspens).  As I said last week, its reports like this that make this a great community of photographers.  It looks like peak will be sometime around the weekend of Oct 3/4; I’ll be there Oct 9-11, which will probably be on the tail end of peak, but it will still be pretty, and maybe not quite as busy.  If anyone wants to meet up to shoot that weekend, send me an email.

I saw this blog post months ago, and am glad Phil Colla reposted it this week.  He describes a very useful technique for getting the most out of your RAW images.

Gary Crabbe shared a great story about Galen Rowell this week.  I’m still smiling from it.

The Ansel Adams Gallery announced their first National Parks Photography Contest, opening October 1.  It looks like there will be many great entries.

The Santa Ana winds have been blowing this week in southern California, and true to form, we had fires this week.  I’m hoping the firefighters get a break this fall.  Because we’ve been baking in 100+ degree temperatures, today’s photo is from Death Valley National Park:

Crossing Paths, Death Valley National Park, California, March 2009

Have a great week!

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Friday Marginalia

Friday, September 4th, 2009

School started this week, but we’ve got one last respite of summer: the upcoming Labor Day weekend!  Wife and I worked all last evening to get the car packed so we can get out the door to Zion National Park early this morning, and beat southern California traffic through Las Vegas.  On Sunday we have a permit to hike the left fork of North Creek, also known as the Subway.  This will be our second time through, but this time I’m taking my camera and 1 lens (in addition to ropes, harnesses, etc), so I’m hoping to come back with some photos of this amazing canyon.

Although we’re not quite to the end of summer, its time to start looking to fall.  By way of Phillip Colla this week, I learned of a lot of great online resources to monitor the onset of fall color in the eastern Sierra Nevada.  We were already planning a fall trip to Bishop Creek Canyon and Lundy Canyon, but this sort of re-cxcited me for fall, which is my favorite season.

Michael Frye posted an update on his recent night photography workshop.  It looks like it would have been especially neat to attend this one because of the fires currently burning in Yosemite National Park.

Today’s photo is a few years old, taken from the classic Tunnel View overlook in Yosemite, right before a summer thunderstorm:

Yosemite Valley, July 2006


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