Shutter at the sight

One more before New Year's Day

2011-12-31T22:54:00.000-08:00

This shot was taken in the high country of Kings Canyon National Park on an amazing day. The little glaciers along the Sierra crest looked like they were right in front of us all day as we climbed to Bishop Pass.

Might be time to update my Canon. I think I need a 28 mm. I need to ask around to see what people think.

Have a great 2012.

The sunset I have wanted for years

2011-12-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

I finally got a sunset in Morro Bay this year. Usually, we pass through this little Central California tourist stop, have a great dinner and watch the fog surround the big volcanic remnant sitting in the bay.

This year, we got the sunset, which I liked. We also had an incredible breakfast at a funky little place called Frankie and Lola's on Front Street. It's worth the visit, but get there early. Apparently, this place is no secret.

Sometimes accidental photos are the best

2011-07-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

Meet Lily. She is my first grandchild, and she is an absolute treasure.

This shot is an accident. I was trying to shoot available light in my backyard, not having much luck underneath he patio. Light meter kept reading the sunlight in the yard, as it should. I turned the camera, my little Canon, off and thought about it.

As I was thinking, Lily started climbing up the chair to see Papa and have a conversation. We have the best conversations that only she understands. I have no idea what we're talking about.

Anyway, I quickly turned on the camera and shot the photo without turning off the flash or adjusting anything. And, wow, this was a really a nice shot. This is the whole photo. I didn't crop or sweeten the lighting or contrast. This is it. On the fly.

Sometimes, it's better just to be lucky. I'm a lucky Papa, Lily says. At least, I think that's what she's saying.

Couple birds hanging out by the river

2011-03-17T18:55:00.000-07:00

Took this shot while I was in Yosemite Valley in December. Just getting 'round to posting it.

Are these crows or ravens? I think ravens.

On the beach at Cayucos

2010-10-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

This was a morning stroll at Cayucos last week. You can just barely see the three stacks of the PG&E plant in Morro Bay. Why didn't I get the rock in that shot?

Gorgeous sunset the day before. I was eating pizza, not taking pictures. No regrets. Good pizza.

Just wanted to say thanks for closing Starbucks

2010-09-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

OK, his has nothing to do with shooting photos. It's just a rant that I've thought about for several months. So here goes:

Starbucks. Ahem, Starbucks! Hey, coffee pusher people.

Thanks for closing the Starbucks that was 8/10 of a mile from my driveway. When you did, I stopped going to Starbucks on the weekends. I stopped spending $15 each weekend -- Saturday and Sunday drinks -- for delicious, but kinda over-priced coffee, such as a grande vanilla latte for myself and my wife.

I figure I was spending $450 a year, probably more. I bought a $100 Bunn coffee pot. I bought a $90 Capresso bean grinder. I have tried some of the most delicious French roast, Italian roast, Sumatra, Kona and various other brews.

After paying for the coffee maker and the grinder, I'm spending about 75% less -- maybe 85% less -- than I did 18 months ago. It's mostly spent on great coffee beans.

I spend far less on coffee during the week, too. I don't buy lattes or mochas or whatever. I just get coffee. When I want something sweet and caffeinated, I go to Dutch Brothers.

Just wanted to say, "Thanks, Starbucks." I'll probably never buy one of your expensive drinks again.

Smooth sailing

2010-09-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

I saw this guy sailing the back bay at Morro. Thought it looked pretty cool under the overcast.

I'm not much with editing photos. I just let the computer program set the lighting. I usually mess with the cropping a little.

I'm using Picasa. No idea how good it is. I'm told Photoshop is the way to go. Well, I don't have it yet, so Picasa is the way I go for now.

Sundown at the rock in Morro Bay

2010-08-06T15:33:00.000-07:00

I was staring out the window of the Front Street Inn, not far from the rock at Morro Bay. I have always loved the view at sundown, but never had the right camera or film or time.

This time, I set up my little Canon on a tripod and shot away. This was one of the shots. There are others. Had fun doing this.

The famous Olmsted stump in Yosemite

2010-06-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

I found this photo in my Yosemite folder, but I cannot remember the name of the photog. Anyone got it?

If you've been to Olmsted Point at about 8,500 feet in the Yosemite high country, you know what a windswept, glacially polished slope of granite looks like. Only a few trees can survive in the thinner air with such a lack of soil.

Don't know if this is a Jeffrey pine or maybe white bark pine. There's also hemlock up here, I'm told.

We won't go into the mistakes I've made in identifying trees, but they are epic. So I'll just rely on the experts.

Maui 2007

2010-05-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

I'm just editing some old photos. This one is from Maui, near my Mom's condo in Kihei.

You almost can't go wrong with a digital camera in Maui. Just wish I could take the thing underwater when I snorkle.

Wonderful Wanda Lake

2010-05-01T17:48:00.000-07:00

This is Wanda Lake in the Evolution Basin. Seems like such a long time ago that we camped there on the John Muir Trail trip. It was 2006.

The photo was taken in the morning by one of the backpackers we hiked with. It was late August, but I remember seeing the thermometer in the mid-30s that morning. For a Valley kid, it's really fun to get goosebumps in August.

The glaciers in the background are really puny compared to previous years. Haven't been back since, so I don't know if they have shrunk further.

I've used this photo in my other blog ... the one I wrote when Mark Crosse and I climbed to Mendel Glacier. Just thought it might look nice here too.

A bovine question or two

2010-04-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

Mark Crosse snapped this hilarious shot of friend and fellow colleague Bob Rodriguez as they both covered a story about cow adoption. Don't ask about the adoption part.

Not sure how Crosse caught this scene, but what a funny and interesting shot. Amazing what you can do when you're ready to shoot and you have an eye like Crosse.

It's that time of year

2010-03-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

OK, this is a pop quiz. Tell me what kind of wildflowers these are in the foothills around Kern County.

Here's a hint: I don't know. Somebody please tell me if these are California poppies.

Gotta love this one

2010-03-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, I like the emotion that comes from a photo. Like this one. Know what it's like to leave a beautiful place like Yosemite National Park at sunset? Yeah, this is what I'm talking about. It's from one my favorite photographers, Kurt Hegre. You've seen his work here before.

This is like a waking dream. It's probably one of the best ways to experience the outdoors without actually being there.

Any more mood pieces like that out there? Bring them on.

Late afternoon at Half Dome

2010-02-13T10:26:00.000-08:00

This is a familiar angle to shoot a photo of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. It's really a stark, gorgeous shot in the mid-February light.

Half Dome should be called quarter dome or 20% dome. Something less than half, because it is less than half a dome. Too late to change the name? I think so.

At Lamarck Col

2010-02-10T20:10:00.000-08:00

That's me at the bottom of this photo stepping off the canyon headwall on the east side of the Sierra. That's the crest in the background.

The ice field is in a place called Lamarck Col. Treacherous stuff. We boulder scrambled to get around it. We had crampons, but they stayed in the backpack. I saw no reason to take a chance with this.

The photo was taken by Mark Crosse during our trek to Mendel Glacier, which was on the other side of the crest. The trek was in 2008. Memorable. And scary.

A hail storm was just starting as we cleared the crest. We were out in the open. Not a good place to be when lightning starts up.

Check out this moon over Half Dome

2010-02-03T17:39:00.000-08:00

Photographer John O'Connor took this amazing shot of the moon rising over Half Dome a few days ago. Nice eye, John.

This his how he described it on his blog.

167 sec at f/16, focal length: 70mm, ISO 100, Manual (Bulb),
- 29 January 2010 7:04pm PST. Photographed with Canon EOS 5D MarkII, EF 70-200mm f/4L, Tripod Mounted

This image was made exactly 30 minutes prior to the black and white image from Gates of the Valley in the previous post. My Dad and I thought we'd start to head out of the park via HWY 41 and stop at Tunnel View to see if anything was going on. Well something was going on and there were every bit of 30 other photographer's there to document it. So we drove through the tunnel and stopped at Turtleback Dome for a slightly different perspective. We were the only ones there.

I have to say that I'm in love with "live view". Without it, I would've focused just shy of infinity, stopped down and hoped for the best. But because of live view, I was able to zoom in to various points within the image and know that it was going to be sharp.

Winter at Tamarack and Sierra Summit

2010-02-01T15:13:00.000-08:00

A classic Hegre shot

2010-01-19T17:14:00.000-08:00

Kurt Hegre is a former newspaper photographer whose talents are clearly beyond the needs of a daily publication.

This shot belongs in an art gallery. It says so much about the life cycle and winter. I'll let you know when Kurt is showing his work at a public gathering.

Winter sunset in Fresno

2010-01-13T09:07:00.000-08:00

Photographer Craig Kohlruss got this shot this week. He said he didn't "saturate" the color in the editing process. I'm thinking the area's infamous pollution helped the color, but maybe not.

There were several similar shots on the Internet as this storm rolled in this week. A series of storms -- El Nino-inspired, no doubt -- will make an appearance, starting over the weekend.

I'm hoping to snowshoe and shoot photos on Monday.

You know the drill

2010-01-11T20:05:00.000-08:00

This is that view. The one you get at Tunnel View when you're entering Yosemite Valley. You drive in from the south entrance.

I really am not fond of going to the valley in summer. Winter is the best time. Fewer people. Pretty snow pictures. Which, of course, I'm not showing you here.

I don't remember when this was taken. But from the looks of the snow on top of Half Dome, I would say this is early winter or sometime in spring. But, up here, it might be late June. Sometimes, you get snow in June.

Snowmobiles in the distance

2009-12-31T07:31:00.000-08:00

No, don't look for snowmobiles in the photos. They're out of sight, but well within earshot. Unfortunately.

Some kids kept screaming "hello!" from about half a mile away. They wanted to hear the echoes. That was obvious. I'm sure it was fun, and I don't really mind.

I just wish they had done their echoes at some other place or some other time. And that goes for the snowmobiles they rode in on.

Finally, a shot I like

2009-12-28T14:12:00.000-08:00

I liked the reflection on the water, plus the water's edge in a crescent. I also like the objects in the water are within the reflection. Yet you can't see the ridge in the reflection.

I took this in my favorite snowshoeing spot at Huntington Lake.

Storm clouds over Huntington Lake

2009-12-23T19:05:00.000-08:00

This was one of those days. Brilliant sun in the morning with clouds moving in during the afternoon.

Mark Crosse and I got out to Huntington Lake, walked on the ice, had lunch and left before the first rain hit.

Not long after the rain, the snow started. There were 4 or 5 inches. Not a big storm, but a welcome addition. Gotta get back here.

Rugged Yosemite granite

2009-12-20T08:13:00.000-08:00

Photog Mark Crosse, left, and I were in Yosemite Valley after a big storm about 10 days ago. Amazing views around the rim of the valley.

He's walking along the road next to El Capitan Meadow. Lots of California black oak, incense cedar and various pine. Yosemite's granite is so rugged.

First storm of the season in Yosemite

2009-12-10T15:03:00.000-08:00

The morning after a storm hit the Sierra Nevada, this is what El Capitan Meadow looked like. What a show.

It was 14 degrees overnight in Yosemite Valley at 4,000 feet. Tuolumne Meadows at 8,000 feet was something like minus 20. Brutally cold and about 18 inches of snow.

The roads were pretty bad. Not quite sloppy because nothing had melted on the valley floor when we passed through. I imagine the next day was a slushy mess.

Looking rosy in fall

2009-11-22T10:02:00.000-08:00

The fall light in my backyard is delightful. These roses keep blooming well into December. They're in an east-facing planter. Plenty of water. Beautiful.

9 degrees in the high Sierra

2009-11-16T17:28:00.000-08:00

Up at Huntington Lake on Saturday. Big storm left a lot of snow in the trees, but not much on the ground.

I was thinking it was a little nippy as I walked around the lake. Pulled out my iPhone, punched in the weather app. Egad. It was 9 degrees.

Fall color and coastal Maine

2009-10-17T17:32:00.001-07:00

Around the Atlantic Ocean

2009-10-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

Again, this was from our Maine trip. I forget which city is in the middle photo. It was between Camden and Freeport.

October in Maine

2009-10-10T08:16:00.001-07:00

No need for a lot of gab here. The lighthouse is at Bass Harbor at the tip of Acadia National Park. It dates to the late 1850s.

The rest is autumn magic.

Duck Brook in Acadia

2009-10-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

The cold water quietly streams through this gorgeous brook in Acadia National Park. This was Oct. 1, and the color was just coming into the maples here.

Downstream, the beaver dens were all over the place. Critters were no doubt getting ready for another harsh Maine winter.

The brook is a little off the beaten path. Not much, though. There's a road that takes you right up to this spot, but it's along the way to massive Eagle Lake, which is a big attraction here.

Early morning on the beach in Maine

2009-10-07T19:53:00.000-07:00

This is one I took last week in Maine, and I liked it just for the lighting in the early morning hours.

We spent 12 days there, much of it in Bar Harbor near Acadia National Park. I'm so accustomed to big landscape in the Sierra Nevada. But I've also spent time in New England forests, so I knew what to expect.

The views were incomparable. The forest is laced with maple, birch, alder, fir and pine. It was lovely. And we caught it just as the autumn colors were getting good.

I'll post the leaf-peeping stuff in a day or so. Just thought it would be nice to start with this little beach, which was right in front of our rental on Hull's Cove.

Kurt Hegre's trip to the Eastern Sierra

2009-09-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a chance to talk with Kurt about his shot of the Tuolumne River. I'm assuming this is in Yosemite National Park at sunset. But it might be sunrise.

Kurt is a masterful photographer. You never need to see his name on a photograph. After you've followed his work for a while, you know you're looking at Hegre shot without having to see the byline.

Rivers inspire such wonderful photography. Kurt has a few more from his Eastern Sierra trip. I'll check them out. Maybe you'll see another here.

Huntington Lake again

2009-03-21T08:50:00.001-07:00

Gotta put this one on. It's Huntington Lake in February. Snowshoed to the place where Big Creek empties into the lake.

Parts of the lake seem frozen. Other parts are not. I see the stumps of once magnificent red firs that are apparent when the water level drops in winter.

And there's snow on the sandy beaches.

A snowy walk in the park

2009-03-10T20:07:00.001-07:00

Kings Canyon National Park is an amazing place after a fresh snowfall. This is just the parking lot before we snowshoed on one of those glorious days.

My wife took this shot. You can see the scale of the trees by looking at me. I'm just a shade under 6 feet tall. I look like some kind of a bug in this photo.

We took a loop around trees in the Grant Grove area. There was quite a crowd around the paved trail, but nobody out a few hundred yards from this parking lot.

I'm always impressed by the sounds of nature in the snow. Subdued and distinct. Love the sound of the breeze going through the giant sequoias.

Real or fake?

2009-03-02T17:24:00.000-08:00

This is the kind of photo we talk about in the San Joaquin Valley, which is part of California's vast and bucolic Central Valley.

This was supposedly taken from around Turlock in Stanislaus County. It's Half Dome in the background in Yosemite Valley. We're talking something like 60 miles as the crow flies.

And we're talking about shooting through a massive mountain range to see Half Dome. This incredible feature is not near the foothills or, in any sense, part of the front country of the Sierra Nevada.

But there are folks who are saying that you could see this famous feature and photograph it from the San Joaquin Valley with a monster 800 mm telephoto lens. And there are some folks who react by say, "Yeah, and I can see Russia from by house."

I haven't made up my mind. What do you say?

Did I take this shot?

2009-03-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

I don't recall if I shot this photograph. From the looks of it, I would say no way.

I'm not good with using light this way. I'm learning, but this shot is about five years old as I recall, and I would have shot it with a cardboard box camera.

I'm thinking it was something one of the newspaper professionals took when we were in Yosemite doing a story about a climbing ranger. The ranger had to climb down the face of El Capitan to help some climbers stranded by a storm.

As I recall, one of the climbers died in the blizzard. It was a harrowing tale. I've never been much for rock climbing. That story was enough to extinguish any crazy ambitions.

2009-02-24T14:28:00.001-08:00

This is the view from the east side of Mount Whitney.

I had never seen deep blue sky until I went to Whitney in the mid 1990s. I'm hoping to make a return trip with my younger son soon. He's 19 now.

Name the famous sites

2009-02-21T13:24:00.000-08:00

I'll give you the first site, the easy one right in the middle of the photo. It's Half Dome.

You need to name the rest on your own. I'm not telling.

Check out the view for yourself sometime. This is at the famous Tunnel View. You see this coming into Yosemite Valley.

I've stopped and talked to people who have seen mountains all over the world. They say this is the best view anywhere. Nothing compares.

It's a tossup for me ... between this and the view you get climbing the Half Dome cables, which are on the back side of the dome. The view is unreal. It's like looking at a painting.

I took this photo with a cardboard box camera. Point and click. You get magnificence every time, except when clouds obscure the cliffs.

Yeah, I'm actually working

2009-02-09T17:42:00.001-08:00

One of the greatest things about my job is that I wander around the frozen outdoors in the Sierra on occasion.

I cover natural resources and the environment for the Fresno Bee. The job has taken me into the back country many, many times. And I am so grateful for the opportunity.

In this photo, I was waiting for a helicopter at Wishon Reservoir in the Kings River watershed. The reservoir is part of PG&E's hydro operation, and it's fabulous.

The story was about snow surveying in winter. A helicopter flew us into a snow course at about 9,000 feet. The snow depth that year was about 20 feet. The lake is much lower, so I could walk around without snowshoes on the hardened pack.

But when you get up into the meadows with deep drifts -- where you see just the tops of the lodgepole pines sticking out -- you need the snowshoes. After the chopper shuts down, the only sound is the wind whistling through the tree tops.

Not a bad try, not a great photo

2009-02-07T12:49:00.000-08:00

I tried to be artsy with this, whatever that means.

The sun reflecting off the ice on a high Sierra lake after a snowfall. I thought it looked pretty cool.

Well, in the hands of a good photographer, sure. This would be pretty sensational. I can see a few flaws -- it's framed badly, and I really think the exposure is overdone.

I don't really like the photo, but it serves as a good example of not being afraid to fail.

I took the photo a few years ago while snowshoeing. I'll keep experimenting.

Summer scene, turned winter

2009-02-05T12:18:00.000-08:00

I always wonder what a summer scene would look like in winter. It's just one of those things that run through my mind when I see a wonderful setting, like the Merced River in Yosemite Valley.

This shot, taken three years ago by Kenny Karst, is one of those. It's in Cooks Meadow with one of those lovely black oaks in the background.

In summer, this scene is painted brilliant green with the gray cliffs towering in the backdrop.

Today, it's storming up in Yosemite Valley. Rain. But by tonight the temperature will begin to drop. Tomorrow, we should see the snow line dropping, too. I hope it gets down to 4,000 feet, which is the elevation of this photo.

Coyote along the roadside

2009-02-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, you don't need a lot of landscape to get a nice photo. Photographer Eric Zamora took this shot of a coyote in Yosemite Valley in the snow, looking for a handout from visitors. I mean, the coyote, not Eric, was looking for the handout from visitors.

The blur in the background is me, getting out of the four-wheel drive.

The critter was very bold, as they often are in Yosemite Valley. They're accustomed to people. Unfortunately, some people do feed them. Not advisable. Once they get acclimated to human food, they sometimes don't survive very long because they don't find natural food as they once did.

I don't have any photographs of bears, but I've seen plenty of them in the park. They can get downright dangerous in pursuit of your food.

Totally wild about this lake

2009-01-31T18:58:00.000-08:00

I was snowshoeing at Huntington Lake in the Sierra National Forest a couple of winters ago. This was where Big Creek empties into the lake.

I took the photograph in the morning while my son was snowboarding at Sierra Summit, which is right across Highway 168.

I am usually off trail when I'm up here, but my snowshoes are not very well-suited for it. I've post-holed in huge drifts and pulled them off accidentally. I just didn't have them on very well, I guess. But I was forever slipping on even the slightest slopes.

I've upgraded and I have a much better time now. Now I need another camera. My old Canon is dying ... aperture keeps sticking halfway open. I'm getting a new one next week. We'll see how it works out.

Hear the water, feel the chill of the breeze

2009-01-27T09:27:00.000-08:00

Along the Merced River in Yosemite Valley, you find life. Even in winter. There are fish in the water, birds searching for food and coyotes waiting for visitors who might drop them some goodies.

But, mostly, you see scenes like this one, captured by photographer John Walker this month. I can hear the water running and feel the chill of a breeze across the snow when I look at a photo like this.

It doesn't hurt to have magnificent Yosemite Falls in the background. It's a trickle now, but just wait. If this dry year gets going in February and March, the falls will be roaring in April and May.

Couldn't believe my eyes that day

2009-01-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

This was early spring in Yosemite Valley about three years ago. No, make it four. I have trouble keeping track sometimes.

I was there on a story, probably about some bureaucrat from Washington D.C. The photographer and I stopped along Southside Drive on the way into the administration building.

I had a few extra frames left on this cardboard, throw-away camera. The mist was making its way across this meadow. In the background is Yosemite Falls.

The upper part of the falls, where Yosemite Creek dives over the side, was notched in the glacial past. That's what the park naturalist told us.

People in Yosemite argue over things like which glacial age made which notches in the granite. It's not like someone can call up an older relative to check on it.

Anyway, this is a truly awe-inspiring view. You don't need to be a great photographer to get this shot.

A road less traveled ... in winter

2009-01-22T10:55:00.000-08:00

No need to write much about this one. Great shot of Half Dome as seen on the cross-country ski to Glacier Point.

Photo was by Mark Crosse, my backpacking partner and photographer.

Sundown at Half Dome

2009-01-21T09:50:00.001-08:00

I've seen lots of these post-card views in Yosemite Valley, but this one is special. This Kenny Karst photo is more than a stunning sight.

It's amazing for what you can't see. The view around the area where Kenny was standing. It was devoid of human activity, which is a rarity in Yosemite Valley many times of the year.

Obviously, winter is a great time to be up there. Most tourists are not keen on strolling in 25-degree weather, even up here. And often the road is a slipping, sliding mess after a storm.

Once, I heard an East Coast visitor going on about how he never used tire chains on his car back home. But he had to here. People suddenly get more careful when they peer over the side of a cliff at a drop of 1,000 feet.

Even better, they avoid the park and some of my favorite Sierra haunts in winter. Great time of year.

Smile but don't feed this guy

2009-01-19T14:08:00.000-08:00

I've used this photo a few times in other blogs. Anybody who has walked the trail up to Half Dome has seen these cute but thieving yellow-bellied marmots.

If you put down your pack and turn your attention, these guys will sneak in and grab whatever they can find to eat. Don't feet them. The folks at Yosemite National Park will remind you not to feed the wildlife.

I think most people, though, would tell you that during a long sweaty hike, like the one to Half Dome, it's pretty cool to see these critters. They seem to be cheering you on.

Marmots live fairly high in the ecosystem, hiding in the granite and coming out to get sun on warm days. If you make the 17-mile round-trip walk, look for them.

Add ice

2009-01-18T08:16:00.001-08:00

This shot was taken in September by a fine professional named Mark Crosse. He is my backpacking partner, and that's me in the photo. Ignore me.

What I wanted to point out is the patch of permanent ice and snow in the background. This is at about 12,000 feet coming up from North Lake, just west of Bishop.

We were trekking to Mendel Glacier, the site of a 1942 WWII plane crash. There are parts of the plane still up there. Indeed, they've found two mummified bodies that melted out of the glacier.

I've included this photo because I think you find beauty even in very remote, stark places. This scene is less than a mile from the Sierra crest, as you trek from the east side. It's a grueling walk.

I have other fine shots that Mark took from this trip. I'll share my photos and the descriptions later. For now, check out that ice. It has been there literally for centuries.

This is a good way to start

2009-01-17T14:59:00.000-08:00

I am a writer. A word person. I know squat about shooting photographs, but I do love seeing them. Particularly shots like this one from Kenny Karst in Yosemite National Park.

I love the outdoors -- hiking, backpacking, snowshoeing and, big surprise, landscape photography.

I'm learning about it. Maybe others can send me links to photos they like. Maybe you will just see the photos I'm posting, and you'll get inspired.

I am obviously taken with the Sierra Nevada. But I know there are folks out there with other lovely landscape photographs in places like Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Acadia and other national parks across the country. The one above is one of my favorites. It's in Yosemite Valley a couple of years ago after a big snowfall.

What a photo!