Picture my World

Tenaya Canyon revisited

2011-08-31T11:36:00.000-07:00

My fascination with the mostly-inaccessible Tenaya Canyon, in Yosemite National Park, continues. Since I like to go where others don't venture, this dangerous canyon always draws me back. Maybe someday in the future there will be a safe trail connecting Yosemite Valley and Tenaya Lake but, for now, there are warning signs at both ends.

I followed Tenaya Creek on the flat granite slabs below Tenaya Lake. I knew what was ahead of me, as I descended down this immensely pleasurable walk. I soon came to the warning sign, and wanted to see the danger it warned of. So, I wandered up this ridge, to take a look over the edge, and to get a wider view of this "hanging valley", caused by ancient glaciers.

The landscape was peppered with these little pocket lakes, which were incredibly calm in the morning hours.

Here is where Tenaya Creek flows down these barren granite slabs, slippery from spring runoffs and glacial polish. I can see how people could easily slip, fall and die on the steeper slopes below this location. I'm really liking this picture.

I encountered this ancient Sierra juniper tree, growing on an exposed ridge above Tenaya Canyon. There is no doubt that this gnarly tree is hundreds of years old but, is it 200 years old or 1200 years old? Junipers are amazingly resilient and can survive where most plants cannot.

The "Golden Hour" seems to have been extended, with the morning light still providing perfect conditions for photography. Yes, it was a little buggy but ...

A Day in Yosemite Valley

2011-06-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

I just had to go see what spring had in store for Yosemite Valley, after all that winter snow. I picked a perfect day, with blue sky, warm temperatures and some interesting clouds, as well. However, it is all about the waterfalls, this time of year.

Reflected in the "vernal pool" is Sentinel Falls, a somewhat seasonal waterfall not often seen by summer tourists.

I saw this cute young bear, doing what good bears are supposed to be doing, eating grubs and ants from under a fallen tree's bark.

I didn't go to Yosemite with a set plan but, I knew I had to check out the biggest waterfall there, Yosemite Falls. I climbed up, through the driving mists that soaked me where my raincoat didn't cover. The power of the lower falls is seen here, with the bridge barely visible below. I just waited for the inevitable big explosion of water to capture this scene.

The Upper Yosemite Falls was equally impressive, making a roar that could be heard throughout the east part of the valley.

This view from behind Lower Yosemite Falls is rarely seen, it seems. I had serious contrast and exposure problems, with the clouds and the water providing bright whites, and the skies and forests adding the darker tones. I'm still trying to find ways of getting around this dilemma.

Black and White in Yosemite

2011-03-09T15:34:00.000-08:00

I had an urge to put some of my photos into black and white, to see if they would translate well into that style. My many high-contrast photos seem to look good without color. I hope people won't think this is a rip-off of Ansel Adams. I don't put near the effort into my shots as he did with his. He had serious restrictions on his freedom to explore his creativity by having to carry bulky and heavy 8x10 frames of film for his large format view camera.

This was my most serious attempt at imitating Ansel Adams. I planned out where I wanted to be at the "golden hour" of sunset. Framing the shadow area into the bottom of the frame helps to enhance the impact of Half Dome's bright face.

The winter months in Yosemite Valley always involve shadows. Finding that right mix of light and shadow in the right composition what I was trying to do here. Bridalveil Falls can be tough to capture but, I like how this one came out.

The majestic El Capitan often has such good light on it. Those pine trees on top of the cliffs hint at just how massive this rock is.

Here is another view of Bridalveil Falls, from the Tunnelview Vista Point. Just 5 minutes later, there was an abundance of blue skies and sunshine.

Here my recreation of Adams' "Half Dome: The Monolith", his famous close-up of the face of Half Dome. Legend has it that Adams arrived at this difficult spot with just one frame of film left. It is an arduous journey to get to this rugged spot, even if you are not carrying a large wooden tripod and 8x10 view camera. One main difference in our pictures is that his was taken when there was snow on the ground. Mine was taken during 100+ degree temperatures.

January Jetsam

2011-01-20T08:11:00.000-08:00

I've been busy during January, stuffing these frames with matted pictures. It had been a while since I had cut mats, and I needed to practice. So, the first one was rough, and now sits on my wall, in the upper left corner of this picture. The rest seem to be quite good.

The Carson Mansion in Eureka, California is one of the most photographed buildings in the state. This was built by a timber baron, with exotic wood from all around the world. There is so much detail to see. It now is an exclusive "club" for the movers and shakers of this small coastal town.

This is a shot of Empire Lakes, just down the street from where my Mom lives, in Coos Bay, Oregon. Just 10 minutes later, the rain started and Mom and I got pretty wet on the walk back home.

Shore Acres Christmas lights, 2010

2010-12-06T11:47:00.000-08:00

This time, we came right at dusk, with a little ambient light to make things look a little different. I also brought a tripod along, and that helped out a little bit in sharpness.

The lights look extra bright with this exposure, not using the flash. I had to hold the pop-up flash closed with one finger and pressing the shutter with another one. Once again, the wide angle lens excels with something in the foreground.

With the slow shutter speed, I was able to capture both the frog and the splash in one exposure. I like having a little bit of light in the sky on this one.

If I were to use the flash in this scene, the faster shutter speed would light the foreground but make the background very dark.

Before Thanksgiving dinner, Mom and I went out to the Shore Acres vicinity, including Cape Arago, for a shooting session. She wanted to see if the waves were big at Shore Acres, and this is what we saw.

It did snow in Mom's backyard, just a few blocks from the bay. We made a snowman, and then it snowed some more. Rhododendron leaves for the ears, peanuts for the teeth, moss for a mustasche, and a cedar twig and fuschia flower to top it off.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Oregon Coast Thanksgiving-style

2010-12-04T09:33:00.000-08:00

As always, I go up to Mom's in Coos Bay, Oregon for Thanksgiving. I was able to avoid the worst of the season's weather by taking the coastal route.

The snow just doesn't get much lower than this, though. Empire Lakes is just a few blocks down the street from Mom's, AND from the bay, too.

Speaking of the bay, a crab boat ventures all the way in from the ocean to dock at the Coos Bay marina. Generally, crab boats will moor at Charleston, right at the entrance to Coos Bay.

Out near Shore Acres is Simpson's Reef and this viewpoint. I was hoping for bigger waves but, I had to settle for a small window between rain squalls. I had hoped to explore the trails along the top of the bluffs.

This is the view at the end of the road, looking southward towards Bandon.

I stumbled upon this rainforest scene on the return trip home. This is a small sample of the great photo opportunities I had for the week I was up there.

Utah's Wonderful Aspens

2010-11-13T10:26:00.000-08:00

On the way to and from Bryce Canyon, I was treated to the glorious golden aspens. I was hard for me to drive by and not stop but, I was on a mission to explore Bryce, first.

Some of these shots were taken at a Forest Service fire station, closed for the season. There was already another car here, as a photographer was taking family pictures with these trees as the backdrop.

In the morning, while driving to Bryce, I just had to stop and grab some pictures with the morning light shining through the golden leaves.

I really should have used the telephoto lens, and stayed on the highway, like several other shooters, that morning. Instead, I wandered around the lava rocks, looking for "golden gems".

I could have spent a LOT more time gathering aspen shots but, Bryce was beckoning and I didn't get the earliest of starts that morning.

I considered coming back the next day to continue my quest for these awesome fall colors. Alas, thunderstorms moved in and continued through the morning hours the next day. Instead, I began my journey back home. Chances are, I'll be returning to Bryce and Zion in the spring again, with plenty more places I want to explore.

Bryce Canyon-2010

2010-10-18T12:20:00.001-07:00

While I got to Bryce Canyon a bit later than I had hoped, due to the magnificance of the blazing aspens on the way, I was able to concoct a plan for the day. The Navajo Loop offered an experience that is very hard to match.

I had heard about "Wall Street" but, I wasn't quite prepared for the incredbly amazing views, and extreme terrain surrounding you. I usually seek the places where other people don't go but, the people in this shot makes the composition soooooo much better!

Hikers are treated to the view of a couple of surprisingly large Douglas-firs at the outlet from Wall Street. The shaded nooks and crannies don't get all that much sunlight during the day, and apparently, hold on to the bits of precipitation it does get from afternoon thunderstorms.

A perfect rest stop on the Navajo loop is "Twin Bridges", at about the halfway point. I wandered up the dead end trail to sit down and relax, for about 20 minutes. As the clouds continued to thicken, I knew I needed to hustle on up the trail, as thunderstorms can be quite violent in this region.

Of course, the elevation you lost going down Wall Street has to be gained back. Although the park's trail guide says to hike the trail clockwise, I felt that going the other direction was easier, with a more gentle climb back up this wonderful section of trail.

This slender and delicate hoodoo greets you as you approach the top, again. I'm sure that most people view this as a religious icon, for obvious reasons. It seems that most hoodoos have a more rounded shape, here in Bryce Canyon.

Zion-Fall 2010

2010-10-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

My first day back in Zion turned out to be hazy, with crummy light. Often times, it's better to just exclude the drab sky and focus on other points of interest. I used my telephoto zoom to make these massive cliffs look close together.

The next day was brilliantly perfect for photography. Alas, my plans for the day were thwarted, due to weekend traffic and intense road construction near the long tunnel. Parking was at a premium and most of the turnouts were clogged with the idle road construction equipment. I kept driving until I reached the east entrance, then turned around and finally found an empty space to park. Luckily, all of this higher terrain excited my camera eye.

I spied this "slot canyon" from the highway and decided that it wouldn't be difficult to approach it from a mile away. The reflected light makes this picture so compelling, and the canyon was so narrow in one spot that I had to take my backpack off and squeeze through sideways. I also had to do some tricky rock climbing in my attempt to go as far up the canyon as I could.

These higher elevation parts of Zion offer a lot more places to hike than around the cliffs of Zion Canyon. It is also noticeably cooler, while still being exceptionally beautiful.

The texture of this particular rock is reminiscent of a lakeshore as the water level goes down. Sandstone erodes into tiny specks of sand, and over thousands and thousands of years, you end up with these wonderful, everchanging textures.

A visit from Family

2010-10-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

I had a great visit from my niece Julie, her daughter Idarah and our family friend Greg, Jr. The first evening, we grabbed some yummy sandwiches from the local market and went up to Calaveras-Bigtrees State Park. We drove through the park and looked around, then returned to the main grove of Giant Sequoias.

Idarah was very happy to be wandering on the trails, just like the rest of us.

Yep, she's getting bigger but, so is this "bigtree".

Idarah does the cutest things. She's such a good baby, just like her mama was!

The next day, we all went to Yosemite. I figured Glacier Point might be less crowded, and provide a more awesome view for Greg, who had never been to Yosemite before. We had lunch with a view of Half Dome and the high Sierra Nevada. Here's the view of the valley floor, looking over the edge of Glacier Point.

We descended back into the valley and decided to stop off at Bridalveil Falls, which was still running. Yosemite Falls was merely a trickle so, this was our best bet to see a waterfall up close. Winds always affect Bridalveil, and that day was no exception.

The OC... Oregon Coast in July

2010-08-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

I made my bi-annual pilgrimmage to my Mom's on the Oregon Coast and, as always, took advantage of the scenic beauty all around. I always enjoy going to Shore Acres State Park, which combines the rugged coastline with their blooming Botanical Gardens.

For me, it's the geology that makes this bit of the coast special. Imagine those powerful storm waves battering those stoutly resistant rocks for century after century. Yes, the biggest waves do splash over the top of those bluffs.

This lonely, lazy sea lion was oblivious to everything going on around him.

Mom decided that my camera would like the McCullogh Bridge, which carries US Highway 101 across Coos Bay, an ocean port. The engineering and artistry of this bridge are quite photo-worthy. They are currently restoring parts of it, with current work cleaning up the approach ramps.

The Botanical Gardens at Shore Acres is always full of blooming roses and other flowers during July. I'm still not that skilled at macro photography but, I think I am getting better at it, now.

Mom also took me up to a high spot right close to town. This is looking west, somewhere near the Coos Bay port town of Charleston. This was marine layer fog, and not storm clouds.

Crater Lake Blueminosity

2010-07-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

On my way up to Oregon, on my usual pilgrimmage to Mom's, I made a stop at Crater Lake National Park, for several hours. I had hoped to focus on the Phantom Ship, a small volcanic spire near the southeast shore. As I was driving up the road into the park, I noticed there was still plenty of snow around, and realized my original plan wasn't going to work. Now, I had already shot much of the area around the Lodge, so I picked some other spots along the west edge of the scenic caldera.

There was a healthy breeze down on the lake's surface and it produced these very interesting ripples reflecting the morning sun's rays. I wanted to take advantage of this unusual vision of Crater Lake by not using the polarizer.

Using the polarizer facing away from the sun produces the usual stunning blues that Crater Lake is so very famous for. YES, it really DOES look that blue to the naked eye!

Here's another example of not using the polarizer and seeing the wind's ripple patterns on the lake, near Wizard Island. It's a very surreal scene, very much like a painting might produce. Nope, I didn't apply any filters or processing to get this unique image!

I ventured around the lake to see how far the road had been opened with the snowplows. I can certainly testify as to just how much snow this place gets during a wet winter. Nearly half of the road around the lake was closed due to snow on July 1st. The boat tour wasn't running yet, either. However, I did find some nice shots looking down into that perfect blueness.

I finished up with a peek over the side at the "Devil's Backbone" and the amazing blue water.

Springtime in Yosemite

2010-06-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

In April, I took another daytrip to Yosemite Valley, with all the great spring runoff. I did make good on my promise to visit Cascade Falls and capture it up closer. The parking lot was almost full and I surmised that most of them had wandered up the path of least resistance. That is never where I want to go, so, I wandered across the bridge and went up the other side of Cascade Creek.

I soon found a trail that followed a pipeline up towards the base of the falls and found a spot a LOT closer than the other tourists had found. Alas, the light wasn't quite right and the mist was stopping me from getting the clear shots I wanted. Soooo, I once again relied on my superior "woods sense" and plodded uphill, in search of a view above the falls, yet clear of the live oak/California nutmeg forest. The poison oak was everywhere, yet I persisted in the search. I spied a ledge that might lead to where I wanted to go, so I worked my way across and found an awesome spot that would have made Ansel Adams drool.

I hooted and hollered at my good fortune and shot photos to my heart's content. It appeared that people have found this spot in the past but, not more than just a few in the last 5 years.

The afternoon was spent hiking up to Mirror Lake, beneath the iconic Half Dome. There was a persistent breeze but, I was able to capture a nice mirror-like image of Tenaya Canyon, as well as the site of last year's big rockslide, on the right.

A zoomed-in shot of the top of Half Dome includes some views of big old growth trees, to give you an idea of the immensity of the world famous landmark.

Yep, it's a long way up there! When I was in 9th grade, our school took a field trip there and we were gazing upward from this same spot in April of 1973. All of a sudden, someone shouts to look up at Half Dome. I watched as a giant chunk of ice had fallen off the rim and was in freefall down the face. As it hit the bottom, it sounded like thunder.

A Winter's Day In Yosemite Valley

2010-03-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

Once again, I chose to go where other people don't. Even with it being a holiday, I knew where I could go to avoid people. My choice to walk up the closed Four Mile Trail was very good but, finding a shot through the thick oaks and Douglas firs was difficult. There were some icy and snowy parts on the trail but I had a nice burst of energy to climb pretty far to get this fine shot.

I also had very fine views of the impressive profile of the mighty El Capitan. Someday, I want to walk along that edge. This zoomed in shot shows that those trees on top are just so tiny compared to the 3000 foot cliff.

I really like it when I can use the wide angle in a vertical mode.

On the drive in on Big Oak Flat Road, I looked up and across the canyon to see how much snow there was on potential afternoon shooting locations. I settled on "The Rostrum", accessible from the west end of the Wawona Tunnel. It was a relatively easy walk down to the edge of a 500 foot cliff, with nice views of Bridalveil and Cascade Falls. The sun was nice and it was easy to ignore the noise of a holiday weekend in Yosemite Valley.

On the way out, I stopped at a popular roadside spot to view Bridalveil Falls and the icy cliffs above. Many, many years ago, my Brother Dave and I took a cross country ski trip from Badger Pass, mostly across tricky, untracked spring snow, to end up at the top of these cliffs.

Wildfire Effects

2010-02-21T15:03:00.000-08:00

While in Yosemite this past week, I got my first look at the area where Park Service fire people lost their controlled burn project within an hour of starting it. They were late getting started and the winds turned from downslope to upslope during the morning of a near-record high temperature summer day. The embers flew out of the fires they set and landed in the snags left over from the 1989 A-Rock Fire, which I was involved with salvaging dead timber on. Since this part of the fire is in Yosemite National Park, no post-fire salvaging could be done and all of the old growth that perished in the first fire became fuel for the next fire 20 years down the road.

As you can clearly see, the re-burn incinerated everything that had grown back in 20 years time. In many spots in this picture, ALL organic matter in the soils has been vaporized. The tremendous heat, estimated at up to 1342 degrees F, depletes the soil of nutrients up to three feet down. This fire burned 17,000 acres (26 square miles!) and cost $15,000,000 to put out. The original acreage of the controlled burn was supposed to be 90 acres. Take a look at this "moonscape".

A view of the upper slopes also shows the utter devastation from an intense wildfire burning in concentrated dry fuels. This used to be an old growth pine stand, with trees that had survived countless wildfires in the last 500 years, or more!

There are those in this country who would have you believe that these fires are "natural and beneficial", or "an integral part of our forest ecosystems". These ideas are a part of a failing paradigm that thinks our forests evolved without human influence and "management". There is amazing evidence that Indians had major impacts over their environment, enhancing their survival and prosperity. They burned vast areas to promote their favorite "crops", like acorns, berries and corn. Historical accounts and even sketches prove that much of the coastal mountains of Oregon were devoid of conifer trees, and that the oak savannas created by Indians burning were the dominant features of the landscape. Today, almost all of those areas have turned back to conifers, and the big forest fires that follow them, like the Biscuit Fire.

Today's high-intensity wildfires are far from being "natural and beneficial", especially when they destroy forests, causing catastrophic erosion, and reach private property. The costs of fire suppression is very high but, the post-fire impacts cost up to ten times more than the original fire. You've seen the mudslides in Los Angeles from the Station Fire. Those will continue to happen for many years into the future because the soils are "melted", with a layer of hydrophobicity, which doesn't allow water to penetrate in the ground.

I'm currently battling several "preservationists", who embrace these kinds of fires. Posting these pictures here will allow me to show others the actual impacts of high intensity wildfires.

Fake photos?

2010-01-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

While some "purists" demean Photoshop-enhanced photos, I contend that it is just another form of "art". Do non-fiction writers accused novelists of "faking it"? In the end, you either like it, or you don't like it, just like any other art form.

This original picture was both blessed and cursed at the same time. I actually didn't see anything through the lens, looking into the mid-morning sun. I didn't even know that the buck had stopped running to see what made that strange noise. He even posed for me with his best studly look. I think it still needs a little tweaking to bring out the deer somehow, as he almost blends into the background.

This photo I took of the "Diving Board", near Yosemite's Half Dome, was also flawed from the start. Shooting into the afternoon sun was going to be a problem but, I just had to capture the drama and impact of this amazing 3000 foot cliff. Ansel Adams once climbed all the way up here to take one of his most famous Half Dome pictures. I'm guessing that this picture will look pretty amateurish in a week or two. I will get better and better as I learn how to use the right tools in Photoshop.

The Last of Zion

2010-01-06T10:17:00.000-08:00

One of the great joys of digital photography is the ability to take almost as many pictures as your heart desires. In fact, I noticed that my arms and back was sore from taking so many pictures. Another great joy is exploring through the pictures and finding some overlooked gems.

My last day in Zion included this morning shot of the Patriarchs. It was well worth the 20 minute stop on the way in, riding the shuttle bus.

Towering above the upper Emerald Pool, the cliff walls offer such great opportunities for "natural abstracts" that I am so fond of.

This has to be THE most unusual grove of trees I have ever seen. Pines don't like competition for sunlight but, THIS is ridiculous!

The loop trail back down the canyon had some surprises along the way. The trail went between two gigantic boulders and this tree decided it needed to be right in the middle.

Also along the way is this nice overhang complete with two waterfalls you can walk behind. I'll bet springtime is the best time for this hike, although the fall colors and perfect weather made this trip so great.

Thanksgiving in Oregon

2009-12-12T16:37:00.000-08:00

As always, I try to go up to Mom's on the Oregon coast for Turkey Day. I had a great time and saw some relatives. I stayed there for almost a week and did get an opportunity to go out and shoot a few times.

Shores Acres is always a great place for pictures, day...

Or night!

One afternoon, Mom and I went down the coast to Bandon to watch the sun going down. The bluffs there also make for some dramatic scenery, and Oregon sunsets are often supremely colorful. Alas, we didn't stay for the reds and purples.

The stormy northern Pacific has been generating big waves for weeks. This day was one of the tamer ones but, the sea still seemed a "bit miffed".

The pelicans were lingering beyond their normal migration schedule. Here is a perfect example of a picture taken during the "Golden Hour".

More Bryce Canyon shots

2009-11-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

I am still sorting through all my images and there's certainly more than just 5 good Bryce Canyon shots from my 9 mile hike.

This pic has so many differents shapes, sizes and colors. That lonely tree gives one some perspective of the huge size of the rock formations here.

Here is an odd geologic anomaly. That huge gray boulder came down the mountain from hundreds of feet higher only to come to rest atop that little hoodoo. Again, those trees help to show that the boulder is about 25 feet tall.

As I walked along the Rim Trail, the photographic conditions really improved. Most people prefer to have clouds in their pictures.

Back at my motel room, the setting sun made for a marvelous sunset so, I took a break from processing images to snap off a few more colorful shots right outside the second floor room.

Almost ten minutes later, I was blessed with a second sunset. When there are clouds at both high altitudes and lower altitudes, you sometimes will get two distinct sunsets in the same day.

Plan Z, for Zion!

2009-11-03T17:51:00.000-08:00

My last day in Zion was a glorious one, although the great conditions were in doubt just the night before. I was somewhat rested up after the 8.5 mile hike in Bryce Canyon so, I felt ready to hit the trails again. The mandatory Zion shuttle system was still in place for just one more day so, I found a place to park above the Visitors Center and got on the shuttle.

The light was very good and the angle of the sun was just right for some parts of this amazing canyon. I want to be up THERE!

Here at the lower elevations, cottonwoods and maples still had their leaves, and the peak of color hadn't arrived yet. This Sunday morning hike was idyllic, with plenty of friendly people hiking the many trails.

I had decided to take the relatively easy Emerald Pools Trail all the way up to the Upper Pool. Some people do not climb the last third of a mile of more difficult hiking. This is what they miss out on, as you arrive at the Upper Pool. I literally stood there and gawked at the immense grandeur of these regal orange cliffs.

While the pool isn't exactly "Emerald", it still provides a wonderful contrast to the arid cliffs and dry landscapes. I had almost 10 minutes of peace before rowdy kids arrived. I worried for their safety climbing on the huge, slippery, sandy boulders. (I also worried for the adults climbing on them who should know better.)

As it was time to head back down the canyon, my planning had worked out great with the sun at my back. You will always have the shadows at Zion this time of year but, finding ways to artfully use them is important. My next Zion post will show the pleasantly different views I saw on the other trail back down the canyon.

More Zion, please!

2009-10-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

The day after the 9 mile hike in Bryce, I needed a break from serious hiking and decided to take an afternoon drive up to the end of the road in Kolob Canyon. I found some excellent lighting and some nice mixed clouds.

I'm always drawn to the ever-changing colors and patterns on Zion's rock cliffs. Add in the water seeps, plants and sky and you have all the basic building blocks of great photography.

Finally utilizing my telephoto lens, I've brought these distant cliffs much closer.

Just like a postcard, eh? Nice but, not very "artsy".

I like how that tree at the bottom of the cliff shows how really huge this mere portion of a Zion cliff really is.

Such dramatic ruggedness is so very common in Zion. The cliffs of sandstone at Zion are the tallest in the entire world. So much of the wonders of Zion go unseen.

Bryce Yourself!

2009-10-24T05:42:00.001-07:00

My long-awaited journey into "Fairyland Canyon" at Bryce Canyon National Park had come! The weather seemed a bit fickle with some strange, but interesting clouds. It was also seasonably cold for the high desert of Utah.

The trails were in excellent shape but, I wasn't, after months of sitting in front of a computer. I knew I was in for a lot of body punishment but, didn't know just how much I would be inflicting on my lazy old bones. The hoodoos were quite plentiful and wonderful, and the light improved as the day went on.

Dropping down into the canyons meant I would have to eventually repay the "gravity debt" by climbing back up. As a windy and dry cold front approached, interesting lenticular clouds began forming but, those were not to be my subjects, as the hoodoos deserved all my camera's attention.

It is an extremely harsh environment for plants and trees, with growing seasons sometimes being merely a few weeks out of each year. Some of the pines, firs and junipers live for many hundreds of years, finding their niches in such a unique ecosystem.

I happened upon a partially-burned snag with a very interesting spiral pattern to the wood. I used the macro function to zoom in and capture this very arsty shot. Right now, this is my favorite shot of the trip.

The hike was filled with impossible rock formations and all kinds of nice reds and whites to go along with the greens of trees and the blue skies.

Back in Zion!

2009-10-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

A cloudy day and a long walk in a "finger canyon" resulted in some pretty nice pics, at first looks. The cloudy day guaranteed that I would have to play around with settings and do lots of editing but, I was able to select enough shots that didn't require any adjustments.

This area led me astray of my goal up-canyon but, I did happen to find something to capture. An interesting cave beckoned but just wasn't accessible to me without gear and a partner.

This area is considerably diverse in the types of plants and trees that grow in this narrow and deep canyon. Chances are, these pines are over 300 years old, with sometimes very abrupt growing seasons.

The textures and striations in the rock are just fascinating. Apparently, this rock is relatively erodible but, only in the tiniest of chunks of sand.

The fall colors were clearly past their primes but, a few trees were still clinging to their yellowing leaves. The oaks in the canyon had already dropped theirs. The boxelders and a few cottonwoods supplied some nice yellow to go along with all the rest of the great color in Zion.

With the difficult conditions, I tried to avoid excessive contrast from the sky and concentrated on some fine-artsy stuff dealing with colors and textures. I did a lot of them today, so some will be hits and some will be misses.

Assorted pics from the past

2009-10-10T15:51:00.000-07:00

I've been going through my collection of pictures trying to set up some kind of coherant filing system for all of my digital images. This old laptops is just about out of room, yet again.

Here's a shot from the beach in Aptos, California and the pampas grass covering the beach's bluffs. I sharpened and manipulated the scene without adjusting the sky.

Loggers sometimes get bored and resort to carving stuff with their chainsaws. This cute little bear was on a backroad way up in the wilds of Montana.

Right before the 4th of July in Hamilton, Montana, this car showed up in a parking lot near my motel. I just had to walk back and get the camera to shoot this one of a kind car.

This is what is left of the famous Kinzua Bridge in NW Pennsylvania after a tornado-like micro-burst touched down. If you could see to the right, you would see that the entire forest was mowed down by the extreme weather.

Forest Carnage

2009-08-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

You've seen many of the great scenic places I have been in my life. However, I have also seen a lot of "environmental ugliness" in my career. I'm currently on a mission to convince people that "letting nature take its course" is definitely NOT the thing to do, in this day and age. Posting pictures here means they will be available to me to post in eco-forums. A picture is worth a thousand words and, since I was once a "Freddie", my words are automatically tainted. Soooo, I think that posting pictures of the mess our forests are in will go a long way towards convincing people that our forests DO need human intervention and that they are NOT "doing just fine for the last 10,000 years without humans".

Here is a picture of the Lake Tahoe area behind Kings Beach, during the early 90's drought and bark beetle emergency. Environmentalists and misguided people stopped much of the salvage efforts and most of the dead trees you see in this picture have fallen over and lie in wait for the next inevitable lightning fire. In this dry summer environment, wood simply doesn't decay into soil. It BURNS!

Eco's always try to say that wildfires are "beneficial" and "low-intensity". This shot of Oregon's Biscuit Fire shows, without a doubt, that fires indeed cause forest destruction and very longterm damage. Even with a minimum of ground cover, due to rocky terrain, the fire burned with such intensity that it killed almost every single tree.

Here is another picture in the same area of the Biscuit Fire. For as far as you can see in the distance, the fire killed trees and burned up spotted owl nesting sites, and habitat. The areas that weren't salvaged, due to them being within Spotted Owl "circles", are now doomed to burn again, causing hellish fire intensities near the ground and sterilizing soils for decades into the future. They will no longer be able to support the large trees that were once there.

Here is a dramatic picture of a burn area in the Bitterroot National Forest, where mortality looks to be about 90%. The wood became unusable due to litigation against the Forest Service and now, this area is also doomed to burn again, at high intensity. The original fire is clearly NOT "beneficial", and the land will suffer for decades.

Here is an example of a "biological wildfire", where bark beetles have overwhelmed every single pine in the area of Camp Seeley, near Crestline, in the San Bernardino National Forest. A lack of scientific forest management allowed this forest to become overstocked with trees, causing it to be ultra-sensitive to even minimal drought. As the drought worsened, the entire forest became completely stressed and the bark beetles "bloomed" into an unstoppable force and the forests had no defense against them.

Sentinel Rock and Glacier Point

2009-08-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

I took yet another trip to smoky Yosemite and my destination was Sentinel Rock. I have been atop Sentinel Dome twice in the past so, I just walked on by it on my way to the edge of Yosemite Valley. I had a vague idea that Sentinel Rock wasn't very easy to get to but, I wanted to check out that rugged part of the Park for myself. When I wandered off the trail, I found that there was a 15 foot wall blocking my access and there was no way to safely drop off. I looked and looked and there was a potential way of getting there but that would involve a similarly dangerous "long way around".

So, I cut my losses and snapped off as many pics as i wanted and planned my Plan B. Right here is a picture of the farthest I could get, standing on a cliff, looking towards the massive El Capitan.

I spied this snag growing on the edge of the rugged cliff of Sentinel Rock so, I took out my telephoto lens and zoomed into the snag with El Capitan as a background.

I was hoping that Yosemite Falls would still have a pretty good flow, with Sentinal Rock being just right across the valley. The early snowmelt has drained the watershed of fresh springwater and it now is a scant trickle, as you can see. This is a quite different view of the famous Upper Falls and part of the very interesting inner gorge.

Here is a distant view of North Dome and Basket Dome, pulled in with my telephoto lens. Years ago, I took a hike and visited the top of both of them. Very few people go there, with the 10 mile roundtrip from the Tioga Pass Road.

Walking back via the trail, I had this nice view of Half Dome. Zooming into this shot, using Photoshop, I could see individual people on top of this Yosemite icon. Clouds Rest looms behind Half Dome and the peak has, arguably, the best view in all of Yosemite. I was once there and took pictures but, the roll of film somehow disappeared. Maybe I'll make it back up there, one day.

Tioga Pass

2009-08-04T08:31:00.001-07:00

I was itching to go to Yosemite and had intended to have an adventure on the edge of Yosemite Valley but, smoke from a local wildfire was too thick for good photography. Instead, I decided to go up the Tioga Pass Road (Highway 120) and see if the smoke was dissipating at the higher elevations. Even Tuolumne Meadows had some smoke so I went even higher.

Here is the view from the parking lot at Tioga Pass, almost 10,000 feet above sea level.

My destination was one of the Gaylor Lakes, mostly above timberline. I didn't use the polarizer on this shot, to see the differences. I do like how the reflection on the lake is enhanced when the polarizer isn't used.

I wandered out this and found some great spots, including this view of Mammoth Peak and the Kuna Crest. Even though these peaks are above 12,000 feet, they are not taller than Mount Dana and the Sierra Crest.

Also on that ridge, you can see the Cathedral Range, looking to the west. Named by John Muir, the Cathedral Range is an impressive polished granitic monument. Many Yosemite visitors never see the higher elevations of Yosemite.

On the way back down, I stopped off at Tenaya Lake to snap off some pics at this magical place. The lake was busy with picnickers, climbers, boaters and even swimmers in the cool water.

More pics from beautiful Oregon.

2009-07-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

Here's an intriguing shot that looks like it was processed and manipulated but, actually wasn't. The flower is vivid and sharp, while the water has an interesting shine to it. Hmmm, what kind of frame to put this one in?

Here's another nice macro shot from Shore Acres. I love the sharpness and contrast in the middle of the flower. Those colors sure are vivd!

Here's those mossy maples again, with moss on all sides of the tree, instead of just the north side. I do like the portions of the tree trunk which don't have any moss on them.

I saw this scene and decided to have the Crater Lake shoreline and a blue "foreverness". Having tons of digital storage allows me to shoot things on a whim, just to see how they come out. Another one that might be tough to find the right frame for.

The deep blue of the water usually just stuns people. Sometimes it's fun to watch people see it for the first time, in the Lodge parking lot. The wide angle did a good job of capturing a slice of this southern Oregon gem.

Oregon in July!

2009-07-17T13:04:00.001-07:00

I went up to Mom's, up on the Oregon Coast, to celebrate her birthday and to tame her wild yard. My "brother" Chris and his friend Mercedes was there and we all went out on the local tour, with Shore Acres included. The Oregon coastline is spectacular and here's a photo to prove it.

Of course, at Shore Acres Botanical Gardens, there are always lots of flowers during this time of year. I practiced my macro techniques on some of the flowers and got some good results.

The pond had some great lilypads and I took a few really nice artsy abstracts.

Mom and I took a nice drive on some Oregon backroads and ran across this nice picnic area underneath some very large bigleaf maples. The Oregon rainforest is very good at growing trees, as well as moss.

On the way back from Mom's, I made a short little stop at Crater Lake National Park. It was an idyllic day and I got an early start so, the sun was still at a good angle for photography. After I took a series of pictures on a rocky outcropping on the edge of the caldera, a Park Ranger was waiting for me with a stern look on his face. He reminded me that such activities were dangerous and that I shouldn't be doing them. I replied that I have lots of experience but, he seemed like he wasn't in the mood for an argument. I decided that I couldn't win against his badge and uniform so, I moved on down the road to find another cliff to stand on and shoot until my camera battery was gone.

Redwood forest

2009-05-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

My brother Ken and I took a short hike in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, in the Santa Cruz mountains. The intense green of spring here made for some good pictures. Here's one of the nice hardwoods that inhabit the park.

Within the park is this remnant of historical industry. Lime was mined out of the landscape and processed here before it was sent out to a growing building industry in the Bay Area for making mortar. The lime first had to be cooked in this kiln before it could be used in construction.

Here is some more maples framing a redwood tree. The lighting was very difficult and I again didn't have my camera set right to capture images with all those shadows and bright sunlight. I ended up with some blurry pictures in the darker shots.

Here is a good example of one of those blurry pictures. Funny how the exposure is good. This would have been a great picture, otherwise.

This is the overhead view of one of the lime kilns. Yes, I was on the wrong side of the safety fence, yet again.

Springtime in Yosemite Valley

2009-04-03T09:28:00.001-07:00

My brother Gary came and visited me on one of his business trips and I surprised him by taking him to Yosemite Valley. He hadn't been there for more than 20 years. We bought some lunch materials and had a nice meal on the banks of the Merced River.

Here's a view of Half Dome, the Washington Column and Tenaya Canyon.

I felt I needed to get some more shots of Bridalveil Falls, as the meltwater was very high with the warm spring day. Gary and I walked up the main trail to the viewspot and it was very wet and very crowded. Not good for picture taking. This was a good opportunity for me to exercise my best photography and outdoors skills. I scanned the area and checked the wind direction and decided to go to the other side of Bridalveil Creek. I did slip and fall kind of hard on a slippery rock, bashing my elbow but, saving the camera. I did find a secluded spot and was happy that Gary was there to hold a tree branch out of the way for this shot.

Of course, no photoshoot in Yosemite Valley is complete without the required Half Dome shot. You always have to have something in the foreground to show just how big that rock is.

Another thing Yosemite is famous for is the world-class climbing. The Royal Arches is one of the world's 50 classic climbs. Many years ago, I was on top of North Dome on one of my own classic jaunts. Also in the picture is the Washington Column, another favorite of climbers.

And here is my brother Gary, at my secret spot along the Merced River. I couldn't get one of those fantastic reflection shots with the water being in motion from the spring runoff. We both had a great time enjoying this world treasure.

Pics for Sale!!

2009-02-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

I currently have 8x10 pictures up for sale on eBay. There's a link (on the righthand column) to my seller's profile on eBay and you can see just what I am selling there. Maybe your favorite one, like this lichen picture from Pennsylvania, is there.

Extra Yosemite, ala carte

2009-02-03T15:28:00.000-08:00

I always seem to find some more good pics after a photo shoot is long since done. Here a few I took before Thanksgiving. El Capitan is hard to photograph up close, and even with a wide angle lens, you have to be creative to compose interesting shots.

Forests often grow into complex, living works of art, themselves. Pines and oaks duel for the sunlight and water, while cedars bide their time in the shade.

It really took some jockeying around to get this whole reflection into the picture. I still need to play with the lighting to recover those washed out highlights. My secret spot along the Merced River never fails to get me quality pictures.

I had to play with the lighting in this shot, where I chose a shutter speed that was too fast for the lens to adjust to. I was better able to freeze the water but, there's much easier ways to accomplish this by changing the ISO film sensitivity level. That will allow for faster shutter speeds. I haven't quite figured out what I really like about this one. Maybe that there is a lot to look at in the whole of the picture.

Ribbon Falls video

2009-01-27T11:31:00.000-08:00

Here is North America's tallest single waterfall during the peak of the spring runoff a few years ago. I'd like to hike up to the base of the falls this spring and see what I can capture.

Watch me ski!

2009-01-22T17:55:00.000-08:00

Here's an attempt at doing video with my old Fuji camera. It's a little difficult to watch until I get down to the easier part of the ski run. High speed internet recommended.

Birthday Trip, Part Deux

2009-01-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

I have just a few more pictures to share from that great day. I am kind of disappointed that I didn't get more (and better) shots but, I had some technical difficulties with cold batteries. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

Here's another Merced River pic that is just so serene. It hadn't snowed in about 10 days but being in the shadow of massive cliffs has kept the snowpack looking pure and white. In fact, there was "hoar frost" everywhere that occurs when moisture in the air condenses on the existing snow and freezes into large flakey crystals that reflect light in interesting ways.

Here's a view from the courtyard of the Ahwannee Hotel. Despite the pricey luxury, a visitor can't help but feel so tiny in such a huge setting. The cliffs lead up to Glacier Point.

From the Wawona Tunnel View, I zoomed into Cloud's Rest and Half Dome, which dominate the eastern end of Yosemite Valley. On the left is a small taste of El Capitan, which I couldn't squeeze into the picture with my wide angle lens.

This zoom shot is the most balanced out of all the rainbow shots I took of Lower Yosemite Falls. This is somewhat of an abstract shot and it won't appeal to everyone. It seems that I have almost exhausted all of the best shots in this particular spot. Maybe I'll come back during the spring runoff to capture the amazing intensity.

Here's another capture inside the "Mural Room". I really like the shimmering effect of the copper fireplace. The mural has some pleasing colors and even the gray wall serves a purpose, reflecting the natural light coming through the big picture windows.

Birthday trip to Yosemite Valley!

2009-01-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

I've planned this trip out weeks in advance, hoping for fine weather in the midst of this harsh winter, and it worked out great! However, it almost never happened. On the way to the Park, I ran into some very slick ice and nearly slid off the road, In fact, a car a few minutes in front of me did just that. Staying off the brake saved me from ending up where they did. They were OK and just shaken up a little bit.

Again, I intended to explore some of my favorite spots to get another winter perspective on Yosemite Valley. I also found some ways to get different shots from those same areas, too. I climbed up to a small ledge about 12 feet up and took this Half Dome shot from near the bottom of Yosemite Falls. It's nice but, not a jaw-dropping picture.

I had intended to have an awesome birthday breakfast at the VERY ritzy Ahwannee Hotel but, I just wasn't hungry enough to eat $60 worth of food at the time. If I had never eaten there, I would have dined just to say I have been there and done that. Instead, I wandered around the inside of the historic hotel and tried to capture some of its wonderful features. The fireplaces had roaring fires, except for this one.

I generally don't go to places where the other tourists go but, the Wawona Tunnel view is a special place. I came up with an idea to get a unique perspective on this spot by walking into the tunnel and shooting outward. Interesting but not really a showpiece.

I always go back to my "secret spot" and see what the Merced River will give me. The cold was giving my camera battery fits and I couldn't fully explore this place again before my battery got too weak.

On the way into the Valley, I saw this wonderful scene in the Merced River Canyon. This particular spot gets very little sun during these short days and the snow was still hanging in the trees and on top of the rocks. I struggled to get some nice new shots and a few did come out very good.

More to come!!

A "Golden Era"

2009-01-01T08:16:00.000-08:00

More than ever, this new year holds lots of questions and changes (on many, many levels, for all of us) but, I think I am on the verge of a Golden Era for my photography.

I went through my past year's files to find some pics that had "flown under the radar". Some of these were passed over in favor of other nice pics.

This one below is somewhat similar to other favorites of this scene but, it includes some other elements not found in the other more zoomed-in photos. This shot has a lot more to look at than the others. I printed it up, matched it with a grey and black mat, and put that into an 18x24" frame to make a very exciting piece.

Here's another undiscovered gem taken from Scout's Lookout in Zion. It was tough composing this shot while standing on this ledge with no railing. The wide angle lens enabled me to get all the grandeur in while still keeping some sense of scale of the hugeness that is Zion.

Here is even another pic that languished on my hard drive for many months. Once again, the wide angle lens captures this fantastic Bryce Canyon landscape very well. I'm still intending to take an extended exploration of this area sometime soon. This could be a big part of that Golden Era for me.

This rather abstract shot of the Kolob Canyon area of Zion does something for me. I always love those gnarled pines, growing in areas on their very edge of survivability. Something to be admired from these ponderosa pines, who out live us all.

Finally, I cropped this shot out of one of the pics I posted below. I have yet to print this one up but, I'll have to give it a try. So much neat stuff packed into one picture, here on the Merced River in Yosemite Valley.

Round 3 in Yosemite Valley

2008-12-17T13:40:00.000-08:00

In looking back on these pictures, I'm realizing that I should have taken a LOT more shots like this one below. The light was so very good and the reflections could not be better. In the immortal words of Redd Foxx, "You Big Dummy!!"

I'm thinking that there surely are some wonderful "crops" I could take out of this one, too!

I'm always looking for "natural abstracts" and the oak canopies provided me with shots like this one. The yellows contrast so well with the blue sky and the black of the boulder and tree limbs contrast with everything else.

I think this is a definitive capture of El Capitan. You can easily get a grasp of just how monstrously huge this rock is. Upon further examination in this picture, I noticed a rather peculiar-looking box-shaped shadow behind El Capitan. I had to look at other pics to see if it was in those shots too. I zoomed in close on this high resolution photo and just figured it was a shadow on some broken terrain.

Down at my brother Ken's, we went down to the beach and I took my new camera along for practice. The train trestle looked promising so I shot a bunch. I turned this shot into an old time "sepia" picture, like what was popular before color film. I really like the extra detail and complexity of this photo. The railing on the bridge is also pretty dramatic and artsy.

As someone on another photo site said about this one, it looks like waltzing trees alongside the serene Merced River, in Yosemite Valley.

The Revenge of the New Camera

2008-12-04T21:11:00.000-08:00

Back in 2003, when my Fuji S-5000 was new, I came to Yosemite to thoroughly break-in my new toy. I've shot many of the same shots I did last time. Despite having troubles with not reading the manual, I still ended up with some nice pictures, after an exercise in digital light manipulation.

I like how this one shows off a more generic part of Yosemite Valley in the background. Curry Village and the Happy Isles get so little sun this time of year, in the shadow of Glacier Point. I don't think I've ever seen pics of Lower Yosemite Falls from this angle before.

While resting at the top of the hike, I looked up and saw this imposing scene. I felt that tilting this image up on end made for a much better composition than how I originally shot it.

The forest on the Yosemite Valley floor is interwoven with the colorful California Black Oak carving out its own niche in the conifer-dominated ecosystem of today.

Autumn Falls! The fall colors contrast so well with those same old blues and greens we see all year round. I just knew I had to find some way to get this showy little bush into the foreground of this scene.

New DSLR pics from Yosemite

2008-11-29T18:11:00.000-08:00

My new Olympus E-510 Digital SLR was unleashed in Yosemite Valley at some of my favorite secret spots. The fall colors were still in force and the weather was gorgeous. When I arrived at my first destination, I was like a kid in a candy shop. Unfortunately, the auto-setting on the camera tended to wash out the bright white highlights of Yosemite's legendary white granite. Even with Photoshop, it is difficult to restore washed-out highlights.

Below is a very minor example of how those highlights are overexposed. The contrasty blues and whites of Yosemite make it tough. This picture below is an example of how my camera eye continues to improve.

I'm always looking for those unusual "natural abstracts" people seem to enjoy. This one fills the frame with interesting stuff.

The fall colors were still quite potent with the yellow oak leaves hanging around. The backlit leaves of the hardwoods were a welcome contrast to the blue skies, gray granite and green conifers.

I've always found it difficult to show how truly big El Capitan is. On top of the cliff behind El Capitan are 75 foot tall trees. That gives you some kind of idea of the immense mass of granite overseeing Yosemite Valley.

Big changes coming!

2008-11-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

I've invested in several items that should jumpstart some sales of my work as "fine art". I purchased an Epson Stylus Photo 1400 that will print 13 by 19 inch glossy prints on photo paper. With practice, I'm getting really good at making fine prints. I also bought a mat cutter so I can make custom mats to put into a variety of frames.

In looking through my files for good examples to print, I found these two gems hiding, waiting, and plotting their escapes. I'm so very sure I could find some tremendous shots up in this West Rim canyon in Zion National Park.

This very serene grove of pines at the base of a huge cliff in Zion's Kolob Canyon makes for a very nice picture I can stare at for a while. I love the textures on all of Zion's cliff walls.

Here's one picture that everyone seems to agree will be one of my very best sellers. This little slice of Bryce Canyon has such wonderful colors and rock formations. Maybe someday I'll be able to get down in there and find some more "magic"?

Here are some examples of the 13x19 inch size framed and matted prints, out on the back deck. Maybe I can have me a trailerpark yardsale, eh?!? Some of those I am very proud of and can see them attracting a lot of attention at an art sale.

Here's my new work "shop" that is really just a corner of my small kitchen. Since then, I've added the big mat cutter. If business gets good, I may need to expand, somehow.

Very soon, I will have an online store at Yahoo, and maybe one on E-Bay, after that.

Gotta stay busy!

A heaping third helping of Idaho Pics

2008-07-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

I just had to post another set of pictures from Idaho.

This one below was one of the best ones during the entire 3 weeks I was there. The 2nd day I was there, I drove out of town for just 6 miles and found this scene with superb "golden hour" evening light.

Here's another "dead wood" picture, with those great browns and textures built up over a few centuries.

The Little Lost River Range has its own ruggedness and charm. Bell Mountain dominates the skyline, far above the sagebrush-covered rangelands.

This area of Idaho also has its share of volcanic rock formations that captivate the imagination.

My ski lift ride to the top of Sun Valley Ski Area allowed me to capture these abundant wildflowers at the peak of bloom.

Idaho Bounty

2008-07-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

I love the richness of colors and textures in this dead wood shot. I'm still too lazy to adjust my camera to get the best of close-up macro shots. I guess I have to learn all about ISO settings and aperture control, eh?

Despite all that California smoke that found its way into eastern Idaho, there were plenty of days of perfect lighting conditions. This kind of wilderness is certainly no worse than the Amazon Rainforest or Denali National Park. Just different. Different is GOOD!

On my Sunday hike, I was atop some cliffs along the ridge I was climbing, setting up shots when I heard a commotion and rockfall beneath the cliffs. I looked down but couldn't see through the tree canopy. While there are lots of wildlife in this area, including wolves, I figured it was a mule deer or maybe even a bear. I continued shooting for a few minutes until I heard another sound nearby. I looked up and saw this guy looking back at me so, I turned into the sun and couldn't see much at all through the camera. The first shot was underexposed as he was running away so I quickly made a squeaky noise and that caught his attention, somehow. I locked in a different exposure and snapped the shutter, not really seeing what I was shooting. This picture below was cropped out of a bigger picture.

Wildflowers were blooming through the Challis National Forest. Brilliant mosaics of yellow, blue, red and white dominated most of the landscapes, at least for a week or so. Cactus flowers seemed to be the most rare so, when I found these two perfect blooms, I had to capture them.

Not everyday in Idaho was perfect. That morning, I had to get a flat tire fixed on the truck I was using. It happens quite a bit on the angular rocks of Idaho's dirt roads. So I go out to survey some aspen stands and I get 30 miles from town only to get another flat tire on the same tire. Now, only an idiot goes on those terrible "roads" with only 4 good tires. On the way back to town, this thunderstorm forms and provides me with such dramatic landscapes.

This pic below is looking eastward towards the Little Lost River Range, with 11,000 foot Bell Mountain as the most distant peak.

Idaho is MUCH more than just potatos!

2008-07-12T05:57:00.000-07:00

The Lost River Range of Idaho is one of the gems of our country but, it is an undiscovered secret to most people. Halfway between Yellowstone and the Sun Valley/Sawtooth country, this exquisite mountain range gets passed by. Dramatic geology, outstanding wildlife and recreational opportunities abound in this natural playground.

There are about a half dozen 12,000+ foot peaks in this range of awesome peaks.

As you go north, the peaks just get bigger and more dramatic. Those trees in the foreground are at least 35 feet tall! Despite my past inclinations, I really have no desire to climb this peak.

In the "backside", there is evidence everywhere of extreme glaciation in geologic history. Long lateral moraines are in plain sight, without trees or topsoil to hide their existence. Massive alluvial fans march unceasingly into the valleys with 10 mile long "soil fronts" inundating everything in its path. A few universities send all their geology students here to look and learn about Ice Ages, geologic upheavals and massive erosive forces.

Of course, you can't talk about this part of Idaho without mentioning the abundant wildlife here. You can find almost every kind of fascinating (and deadly) animals in this country, including moose, wolves, wolverines, elk, coyotes, antelope, mule deer and white tail deer.

While surveying aspen stands, I ran across this nest at about eye level. A normal horizontal shot was pretty boring so I took a chance and held the camera above to get this amazing shot.

The high country here is so dry and not many trees can survive the hot summers and frigid winters. This Limber Pine has incredible earthy brown colors and weathered textures. I took about two dozen shots focusing on these dead grizzled sentinels of the subalpine realm.

Sunday Morning Hike

2008-07-07T05:13:00.000-07:00

I took a good long hike yesterday morning in the fabulous Pass Creek area of the Lost River Range in central Idaho. I saw many sights but this video will make you wish you were here with me. Towards the end of the video, while I was twisting to get a decent panning shot, I struggled to keep from losing my balance. A tripod would have been handy but I was quite limited in what I could bring on this trip.

More still pictures later including a proud white tail buck and an acrobatic raven to go along with all that scenery. Also I got some very artsy pics of some anciently superb pine snags

Aspen video

2008-06-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

The true common name is Quaking Aspen and this video shows exactly why.

Slacker!!

2008-06-29T05:48:00.001-07:00

Yeah, guilty as charged! However, I'm still taking lots of pics in my many travels this season. We'll take you on a tour to give you a taste of where I have been.

My several weeks near Mount Shasta resulted in some very fine images.

I just love the lenticular clouds that form as a "cloud-cap" over the peak.

My next assignment was to work on the Mendocino National Forest painting cutting unit boundaries. In one of the units, I found this massive ponderosa pine that was around 70" in diameter and well over 200 feet tall. I decided to try and make a vertical panorama shot, stacking three vertical format pictures on top of each other. After "stitching" together the shots in Photoshop, I used the "Perspective Tool" to adjust for warpage of the trees image. This made the picture's edge all fouled up but, the tree is pretty darn straight. So, I cropped off the goofy edge and here's how it came out.

Since there are no motels in the very remote wilds of the Mendocino, I had a very long commute from Willows, all the way down on the Sacramento Valley floor, to the top of the Coast Ranges. I was struck by the beauty of those golden hills so, I stopped and took this dreamy shot.

I'm currently in the town of Mackay, Idaho, a remote place in the eastern-central part of the state. The Lost River Range is home to several 12,000 foot peaks and Mount Borah is the tallest peak in Idaho. Everything is just so HUGE here and my 10X zoom can only get me so close. These peaks tower 7000 feet over the valley floor and the geology is exquisitely-varied while not masked by deep soils and thick forests. Folded layers of cliffs and elevational variations of plants make this place a visual fascination for a guy like me. Everywhere you look you'll see beauty and "wildness".

However, I still have a job to do, and that involves some picture taking, as well. Me and a co-worker are searching for and documenting stand conditions in patches of aspen. It's very interesting and important work to see how we can improve or protect these very important clumps of trees.

More to come!

Extremes

2008-05-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

My first assignment this year was to help in inspections of property line maintenance in southern Mississippi. My two-week stint landed me in Wiggins, MS, home of baseball's Dean brothers, Dizzy and Daffy. There was sure a lot of new stuff to see there and a camera was an essential part of our inspections.

Here's a pic of a large interesting tree that somehow grew this way. I have to imagine that a hurricane did this many decades ago. This area was squarely in the path of Hurricane Katrina and damage was seen almost everywhere I went.

This particular type of magnolia has such HUGE leaves. I didn't see any large examples of this species, though. The biodiversity here is tremendous, with such good growing conditions.

Upon returning to Reno, I was greeted with a cool and stormy scene in the Sierra Nevada. It was so overcast and cloudy that the original picture was dull and bland. I used a new technique I saw in a camera magazine to enhance the shot. I made two layers, one with the shadows properly corrected and one with the sky adjusted. It's an interesting technique to erase from the top layer what you don't want, revealing the adjusted layer below. You can see that the shadows came out nice but, the lighter highlights aren't quite right. All and all, it definitely improved the original picture and this technique will be useful in "fixing" pictures that weren't exposed properly.

The next picture was at the 8500 foot Carson Pass on California highway 88. Red Lake was still frozen over in late April. The change in climates from Mississippi to California was almost as extreme as the change in cultures.

This is where I started my next assignment. The Sacramento Amtrak station still has that look of yesteryear, when trains were the only way to travel for long distances. I needed to pick up my work truck and riding the train seemed to be the best way to get to extreme northern California.

Marketplace!

2008-03-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

I've uploaded some photos, some of which are shown below, on to a website where photo buyers can browse and purchase individual photos. I don't expect to make more than a few sales each year but, you never know until you try. As soon as there is a link available to these pics, I'll have a big fanfare and post it here.

This first one is an amazing combination of colors and geology of Bryce Canyon. It certainly grabs my attention (as well as the attention of others on another website).

Here's another one that rates very high on the "unreal" scale. The day I get down at the base of those monster hoodoos will result in some unexpectedly amazing shots.

After the website accepts my uploaded images, I'll have to put a price tag on my works of art. Being that my camera isn't a top of the line new model, I can't price myself into that kind of range. However, the pictures WILL grab people's attention and they'll pay a pretty penny for an image that fascinates them.

I'm really not sure if my style of fine art pics will sell on this site called "PhotoShelter". It seems like it might be more of a stock photo/business world photo site. We'll see.

Zionic Bliss, Part III

2008-03-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

Here at the intersection of the red cliffs and the white "slickrock", this guy was posing on a pinnacle for his girlfriend and I sniped a shot when they weren't looking. Yeah, you have to open it in a new window really, to see it more clearly. That Saturday in Zion had lots of people on the trails.

Again, here's another cliff and pine tree picture. That pine is probably around 300 years old. Trees just don't get all that big with such short growing seasons. Again, you also see the neverending variety of patterns from the cliff faces.

Up in the the higher elevations, you still have the great patterns and picturesque pines but, the colors and shapes are changed. There is plenty of "wandering" that can safely be done up here, off-trail. Yeah, Mom, I know it's dangerous but, haven't I lived for that most of my life?

This Photoshopped picture with the "Poster Edges" filter applied really brings out the texture on all these Zion cliff photos. I like the little plants hanging down from the overhang. I used my zoom to reach across Refrigerator Canyon and pull this scene in.

Here's another Photoshopped pic using "Poster Edges" to enhance the texture. This picture conjured up a comedy bit with these three trees always bickering over their situation, stuck on a high cliff for decades with each other.

That's it for Zion for a bit. I still have another posting from Bryce to do, too.

Zionic Bliss, Part II

2008-03-20T17:31:00.000-07:00

If you haven't read the first part of this story, you'd better scroll down to the previous entry and start from there.

The rest of you were left up in Refrigerator Canyon to gawk in adoration of nature's most detailed masterpiece, Zion National Park. The terrain in Refrigerator Canyon is so rugged that even the smallest of side canyons can be impassable to humans. The hike is so magical that you think it's almost a part of Lord of the Rings.

In this picture below, the trail goes switchbacking up to gain the ridge I was standing on. It forks at Scouts Lookout and the lefthand fork goes around the top of the side canyon to the right. The trail has big dropoffs on both sides until it reaches the far end of Refrigerator Canyon in this picture.

By the way, this picture was enhanced with a Photoshop filter, Poster Edges.

Along the way, you're treated to cliff views with amazing patterns and arrangements.

Here's another Photoshopped cliff picture in Refrigerator Canyon. I'm always drawn to those forlorn, but defiant old pines on the cliffs.

At Scouts Lookout, you can take the "trail" to the top of Angel's Landing, seen below. I chose to go farther up towards the West Rim but had hoped to be able to do it on the way back down (or at least, that's how I planned it on the funky map). There's a narrow fin where the "trail" goes and some rather steep rock before it starts to level out on top.

I decided to zoom in on the scariest part and saw quite a few people going up and coming down. I can definitely compare it to the Half Dome cables in Yosemite. I did see some cables embedded into the rock on part of the route. Next time I come back to Zion, I will come back and do this trail. I really like how this pictures shows the "exposure" part of hiking in Zion.

Next posting will take you up to where the white "slickrock" meets the red cliffs. I took nearly 3.5 gigabytes of pictures on this one day. Lighting was difficult so I did some "bracketing" to see how the camera captures scenes with lots of shadows and sun

Zionic Bliss

2008-03-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

The two days in Zion were packed with great shots and almost perfect conditions, given that it IS still mid-March! I had planned on staying another half day but, a little snow storm put the damper on that.

My plan had me spending a full day in the Kolob Canyons part of Zion. I didn't check this place out the last time I went so a full day of shooting was in order. The funny thing is that, despite how huge this place is and how close it is to Interstate 15, you can't see any of the park from the freeway. I drove right past it and had to backtrack. It's a view-packed 17 mile drive, ending on a high ridge across from a collection of monolithic red cliffs like these below.

I just love those soothing red colors, the incredible textures and the endless varieties of shapes and sizes.

The second day had me on an expedition to get up on top of the cliffs. This scene below greeted me as I entered the park. The last time I was here, I didn't have my nice Fuji with the 10X optical zoom. I'm now able to get an infinite amount of better pictures with this camera and Zion is so full of scenes like these.

This is what I saw looking up from the bottom of the trail. Carved right out of sheer cliffs, in places, the trail winds its way up, amongst the cottonwoods, cactus, oaks, junipers and pines.

Nope, there's not too many railings on this trail. All these switchbacks get you into the the dramatically narrow Refrigerator Canyon. We'll continue the journey next time as I reach Scouts Lookout, atop a 1000 foot cliff.

The Big Trip!

2008-03-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

I've been hinting for months that I would be going to Zion this winter. Well, after several setbacks and personal issues, I'm on the road and in Utah tonight. I really need to do some computer storage management for all the photos coming in or already stored, in compressed RAW format, of course. The compressed RAW files, like the old print film, need to be "processed" before you can share or print them. Converting the RAW files expands the file sizes from 6.6 megs up to 17 megs. I can always copy some pictures on to a DVD disk and free up some space.

This evening, I uploaded 225 Bryce Canyon pictures and a few dozen Nevada pics I took along the way. This is an example what you'll find along US Highway 50 in Nevada, also known as the lonliest highway in America. Below is a "shoe tree" out in the middle of nowhere. I've seen four other of these trees where people hang their shoes as a personal show of conquest.

Here's a pic of the Great Basin National Park, but from the west side of this massive Nevada mountain range near the eastern border with Utah.

In Bryce Canyon this morning, the weather was a mixed bag with clouds and sun coming and going. I couldn't get down close to the hoodoos so I had to depend on my powerful zoom to get us all there. There's so many nooks and crannies, surely chock-full with picturesque discoveries like the one below.

Just this one valley below would be an entire day's shooting for me. This just means that I'll have to come back and take a little backpacking trip.

This last one is very much like an abstract. That 10X zoom gets me to a lot of places that my old film camera never could. Getting this picture meant braving 45 mph winds at 9000 feet above sea level. I'm happy with what I've seen of today's shots, so far.

Beautiful Downtown....Mountain Ranch?!?

2008-03-01T08:16:00.000-08:00

In looking at real estate in the area of Mountain Ranch, CA, I found a few historical exclamation points clustered in the tiny community that is not on a major highway in the Mother Lode country. This cool truck was parked on the street and it looks could you could still drive it.

Notice the rusty old siren above the license plate.

Right close by is the old Mountain Ranch Post Office.

And right next door is the OLDER Mountain Ranch Post Office.

Everyone loves a cool old red firetruck! Need to dust that thing off, once in a while!

Family pics!

2008-02-21T12:53:00.000-08:00

After a visit in San Diego with family members, mourning the loss of our treasured Uncle Ron, I decided to scan and post some family pictures from the now-distant past. If any family members would like a high resolution digital file sent to them, just drop me a line and I can send a CD or email it to you, depending on the size you'd like.

This picture below is of my brother Dave and his daughter Julie fishing on the Napa River. When we were kids, we used to play around this very area, as we lived in the neighborhood at the time. Julie sure looks intent on catching "da big one". She's all grown up now and married, while Dave lives back in "Nawth Cair-lina".

Here's an action photo of brothers Dave and Ken on a camping trip near Lassen National Park. Notice how skinny they were back then (Weren't we all?!?) Hidden behind Ken is our longtime pal, Chris, who often was an accomplice in our misdeeds.

Here's a few nieces and nephews from our family camping trip to Silverfork Campground on the Eldorado National Forest. This pic of Ashley (Ashley's blog is at: http://www.ashinthecity.com/ ), Isaac and Julie marching around the campground brings back great memories of that trip. I'm still looking for the rest of those trip's photos, buried somewhere in a slide box.

Here's a group picture of all my brothers and some of the nieces and nephews. Yep, the family tree has tons more branches, these days.

And here's your's truly, back in the early 90's, tossing a rock into the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. Notice how slim and trim I was back then, when I was working my butt off salvaging lots of bug-killed trees at work. I've used this photo in flirty chat rooms and it never failed to excite the gals. Then the picture went AWOL for many years and I just rediscovered it. I was on a backpacking trip with my longtime friend Euell, who always brings me great luck in photography. I picked up this 100 pound rock and told him, "Take the friggin' picture, already!!"

Mo' Yo Pics

2008-02-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

Here's a long-lost gem I delved up from deep in my dusty slides boxes. That day at Glacier Point, I climbed over the wall (to keep the tourists in) and found some spots for some different photos, like this one.

Even the generic in Yosemite Valley is sublime. Except for those 4 cars I digitally erased from this picture below. The lighting and shadows in this picture remind me of Ansel Adams' work.

Illilouette Falls seems to be a shy waterfall, turned away from the John Muir Trail and tucked away. This gem is readily accessible from Glacier Point but it is an uphill hike back to your car. Some people hike past the falls, over Panorama Cliff to Nevada Falls and then back down the Mist Trail to Yosemite Valley. It's a moderate hike, mostly downhill. Three waterfalls and Half Dome, all for the same price!

Back in the early 90's, I went on a small plane flight from Placerville to northern Yosemite, including Hetchy Hetchy. This view of the rugged and remote part of northern Yosemite needed some manipulation in scanning to sharpen and adjust the colors, as this pic was taken through the planes window. Rarely do people visit this part of the park.

I could not pass up this crowded turnout at the east entrance of Wawona tunnel. The light was so good and the air so clear that I was compelled to capture this vista despite the crowd of tourists. You can also compare this picture to others on this blog which were taken in the winter time.

Enjoy!

Scan-O-Mania!

2008-02-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture that I was able to "recover", using the digital photo tools I have at my disposal. This Kodachrome slide was way underexposed and was completely unusable. I adjusted the scan controls and played with all the enhancement settings and came up with this very nice photo from my snow camping trip on Glacier Point back in the 90's.

Here's another nice reflection shot that was uncropped from the original slide. This was my attempt at "fine art" but, I've found better examples in some of the other Grant Lake photos. I know that my "eye" is more tuned and more experienced now and I'm enjoying the rediscovery of my old pictures.

This next shot was from a Backcountry Ski Club trip to the Bishop Pass area of Kings Canyon National Park. This is true wilderness, where man only comes as a visitor and Mother Nature has no problem in telling you when it's time to leave. This National Park is as rugged and remote as any other in America. Not many humans have ever been to this spot!

During a drought winter, back in the early 90's, I wandered up the Yosemite Falls trail and did a little off-trail exploring in the area between the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. I love the browns and the textures of the rocks. Someday I'll get down into that "inner gorge".

Finally, we have yet another Grant Lake picture. I'm not completely happy with how the scan came out. The picture lost some of that great "golden hour" light that was in the original Kodachrome slide. This picture also seems to have great opportunities for cropping out some more great pics.

Staying Busy

2008-01-31T14:36:00.000-08:00

Winter is here and I was able to take this break from snow shoveling to take a few pics around the homestead. I knew right away that this one would be a good shot. It's better to have some clouds in the sky, rather than having that deep oversaturated blue dominating.

Here's an old picture I scanned from up near the White Mountains Bristlecone pine forest. It was the next morning after a stormy afternoon and evenng the day before. The view stretched from Yosemite to Mount Whitney (and beyond!).

This next one is one of my all-time classics. Blessed with the perfect light, I took what might be a perfect picture. In scanning the Kodachrome slide, I was able to very closely approach the brilliance of the original.

Here is the best view of the Half Dome cables. Like pilgrims "climbing the ladder to heaven", climbing Half Dome is a spiritual experience for all who succeed. Some falter when they first see the way you have to go to get to the top. I'll admit to being intimidated when I first stood at the bottom. You do, literally, have to "hang on for dear life".

Finally we have a smoke-enhanced sunset over the 12,000+ foot Mount Conness, taken from near Glen Aulin, on the Tuolumne River. While my fellow campers declined to come and see the sunset with me, my 5 minute walk was well worth it.

My Uncle

2008-01-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

This picture will always remind me of my Uncle Ron, who passed away rather abruptly after the smoke from the San Diego fires irritated a previously hidden lung cancer. Whenever he came around, my brothers and I knew we were in for some outdoor fun. Death did not cheat him and he lived his life to the fullest. He leaves behind a wealth of stories and memories that will be passed on as legend in our family. After seeing all his children, all grown up now, I know that I want all of us to be as close as we were last week. The love felt great, even amongst all of the sadness. Your love will always be with us, Uncle Ron.

Son of New Scans!

2008-01-20T09:24:00.000-08:00

I've been VERY busy in scanning some of my very best Kodachrome slides for inclusion into my Yosemite portfolio book project. I spent the last two days searching through my files, slide boxes and even the loose slides gathering dust in slide projector carousel boxes. You don't quite yet get to see the best of those because I had these others ready to go first.

Yosemite's Budd Lake is in the High Sierra and nestled right at the base of the awe-inspiring Cathedral Peak. I fully intend to spend the night there and capture the beauty of the "Golden Hours". This is a perfect example of a "cirque lake", where a glacier had "ground its heel" and scooped out a depression then melted and formed a lake.

While I do have successes in scanning, like the above shot, I also need more practice in using Photoshop Elements and the Nikon Scan programs. It's definitely an interesting task to revisit old places and recapture the scenes better than you did 20 years ago. This picture below lost a little bit of that warm yellow evening light that is in the original slide.

Here's another tough photo to manipulate. These contrasty scenes, like Upper Yosemite Falls, always fooled my camera and I into under-exposing the darker areas. Snow and white granite reflect more light and the camera sensors automatically adjust for those bright highlights. Ideally, one has to go into manual exposure mode and over-expose those bright features so the the blues and greens aren't so unnaturally dark.

Here's a "properly worshipful" view of Giant Sequoias that I didn't have to "fiddle" with to get it to look right. What is really interesting about these groves is that trees of other species often reach their maximum sizes in futile competition with the beastly Giant Sequioas.

This slide came out quite well, as I used the Levels controls and set the white balance by clicking on the climbers white shirt. Suddenly, the greens were enhanced and the blue sky looked more realistic, instead of like deep space. In the high-res scan, you can zoom in on those dozen or so people at the bottom of Half Dome's cable ladder. On the descent, my polarizing filter popped out of my cracked Tokina lens and bounced at least 80 feet to the bottom of the cable ladder. Except for a dent in the outer ring, the glass filter was undamaged.

New Yosemite scans!

2008-01-10T12:35:00.000-08:00

To flesh out my new Mpix ( http://www.mpix.com/ ) book to use as a Yosemite portfolio, I scanned these old Kodachrome slides recently. It's really cool to be able to go back to those trips and, basically, re-compose many of those old shots.

This one below came out pretty well, without too much scanning trouble. I didn't crop this one of Yosemite's Natural Arch.

I was intrigued whether I could crop and improve on this interesting "rainbow" shot of Yosemite Falls from Glacier Point. I still need to be more skilled at sharpening these kinds of pictures without overdoing it. It just might work better as a black and white photo.

This shot, from Stanford Point on a skiing trip, took a lot of fiddling and I'm still not satisfied with the results. I was able to tone down a bluish cast and do some sharpening but, I'd be happy if the picture looked exactly like the original. More practice is needed to sort through all the jam-packed features of my Nikon scanner.

On the other hand, this pic came out looking almost exactly like the original. I still think this pic also has a bluish cast and could benefit from greener greens. I love the glacial polish and juniper trees are one of my few favorites. The Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne is a deep V-shaped canyon that was home to the Sierra Nevada's longest glacier, over 40 miles long at its largest during the Ice Ages.

I stumbled across this slide and looked for a way to crop a great picture out of the original. That afternoon and early evening had terrific light and Grant Lake was obviously perfectly glassy.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-20T13:39:00.000-08:00

Could this be where Santa's secret new base is hidden? Due to global warming, the North Pole just doesn't have the snow and ice that it used to. I do like the look of this pic that puts the mighty Mt. Shasta above it all.

Too bad this mountain is filled with crevasses and avalanche paths. This picture is sure to make expert skiers salivate and drool. Been there and done that. I would be willing to do it again, except to make it all the way to the top. This isn't the "regular route" that most people take. I have to say that climbing with crampons (ice spikes for your mountaineering boots) and ice axe is a lot of fun! It's the coming back down that is scarier, with gravity pushing you down faster than you should go.

I'm going to try and stay busy this winter, with lots of plans on the table. For now, I'm just going to try and have a good time with relatives, cherishing each others company, now more than ever.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

Photoshop "Filters"

2007-11-13T06:51:00.000-08:00

Almost everyday I am off work, I'm creating some new pictures out of old pictures. This is kind of like it might be when I truly retire. I'm using the array of filters in my new version of Photoshop Elements and finding out that there are more of them I can artistically use on my photos.

This one below was a combination of filters. One of them sharpened up the background and then the poster edges filter really appears to add detail and texture. I particularly like the wood grain enhancement on this Idaho bridge to the wilderness.

I used the ink outlines filter to single out each individual mapleleaf. It also lightened the leaves closer to what it looked like in person. I think this very bright and hopeful picture would go good in a frame on someone's wall.

In sharpening this next picture, the background seemed to flatten out and come alive. The lighting on this old growth dogwood bark creates a scene where the dogwood is doing a solo on the forest stage.

This photo of Feather Falls was cropped out of a much larger picture and then "multi-filtered" into this "feathery" intricate image that sure makes me stare. This one has prospects for gallery display, methinks!

This favorite Zion photo benefitted from the "Ink Outlines" filter that enhanced all those individual branches. To me, it really has a classic look to it.

The Tubes in concert!

2007-11-09T12:24:00.000-08:00

While I was in Oroville, the Tubes, one of my all-time favorite bands was playing a free casino show on Halloween Night. They've always been visually and musically appealing but, the big stage shows, props and dancers are now gone, as well as some extra musicians. The Tubes remain as potent as ever, with their songs still as vicious in social commentary as ever. I challenged myself to get some good concert shots in that small and uncrowded venue. Some exposures used a slow shutter speed in order to keep the flash turned off (as required by house rules).

Fee Waybill, their lead singer, has always played different roles in the different songs that they play. Maybe since it was Halloween, they wanted to play "Mr Hate" and dress the part of a real-life Frisco killer, in this picture below.

On a lighter note, in one of the Tubes' greatest hits, Fee comes out dressed as his "hawker" character, singing the praises of the "One in a Million Girl" adult peepshow.

In one of my own favorite songs, Fee is a TV Game Show host on "What Do You Want From Life". He actually did produce an "autographed picture of Randy Mantooth", one of the objects you might want from life being given away in the mythical show. The performed song has lost a little punch, without all the stage props and dancing girls but, it is still a great song and they do it so well.

(Randy Mantooth was the dark-haired teenage heart throb TV star of "Emergency!", back in the 70's)

One of Fee's characters is a British Glam-Rock star, Quay Lewd, who is boozed and drugged, and who now is made more believable with Fee getting older. Spandex, big hair and even bigger heels showcase their showstopper number in "White Punks on Dope". Again, the Tubes pulled it off without the dancers and stage props.

Here's a view of "Quay" that doesn't show where he stuck that second microphone! You can also see how freakin' big those heels are, too. Luckily for you, I'm not going to post the "Mondo Bondage" pictures!

Fall Pictures

2007-10-28T09:37:00.001-07:00

Here in the Plumas National Forest, fall is here in a BIG way. Actually, it's more accurate to say that Indian Summer is here, instead. Smoke from the fires has drifted all the way up here to northern California but the weather has been VERY nice, of late.

The fall colors have been outstanding and here's a few examples. This one below is a bushy Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nutallii). <----------Brain sludge from my college days.

The West also has showy maples of their own. The Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum) is a common tree along streams and rivers in the pacific northwest. Both these hardwood trees grow in the understory of the larger conifers like Ponderosa pines and Douglas firs.

Even the old clearcut plantations are full of color with California Black Oaks in the mix, growing back as stump sprouts.

Finally, here's a bridge on an alternate route we had to take. Old and rickety, it led to a scary 4WD road back up and out of the steep canyon. We had 4 rainy days in a row when I first arrived on this assignment. All in a days work, I guess.

New version of Photoshop Elements

2007-10-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

Here's the results of my first attempts in this latest version of Elements. This picture below came easily, as the techniques were the same as in the older version. I stumbled on to this colorful sky, in a blurry picture I never deleted.

I hoped there would be some more "artsy" filters but they all seem the same. I used the watercolor filter on this nice group of aspens. I kind of like the "two-toned" effect of the morning shadow.

The new selection tools are a big plus, and earning these skills takes practice. I selected only a portion of the crowns of these trees, smoothing and brightening in a subtle way. I encountered these aspen in a very interesting hidden valley just a few miles east of Mount Shasta.

Finally, here's an older picture of Burney Falls that I "posterized". It seems the sharpen and freeze the action even more. Most of that water is springwater from an underground river in the volcanic Hat Creek valley.

New Shasta pic

2007-09-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

I shot this picture this morning, using my telephoto zoom at its maximum and shooting between power lines and the highway. The morning light was just too irresistable to not take the few minutes. You might want to open this picture in a new window and zoom in our all the glaciers and crevasses. Enjoy!

Another Yosemite Falls video

2007-09-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

Because of a timely request, I've found another video from that amazing spring day in Yosemite Valley. I found a spot where few tourists go and got a different angle than most people see of Lower Yosemite Falls. The rest of the world melts away, with all your senses on "natural overload".

Back on the road

2007-09-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

I'm back for another tour in beautiful Dorris, California, just 5 miles from the Oregon border. Here's a leftover picture from the first tour. The big sky and wide open spaces are so different from the mountain forests where I live. As you can see below, their sunsets are just amazing.

On the long drive out to the job site, I saw this old thing actually being used! I just had to stop and take a few pictures of this very interesting old road grader.

This must have been a top-of-the-line model in its time. Looks like it wasn't built for comfort, though.

Finally, I have another leftover from the previous tour. The mountain looks VERY different today than when I took this one. A summer snow storm came through and covered the mountain from head to toe with a new 6-10 inches of new snow!! I'll just have to wait until the time is right to go out and get a new Shasta picture. Maybe this evening there'll be another great sunset (?)

Half Dome and half-truths

2007-09-12T23:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I just had to experiment more fully with the sky substitution spazzing so, here it is, maybe not quite out of my system, yet. With all the sky shots and sunset pics I have, I should never run out of different combinations. Here is a series of Half Dome shots with different skies pasted into them.

I like the really fine wisps along the edges of the clouds. On these days, I'm going to try to make the rest of the picture look like it has those great orange-ish hues, as well. I'll have to try to make the perfect "fake".

This last one is an attempt at "art", with me doing all kinds of creative adjustments, selections and treatments. Don't ask me how to reproduce the effect(s). I'm still just a beginner and I'm sure to get better at it. I've always liked how those trees looked after an "artsy filter" drybrush treatment.

I see this type of thing becoming my retirement "work", which will hopefully supplement my pension stuff. I started a list as to what I need to do and what I want to offer in Fotoware products.

New! Now with better sky!

2007-09-08T14:21:00.000-07:00

Although I am kicking myself now for working on a JPEG version of this, I know that with these results, it will be worth the effort to come up with a hi res version. I ended up having to do quite a bit of hand painting around the tree limbs. If you look closely, you'll still see some remaining bits of the old sky, which replaced the original sky. I really like how I was able to place the horizon in this sky clip exactly where the horizon is at the mountains in the background. Sure, someone can say "How come the tree has a shadow and the sun has already gone down?"

Yeah, life is full of mysteries and some should stay that way!

My First Panorama

2007-09-07T11:08:00.000-07:00

I didn't do too awfully bad with this picture of Cloud's Rest and Half Dome (right), considering I didn't level my camera and tripod or lock in the exposure controls. So, I just took an hour of well-spent time to attempt to correct for all those mistakes. I replaced the sky with a pixel color I had plucked out of the picture. It took awhile to manually paint out the groups of pixels that didn't get selected. I also tried to crop out the most glaring of "seams" that didn't quite line up correctly. You can still see them if you look for them. I'm also seeing a little more touch-up work where the mountains meet the sky.

All in all, it's a promising technique I'll have to try again.

Videos!!

2007-08-27T21:33:00.000-07:00

New to Blogger is the ability to publish videos! Here's my first video post of Upper Yosemite Falls during the wet spring of 2006. You might be in for a long wait if you don't have some form of high speed Internet.

Enjoy!

My latest pictures

2007-08-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

When I arrived on my latest assignment last weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Mount Shasta had a new dusting of fresh snow, in the middle of August! So much for "global warming", eh? Shasta always astounds me with its beauty and the mountain teased me with a peek of its peak. I wished I could enhance the forest below the clouds, so you could really appreciate how immense this strato-volcano is.

This next one is a very similar picture except that I cropped it out of a bigger picture that I didn't quite compose right. The polarizing filter made the sky nice and blue.

Now we get to a picture I took just a half hour ago. What do you think this is a picture of? Yeah, there's not much to go on, there but, it's an interesting and puzzling picture.

Here's a little bit wider shot that might help a little bit more. Not enough, still? OK, there's plenty of agriculture in Butte Valley, California and they cover their fields with plastic, maybe to reduce water losses in their volcanic ash-laden soils they have near Mount Shasta.

I took this little sidetrip on the way back to the motel from Klamath Falls. Since I have been playing with Photoshop and substituting different skies into other pictures, I took this opportunity to grab some excellent sunset shots. While the oranges are intense and saturated, ya gotta love that deep black of the mountains, too. I sure wished I had my Fuji and its powerful zoom for these shots. Alas, I had to use the work camera. I'm happy with what I came away with, though.

Edit: The above picture is dedicated to my friend and co-worker Jesse. His light shown brightly while he was here and we will never see his quick and easy smile again.

Rest easy, bud!

Feather Falls-Long Walk-Worthwhile

2007-08-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, a friend from work and I set out to see Feather Falls, up the hill from Oroville, California. When we got to the trailhead towards the end of the morning, we found that the falls was a bit of a walk. Nearly 4 miles of a walk. ONEWAY! We decided that since we were there, we might as well do the hike and see the falls. We didn't have much in the way of supplies but, a few beers and a few sodas should see us through. (Famous last words!). Just the hike in is marvelous, with a wide trail, copious amounts of poison oak and a mostly downhill walk to the falls. The "biodiversity" of this forest is tremendous. Uncommon trees like the huckleberry oak and the California nutmeg have each carved out their niche amongst the Douglas firs, ponderosa pines and incense cedar. This picture below is a fine example of a large old bigleaf maple. The sunlight shining through the green maple leaves forced me to stop and capture its beauty.

Below is a view of the full falls. My friend was worried that there might not be any water in the falls. The walk in was certainly worth it, as Feather Falls truly is an awesome sight.

This split in the falls makes for a very nice combination of granite, plants and water. As you can tell from looking at the picture above, I took advantage of my powerful zoom to get up this close to this small part of the big falls.

I'm still struggling with the exposure settings of my camera. I'm finding that more and more, I'm going to have to use the less automatic modes, and maybe even use totally manual settings on scenes that give me trouble (like waterfalls). I have played around with the shutter speed to freeze the action, in some pictures. I've also incorporated a polarizing filter, which helped me to get an enhanced rainbow in some of the pictures of the lower part of the falls. This one below barely has the rainbow visible.

With the polarizing filter rotated, the rainbow becomes enhanced.

It was a long haul getting out of there but, our work in the Forest Service had us in better shape than most of the other people out there. Before returning to the motel, we stopped at a local casino for a nice buffet meal for ten bucks. Can't beat that for a day off work.

More Photoshop fun!

2007-07-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

I was showing a friend what I could do in Photoshop and I created this striking picture right before his eyes. I used the poster edges filter on just the land and, again, I pasted a different sky with a new wild color into the bland sky of the original picture. Maybe this could become a series or a calender idea. Hmmmmmmm!

A Night in the Park

2007-07-23T07:14:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of time off before my next assignment and almost wasted my chance to get up to Yosemite and get some more pictures of my favorite place on this planet. (I'm sure there's bigger canyons and more colorful places on other planets.)

I picked a place that I had been to before, many years ago with my friend Euell. And, true to form, that day was amazing for taking pictures. This time was no diffeent, either. I wanted to be on top of the very easy Mount Watkins by mid-afternoon. Accessible from the Tioga Pass Road (Highway 120), Mount Watkins is an easy 2 mile hike from Olmstead Point, the famous overlook that everyone stops at on their way up to the high country and Tuolumne Meadows. Being right across Tenaya Canyon from Cloud's Rest and Half Dome, Mount Watkins offers close-up views like nowhere else in Yosemite. As you can see in this picture below, the view of Half Dome is much different than you're used to seeing. Somehow, I think it looks much more impressive from this direction.

I always marvel at the smooth glacial-polished granite near the Quarter Domes and Cloud's Rest. A huge glacier once came down Tenaya Canyon and scoured it clean of any soil that was once here, millions of years ago. The combination of ice and sand will, literally, polish the rock very smooth. In this picture, I like the diagonal ledges and the smooth granite. Might be an adventure to explore (with ropes, of course!).

This peak was discovered by the famous mountain explorer, and Federal employee, Clarence King. He was one of the first explorers in the Sierra Nevada, braving the wilds of the times and risking death at every turn. Look for his book someday, written in something like 1873 (I can't remember the title). King named this peak "The Obelisk", for obvious reasons. Topping out at over 11,000 feet, and not being on the Sierra Crest, makes this peak really stand out. Eventually, the peak was named after Gaylen Clark, another Sierra explorer.

Speaking of the Sierra Crest, here is Mount Conness, which sits squarely atop Yosemite's high country. Conness sits so high that even glaiers could not touch it, The old volcanic deposits still cling to the peaks and ridges. I used the powerful 10X zoom to get this close to the peak. I had hoped for a colorful sunset but, I had to settle for the evening's light instead.

Finally, here's the picture I came up here for. It's the perfect angle to capture the light of what some photographers call "the golden hour" (the hour before sunset and the hour after sunrise). I waited for the last possible moment to capture that light, as you can see, the shadow had begun creeping up the face of Half Dome.

Photoshopping

2007-07-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

I decided to try my hand at surrealistic photoshopping. It just doesn't seem enough that I shoot "natural abstracts". Nope, I guess I have to explore my own twisted sense of beauty. In this uncompleted work, I took one of my Crater Lake shots and did a couple of artistic filters on it. I then took the sky from another picture and made it to look like sunset, then pasted it into the original sky, stretching it from corner to corner. I felt I needed some extra color in the middle of the picture so I've started some handpainting of trees back to a greener color. I'm still considering what to do with the water. I'm thinking I need to give it a bit of a tint to match the sky, as reflections do.

To Be continued!!

More Oregon fun!

2007-07-06T10:45:00.000-07:00

For the Holiday, I went over to the Oregon Coast, as usual, to see my Mom. She was very happy to see me, as none of her other sons or grandchildren came up to see her this year.

This first picture is a "leftover" from my last trip to Crater Lake. I tried to frame the viw of the Phantom Ship with natural items in the field of view. I'm not exactly happy with many of the photos I took on that trip. It seems that I should've had more really eye-catching, spetacular pictures but, I can find things wrong with so many from this batch.

Here's another "leftover" that could use some "tweaking" of the original exposure. I'm finding out that many of the pictures I take have fundamental problems with contrast. I attribute this to my Fuji's automatic mode. I'm sure there's lots of ways to correct this stuff like spot metering and manual mode exposure control. Dayum, I gotta find that camera manual!

This picture below still has the potential to be one of my best ones taken that day. I'll have to play around with it a bit.

OK, yesterday I was coming back from Mom's, driving along Oregon Route 38, which crosses the Cascades through the Diamond Lake area. The road is so incredibly scenic and typically Oregon, with lots of old growth forests, an impressive major river and geologic wonders at almost every turn. I stopped for a rest at Clearwater Falls, a campground and picnic area in the Umpqua National Forest, and snapped off a few pics that tickled my fancy. These very tall Douglas-fir trees top out at over 200 feet tall.

Now, we get into the high country, returning to views of the 9000 foot ancient volcano called Mount Thielsen and Diamond Lake. There's a very nice bike trail that connects several campgrounds on the west shore of Diamond Lake. It looks like a great place for a weeklong campout. (Hint, hint, Mrs. Zig!) As I said in a previous posting, I climbed that peak back in '84. You can see the route we went up, as it goes diagonally from the lower right corner up to the peak.

Here's a zoomed-in closeup of the spectacular Mt. Thielsen. The last final 80 feet at the summit pinnacle was where we climbed, using the ropes, harnesses and hardware to safely climb above a 2000 sheer drop-off. That upper-most portion of the left-hand side of the pinnacle was the class 4 route my climbing partner wanted to climb. The regular route follows the right-hand side of the pinnacle. Both routes are NOT for the scared-of-heights crowd... heh heh.

Perfection at Crater Lake?

2007-06-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Naw!

Maybe the weather and view was last Sunday but, I wished I was "the Master" of my own camera, though. After working hard in the pumice of the forests east of Crater Lake for 6 days straight, I took my one day off to hike up near Garfield Peak on the south side of the lake.

It's almost impossible to take a truly bad picture here but, getting that "AWESOME" shot takes some work. Yes, the blue captured in the picture below really does look that deep and blue. The depth and purity of the lake reflects the blue sky back up to the viewer. Wizard Island always dominates pictures of this precious jewel.

Here's me, daringly dropping over "the edge" on this self-portait. Don't worry, it's only a 1200 foot drop down to certain death. Behind me are 4 peaks I have climbed in the past.

Since the road around the lake was still closed, due to snow, views of the Phantom Ship for the average tourist were rather distant. Even hiking towards it from the Crater Lake Lodge, the other island in Crater Lake still looks small, especially with my wide angle lens. However, this shot was not intended to show off this favorite island rock formation.

This picture IS intended to show the detail of the Phantom Ship. My 10X zoom brings it pretty close and shows why it was named. The boat ride brings you even closer, even going between the narrows. If you're ever there, consider hiking down the 700 foot descent to Cleetwood Cove to board the summer boat tours. It's well worth the 20+ dollars and the sore legs. You can also explore Wizard Island, as it docks there during the tour.

Finally, here's a view of the impressive Mount Thielsen, a long-dormant volcano eroded down to the old volcanic "neck". I climbed this peak way back in 1984 with an old roomate. I had a bad knee on that trip but persevered in climbing the 4000 vertical feet, complete with a class 4 variation at the summit, dangling above a 2000 foot sheer drop-off. While you don't actually need a rope to reach the summit, you'll definitely need it for the descent. At the very top, there's only about 100 square feet of space on top of that pinnacle. While we took in the view, we were surprised to meet a family (father, mother and two pre-teen) kids who came up the standard class 4 route to the top. The descent is full of fun and you can go "scree-ing" down the loose volcanic rock, riding piles of scree by keeping your feet moving.

My 10X zoom brings Mt. Thielsen in pretty close from all the way across Crater Lake. Would you attempt to climb this awesome peak??!? (I was 26 at the time, with a bum knee)

On the Road Again

2007-05-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

On the way up to my next assignment in Chiloquin, Oregon, I made a special stop along Interstate 5 to take these pics of Castle Crags. This zoomed-in shot shows how big those cliffs really are in comparison to the trees. Such jagged rocks always lure me in and I'd like to spend a day wandering around up there someday.

This next picture is the wide angle shot of all the crags. I'm sure I could get into all kinds of trouble up there if I picked the wrong peak to climb.

This morning, I went out before breakfast to take advantage of the morning light. I had picked out an area to drive to, on top of a high ridge above Klamath Lake. Mt. McLoughlin is like a "Baby Shasta" to me. Topping out at under 10,000 feet, it's 4000 feet lower than Shasta but still has those graceful lines and pointed top. This picture also features a very interesting cliff of rimrock and a stylishly-posed snag to enhance the foreground.

I just had to explore this scene a bit more, taking multiple copies of similar shots. Which do you like better?

Finally, I had a distant view of a very dominant Mount Shasta. My powerful zoom brought the mountain much closer through the haze. I played around with the levels controls to get a more natural view than the original.

Feel the Powers

2007-04-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the rainforest of southwest Oregon known as the city of Powers. My task was to inventory and measure trees in areas that were clearcut back in the 50's and 60's. Some of the stands were exceedingly brushy and some were growing quite nicely into a well-forested landscape. Some of the work we had to do was in boring and aging the trees by counting the rings. Trees grow extremely fast up there and one of the best examples was a 59 year old Port Orford cedar that was 31 inches in diameter at 4.5 feet.

The weather up there was the biggest challenge. Seven out of the ten days were wet, cold and rainy, with a little snow thrown in for good measure. We had to spend up to eight hours per day in the woods, wearing our raingear and "cork" loggers boots, to deal with the wet conditions. Several members of our group got sick during this time, and I didn't get their colds until it was time to go home. Now, I'm stuck at home, sick and tired, but happy to say that I have been there and done that.

Now, on to the pictures! There was water everywhere up there and small waterfalls were a dime a dozen. Elk Creek Falls, pictured below, is one of those that is so easy to see, being only 5 minutes off of our main access to the work areas.

That access route runs alongside the south fork of the Coquille River. This wild river is full of great spots to stop and enjoy. If you're ever in the area and have a whole day to explore, this road goes all the way from Powers to Glendale (on Interstate 5) all through the Oregon backcountry.

This next pic of of Elk Creek, below the falls but above where it flows in the the south fork of the Coquille River. I did have some trouble with the camera's automatic mode overexposing the white water of the stream. I attempted to mute the brightness but, nothing I seem to try will bring back the details of the white water.

And, here's another picture of Elk Creek, with all the moss and ferns so typical of a temperate rainforest.

Finally, we're back to the falls. Again, the white water was overexposed, so I played around with the watercolor effect and got this interesting subtle view. Right click on the pic and then select "Open in a new window" for a closeup view.

EDIT: Now that I look at it, I think it looks more and more like a new Hamm's Beer Bar sign!

Yosemite in March

2007-03-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I picked the wrong day to go to Yosemite National Park. A storm was off the coast after a week's worth of awesomely great weather. The morning was nice but, the clouds came in and made picture taking in the Valley kind of useless. So, I went straight to Plan Z and decided to pay a visit to the Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoias. I'd seen them before, years ago, when I was working on a fire salvage project adjacent to the park.

Below is an old dead Giant Sequoia that cars used to drive through in the old days. Its top broke out long ago but, as you can see, the rest of it is still quite impressive.

The sheer massiveness of these giants does take your breath away. They sure don't taper much as they reach for the sky, either. I just love that cinnamon-colored bark, too.

Here's that tunnel tree again, from the other side. Those two prongs stick up another 35 feet into the air but, I didn't see any of the rest of the tree on the ground. I'm guessing that it burned up in a fire at some point. That tunnel is about nine feet high, just to give you a frame of reference.

Earlier in the day, before the clouds came in, I tried stopping at my secret Merced River reflection spot, opposite the famous climbers Mecca of El Capitan. I couldn't seem to find many worthwhile shots before looking up and seeing this tiny little climber's bivouac hanging about a third of the way up. You're going to have to look closely to even see it! Right click on the picture, select "Open in a new window" and look at about 5 o'clock from the center of the picture. Why they were trying to climb this 3000 foot cliff in mid-March, I don't know. An old roommate of mine, years ago, got snowed off El Cap and had an epic tale to tell. Even zooming in as far as my powerful 10X zoom would go could not make that bivouac shelter any bigger. One of these days, I'll zoom in and crop out a new picture.

Finally, here's what the Merced River gave me as far as a reflection goes. With the warm temperatures, the river had a little more water in it than the previous times I was there. It's almost like a "natural abstract".

I go back to work on April 1st, and after a weeklong meeting in Reno, I'll be headed up to the Rogue River National Forest, along the southwest coast of Oregon, to inventory and measure trees for thinning projects planned. It's gonna be WET!!

Mix n Match scan batch

2007-03-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

This picture kind of looks out of place in my blog. This is the Cinder Cone from near Butte Lake in the northeast part of Lassen Volcanic National Park. Even though there hasn't been an eruption here in the last 100 years, it's amazing that so little has grown back since then. Even Mt. St. Helens has grown back much more than this.

This next picture below is from the Minarets Wilderness, southeast of Yosemite National Park. Also, this is yet another example of my friend Euell's power in providing me perfect conditions for picture taking. This rugged wilderness is definitely one of my very favorite places to get away from the everyday world.

This aerial photo always takes my breath away. I went for a flight with a workmate back in '89 and we flew from Placerville, in California, to Yosemite and then back. Taking this picture through the cockpit window made it a little less than sharp but, I gave it a little sharpening after I scanned it. The northern part of Yosemite National Park is a rugged place, as you can see, and not many people make it out into all that glacier-polished nirvana.

This long exposure of Vidae Falls, in Crater Lake National Park, turned out pretty nice. There's still plenty more of the park for me to discover and photograph. Maybe I'll return there on my trip up to my Mom's in July, like I've done many times in the past.

Finally, I came up with another pic of Moraine Lake, in the Canadian Rockies. I sure didn't spend enough time there to properly "capture" everything I wanted to. During that trip, there was lots of rain and I managed to squeeze in quite a few pictures between storms. I wasn't so lucky a few days later in Glacier National Park, though.

Fresh scans!

2007-02-23T13:05:00.000-08:00

This first one is yet another of my friend Euell's and myself's excursions. We climbed alongside a roaring Horsetail Falls in Desolation Wilderness to get this view of Pyramid Peak.

Moraine Lake in the Alberta Rockies, near Lake Louise, just HAS to be one of the most picturesque places in the world. The lighting conditions there weren't too good but, I had to make do with what natures provided me with. I've been trying a little bit of "tweakage" on my scans to see just what I can and can't do. This one I just couldn't seem to improve that sunny peak enough to make a difference.

Now, here's a picture that never needed any "tweaking". This view of the Sierra Nevada and the Owens Valley from high in the White Mountains is dramatic and, again, is an example of the "Third's Rule". One of these days, I'll post a picture of the next morning's crystal clear view of the entire southern Sierra Nevada.

This part of a slide caught my eye and I wanted to see if I could zoom in and make a new picture of the people on Half Dome's cable ladder. This one you're going to want to right click on the picture and select "Open link in a new window". It was certainly rather intimidating when I first stood here and took this picture.

This last shot was a glorious morning back in March of '95. I had just stayed overnight on top of Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park. The fresh snow was still on the trees and the hustle and bustle of everyday life was gone in favor of the wind, the sun, the snow and the sky (and the occasional belching roar of a shuttle bus 3000 feet below).

More new scans

2007-02-21T22:38:00.000-08:00

I did a little experimentation with this next slide of Bear Creek Spire, in the central Sierra Nevada of California. I wanted to see if I could make a high quality scan on a smaller portion of the original slide. To my old tired eyes, there does seem to be a slight quality loss when zooming in.

Notice the tiny little skier who I tried to enlarge. Nature DOES have a way of making us all look very small. As I had skied up to the base of the peak, I was very uncertain of what lay on the other side. Luckily, I had total trust in my ski partner and we made good use of that rope, along with the piton and caribiner.

Crater Lake has been the site of many of my best pictures. I also feel that there's plenty more there, just waiting for me to come along and capture them.

Wizard Island truly is a magical place at Crater Lake. I've barely scratched the surface of what visual pleasures there are in this flooded caldera. About 10 hours will do the trick, methinks.

Ski Bare....errrrr.....Bear

2007-02-16T19:31:00.000-08:00

I went up the hill to Bear Valley Ski Resort to get some more skiing in. If I want to "profit" on my season's pass, I'd better start getting up there on a regular basis. The snow was quite good and it wasn't very cold except for a persistant north wind, gusting up to 40 mph, at times. Luckily, it died down as the morning progressed. Unfortunately, my boots were giving me a problem, as I am still breaking both the boots and my feet in. Lack of circulation just doesn't go well with skiing. I felt I skied very well, and as agressively as I am used to but, the pain and fatigue were too much for my lazy and aging body.

I took my camera up on the slopes with me and did some experimentation. I set my digital camera into movie mode and attempted to take digital video of what my skiing looks like through my eyes. Scorcese and Spielberg have nothing to fear from my directorial efforts. In order for me to film while skiing, I had to hold the camera in one hand, the two ski poles in the other hand and try to ski without the benefits of pole plants, essential to perfect form and balance. On the steeper, upper-most parts of the runs I filmed, the camera swings wildly from side to side and isn't easy to watch. As I get down to the flatter areas, the image stabilizes and you get a better view of what skiing is like. It was fun! I'll try some more on another day.

I did find time for some still pictures. This one below is looking southward, towards the northern boundary of Yosemite National Park. As you can see, the High Sierra is a rugged and foreboding place that beckons to the pioneer spirit in some of us.

This other picture is the view looking northward, into the equally rugged Mokelumne Wilderness. I can honestly say that I could ski that slope across the canyon and would gleefully do it if there was enough snow and a road or chairlift serving that face. This particular canyon is merely a medium-sized one for the Sierra Nevada.

New scanner blasts from the past

2007-02-12T20:50:00.000-08:00

Well, the saga of my new Nikon Coolscan V ED came to an surprising end and a bright new beginning. I learned this morning that my new scanner was on a truck and would be delivered today, a full two days early than they had promised. After making backup copies of the software, I proceded to install the scanner's applications and see what this puppy could do.

I've had 40 slides already picked out and I selected the following five to practice on. It seems that I'm going to need the practice, as the scans did not completely capture the vividness of the original Kodachrome slides.

This first one is from sometime during the early 90's, taken at Bear River Canyon on the Eldorado National Forest's Amador Ranger District. I stood on the edge of this huge rugged canyon, teetering on the brink, trying to compose this shot just right. There just was no way to take the shot without standing and looking through the viewfinder at the same time.

This next picture is also from the Eldorado National Forest in the early 90's but was taken from within the Desolation Wilderness. Twin Lakes is west of Mt Price, which I had climbed earlier that day. Usually, taking pictures into the sun results in exposure problems. Luckily, my subject was not the lake or the land but, the sparkling ripples of the windblown surface. Years ago, when I was in a camera club, this photo earned me a "Picture of the Month".

This long exposure of Oregon's Multnomah Falls is even older than the first two pictures. I was experimenting with my then-new tripod and seeing if I could duplicate the smooth water effects of other long exposure photos I had seen before. It took me a bit to set up, right in the middle of the stream but, as soon as I clicked open the shutter, I noticed that there were a father and son in the picture. I sighed, resigning myself to have to wait until they left in order to get a picture with no people in it at this popular tourist attraction. It turned out that this picture is a better storyteller than any of the other shots I took that day.

Whenever I go on a mountain trip with my good buddy Euell, I ALWAYS get good conditions and great pictures on those trips. This trip in the early 90's to Yosemite's Grant Lake was a very memorable one. The late afternoon light was electric and the calm of the lake was magical. Alas, the scanner did not capture the vividness of the light reflected off both the rocks and the lake.

This last picture is one of my treasures. It was again, sometime in the early 90's when I took a hike up the Snow Creek Trail leading out of Tenaya Canyon in Yosemite. The warm spring day was melting snow at a fantastic rate. I had heard and seen (and even captured) snow avalanches during the day. After a full day of climbing up to the snowline, I was on my way back down the trail and stopped for rest and refreshment. I had just loaded my last roll of film and was relaxing in the warm afternoon sun when I heard another rumble. With my camera around my neck, I looked up to see another small avalanche falling alongside the flank of the mighty Half Dome. I grabbed my camera, taking a split second to conciously compose the right shot and then clicked the shutter, hoping I had done everything right.

Yes, it turned out that I had done well with the lighting and the framing of both Half Dome and the avalanche. Unfortunately, there was a jet's contrail across the upper lefthand corner of the picture. In scanning the slide today, I cropped out a majority of it but, couldn't eliminate it completely. I then experimented with trying to digitally remove the rest of it. I used the "clone tool" to paint over the jet trail with the same sky color. Can you tell where it was??

I can tell that I'm going to be having "flashbacks" while scanning photos from my now-distant past. Except for having to clean the dust off all my slides, this is going to be fun!

More "artsy" pics

2007-02-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

I decided to try my luck at pictures with different palettes. Zion National Park has all these great colors and I wondered if they would be suitable for some of these "artsy" manipulations. Zion tends to to take your breath away right as you enter the park. It takes its place amongst the greatest of our National Parks and, luckily, it's far enough away from the hordes of tourists that it is still quite unspoiled.

This picture below used the dry brush technique. Again, I recommend that you right click on the picture and open it in a new window to see the nuances of this image.

This next picture doesn't really look like it was manipulated with the poster edges effect. The rock formation always reminds me of a church steeple and that really shouldn't surprise anyone, as it is located in a place called the "Temple of Sinawava", across from "The Pulpit".

Here's another picture with the poster edges effect, obviously a favorite technique I use. This time, I excluded the sky from the technique and boosted the effect a tiny bit in the rest of the picture. I definitely like how it worked out.

The watercolor effect can have its moments, as some have a fondness for paintings. I tried to use the "Third's Rule" in this picture, balancing the shadow, the cliffs and the sky with each other. I hope you all like it.

Finally, here's the Yosemite picture that escaped me in yesterday's posting. I also excluded the sky in this picture from the poster edges effect. It seems to be a little on the dark side and I couldn't quite get the brightness and contrast just right.

Winter Doldrums

2007-02-09T12:39:00.000-08:00

During the winter, while I'm laid off from work, I sometimes feel like a kid during summer vacation saying, "Mommy! I'm BORED and there's nothing to do!" Of course, as an adult, I know that's bullpucky. There's ALWAYS something to do. Yes, I do have my new skis and that season pass to BearValley Ski Area but, I'm more of a spring skier. Yes, I could've gone to Yosemite and taken more pictures but, my car needs some servicing. Yep, ALL of those are excuses for not living my life to the fullest. I finally reached an impasse in my winter layoff, bored of all the dumb things I've done so far since I've been out of work. Sooooo, without further ado, here's some samplings of something I've thrown together out of boredom.

I did order a fancy new Nikon film scanner but, it's been backordered since my birthday in January. Only just now has it arrived at the mail order company I ordered it from and they're fumbling around, taking days to even get it on a truck to me (GRRRRRRR!!). In the meantime, I've decided to play around with the more "artsy" functions of Adobe Photoshop Elements. A good thing to do to see my photos bigger and better is to right click on the picture and select "Open link in a new window". That way my entire blog doesn't refresh when you go back to it.

The "poster edges" effect seems to go well with my pictures and I'm going to be using it a lot to try and produce some "fine art" photos suitable for framing and sale. Below is one that I think will be a winner. It is the bottom of Lower Yosemite Falls and I really like the stark contrast and the isolation of just these two elements of Yosemite.

This next one below is Cathedral Peak, so aptly named by John Muir. I used the watercolor effect on this photo, softening and smoothing the jaggedness of the High Sierra. The original series of these pictures has climbers on the face of this popular rock climb.

This scene of both Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls was altered with the "dry brush" effect. Many of these techniques require that you use restraint in the strength of the alterations, as the details go right out the window with heavy-handed manipulation. Maybe someday I'll get around to making psychedelic abstracts (grin).

Here's another view of Cathedral Peak with the "poster edges" effect again. Somehow, these seem more detailed than the original images. If you look VERY closely by clicking on the picture, you can see the climber near the top of the peak (and use your imagination). Someday, I'll climb dat sucka!!

Here's one that didn't come out all that good. I had another one ready to go but, saved it to the wrong folder. Notice the tiny bridge all the way on the right side of the picture. Zooming in even closer you can see the tiny people on it.

More pics from the Oregon Coast

2006-12-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

In my last posting, I didn't put forth a picture of the actual grounds and Christmas decorations at Shore Acres. The gardens are lush with rare imported and hybrid plants, all lit up for the holidays.

I've always loved these marvelous cypress trees that dominate the entrance to Shore Acres.

Using my strong telephoto lens, I captured this picture of the rough surf of an incoming violent Pacific storm. Yeah, it's a little blurry from the water vapor in the air but, I sure wouldn't want to be caught in that water this time of year.

Here's a different view of that hardy sitka spruce. It's kind of like it's on stilts.

And, finally, I still marvel at the unusual quality of this rock on top of the bluffs, but still in the surf-zone, during big waves. I'd be curious to know exactly how they got this way, assuming that the rock has small pockets of slightly more erodable rock embedded within.

From the mountains to the coast of Oregon

2006-11-29T12:42:00.000-08:00

As I almost always do, and like a good boy, I go up to Coos Bay to see my Mom up in Oregon. I haven't had much of a chance to take pictures lately so, this was a very welcome diversion. With all the rain they've been getting up there, I was lucky to have a few hours of decent weather to go out to Shore Acres, a former timber baron's private grounds donated to the State of Oregon. The coast up there is both rugged and dramatic, offering lots of photo opportunities.

I happened to wander out from the parking lot, along with my Mom, to find these curiously eroded rocks that look very much like sea sponges. I think I could spend several hours taking "natural abstracts" using these rocks.

The relentless waves generated from violent Pacific storms pound the coastline century after century. The truly big waves are an awesome sight as they challenge the bluffs for dominance, only to wash back into the ocean. People have stared at the waves for as long as there have been humans along the coastline.

Let's not forget the power of the wind, as well. This Sitka spruce tree has somehow managed to stay rooted in the face of the wind, the waves and the sea's saltspray. Isn't nature wonderful?!?

We finally explored the botanical gardens of Shore Acres, which is famous for its Christmas lights this time of year. Usually, we all go see the lights but, the weather did not cooperate this year. There's approximately 300,000 lights, with some of them ingeniously animated through the work of talented volunteers. My Mom does some volunteer work here, now and then. She's also going to participate in a Christmas song celebration on the grounds.

This picture below caught my attention with the multitude of branches in this grand old pine. Pines tend to want to dominate by shading out all the other trees but, this one has taken it to the extreme, with an umbrella-shaped crown of branches heading in all directions.

Fall and the dreaded "short-timers disease"

2006-10-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, the signs of fall are all around us now. Leaves changing from green to yellow. Football season in full swing. And the foresters are getting "short-timers disease". It happens at the end of a long hot season of woods work, when one looks ahead to snowy days sitting next to the woodstove, sipping from a mixture of 100 proof peppermint schnapps and hot chocolate. Yes, we're even HOPING for a big snowstorm to come and end the work season.

These two pics were taken during my lunch time, along pretty little Cole Creek, on the Eldorado National Forest. Out here in the West, we do have some nice fall color in some places, with cottonwood, aspen and dogwood showing their brightest foliage during this very comfortable Indian Summer.

While walking through an unharvested part of the burned area, I see a battle looming between the planted trees and the fearsome whitehorn (Ceanothus cuneatus ). Yes, those stout needle-like thorns will go right through your jeans, impale your leg before finally breaking off, leaving the tip inside to do it's own dirty work. The future of this particular piece of ground is rather a gloomy one. By not harvesting most of the snags, the tree plantation will not survive the next inevitable fire. In this part of California, and throughout much of the West, dead trees do NOT become part of the soil through slow "natural" decay. They sit until the next lightning strike chooses to hit the same place.....again.

I think that most would agree that the picture below shows a bit of a fuels problem. These trees were cut last fall and couldn't be harvested before winter. Over the winter, a lawsuit stopped us from harvesting these already cut snags. Finally, after months of wrangling, they graciously allowed us to use this "fuel".

The picture below shows how dramatically we've reduced the fuels on this "cooked" piece of land. We've still left trees for wildlife and left logs to help with soil stabilization. With the true firs and cedars having such a great cone crop, I'm sure we'll see lots of natural regeneration in the harvested areas.

Changes?!?

2006-10-02T05:25:00.000-07:00

As the weather changes, sometimes life does too. Recently, I've applied for several jobs, both of them in northern California. They both would be a promotion, with an opportunity to move further up the ladder in another year. I hope to be working either in Quincy or in McCloud, both very scenic and far from the hustle and bustle of city life. Quincy prides itself in not having any traffic lights in town. McCloud, in the shadow of the massive Mt Shasta, is even smaller. Perfect for a hermit-like critter like me.

I tossed together a few pics of a huge boulder I ran across while working with my esteemed co-workers on a green thinning project. The boulder is massive, at nearly 35 feet tall. This overhang most-surely sheltered many an indian. It's amazing how that tree would not give up, probably thinking that it was merely in the shade of a big sugar pine.

Thinking back to spring, I dug up this nice pic of the flowers that once blanketed the slopes of the burn. Now, it's just a drab grey-green but, my work still isn't done with the fire salvage logging.

However, hope "springs" eternal. I'm certainly not holding my breath over those job applications but, I do think I'm ready to settle down and go home every night.

The "log" days of summer

2006-09-10T15:21:00.000-07:00

Yep. logging can be a dangerous occupation. I was greeted by this beast one morning after one of their own guys' pickup trucks hit it square on. For some reason, water trucks have been having accidents this year. For these loggers, this is their second water truck involved in an accident. Another logger accidently let his water truck roll from a lakeshore into the lake and was completely submerged. Luckily for us Forest Service folks, that didn't happen on OUR timber sale.

Another dangerous place for humans on a timber sale is under the helicopter. It's rare to see this scene at the actual point where the "hooker" connects the "choker" to the helicopter. It surely doesn't take a very big piece of wood or bark falling off of a log to ruin your whole day, week, month or year.

Currently, here's the meat and potatoes of my job. This is the edge of a helicopter landing, where the logs flown in from where they were cut are dropped, to be sorted and loaded on to a truck to send down the road to the lumber mill. Helicopter logging is very hectic and their goal is to keep the copter working as efficiently as possible, even if major messes have to be made. Of course, I'm supposed to keep these messes to a minimum but, I can't be there every hour of every day.

Of course, when the inevitable end comes, they always have some kind of mess to clean up, which they aren't too happy to be doing. They've got their logs out and they want to skedaddle on out of there to do their dirty work somewhere else. That's where I come in, brandishing the timber sale contract and the agreements they signed before logging began. Sometimes it's EXTREMELY expensive to clean up their messes and this landing was no exception. The above photo shows all the crap and limbs they pushed over the edge which they hoped they would not have to retrieve. Being that this landing was controversial even before logs were flown in, this landing was to become a showcase of how to clean up a helicopter landing close to two perennial streamcourses on both sides.

After a few weeks and much prodding, they did do some tremendous shaping of the landing for proper drainage and erosion control. They also did some excellent slash removal and piling to allow firefighters to burn off the excess fuels that were flown out of the woods (which was a big part of the overall restoration plan to reduce future wildfires and intensities). Both pictures were taken from the same spot.

Finally, I just HAD to put in a more scenic picture. It's amazing the places where some trees choose to grow and thrive. This incense cedar is very old and the roots somehow support the trees and draw in ample amounts of water to get so big. Chances are, this tree will continue to live well beyond my own lifespan, providing a wildfire doesn't come along and torch it off into oblivion.