Sierra Sublime Blog

The Sierra is a magical place. You can say it is sublime. To truly get the most from this magical place if you are there a lot and you meander through it slowly. I have the luxury of doing both and this blog is designed to visually share my adventures.

A Different Take on Bodie

Instead of taking images that were documentation in nature, I wanted to have my images tell a story.  A story about what it must have been like to live in a rough town with hostile environment.  Nature gave me a bonus by providing this incredible cloud show the day we went to emphasize the hostile weather.

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Heaven

A few years ago, I experienced a drought of clouds for what seemed like an eternity.  Every time I went on a photo expedition it was nothing but blue skies. It was frustrating as I love clouds in my landscape images.  Well this spring ended the cloud drought in a spectacular way!

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A Perfectly Cloudy Day

Me and my camera took off for the high country.  When we got there, it was cloudy.  Perfectly cloudy to be exact.  You see lots of people love blue skies, but photographers think blue skies are boring and long for partly cloudy skies.  Especially Cumulus, Cumulonimbus, Stratocumulus, and Lenticular clouds. The first three are what the Lord gave me this “I got to go” trip.

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Hike Big Sycamore Canyon - Tejon Ranch

If you go to the Tejon Ranch Conservancy website they have this quote:

“There is no other place like Tejon Ranch in California...and perhaps in the world.”

I have to say it is true, it is true. 

  •   It is immense at 270,000 acres, the largest contiguous private property in California.

  •   It is diverse lying at the boundaries of multiple ecosystems as diverse as the Sierra Nevada and the Mojave Desert.

  •   It is magnificently beautiful.  Especially when there is weather happening!

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My 12 Best Images of 2018

The 12 Best of 2018

Why 12?  To be different.  Everyone else has a Top 10.  Besides I like the idea of one for each month.  Even though I did not take as many images last year, it was an awesome year for my photography. Mainly for two reasons.

  1. During most of my trips up to the Eastern Sierra there were luscious clouds in the sky.  Nothing improves a landscape photo like clouds.

  2.   I started concentrating on the improving the composition of my images. Specifically working on improving the foreground area.  To me, it made a huge difference.

So here we go.

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FIVE SIMPLE STEPS TO ENJOY YOSEMITE ON A CROWDED WEEKEND

Yosemite can be the most beautiful place on earth or a crowded hell.  Five steps to make your visit a truly pleasant and memorable trip.

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Clouds are the Photographers Spice of Life

Clouds are a landscape photographer's spice to add flavor to their images.  Don't believe me, do a google on "Ansel Adam on cloud" and see how many hits come up of his images that have "cloud" in the name.  

My point is this,  There are a lot of good images that have a bright blue cloudless sky.  There are many more "great" images of the same location that have clouds in the sky!  I love the Owens Valley, it is gorgeous.   That said, would the above image be so moving if it did not have those wonderful clouds in the sky? I think not.

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