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.

Channeling Huell Howser in the Eastern Sierra

The last couple of months, with the drought going on, we have been channeling his shows on the Owens River and the Eastern Sierra. He visited an amazing number of locations. (Admit it, you heard his voice when you read amazing didn’t you.)

Best Images 0f 2021

My best Eastern Sierra images of 2021

Five Reasons to Buy a Wall Calendar

With all the technology we have at our fingertips why would anyone want to buy a wall calendar these days. Think about it. We have calendars on our phones, calendars on the computer, calendars in our Email application, calendars on our watches, and even the date on our car stereo.

The wall calendar should be as dead as a doornail. Yet the more accurate phrase is “the wall calendar is dead, long live the wall calendar!” What magic gives this lowest timekeeping device alive and well?

Sunrise, Sunset

“Regular mornings are for showers, coffee, catching up on the news, dressing for the day. Daybreaks are for quiet, peace, and standing on rocks to take bad selfies with the sun. Morning is responsibility, daybreaks are freedom—a smooth, blank page upon which I can write whatever comes to mind.” Gina Ryder

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.

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!

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.

March in Like a Lion ( and leave the same way!)

For me this was a March for the history books! For me March has been a Lion all the way through. I cannot remember a March in which I experienced such a diversity of photographic experiences.

March roars in like a lion
So fierce,
The wind so cold,
It seems to pierce.

The month rolls on
And Spring draws near,
And March goes out
Like a lamb so dear

Lori Hill

The End of the Line (well maybe) - Keeler

On the east side of the dry Owens Lake, southeast of Lone Pine on Hwy 136, is town named Keeler. I think the best description of Keeler comes from the website Weird California:

“Keeler is practically a ghost town. Many of the buildings are falling apart, the lake it sits on is dry, the mines the town was built to support have been played out, yet still about fifty people live in the town, so a complete ghost town it is not.”

The Wildflowers are Coming, the Wildflowers are Coming; are You Prepared?

It’s February and raining and snowing a lot. The skiers in the Eastern Sierra are in heaven, but what are the non-skiers to do with our time? Prepare for the wildflower season of course. The flowers are already popping up here and there already. I wanted to provide a list resources to help you plan your wildflower hunting season. We will cover:

Where to look for wildflowers and websites that track the wildflower blooms
How to know what you are looking at. Yes, there is an app for that and I found a great website.
Tips on how to take great wildflower pictures

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!

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.

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

Dad Why Do the Trees Change Colors?

Every year I reluctantly hang on to summer and resist the coming of Fall. Despite my best efforts the days keep getting noticeably shorter, the nights have a chill, and heck it is mid-September and just snowed in the Sierra! So, I will throw in the towel and look forward to Halloween and Fall colors. Hopefully, this post will give you a bit of trivia and a lot of information on how to successfully see Fall colors in the Sierra.

Eastern Sierra Early Morning Scramble (ESMS)

A great Eastern Sierra Morning Scramble (ESMS) is a plate of “Golden Hour” Light, beautiful puffy, clouds, and a side of water (a still lake or a running stream will do.) When you get up to enjoy ESMS that is cooked right it truly is a moving experience!

The problem is you need to get up pretty early to get served because once nature runs out it is gone for the day!

Another Hidden Gem Along Highway 395

I really enjoy the Facebook “US 395/ Owens Valley” and “I Love the Sierra” groups. Folks are friendly and the photos are awesome. The cool thing is just when you think you have explored every nook and cavity of Hwy 395 someone mentions another unknown gem and the adventure starts a new.

This one started last year with the wild burros in Aberdeen. After hearing about them the next adventure up 395 we are turning left at Aberdeen to find them.

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.

Mom, why is the sky blue? Mom, Why is the sunset red? Mom, why does it always looks better in the Eastern Sierra? Answers to questions you May have always wanted to know

Man is not the only one who can produce beautiful fireworks. Nature does a pretty fine job herself! Lake Crowley sunset. Have you ever wanted to be able to predict when the clouds are going to go nuclear? Want to know why the sunrise/sunsets are usually yellow, orange and red? Check out my latets blog post.

Water Everywhere!

The spring is simultaneously beautiful, powerful, and dangerous. Read more to see what I mean.

Sunrise to Sunset in Southern California

My brother and his family come home every holiday season. He is a photographer too, so we look for some time while he is here to go out to shoot. I enjoy his company and it forces me over the rest of the year to get out and to check out places in Southern California for his next visit.

Now I am a 3rd generation Angeleno. I have lived in Southern California all my life. Between work and exploring I get around a lot and considered myself a seasoned local. I thought I had been to most of the interesting places we have here. Wow was I wrong. After a few years of checking sites out for our shooting day, I have realized there is absolutely no way possible you could ever see all that is interesting in Southern California.

Don Henley was Wrong You can go Back

In Don Henley's song the “Boys of Summer” there are the lyrics:

Out on the road today I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.
A little voice inside my head said:
"Don't look back, you can never look back."
I thought I knew what love was.
What did I know?
Those days are gone forever.
I should just let 'em go, but

Well this last weekend I successfully looked back and came away with a smile. Forgive the long winded set up to this story but it will put in perspective how I “went back this weekend.”