Three days of fall colors
Read MoreSierra 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.
Cloudy with a 100% of Spectacular
The Clouds are calling and I must go!
Read MoreClouds make my Eastern Sierra Sunset Images Pop!
"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky."
- Rabindranath Tagore
Read MoreA 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.
Read MoreHeaven
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!
Read MoreA 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.
Read MoreMarch 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
Read MoreHike 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.
Read MoreEastern 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!
Read MoreFIVE 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.
Read MoreMom, 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.
Read MoreClouds 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.
Read MoreSunrise 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.
Read MoreDon 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.”
Read MoreQuests in the Owens Valley are Fun
Over the years I have had fun with quests finding the Petroglyphs that are in the Owens Valley and the Tablelands. The first quest started with some photography friends; Paul, George, Kahlee, Nate, Dave, and some others. We were at a meet up in Lone Pine when I convinced them we should try and find the Petroglyphs near Keeler. We looked near and far and came up empty. Over the course of next few summers I finally found a ranger that gave me the clues that allowed me to find them.
You see most people won't tell you exact directions to where they are. If you are nice they will give you clues. That's it clues. Giving just clues are done for good reason. The Petroglyphs are treasures, looks into the past, some 6,000 years old. Some folks don't do well in respecting how valuable they are. They either vandalize them or put their own mark next to them to try and become immortal themselves. Sorry to tell them “Betsy and Mark 1983” will only get folks extremely mad and you will be cursed at for the next 5,000 years . So to find these sites you have to do your research on the internet and talk to people to get clues. Then you weave it all together to guess where they are. Finally, you have to go out and look.
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