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.

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

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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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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.

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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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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.

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Quests 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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