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.
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 MoreOn 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.”
Read MoreI have been going to Mammoth since I was a teenager. Until we bought our place in Mammoth we would do a non-stop drive to Mammoth ignoring all the amazing stuff between LA and Mammoth. With a place of our own we started spending more time in the Eastern Sierra. With that regularity the need to rush straight through to Mammoth went away We started exploring cool things all along Hwy 395. It was then I fell in love with the towns in the Owens Valley. These towns seem one dimensional as you drive through but when you get to know them they have multiple layers that make them gems in their own right. Today’s post focuses on the town I know best - Lone Pine.
Read MoreWell, we asked for it and we are getting it. Seemingly all at once. I am talking about snow.
Did you know Sierra Nevada, in Spanish, means “snowy mountain range”? If you have seen any pictures from Mammoth or the rest of the Eastern Sierra lately that name is very appropriate.
Read MoreIt’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
“Not till we are completely lost, or turned round, do we appreciate the vastness and strangeness of Nature.”
Henry David Thoreau
Lately, I have been obsessed with the idea of nature’ vastness. I am lucky because as I meander about the Eastern Sierra, I have gotten to personally witness the vastness of undisturbed nature. It truly stops me in my tracks. Staring into the scene I start to ponder my existence. The impact of an uninterrupted open space for as far as you can see just does that to you. A scene so epic, yet perfectly orchestrated, shouts to you; “you are only a small spec in the universe and that is perfectly OK.”
Read MoreIf 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 personal favorite landscape scene is of a lake with water so still it looks like glass, a sky with clouds, and framed by mountains. I call then Clouds and Glass.
To capture this type of image you tend to have to be at the location ungodly early or just after sunset. Even when you do get there at the right time there is no guarantee you will find the scene you want. A little wind and you are doomed. Finding a lake with glass and clouds is like finding a winning lottery ticket.
Here are a few images that demonstrate why these are my dream scenes.
Read MoreThe 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 MoreEvery 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.
Read MoreA 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 MoreI 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.
Read MoreYosemite 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 MoreMan 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 MoreThe Streams are Alive
Images from this years epic snow run off!
I have never seen a river that I could not love. Moving water . . . has a fascinating vitality. It has power and grace and associations. It has a thousand colors and a thousand shapes, yet it follows laws so definite that the tiniest streamlet is an exact replica of a great river. — (Roderick Haig-Brown)
Over the last few weeks we have been wandering the Eastern Sierra exploring this year's epic snow melt. So I thought it would be appropriate to put a story board together that shows part of the water's epic journey from the high country down to the valleys below.
Read MoreThe spring is simultaneously beautiful, powerful, and dangerous. Read more to see what I mean.
Read MoreIt's been falling for weeks and its everywhere. With 217 inches of snow and counting January 2107 has broken the record for most snow EVER! This weekend the snow feel everywhere even as far south as Olancha. Facebook is full of images of folks cars and porches under a gazillion feet of snow. Well if you cannot beat them, join them so here are some images of snow in the Sierras and Owens Valley over the years.
Read MoreClouds 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 MoreMy 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 MoreEveryone seems to make a list at the end of the year. Best of, Top X, etc. Not to be left out starting in 2016 I am going to build a list of my top images. The selection is a combination of a great image and a sort of category of themes during the year.
2016 was a busy year with an emphasis on getting out and doing more. I had my pledge drive 54 for Dave to thank getting my out on the trail in the Sierra. Probably more than 30 miles this summer. Last year I missed going to see the huge Yellow Rubber Ducky so I made a pledge to myself to check more things out this year, Balloon Fests, Huge White Rabbits, and a long road trip up Hwy 1 and back again.
There were too many great images to chose from. So I created categories and chose image(s) to visuualize each category: