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Archive for the ‘California’ Category

Emerald Bay is part of Lake Tahoe and is designated a National Natural Landmark for its brilliant panorama of mountain-building processes and glacier carved granite. It is found in the South West corner of Lake Tahoe and is an inlet that can freeze over in a severe winter due to its shallower water.

This is a location I’ve been wanting to shoot for a long time and finally got around to doing it. This was taken about 30 minutes before sunrise from a rocky ledge at Eagle Falls. My plan had been to get the gushing water of Eagle Falls in the foreground, but alas, it’s September and the falls were just a trickle. Besides, at this time of the morning, it was too dark to see anything in detail.

The island you see in the middle of the picture is called Fannette Island and is the only island found in Lake Tahoe

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Those are the three rules of photography (or something like that) and I guess you can’t go much simpler than the photo in today’s post.

This was shot early morning in the White Mountains, which lie just east of the Sierra Nevadas. The sun was up, but only barely and the surrounding landscape was covered in a light haze that was starting to burn off as the sun picked up in warmth. I was standing at about 10,000 ft elevation here (that is 3048 meters high, for my non American readers). I actually went higher that day as I was heading to the Ancient Bristle Cone Pine Forest, which stretches from 10,500 ft elevation to its peak at 14246 ft.

While I didn’t go that high, I probably ended up around 10,700 ft or thereabouts. For someone who is not used to those elevations, sucking air is quite an effort. I huffed and puffed my way around the trails taking pictures of these old trees. And they are old. In fact, the oldest tree in the world can be found here, although the Forest Authorities do not identify which tree it is out of fear of vandalism. Sad, but good to know this tree is being looked after. It is over 4000 years old.

Pictures of those trees are the subject of another post.

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I had previously posted about Bodie, the ghost town found on the Eastern sides of the Sierra Nevadas. In the same vicinity lies Mono Lake, one of the oldest lakes in the Western hemisphere.

Mono Lake is especially known for its mineral structures that stick out of the water in many odd shaped formations. These “tufa” towers, as they are called, were created when fresh water springs bubble up through the alkaline waters of the lake. The water is salty and, just like in the Red Sea, makes you float like a cork. The salty water also provides perfect living conditions for brine shrimp, which attract millions of migratory birds.

While not quite in the millions, the lake also attracts photographers as the tufa formations make interesting subject material, especially at sunrise and sunset. I had two mornings and two evenings to spend there and was up at 4:30 am to be ready for the morning glow as the sun starts to rise. The picture here was taken about 15 minutes before sunrise, you can see the yellow glow behind the hills in the background. Unfortunately, there was some wind, as you can see in the distance and no clouds. Often spectacular skies can be seen here, but no such luck. It was still beautiful though and I hope to go back soon.

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Spent the Labor Day long weekend among the Eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada and visited places such as Bodie, a ghost town, Mono Lake with its tufas and the ancient Bristle-cone pine forest, home of the oldest living tree in the world.

All of these places are found along Hwy 395, which is the most spectacular road I have ever driven. The eastern side of the Sierras are much more spectacular then the Western side. The Western side of the Sierras slope up gradually from the San Joaquin valley, while high, the difference in elevation comes gradually. Not so on the Eastern side where the Sierras rise sharply. The result is spectacular.

I’ll be posting some pictures from this trip.

Here is one from Bodie, a famous mining town, once a bustling mining town in the middle of nowhere, now a ghost town. It is kept in “arrested decay” and is managed by the Sierra State Parks Foundation. Bodie was on the list of park to be closed if California legislators had not been able to agree on the budget. One of the reasons I wanted to get there, just in case. . . .

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Another HDR shot from the Sequoia National Park weekend. My son Rens and I were on a hike to check out Tharp’s Cabin. Tharp’s Cabin is a hollowed out log (a giant Sequoia of course) that was used as shelter and later converted into a cabin. It is named after Hale Tharp who has been acknowledged as the first non-native American to enter the Giant Forest.

The hike passed through a burnt out section of forest which was still smoldering. Our natural reaction was one of horror of course, but fires like that are essential for a healthy Sequoia forest so it was actually a good thing.

This meadow was close to the cabin and Tharp used to graze his herd of cattle here. Rens and I were wondering how he got his cattle here as the meadow is pretty far from anything and surrounded by forest. We never did get an answer to that.

This photo was taken with three exposures, 2 stops apart, and blended using Dynamic Photo HDR, saved as a FIFF, re-imported into Lightroom for a little bit of additional processing (mainly contrast) and output as a JPEG.

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My son and I spent a long weekend camping and hiking in the Sequoia National Park in California. It was the first time I had ever been there despite living only 4 hours drive from there. For some reason, I always ended up in Yosemite and not going the extra 100 miles or so to this awesome place.

The park, as the name suggests, is home to a large number of Sequoias. Sequoias are a red wood (a pine tree family member) and grow to enormous proportions. The coastal redwoods, that grow near Mendocino are taller than the Sequoias, but not as thick around the trunk. The Sequoias are huge and majestic. The national park is home to a tree called The General Sherman, allegedly the largest tree in the world, by volume. In other words, there are a few trees taller and there are trees that are thicker, but this is the tallest “thick” tree. It was indeed huge. Apparently, when these trees were first seen in the mid-1800s, nobody back east believed the reports, calling them a hoax. The trees are indeed absolutely huge and their color is distinctly different from the other pines in the forest. They are much redder as seen below.

This is an HDR comprised of 3 shots two stops apart. The HDR process does a marvelous job of accentuating the colors and the textures of these magnificent trees. I’ll be sure to post more soon.

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Spent the afternoon on Alcatraz with a group of photographers. It was a lot of fun. I had been there about 8 years ago and for some reason remember it as being bigger. Not that that really mattered, there are some interesting shots to be made on the island. It was rather cool though. While it was middle of July, it was a only 60 degrees Fahrenheit (about 15 Celsius) so sweaters and layers were in order. 

I’ll post some pictures from Alcatraz soon, but wanted to share this one of the Golden Gate Bridge first. After returning from the island, four of us decided to go to the Marin Headlands and see what kind of sunset we’d get. On the way there it started to rain and the sky turned into a really interesting display, a rainbow and awesome colors as you can see here. A beautiful glow above the city, interesting clouds and the red color of the bridge rewarded our detour after the visit to Alcatraz.

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The beautiful Sand Harbor lies near Incline Village on the Eastern side of Lake Tahoe and was featured on "Bonanza" several times.
One memorable scene filmed at Sand Harbor was for "The Storm" ( 1962 ). Joe’s lady love has died and he’s standing at the shore grieving over her demise. He then rides out and goes back to the ranch.

Today, Sand Harbor is as beautiful as ever and a favorite vacation spot for folk who like soft sandy beaches. Lake Tahoe lies about 200 miles from the coast so this is a great place for a beach visit inland.

The rocks make for excellent photographic subjects, regardless of the season. This shot was taken at sunset.

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She had just passed under the Golden Gate Bridge was sailing towards the setting sun. Who is she? Where is she going? I will never know.
Those were the thoughts that went through my mind when I took this picture. She formed a perfect focal point. Personally, I love shots where the colors of sky and sea just run together. It was a beautiful November evening but quite chilly.

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When driving from Sacramento to San Luis Obispo, one the fastest routes is to drive South on Interstate 5 and turn West on Hwy 46, towards Paso Robles. This stretch of road goes through some of the most desolate country I have even seen.

The view here is of the Orchard Peak mountains, located in Kern Country in California and you pass this on Hwy 46. There is nothing there and cell phone coverage is minimum or non existing. It is also HOT.

The desolate nature of the place makes for some fascinating photography however, especially the textures of the hills, the stretches of sun-burned grass and the odd man-made fence. Not sure what he fence is meant to keep out (or in), and one has to wonder why someone went to so much trouble, but it does makes for some interesting variety.

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