This past weekend, a few of my friends and I did a wildlife shoot in Carson Valley, near Minden, NV. Our guide was John Humphrey, a local wildlife photographer (www.akawolf.com). He provided us with access to private lands that we would not have had access to ourselves. It was a beautiful morning and we got plenty of interesting opportunities to shoot. Hope you enjoy these images.
I am not typically a bird photographer. When I do shoot birds, I try to take them in the context of their environment, trying to answer the questions: this is who I am and this is how I survive. Living in the Sacramento, CA area affords me the opportunity to shoot migrating winter birds but, I find I really like to go back to the usual suspects – herons, egrets, Canada geese and mallards, hawks. Learning about them, observing their behavior gives me a lot of pleasure.
The last week or so, I’ve had the added pleasure of trying out my new Fujinon 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 lens and 1.4X Tele-converter. Its a great lens but its been more than a year since I shot with a long lens so, I made a few depth of field mistakes. Oh well, I guess I just need to go out and shoot more.
Anyway, here are a few images I shot. I hope you enjoy them.
On Jan 26, 2016, I visited the Mt Tamalpias watershed area near Fairfax, in Marin County, CA. Imagine climbing up a hillside, along a stream that was running fast and loud due to recent rain. Now, imagine the trail to be 2 1/2 miles in and out with a 1,300 foot elevation gain, 750 feet over the first mile. That combination meant the stream was full of waterfalls and cataracts. The banks of the stream were hard rock surfaces covered with coastal redwoods, moss and ferns. It was absolutely spectacular. The trek was difficult but, was well worth the effort.
For my fellow photographers, the stream ran along an east-west access. The January sun rose behind the waterfalls casting some strong light in a few areas but the sun mostly was obscured by the canopy. The light, though bright, was diffuse. Still, the ferns, moss and rocks glistened. Perhaps, as the sun set, more light would have fallen directly on the waterfalls but I didn’t have time to stay and find out. If I make another trip, I will plan it for afternoon.
I hope you enjoy the images. Enlarged copies of the images can be found in my online gallery: Cataract Falls
Regards,
Larry
As photographers, we are admonished to wait for the perfect light or, as a studio photographer, to set up the perfect light. It’s good advice, but not always practical. Sometimes you find yourself at a location you’d like to shoot and walk away disappointed because there are interesting subjects but bad lighting. I have been working on turning that admonishment around and searching where the light leads me; finding subjects where the light presents them. Those opportunities even avail themselves in very diffuse light. We just have to open our mind to creativity when thinking about light.
Last weekend, I visited the California State Rail Museum. If you are a railroad buff, there are a lot of great things to see. While there, I set 2 objectives: learn to use my cell phone camera more effectively and to look for subjects made interesting by the museum lighting. I did OK with the first objective but didn’t advance my skill as much as I’d have liked. I did learn that I have a little control over depth of field though not a lot. I did find interesting subjects to shoot. The museum lighting was very good and the light painted details in interesting ways. I’ve included a few examples for you to enjoy.
I spent a winter afternoon cleaning up and organizing my photo library. While going through the library, I found a few gems that I had overlooked before; always a pleasant surprise.
Rivulet and Hot Waterfall in Winter were taken at Yellowstone 3 years ago when I attended Cindy Goeddel’s Yellowstone Yurt Tour. It was an amazing photo adventure that allowed me to see Yellowstone in the dead of winter. Rivulet was taken near the Lower Geyser Basin. Hot Waterfall is runoff from hot springs near Midway Geyser Basin.
Snowy Egret was taken at William Pond Park, near Sacramento, last November.
We are very lucky to be near the delta that flows into San Francisco Bay because it attracts many beautiful migrating birds in the winter. One of the birds that makes California’s Pacific Flyway their home is the Pintail Duck. I shot this image of a beautiful pintail Sunday morning, DEC 27, 2015.
While at Great Basin National Park, in early October, we were treated to a cold, windy day accompanied by sleet and thunder. The drive up to Wheeler Peak affords spectacular views of the surrounding valleys and mountain ranges. As we drove higher up the mountain, we hit the cloud layer. Aspens, in their gold fall foliage, stood as beacons in the misty fog.
Our destination was the trailhead where we could hike to the bristlecone pine grove. We arrived at the trailhead, bundled up, and began our trek. The grove was about 1 ¾ miles away with a 1,200 foot elevation gain. The trail was rocky, interspersed with mud, snow and water puddles. We hiked past aspens and conifers. When there was a break in the clouds, we could see distant mountain slopes and sometimes Wheeler Peak itself. We made it to the bristlecone grove; it was absolutely worth the effort. I am in awe when I am in the presence of these trees that are thousands of years old.
Regards,
Larry
These and other images may be purchased on my website, http://www.earthwatcher.us or by contacting larry@earthwatcher.us
Death Valley is an amazing place. Especially for those of us who love the desert. In fact, the only thing missing is the sandworms. Donna and I visited Death Valley last week. We arrived the evening after a deluge – 0.5” of rain in a short period of time; slightly more than 20% of its annual rainfall. Water flowing from the box canyons washed debris over many of the roads closing most of the tourist spots.
Water was left standing in some of the playas, lake beds where water flows in but not out; an unusual site for most visits. Fortunately, 2 of our favorite spots, Zabriske Point and Mesquite Dunes were accessible.
Zabriske Point is the go to place for a sunrise. The sun rises behind you and over your shoulder, casting an alpenglow onto the mountains on the far side of the valley. If you are lucky, there will be a few clouds over the far mountains and you can watch the sky turn from orange and magenta to gold and then white. It was Donna’s birthday. God was smiling upon her that day. The thick cloud cover from the previous day’s storm was breaking up. We got the beautiful color we had hoped for. But, in addition, we got a marvelous rainbow. It was an unforgettable moment.
TV and movies give us a picture of the desert as hot, dry, sandy, flat; sometimes with sand dunes. But, much of the desert, in the Great Basin of the western US, is gravely, gray-brown, clay sediment deposited when run off from glaciers made the basins inland lakes and earlier when it was part of an inland sea. It was supplemented by run-off from the surrounding mountains. It is sparsely populated by vegetation, some fragrant and colorful. Zabriske Point is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago. The sediment is painted by minerals and is heavily eroded by water washing down from the Black Mountains over untold millennia. This activity left behind a sculptural landscape, badlands, of muted earth tones. On this morning, after the storm, there was water was standing in both the erosion channels and in the normally dry playas in the valley below.
I’ve photographed Mesquite Dunes at sunrise and sunset. Sunset seems to be the better time; especially later in the sunset when the wind carved dunes cast shadows that are deep and long. To me, the shapes created by the light and dark areas provide a texture reminiscent of a cubist painting by Picasso. It’s fun to watch the light play on the dunes as the sun sets. Shapes and textures change; color changes; all in ways that stimulate the imagination.
I hope you enjoy these images from our day in Death Valley. Please share them with your friends.
Regards,
Larry
These and other images are available for sale by contacting me at larry@earthwatcehr.us or on my web site: www.earthwatcher.us.
Sometimes the light presents itself in such a way that it transforms a mundane setting into one that is stunning. That is what happened this evening. The setting sun cast a narrow beam of light that caught the fireplace in our family room, highlighting St. Francis looking upon the freesias. As I walked into the family room, I was stopped in my tracks by the beauty of the scene. I knew at once that I needed to capture and share it. I wish you could have been there with me to share the moment.
Regards,
Larry
These and other images are available for sale at http://www.earthwatcher.us or by contacting larry@earthwatcher.us
Last week, I was in Washington visiting my son and his family. It was a great week capped off with a camping trip on the Puget Sound. We camped at Sequim Bay, on the Olympic Peninsula, near the point where Puget Sound meets the Strait of Juan de Fuqua. It was a beautiful weekend and lots of fun. I took a few images and want to share 2 with you.
The first is A Sunrise on Sequim Bay. The sky was overcast on this early morning. Fog shrouded the mountains to the north and west. The water was smooth as glass except where gentle currents caused small ripples. The only sign of life were the few gulls beginning their hunt for breakfast. The sun found a few small breaks in the clouds which allowed it to highlight the sleeping vessels and parts of the shore. A confluence of events that provided a moment of peace and tranquility. Look at the image, close your eyes and imagine yourself there for a few minutes. I hope it will brighten your busy day.
The second is West Peak, Mt Olympus and Glacial Valleys. This image was shot near the visitor center at Hurricane Ridge National Park in the Cascade National Forest. In this case, dramatic clouds obscured most of the sky. Breaks in the clouds allowed bright sunlight to dapple sections of Mount Olympus and the surrounding peaks, highlighting the glaciers and valleys below. I felt a longing while viewing this scene. My spirit wanted to hike up to that mountain valley and camp by the stream. I wanted to be near the base of the glacier; to see and touch the glacier before our changing climate devours it and drives it to extinction.
These images and others are available at my website: http://www.earthwatcher.us or by contacting larry@earthwatcher.us
Regards,
Larry
Earthwatcher 