Yosemite and More

I really do need to do a better job of posting. My main problem is I'm not a great fan of editing. And sometime you look at your 'great' photos and say, meh! This is part of my vacation to the North Coast this last summer. Go down a  little and you'll see my post from the Redwoods, previous to that I visited the Lassen Park area. Anyway...........Last time I visited the North Coast (about 25 years ago), Eureka to Crescent City the ocean was angry and the waves were huge and crashing. This time they were as flat as a piece of paper. Somewhat disappointing, in that regard anyway. This first one is taken at the Crescent City Lighthouse on Battery Point. More on the lighthouse in a sec. This was taken from under the pier (obviously) being very careful not  to bang my camera against the rocks or my head against the pier. As you can see the water is smooth as glass. Even the Klamath River was smooth as it entered the Pa...

A while back I went over to the Northern California Coast, specifically the Coast Redwoods area of Eureka and Crescent City. There are some great hikes in the Redwoods State and National Parks. The redwoods themselves are awe inspiring and can induce a soar neck from looking up all the time.  One of the problems I faced was trying to produce photos that captured their majesty. Regular lenses couldn't capture their size and  wide angle lenses would distort them and in turn push them back into the photo and reduce their size.  What's a guy to do??  So while I did take a lot of 'tree' photos I decided to concentrate on the smaller things in the forest and on the floor.  The trees themselves do a good job of shading the forest floor and being  on the coast there is a lot of moisture. great for growing ferns and fungi. The size of this fungi is just a little larger than a quarter. You have to look pretty closely...

Friedhelm and I went to Murphy's Ca. the other day to see if we could find some fall color. The answer was yes indeedy. I wanted to call this Three Leaves but since there are actually five.... Not exactly fall colors but I like it anyway. I like the contrast of the shadows and light. I considered cropping it closer to highlight the lighter leaves but decided it effected the tunnel look to much. This was in a strip along side a sidewalk. Also not fall colors but it has great lines and you know me.... This is one of my favorites. I just love the contrast between the red leaves of the tree and the green of the ivy growing around it. Go, See, Enjoy, Photograph Dave

I went to the East Side of the Sierra's with some friends for a couple of days. We hit the fall colors just right. There are always parts that are past, not yet and just right. We hit a lot of just right. If you want to go, go now! I had trouble deciding what to post, as the saying goes "a target rich environment". We met at the Silver Lake Resort. This is a little pond behind the store/cafe. If you like ducks this is the place for you. If hiking or even getting out of your car isn't for you just drive down Highway 395 or the June Lake Loop. Or Power House Road June Lake Loop While looking for more color to shoot we came across these horses, actually the were a lot more, a whole lot more. Such a peaceful scene. I liked the various layers of color. Not a bad place to go fishing. Go, See, Enjoy, Photograph Dave

Went up to Lassen Park the other day. I grew up about 75 miles away but never really explored the park. My only true recollection is a home movie my dad made when I was just a tyke and it shows my aunts and mom not wanting to have there picture taken while we were picnicking at Manzanita Lake. First night I was there the sky was pretty clear and I got this shot of the almost full moon. Unfortunately the clouds obscured it the evening of the next day. I had tough time deciding what to post. It is a very beautiful area  and well worth the trip. Lassen Park is actually one of the least visited National Parks. Why? I don't know.  Unfortunately this blog format doesn't showcase panoramas well, but here goes. You can't post about Lassen Park without at least one photo of the volcanic action. It is after all still an active volcano. This trip included Burney Falls and the North Coast. Those to come. In the  meant...

Here are some more I turned to Black and White or Sepia. This old house looked kinda lonely all by itself. Three Amigos. Dinner for many? Dinner for one? Just like this image Go, See, Enjoy and Photograph. Dave

I have been remiss in my editing. Here are some of my photographs from a trip to Bodie and the Eastern Sierra These are a mixture of Black and White and color... This is one of my favorite photos from the trip. I tried it in Black and White and Sepia but decided full color was just better, I shot is through a hole in the wall with bright sunlight behind me. This little one was very friendly, I was actually able to  walk right by it on this small bridge. I wouldn't grace me with a front or full profile, but it was kinda neat anyway. What can I say, just like this one. Like the one above, I just like this one. It was great to see more and more of these lillys  They're wild and not planted but everyone seems to avoid stepping on them even when they're not blooming so they increase in number every year. Go, See, Enjoy, and Photograph Dave

I recently went over to the other side of the Sierras via   Yosemite and Tioga Pass. My destination ended up being Bodie (surprise) and Mono Lake. On the way I took these (and a lot more). Photos of Bodie and Mono Lake to come The sky was great on my way over. Mostly deep blue and lots of puffy clouds.The rivers and creeks were running high and there was snow on the mountains. I stopped at Olmstead Point but instead of following the paths I crossed the road and climbed up the rock face and got this image of the High Sierra and in the middle Tenya Lake. Along the way I stopped several times to photograph, mostly the landscape. I was surprised at one stop to spot this flower. I believe it to be a  Sego Lilly though my flower book says that this is a little west of it's usual range.  Just added an app to my phone. This is really a Smoky Mariposa. Taken a bunch of miles from the town of Mariposa, Ca. I...

A few weeks back a friend and I went to to small town of  Hornitios CA. While we were there I remarked that I hoped that no wildfires would start in the area because there wast a lot of dry grass. If you've followed the news about the Detwiler fire you know it came very close to this great old gold rush town. Here are a few images from that trip. I liked how the sky mimicked the texture of the  hillside. There were wild turkeys all over the place. This one was showing off to his girlfriend but stayed in the tall grass and didn't care if I got a clear shot or not I just wonder what building this set of doors led to and what happened to it. If you've followed me at all you know I like mechanical things (not so much people) and images with lines. Go, See, Enjoy and Photograph Dave

Here are some photos from various shoots I've done over the last month of so.  The first two are from UC Merced. Taken at night during Spring break, Almost no-one on campus. These were taken in Hornitos, a small former mining community in the foothills. These last two were taken when I went up to Mt. Shasta to give my brother a hand.  I'm not sure the name of this butterfly. It looks like a monarch to  me, but monarchs aren't black and white from all the info I could find. This is either from an old logging camp or possibly a sheep herders camp. Go, See, Enjoy and Photograph Dave