Yosemite and More

 As you probably know California has had a lot of trouble with wildfires. I went to Yosemite when it was pretty well smoked in as I show in the first photo.  This necessitated that most of my photography would be more closeup than landscape. While I was walking along the trail above I walked right past  these fungi because I was too busy looking up. Coming back I spent a little more time looking down. As I was getting ready to make one last trip around the valley the sun was setting. The smoke is always more intense the lower the sun. Go, See, Enjoy, Stay Safe and Photograph Dave

I decided to take a closer look at Panum Crater a plug volcano near Mono Lake. It actually has two rims. The outer (my trail) was formed first and the inner built up over time.  After driving in, there were two paths to take, the left trail was the plug trail (inner) and you could see where it went down and then up. The other trail was the rim  trail (outer), it looked more even and I decided to take the 'EASIER' route. Boy did I not get a nice even hike. It went up, down a little then up a lot, several times. When I thought I was about half way through it turned out to be about a quarter, if that. And all of it in sand like pumice. Here's the view as you drive up It's kinda hard to see, but I'm on the outer rim. It blends with the background but I assure you I am much higher. You'll see. If you've see my photos of Mono Lake you know about the Tufas, well that little jut on the middle  right is where I do most of ...

During my recent trip to the east side of the Sierras I of course visited  Mono Lake. It's been almost 2 years since I've been in the area and was happy to see the lake has risen quite a bit. Some of the Tufas you were able to walk all the way around  now have one side under water. A good sight to see. Mono lake is about 45' below its historic levels due to the Los Angeles Department of Water diverting the normal creek inflow into the lake. An agreement was reached  in the 70's to restore the lake level to about 20' below historic levels. Very slowly, with drought years intervening, that seems to be happening. I've taken some beautiful sunrises at Mono Lake, every time I try for a sunset the clouds seem to disappear. I got lucky this time, but first some shots I took  before sunset. With the wind making the water a little choppy I didn't get the wonderful reflections the Tufas can offer. But there were some other oppo...

Before this current Covid-19 crisis three fellow photographers and I took a little  sojourn to the Merced Wildlife Refuge. It turned out to be one of the  most memorable ones I've taken to the Refuge, and that's  saying a lot. While there were a lot of geese I'm posting those a little later. This first one is of one of my favorite birds, the Black Necked Stilt. These birds are constantly feeding and usually move just as I hit the trigger. The birds in the Refuge don't seem to have any trouble mixing with each other. While the old saying 'birds of a feather, flock together' applies it's not carved in stone. The image above includes a Great Egret, below is a Snowy Egret, much smaller and there seems to be fewer of them at the Refuge. Note the longer bill. Another bird you only see a few of are the White Pelicans. While not a total stranger to the Refuge the most I've ever seen at once were  4 or 5 a c...

My part time job took me to the North Coast a while back. After fulfilling my obligations I took a little me time andphotographed the Eureka area, Redwoods and Lithia Park in Ashland Oregon. This bunch is of the North Coast. My first nights stay was in Eureka, I just finished dinner and decided to take a little drive. I waited about a half hour for this sunset to develop. Went back to work the next morning, afterwards I headed up the coast and stopped along  the way to take some coast shots. I'm not a sandy beach kind of guy. I like the rough and  tumble of the rugged North Coast. Okay so the following are of a fairly tame area of beach. I liked the contrast of this one large  rock in a large area of beach. Incidentally this is the only rock of it's kind that I could see and it was quite a bit away from any cliffs. Something else that surprised me was the fact that there were plants growing in the sand and had not been trampl...

Last week I decided to take another trip to the  Merced Wildlife Refuge. There were reports that geese were prevalent. Oops, I didn't see a single one. So I made the best I could of 'non-goose' shots. The wind was mostly non-existent and anyone who has been to the refuge knows it has some interesting trees. Obviously black and white since I was looking at structure. Great Blue Herons are not unheard of in the refuge but you don't see many and usually they're hidden along the edge of the reeds. This one  decided that this open area worked just fine. The predominant duck species was the Northern Shoveler. Ducks  mate for life and you usually see them in pairs. This first shot is a Shoveler grooming near the bank, but protected  by bushes. Here's another pair just cruising looking for a dinner spot. This pair found just right spot for a evening dinner for two. American Coots are probably t...

I bought myself a early Christmas present.  A Sigma 100-400mm lens.  Since the weather was reasonable yesterday I decided to go to the Merced Wildlife Refuge  and see if I made a good decision or not. There weren't a lot of birds around but those I did see were pretty cooperative.  At a distance anyway. Most of the following were not cropped much. This lens is worth  every penny I paid. This photo of a Red Tail Hawk was not cropped at all. Next along the road was a Northern Shoveler Duck that had just dived into to  water a couple of times and decided to shake some of the water off. This Juvenile Harrier Hawk was pretty cooperative. Of course it flew off just as I took my camera away from my eye. Don't know the name of this bird. If anyone does please comment. There are so many small birds. I couldn't fine one with the eye and ruffle on the top combination. As I drove through the refu...