Yosemite and More

I took a trip to the Eastern Sierras and Bodie last weekend. It was quite a weekend. They closed Tioga Pass Friday evening after went over. Here are a few of the landscapes from that trip. Photos of Bodie to follow. This was taken from Highway 140 while I was still in the Valley. As usual the High Sierra was magnificent, but real cold and windy. Once on the other side I took a trip to the June Lake Loop area. I mentioned it was windy and cold.   I took some photos of a very choppy Mono Lake, They were all blurry, the wind was such that using my 300mm lens I didn't get a sharp photo. If you've been to the north side of Mono Lake on Highway 395 you know what this is a picture of. I don't know what the wind speed was or the wind chill factor, but it was d.... cold. The high Sierras from the road into Bodie. They closed Tioga Pass on Sunday morning. When I checked at about 9:30am I was told  the s...

I took a little trip and photographed in the foothills below Mariposa. The grape vines were just starting to grow and I found the look interesting Every time I go up there I pass an old barn and outbuilding. They're a little off the of 140 behind a locked gate so I pulled out my trusty Tamron 70-300mm. While taking photos I decided that the small outbuilding was more interesting than the barn. At least from the distance I had to shoot from. There were a number of pools of standing water, around each were wildflowers getting as much sun as they could before everything dries up again. If there's a wire in the way of your photo and it's attached to one of these, don't move the wire. Your hand will thank you. After my hand quit stinging ( a weird dull sting) I was able to take this shot. Go, See, Enjoy. Dave

It's been a while since I posted last. Not because I don't have some photos to post, mostly because I haven't edited them yet. These three are from a trip a friend and I took to the Panoche Hills on what's called the 'West Side' of the San Joaquin Valley for some wildflower photos.   While my friend was photographing a wildflower  I spotted this 'golden' toad stool I like the little added something the wire adds to this image.     I've always liked the way wire can form so many interesting shapes. I did this one in black and white because, well, it's wire. Go, See Enjoy Dave

Finally got around to editing some of my wildflower photos from the last couple of weeks. Well, Okay almond blossoms aren't actually wild, but they could be..........right? Most of these were taken along  a frontage road next to Highway 99 just north of my home in Chowchilla,  CA I had intended to use some close-up lenses but there  was a bit of a breeze and had trouble getting the  fine focus needed. Now is the time for wildflowers, even if you can't get to Death Valley where there is supposed to be  an unusual number of flowers blooming. Go, See, Enjoy! Dave

When you go to the Merced Wildlife Refuge you're usually looking for large flocks of geese, ducks and Sandhill Cranes. Here's a flock of Ross Geese (black wing tips) heading from a field where they were feeding to the the water area of the Refuge. You'll note they seem to be a little yellow/orange, that's due to the reflection of the setting sun just behind me. Being focused on that we can miss other things. Here's a White Crowned Sparrow, they're all over the place so we really don't notice them, but they have a beauty all their own. Here's one I called butterball because I couldn't find it in my bird book. If you know what it is please leave a comment. Go, See, Enjoy Dave

Yeah, I went there again. Posted something similar last time but this one is much better. Will post some more over the next couple of  days. I really mean it, you need to ... Go, See, Enjoy! Dave

Here's three more photos from my recent trip to the Merced Wildlife Refuge. While this first one is noy great photography I thought it was kind of  a cool image.   Yup, that's the moon. Last time I went to the Refuge there were very few birds, Not so this time. As the sun set the sky was filled with wave after wave of birds coming in to roost. As you can see the sky was wonderful, only to get better. Go, See, Enjoy. Dave

A friend and I took a trip to the Merced Wildlife Refuge.  The first time around, I took some photos of some of the birds.  This is a Killdeer, unfortunately I couldn't choose the background and I'm not very efficient (or care to) at changing background. We were fortunate enough to see a gaggle of Ross Geese taking flight  from a berm. I was afraid we might not be in a good position to catch the  sunset. This is just as the sun went down. It got better as time passed.  More to come................. Go, See, Enjoy. Dave

I took a spontaneous trip to the  Merced Wildlife Refuge last Sunday evening. It was a great decision. I really had trouble deciding what to post here. There were so  many photo opportunities. Outside of the Refuge proper, on the other side of Sandy Mush Road is  a field. I've seen Ross Geese there before but not in this number. The image is only a small portion of the geese that were feeding. As soon as I stopped they started to walk away in a semi-circular pattern with me as the base. The sky was continually changing this is one looking west, just after I got there. This one is looking east within minutes, maybe seconds of the  previous one. I've seen flocks of Ross Geese, Canadian Geese, Sandhill Cranes and ducks. I've never seen swams of Redwing Blackbirds like I saw that night.  The whole western sky was filled with them for quite a while. A real treat. The next two images were taken about...

If you go up Wawona Road, aka Highway 41, past Tunnel View you'll come upon a long area of roadside parking. I think it is actually a chain control area.  At the far end of the parking area you can go over the wall, with some help from some  conveniently placed rocks, and walk on a large granite area. From there you get a different view of some iconic features. This is called the Cascades. This last summer it was dry. This is the only place I know from which you can actually see them. You also get a different and higher view of El Capitan and Half Dome There are few trees up here and while short they do have character. Once again a different and higher view from the usual Tunnel View. Did I mention it was a wee bit cold. Stay tuned, I took an unplanned and last minute trip to the Merced Wildlife Refuge. Oh boy..... Go, See, Enjoy. Dave