Yosemite and More

I had some work done on my eyes (not cosmetic) so it has been hard to work or play outside. I decided to play indoors with my new macro lens. Still a very learning experience. The depth of field is critical and even with a small aperture it was a challenge. I have an old typewriter that I believe my sister used when she went to nursing school. It still works. The first one is a good example of the depth of field challenges I faced. You'll notice the capital F is focused but the lower case f isn't  and they aren't that far away from each other. Here's just a wider view and better depth of field. Though still very shallow. Here's something that those younger than probably 50 have never seen. A fabric ink ribbon. This one is completely dried out, but I can remember how  messy they were to change, Did a better job with the depth of field on this one. The keys are actually on a different plain. I kept adjusting the an...

Last weekend I took a quick trip to Jamestown and Railtown 1897, a California State Park. It is the old Sierra Railway. The locomotives, cars and area have been in quite a few movies, one of the most recent was Back to the Future Part 3 It's quite a place if you like photography, old stuff and railroads. If you know me you know that's right up my alley. It is actually a working tourist  railroad that's not all neat and clean. It has acres of locomotives, cars, train parts, just all kinds of good stuff. Including a working turntable and water tower. There are a few places that are restricted, but mostly you can  wander around and enjoy. Here are a few photos from my trip. Some in Sepia tone  for that old timey feel. I liked the contrast in this photo, the light hitting the valves and the wonderful shadows.  I left this one in color because I liked the tones of the rusting gears This gauge which is used for the co...

As my retirement gift to myself I bought a  Tokina AT_X Pro  100mm F2.8  Macro. For one reason or another I haven't been doing as much photography as I had planned. Hope to change that soon. Anyway here's my first 'publishable' photos  using my new lens. I decided to start with a bell pepper. Lit from behind with an LED flashlight, and window light across the front. I was impressed with how sharp this lens is  I did learn something about photographing vegetables.... Be sure you wash them first. Saves a lot of time with the spot  healing brush. Next I tried an onion.  Once again lit from behind with an LED.  A sharp knife and a steady hand is s big help.When I bought it I had the idea of  a perfectly symmetrical photograph. Turns out I like the lopsided one. Go, See, Enjoy,  or photograph in your spare bedroom. Whatever....... Dave

A while back I went up to my home town for a small family reunion. While up there I took a stroll along the Mc Cloud River. This was my starting point, Lower Falls. The water is very cold but this is a popular swimming hole. This little guy was helpful by posing for me. I'm sure he was waiting for a tidbit to eat. Sorry. When I grew up we called these Golden Mantle Squirrels, I've since learned Golden Mantles are larger, the stripes go up to the face and are usually farther north. The Mc Cloud is a small river since this is near the beginning of the river. It gets much larger as it heads to Shasta Lake. It is actually larger than the Sacramento River when they reach Shasta Lake. The Mc Cloud River, Pitt River and Sacramento all contribute to the 'Sacramento River' below Shasta Dam. Shasta Lillies aren't hard to spot, but there aren't very many of them, so you feel lucky if you do spot one. If the lady I met on ...

It's been a while since I posted. I've even been out shooting a few times. Just haven't made the time to do the editing. So........I'll start with my last outing.  A couple of weeks ago a friend, Friedhelm, and I went to  Kings Canyon, Sequoia National Park. We went to Grizzly Falls, I decided I liked this image of the bottom of the fall most. On the way in to the fall I took the following photograph. I have no idea what happened or why it came out how it did, but I thought it was kind of cool I took this one among the Giant Sequoias, the sun was mostly down except at the top of the tallest trees. As we headed down from the high country  we came across the lights of the valley. I prefer the lights of the stars. If you look closely you can see a little of the Milky Way in the upper left corner. Go, See, Enjoy. Dave

As I mentioned in my last post the Foresta area had a devastating fire and is on the road to recovery. Here's a few more from that area. I liked the contrast of the burnt bark and the new growth. As I said the wild flowers are aplenty. Getting ready for next year. Go, See, Enjoy! Dave

A friend and I took a trip to Yosemite on Saturday. Took a lot of photos, looked good in the Camera on Sunday. Card was corrupted on Monday.  Tried several 'free' recovery programs. No luck. Thanks to the advise of another friend I tried Sandisk Recovery Pro.  Had to buy it but it was worth every penny. We went to Foresta Fall.  Here's a kinda side fall to the main one. The area was recently burned in a wild fire. It seems to be coming back. Lots of wild flowers including Lupine. I liked this one because of the shape. I like this one because of the contrast to the Wild Oats And I think these speak for themselves. Go, See, Enjoy! Dave

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