Yosemite and More

A while ago I went to my nieces beautiful wedding in  Placerville, CA., congratulations Danielle and Brian.  The day after the wedding I headed over to Coloma, the site of gold discovery in California. Unfortunately I got there during mid-day, a poor time to photograph outdoors under the harsh sunlight. However there was this blacksmith shop...... These were to guys who made everything from a gear to soup spoon. True craftsmen and are now a dying breed.. The only 'outside' photo I liked. Just like today's garage, spare parts were available. The tools of the trade tend to be massive, and made by the same men who would use them. I loved the tones in this photo, and of course the lines. Go, See, Enjoy and Photograph. Dave

It's been a while since I posted last. Sorry. I've been very lax in both my photography and my editing. Hope to do better. Here are some images from a trip I took to Mt. Shasta a month or so ago.  My photography was cut short but I got a few shots in around the City of Mt. Shasta and my brothers house. Do you see the mother ship on the right. There are those that will believe. On the way into the city there was this area that was supposed to be grass. Sure had a nice crop. Just not grass. Dandelions are given a bad rap. Just like manzanita is considered a weed-brush in the woods (see my prior post). Dandelions are a weed in grass, but are  actually quite beautiful. This one is from my brothers yard, not the dandelions. I'm in the process of editing some more.  Hope to post soon Go, See, Enjoy, Photograph Dave

A couple of weeks ago I went up to the  McCloud River to do some fishing with my brother, family and friends. Due to a fishing reel mishap my line barely got wet. Sooooo I just happen to have my camera with me, what to do..... What to do? The river was and is running very high and fast, the most water I've seen this time of year that I can remember, which may not be all that long ago. Here's a couple of images of the river itself. The first is a longer exposure using a couple of neutral density filters. The second is what it really looks like. This is called Lower Falls. It seems much wider now than it used to. The winter river flow has definitely had an effect on the river and it's banks.   As I grew up we considered Manzanita almost a weed because it would take over an area and stifle tree growth, I grew up in a lumber town. Now I'm actually thinking of adding some to the landscaping of my yard. Go figure. Thr...

Well I finally made it to Yosemite. Friedhelm and I decided to take a quick trip last Wed thinking during the middle of the week there wouldn't be much of a crowd. Oops, spring break! The amount of water in the Merced River and the various falls is amazing. There are falls just about everywhere you look. Fern Spring is always a popular photo spot. I went on the other side of the road and got this shot. I guess this could be called 'moss cascade', I chose  Lower Fern Spring instead. This is actually a small portion of  area. While Big Oak Flat Road is closed to thru traffic, they do allow you to drive up a few miles. That allowed me to clime down under the Tamarack Creek  Bridge and get a few shots. Off to the left of the Lower Cascades, is a smaller one. Less visited  but quite beautiful. Even the smaller falls have a beauty, especially against the roughness of the granite. ...

I've been pretty lazy lately when it comes to editing photos. I have more from my trip to McCloud but in the meantime I'm posting some from a recent outing to the Central California Foothills near Sonora. This gave me a good opportunity to use my new Tokina 100mm Macro lens.  The wildflowers this year were somewhat disappointing, too much rain I guess. I thought it would be just the opposite The first up is of course a California Golden Poppy. All the photos I'm posting today are with the macro, except one. This flower surprised me. I don't think I have ever seen it before. I was luck with my flower guide because I opened it randomly to the right page. These I couldn't find in my guide. And last but not least. When I first saw this insect I thought it was a tiny bee. But looking closer I think it is actually a tiny wasp.  Go, See, Enjoy, Photograph Dave

I grew up in the small town of McCloud California, which is located on the Southeast side of Mt. Shasta. It was a company owned lumber town and I have many happy memories of living there. One such memory is of the railroad. The McCloud River Railroad. We used to go to sleep to the sounds of the trains getting ready to haul a load 'over the hill' to Mt. Shasta City or east to the Northern Pacific tracks in Burney. If you've followed me at all you know I love trains. This railroad is why. After the closing of the lumber mill the railroad was sold and became the McCloud Railway, a tourist railroad. Unfortunately it didn't make it and the railway was sold to scrappers. A sad sight for this railfan and probably anyone else who lived during it's hayday. Here are a few photos I recently took while on a work 'vacation'. I was thinking of changing them to sepia tone but the rust kinda took care of that for me. This i...

It's been raining and very windy. Last Saturday I decided I better go food shopping. I went about 1/4 mile turned around and got my camera. A couple of days earlier the Almonds were just beginning to bloom. They still have several weeks left. Soon the peaches, nectarines, and lots of other stuff including wild flowers will begin to bloom. For now I'll share these. The clouds were pretty good, but were changing constantly. I wanted to use my macro lens but there was just enough breeze to make it very hard, so I settled for this one. Every year more and more of this are is planted with almond. There are several different varieties of almonds. I'm not sure if this is an almond orchard or some other tree nut. Here's an independent one. Go, See, Enjoy and Photograph Dave

One of the things I like most about Point Lobos is that there's more to see and photograph than just the waves.  Part of the park consists of forest, tide pools, islands and small beach areas. You  may see seals, sea otters, whales, and a variety of birds. If you look around and down, the rocks, tide pools and plants provide a wide variety of photographic opportunities. The ocean does a wonderful job exposing the various  layers of rock. Some of those layers are at interesting angles The beach area is full of interesting stuff washed up from the ocean and a wide variety of pebbles and rocks. There's even a sign asking you to not 'collect' anything.  If you like lines and contrast it doesn't get much better than this. I thought this one looked like the back of a turtle. Go, See, Enjoy and Photograph Dave

I went to Point Lobos and Asilomar with Friedhelm the other day. We were lucky, the weather was great and the waves weren't too bad either. I'll be posting some 'non-wave' photos pretty soon. Go, See, Enjoy. Dave

A friend and I went to the  Castle Air Museum the other day.  If you like aircraft this is the place to go. Exhibits include well over 60 aircraft, an indoor museum and you can get lunch as well. I plan on going back soon.  I took a lot more closeups then of the whole aircraft.  There is a wide variety of aircraft, From the Presidential plane, SR71 Blackbird, WWII, Korea and on and on.  Adding the personal touch to aircraft has gone on since it's invention. Here are a few of the many at Castle. Let's not forget what most of these aircraft were for. Their purpose was to defend the United States and that requires firepower. I liked the symetry of the three jet engines on this B47E And my last photo has nothing to do with aircraft. As I was walking around the grounds I spotted this growing in the grass. Go, See, Enjoy. Dave