Yosemite and More

Before my night photo shoot in Bodie (see previous posts) I was thinking about afterwards getting up early and going to Mono Lake  and catch the sunrise. However we got done with the night photography around 1 am and I was kinda wound up and didn't get to bed until 3 am. 'That would have meant about 2 hours sleep.  If I was staying another night I probably  would have gotten up but since I would be driving home I thought a little sleep  was in order. Not sure if it was the right decision,  the sky was wonderful and I'm sure the sunrise was well WOW. Anyway here's my later morning photos of Mono Lake and it's Tuffa's. If someone knows what this bird is please leave a comment. I couldn't find a  combination of the coloring, black bill and black eye. Mono Lake has about 235 different species of birds, I checked several of them out but couldn't come up with a direct match. As I said the clouds and sky were wonderful...

Here's my second installment on my trip to Bodie. Jeff Sullivan was leading our workshop. He was a great help to me since I had never had much success with trying to photograph the Milky Way. Jeff runs a number of workshops during the year. Check  out    http://www.jeffsullivanphotography.com/. I learned a little about photoshop and post editing trying to bring these photos to life. I used a 16-22mm lens on a full frame Canon 6D. This wide angle of a lens leads to a lot of distortion, something that has kept me in the past from using wide angle lenses. During post processing I used the warp tool to bring a better prospective  and modify some of the distortion. I also used a layer mask for color correction on the area that were 'lightpainted'. I left the  Milky Way pretty much alone. Not going to add a lot of comments this time. Bet you weren't expecting that from me. Go See, Enjoy and Pho...

I full-filled a Bucket List item about a week ago. I had the pleasure of being able to go into some of the interiors of the buildings at Bodie State Park. This was something I've wanted to  do since I started going to Bodie. It is a once in a lifetime experience for me.... okay maybe twice depending on $$ and opportunity. Jeff Sullivan of Jeff Sullivan Photography (go figure) was our guide and really a great guy. A friend warned me about posting too many photos, is 19 too many. I could even add more. And this doesn't include the exteriors, night with Milkyway  or Mono Lake.  I change a lot to black and white some using sepia tone, some split toned some I left color. I took a lot, I mean a lot of photos and am not completely sure where they  where all taken, I believe this one is from the Lottie Johl house. A lady of some repute, good and bad. This is from the Lottie Johl House as well. This is from the Barbe...

Friedhelm knew I like to visit railroads and as a birthday gift, I'm 364 days older than him, he took me to this museum. A great choice. Any suggestions on where I should take him, even if he is younger. Most of the railroads I've been to are steam or diesel powered, the Western Railway Museum is almost entirely electrical . The trains are powered by overhead electric lines and are historically used for commuter traffic, they're often called 'trolly's'. We were lucky that it was a slow day. We were the only ones aboard for the 11am run. Our conductor and the engineer were extremely accommodating and knowledgeable. I'm sorry I didn't get better photos of them. We had a great and informative trip. Here's the 'trolly' we rode on. Self contained, no other engine required. She's a butte isn't she. Looking out the open front window. Overhead lines for power, track lines for a road. If y...

When I went to the Lava Beds National Monument I spend way to short a time at the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. I will definitely be going back to both places when I can spend some real time. This first photo is not really very good but it gives you some idea of  why it's called Tule Lake. There were tons of Yellow Headed Blackbirds and they really stood out among the tules. This one turned his head to give a great view of it's coloring. This Black Crowned Night Heron was quite a ways off and it took me a while to find a fairly clear view. I'd never seen one before (that I know of) and wasn't sure what it was. A fellow photographer posted a photo of one a couple of days after I got back. Thank you. As the sun set and getting late I decided to take a gravel road to see  where it went. It seemed to be going away from the water and I had decided to turn around when I came upon  a whole lot of these dragonflies....

When I was up in the Mt.Shasta area my brother suggested I  visit the Lava Beds National Monument to do some photography. I honesty was VERY skeptical that there was much to  photograph besides rocks. Once again he was right and I.... wasn't right. The smoke from fires in the area was pretty thick and when I first  arrived I was pretty sure my prejudgment of the area was right. Lots of rocks, not much else. Yeah I changed it to black and white for emphasis. I took a walk and came upon this, just a little bit of color   It's amazing where plants will grow. Another side road and low and behold several Smoothstem Morningstars. I saw them in the brochure but figured that they probably bloomed in spring. Boy was I wrong. While not fully opened,I think because the smoke was so thick, they are a pretty flower anyway. Also they were only in certain areas. If you have flowers you need pollinators. A patient but...