Yosemite and More

One of the things Death Valley is known for is the 20 Mule Teams that transported Borax out of the Valley. They actually only lasted a few years and were replaced by a railroad. The cost being very high. There are no current borax works in the Park but there are several active mining claims. They're not being mined for two reasons, the cost and the fact that they don't own the water rights. Except one, it's not being worked but they do have water rights and the park anticipated that some time in the future it may start up. These first photos are from the Old Harmony Borax Works. This is the stuff (borax) that the 20 mule team hauled. It was mostly mined by Chinese laborers that lived in tents nearby. Black and white to emphasize the contrast I didn't take a lot of photos of 'things' and this shows part of the borax wagons. I  didn't like the fence around the exhibit so I shot above it. I thought sepia tone was app...

Here are some more from my trip to Death Valley. Most of these were taken along Highway 190 which is the main road through the park. Some are specific to areas, some I just stopped along the road and shot. Stopping was easy on Thursday and Friday, you could actually stop in the  middle of the road as long as you could see for a bit both ways. Saturday and  Sunday there was a lot more traffic.  This could actually be a number of places in the park. The colors and diversity of the landscape were amazing.  This one was taken on a short loop called 20 Mule Team Trail. The road here was actually pretty smooth which I was thankful for after going or trying  to go down some of the others in my Toyota Camry. Here is another area that I'm told was in Star Wars. It's called Artists Pallet Last one for this post, yes there is more to come. Like I said it was a blast and I definitely want to ...

Hope you like the new layout. Let me know in comments! I took a short vacation to Death Valley a few days back. As with most places, while I'd seen photos of the park, in person it was much more beautiful and interesting. If you're a Star Wars fan you might recognize some of the features. If not I hope I've  at least given you the desire to go for yourself. But go pretty soon. It gets just a little hot during the summer.  Here are some photos from the very first place I stopped. I came into the park just after a heavy rainfall, in fact I timed it just right as snow had closed some of the passes and in some areas the roads were still partly flooded. I was luck that it was a Thursday, not too many tourists, though the sand still showed footprints where the rain had not completely washed them away. The evening sun added some nice shadows and some color as well. A little closer view. Depending on the direction of the sun,...

Kinda on the spur of the moment a good friend and great photographer,  Dorothy Nielsen and I went to Yosemite this last Monday. Being winter I figured  even with the holiday the crowds wouldn't be to bad. Boy was I wrong. It was as bad  as a crowded summer day. I had forgotten that the Firefall at Horsetail Falls would be in play. No we didn't stick around for that. Driving, parking  and even rest-stops were very hard to navigate. And I hate crowds and so does Dorothy.  We did however stop where we could and so here are a 'few' of my photos. The line going into the park was pretty long but moved fairly well.  And of course everywhere  you looked was beautiful. These three were taken before we even got to the Valley Making trails in the snow can be very interesting!! Into the valley we go. One of the many icons of the park. Turned this one into Black and White, love the s...

Friedhelm and I went to Mission Carmel a while back. There were a lot of flowers in bloom and that's pretty much what I  focused on. Pardon the pun. I'm not sure what many of them are called. But there was a lot of beauty. They had just watered some of the areas. One of the architectural features that caught my eye was this apparent check mark made by the roof line and bell tower. I liked the many layers and busyness of this succulant.  A different Flower 1 I generally don't take a lot of photos of Calla Lilies. But these really caught my eye. Go See, Enjoy and Photograph Dave

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...

My first post of 2019 coming in February is pretty sad. I have several photo excursions to post, just have avoided the edit thing. Friedhelm and I went to the coast the last Thursday. Our first stop was Point Lobos State Reserve. We walked in from the highway, a nice less than a mile hike on a paved trail. Along the trail were a number of fungi. Is it a mushroom or toadstool? The names are apparently interchangeable and there is no clear scientific distinction. Commonly anything edible is considered a mushroom and poisonous a toadstool.  We were lucky that there weren't a lot of tourists, however as every photographer knows, THERE'S ALWAYS THAT ONE, who gets in the way. The day was a little overcast and gloomy but it's still a great place to photograph I thought the dead trees, brush and gloomy skies deserved black and white in this one. It's amazing how tenacious nature can get. These succulents we...

Friedhelm and I went to Yosemite the other day. The weather was predicted to be in the teens in the morning and high twenties  in the afternoon. We were lucky, it was cold but nowhere near those lows. Yosemite can be like most places a little drab, colorwise, in the winter months. So you look for color and contrast where you can find it. This is  my favorite photos from this trip. It's a toadstool growing  out of the side of a tree.  This one is more interesting than artistic. At first glace is looked like some ice frozen to a small area of a tree. Closer look showed it was actually sap. We took about a 4 mile hike to Mirror Lake. Along the way there were a number of puddles with some interesting reflections. When you first look at this it's a little confusing. Remember it's a reflection. Here's a panorama of Mirror Lake. As we drove around after Mirror Lake we noticed that portions of the Val...