I've only been in Crimea for a few weeks but I'm already thinking about the next cycle of my travels. I can't deal with all the driving ... almost 10K miles last time ... so I want to limit my wandering a bit. Also, many of the places I visited will be closed due to snow in the winter so I need to seriously change my tactics in future visits. Right now I'm thinking about several ideas ... one has me spending a month or more in Southern California, visiting LA for several weeks and Joshua Tree plus Death Valley for a week each. It should be a nice time then with moderate temperatures. I want to really get into the Valley as there are some spectacular areas that are really off limits in the summer's searing heat. I'm interested in sunrise/sunset sessions on the extensive salt flats plus the sand dunes and even the race track if I'm willing to brave a dirt road again. I also want to get a good, fast prime lens and get serious about astro photography. I'm a big fan of Tom Lowe and his TimeScapes work. And finishing the work on my video of LA is hanging out there so there's lots to be done.
There's also a more extensive visiting of coastal lighthouses ... I only saw a few ... with the aim of producing a book sometime in the future. The amazing image from Point Arena has me salivating to find and shoot more stunning panoramas that show off the majesty of these guardians and their charges. I'll be more diligent this time and do my homework before leaving.
I'm also contemplating an expansion of my hardware. I really need another camera body so I can dedicate each of my two major lenses (the Canon wide angle and telephoto) to a body and avoid all the dust problems that plagued me last time. I don't mind changing once in a while but I was often going back and forth in a single session and my camera was heavily contaminated because of it. Then there's that fast prime ... maybe the new Sigma 24mm f/1.4 which is getting such rave reviews. I may also buy a new, fast Apple MacBook Pro as an alternative to lugging a big desktop computer around. I could hook my ViewSonic 23" to that little laptop and edit my photos much easier and have more room in my truck as a nice benefit. I hate carrying all my computer parts back and forth, risking their destruction or theft as I lug them through security and customs. I've already had my briefcase unpacked once by TSA and that's enough ... thank you very much. Those clowns have no legal liability should they destroy my gear (or 'confiscate' it as contraband if they so desire). They went through my suitcase on the trip home and created the potential for a major disaster because they didn't put any of the stuff back together, just stuffed everything in the bag and left their little notice absolving themselves of any liability should something happen. I had two large bottles of BBQ sauce in there and they tore open the plastic bag I had them in, then left both bottles on top of my clothes waiting for something to crush them so they would explode. Very unprofessional and stupid. I need to simplify as much as possible the transportation of gear between Russia and America. It's heavy and fragile ... not a good combination when traveling half way around the world.
Lassen Seed Cones
I've already written about what a special place Lassen Volcanic National Park is. I want to get back there someday to explore further the amazing things in that place. But, for now, I'll just show a very small part of why it's so special. I was exploring the debris field to the north of the volcano which is extremely interesting. They left the field untouched ... no cleanup whatsoever ... after the 1915 eruption. They wanted to see how the surrounding forests recovered. So there's a lot of new growth (relatively speaking) and many new spruce and other trees have taken root in the rich volcanic soil. As I strolled around the area I came across a lot of new growth and started shooting up close with my wide angle. This image is just one of many I have and I may post others if I can. It's a single shot, simply washed through the Develop module of Lightroom. I love the colors and the contrast. And the sharpness of that lens just keeps me amazed. Sometimes it's the little things that we overlook that are truly the most beautiful and intriguing.
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| Spruce Cones - 29mm(1.6 crop),f/4.0,1/2000 sec,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0 |
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