Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point

Some Ideas for Cycle #2

I'm in the planning stage for cycle #2 which starts, unofficially, around the end of January. I'm intending to spend all of February in and around LA, shooting timelapse and video for my project and taking pictures for my portfolio. I expect lots of rain as El Nino is building to a historic level so plan to see lots of wet views and images. Hopefully I won't get too sick while there but who knows. I'm also looking at visiting as many parks in CA as I can, depending on the snow load and how well they are kept open. I'll then spend some time in AZ/UT, visiting places I went during cycle #2, including Zion, Vermilion Cliffs, Grand Canyon and maybe a few more. Depends on how much snow they have and how much time I have. I'm considering applying for a permit to hike into "the wave" which is something I really want to do given time and a favorable outcome of my application. I'll finish up with a few locations in NM. Expect to return around the end of April although that could adjust depending on how much I still want to do and how much energy I have. I'm hoping I can take upwards of 3-4 terabytes of data which should keep me busy for the rest of the year. It should be an exciting trip.

Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point

One afternoon, about the middle of my stay in Yosemite, I took the long drive up to Glacier Point. From this overlook one can see the entire valley and the view is spectacular. Most of the park is visible from this high vantage point and there is so much to see. Of course, you can see half dome and the waterfall but you also see the high Sierra mountains. The view really does take your breath away.

I took this as the sun slid below the horizon and only half dome and the high mountains are still illuminated. Yosemite village is in the valley below, to the left of the picture. At the center bottom you can just see the parking lot for one of the hotels. Yosemite Valley is straight ahead, to the left of half dome. This is a glacial valley, it's sides polished smooth by the massive glaciers from the last ice age as they slowly slid down the valley and then melted. It has the classic "U" shape although the bottom has been filled in over the years with wash and landslides so the valley is flat but scientific studies (using oil exploration rigs) found the rounded bottom a glacial polished valley must have. This is an HDR panorama shot from the extreme corner of the overlook facing to the northeast.

As I pointed out in a previous entry, it's difficult to get really stunning color photos in Yosemite because the granite is all gray. Compare this with my pictures from Zion or Bryce and you see what I mean. The iron rich sandstone from the Great Basin gives the whole area a very warm and inviting hue that is lacking in Yosemite. Only the amazing rock formations and the high mountains make Yosemite really special. And it's close proximity to LA and SF guarantees a steady stream of visitors.

For comparison, I've included both a color and B&W image. You can see why so many iconic images from Yosemite are done without color. By removing all color you're forced to see the amazing shapes and contours that define the valley. Maybe I should leave this image B&W. What do you think?

Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point - 16mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point(B&W) - 16mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Golden Gate North Tower

Crisis over...

As some of you know, Crimea lost all electricity when someone in Ukraine sabotaged the power lines feeding south from Kerson. That was in mid-November. Well, yesterday Russia turned on the second high-voltage cable feeding Crimea from Krasnodar and we now have 100% of the electricity we need. The emergency generators are being shut down and all the factories and stores that were shuttered are being reopened. The big supermarket, Ashan, where we do our major shopping, opened over the weekend and we were able to get all the pet food and supplies we have been doing without the last month. And, when we got home yesterday afternoon, we were surprised to find that our elevator was working. Oh, what overwhelming joy! No more trudging up 200+ steps carrying heavy bags or dragging my poor, old cocker spaniel behind me. My bad lungs and aching legs rejoiced at the wonder of it all. We are now officially disconnected from all utilities coming from Ukraine, ending the worst part of this mess. No longer can they blackmail Crimea with threats of shutting off utilities. Now that's progress.

Golden Gate North Tower

I've already expounded on the wonder that is the Golden Gate Bridge. It's such a marvelous construction and a magnet for photographers of all skill levels. I was there in May and, as is often the case, the city and bridge were shrouded in thick fog. It was a dark and gloomy night but great for taking pictures. I set up at the lowest overlook and spent a considerable amount of time taking shots. This image was actually a precursor for a panorama I'll present at a later date. The fog was still above the red safety light so you can see the entire bridge. The lighting is just right, projecting from the road deck upwards and the beautiful ironwork provides just the right touch. A truly amazing structure and timeless in it's beauty. 75 years old and still as magnificent as the day she was built. The city isn't too shabby either as you can see.

Golden Gate North Tower - 35mm(1.6 crop),f/11,30 sec,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Bryce Canyon Splendor

Cycle #2

With my breathing getting really bad my wife finally broached the subject of going back to America last night. I always wait for her to bring this up as it then seems to be her idea and she can't get too irate as she's the one who suggested it. Last night was a pivotal moment as I finally crossed that threshold where even she couldn't deny that I was in trouble. I was so hoarse I was having trouble talking and I started sounding like Brando in the Godfather. And today I've started seeing junk when I cough which is not a good sign as it means I'm accumulating stuff in my lungs. So it's time to start planning the trip home. I've already done some stuff but there's lots more to do before I leave. Looks like I'll travel in mid to late January and stay for 3 months (mid-April). So look for more planning ideas from me in the next month and a final itinerary by year's end.

Bryce Canyon Splendor

I love Bryce Canyon. An amazingly beautiful place far removed from large cities and not so popular that it's ruined by all the people. Even with all the bad weather I suffered through it was still one of the high points of my trip. I got around to working through all the pictures I took there and many made it into my portfolio and "On the Fence" collections. What's so nice about the place is it's almost impossible to take a bad picture. Once you've got your camera adjusted just point and shoot. The colors are so amazing and the rock formations are truly out of this world.

Anyway, this image was taken after the big snowstorm my last night there. It was brutally cold and the wind howled all night long. I huddled in my bag and tried to get some sleep but really didn't do very well. In the morning I was dead tired but had hope (realized) that Zion, my next stop, would be much better. I broke camp and made my way to the canyon for one more session. I took several major panoramas and also some impressive shots of the better formations. This is one of them. Actually, I was driving the road that runs south from the main canyon and this was taken from an overlook. I really like this image because of the depth. You can see for miles and get the sense of 3D by the way the distant features fade into the haze. I think I'm looking to the east. It was just after noon so the sun is high but behind the clouds so I'm not fighting any glare. I'm at f/22 which is supposed to be a no-no as it creates diffraction (and blurring) but I don't see much and stopping down helped me get great depth-of-field. And the colors ... well, I'll let you decide on that.

Bryce Canyon Splendor - 16mm(1.6 crop),f22,1/25 sec,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Yosemite's Half Dome

Shootings...

I find it very hard to comment on the state of my country. So much violence for a country that is, theoretically, not at war (except in half the world where we're fighting terror but what the hell). Finally we get another terror act in America ... one I've been expecting for quite some time ... and no one seems inclined to do anything about it. Let me say, bluntly, that it's stupid to sell assault rifles, which are designed for only one thing (killing people), and ammunition to anyone. Even the cops don't really need them except as an equalizer against all the crazies who are armored up to the hilt. And all this right-wing crap about protection from the government is just that ... crap. A clown with a gun isn't going to frighten a soldier who's faced hardened fighters in the middle east. Have you seen most of these idiots? Rejects from society and most are so out of shape that they'd probably have a heart attack if they every actually faced off against someone with a gun and it's pointed at their fat head. Let me repeat ... we don't need these guns. For 200+ years we've managed to survive quite nicely with just our standard rifle and shot gun. All this fire power didn't stop a couple (one a woman no less) from shooting up this holiday party in California. It was the cops who finished them off, not civilians. But the carnage was much worse because both of them had semi-automatic assault rifles and lots of high powered ammo. Consider how different it would have been had they been limited to more conventional arms. And maybe, instead of being shot up by all that police armor, maybe they would have been captured alive and could have helped us understand why they did it. But no, they are very dead and we can only assume they were terrorists because they were Muslim. All so worthless and a waste of precious human life. Don't you think it's time to try something else ... really?

Yosemite's Half Dome

Yosemite is, surprisingly, a hard place to photograph. It's beautiful, even breathtaking, but unlike places on the Grand Cascade, rock formations are a unappetizing gray color. That's why, I think, so many pictures of Yosemite are black and white. I took a ton of images while I was there and most of them are OK but few actually got my blood pumping. They are universally bland and only the sky made an impact. I'll put more on this blog as I can but they're not my best works. Also, it was near the end of my trip and my camera was extremely dirty. There were dust particles all over my sensor so my pictures look like they have chicken pox. When I combine multiple panels together for a panorama it takes a lot of work to remove all the smudges and blotches caused by this dirt and, quite frankly, the results are not inspiring. Even my HDR images came out muddy and not all that wonderful. That's why you've not seen any images from Yosemite so far. I keep looking at them and putting off adding them here because they embarrass me.

But, a few days ago I was going through images from Yosemite and came across this one. I was on Glacier Point looking northeast. I took it before the sun touched the horizon so the sky is already turning a wonderful blue but the sun hasn't yet gone to the "golden hour" reds and yellows. The entire image is very 'cool' and has a nice feel about it. One interesting point about this image ... if you look just to the right of the dome you'll see a brown 'streak' in the trees trailing off to the picture's edge. That's dead trees burned by the big forest fire they had 2 summers ago. That's how close the inferno came to half dome. This is an HDR sequence (2 shots) run through Photomatix and Lightroom.

It is really a wonderful place to visit ... but so damn crowded. Impossible to find a parking place or a camp site. I stayed at a forest service campsite 10 miles outside the park and had a 35 mile drive each way every day. Lots of gas wasted going back and forth.

Yosemite's Half Dome - 28mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Mono Lake Tufa

Some Semblance of Normalcy...

After a week of mostly darkness we finally seem to have turned the corner. 2 days ago they turned the lights on at 8:30 and left them on. We still are lacking elevators which is a severe hardship but at least we don't need to sit in the dark and can watch some TV when we want (and when the cable is working which is sometimes). We also have heat at least part of the day (it's getting cold now with temperatures just above freezing and raw winds blowing from the north and west) but almost no hot water so our electric backup boiler is getting a good workout. We've almost returned to what qualifies as 'normal' around here. Of course, the whole thing is held together with spit, tape and bailing wire and could fall apart at any time but it's a step in the right direction. Amazing how being deprived of something for a while makes one grateful for even the smallest of favors.

Mono Lake Tufa

This is another shot of the famous tufa at Mono Lake. I've already talked about them so I'll just add one additional fact ... if the lake returns to the level mandated by the court settlement between the lake and LA water district these will mostly disappear under the water. With the ongoing drought in CA that may never happen but that's the plan. So enjoy the picture while you can.

These formations lie to the west of the main grouping and I had to use my telephoto to take this image. It's a composition of a large number (110) of portrait HDR shots stitched together with Photomatix and Photoshop. Final adjustments were made in Lightroom. Amazing formations which, unfortunately, are disintegrating as the engine that made them has been cut off by the drought and the falling lake level.

Mono lake Tufa - 200mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 100, license CC BY-NC 4.0