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New Gallery - Fall in Yosemite

2012-01-30T20:54:11Z

Finally getting round to putting up a new gallery, this time from a photo shoot done in Yosemite National Park in mid-October 2011. The new gallery will actually go up in a few days, early Feb. 2012. For now, here is an image to get your attention. This late day shot is of Half-Dome from Olmsted Point on the Tioga Pass Road and shows some of the fabulous colors of late light in the high Sierras. As is my practice, I'll be taking down one of the currect galleries, this time the one from Yosemite in the spring. Come back in a few days; there are some really nice images.

Yosemite - Postponed

2011-05-22T15:58:46Z

As this entry is written, I was to have been flying back from a spring photo shoot in Yosemite National Park. That trip had to be postponed when the reality of regular family life intervened. Fortunately, United Airlines let me reschedule it back to October without paying any additional fees. So, I will be able to see Yosemite in the fall for my first time with, hopefully, lots of nice color. It should be great for another reason, I will get back to the high country part of Yosemite that I love and that is still closed this season because of the enormous amount of snow this past winter, I think I read 180% of normal.

So, thinking of what I might have seen on this spring trip, I decided to put up a gallery of shots taken the last time there, spring of 2008. Hopefully, that gallery will go up in the next week or so at which time the gallery of panoramic shots will come down. I do like to shoot pano's so it is reasonable to assume that a new pano gallery will go up again sometime in the future. In the interim, here is a shot that is both a preview of Yosemite and a

panorama shot from the famous overlook at Tunnel View. You are looking down over Yosemite Valley and, although not visible in this shot, the Merced River. Bridalveil Falls is on the right side.

The Yosemite Gallery is now up, the last entry on the Galleries page. !!

Eagles Everywhere

2011-01-30T16:48:20Z

It has been consistently cold here in the midwest during the month of January, cold enough to cause lots of frozen rivers and lakes although we haven't had very much snow lately. In January, one of the well known local places to see eagles is at Lock and Dam 14 on the Mississippi River just south of I 80 on highway 67 in Iowa. Last Saturday, I went there with members of the Mayslake Camera Club for some shooting. Took my Sigma 500 on the Nikon D300 body. By one count, there were 50 to 60 eagles perched in trees near the dam. The weather was overcast, solid gray clouds; not great light but at least bright enough for in-flight shooting. I managed to get one very nice sequence of an eagle successfully fishing. This shot is just before the end of a small fish. I would have posted the one he caught but it doesn't make a very good fish story, too small. Still, those eyes and talons extended, the end is near. Talk about focusing on your objective.

Great place for winter shooting; I hope to go back yet this winter on a sunny day.

New Gallery Is Up - Late Fall in Yellowstone

2010-12-06T01:05:46Z

Early to mid October in the high altitude of Yellowstone should yield some late fall/early winter photography. Although I was hoping for some early snow on the mountains, the actuality of it was more like late summer with lots of sunshine and temps in the 60's. While the resultant photos were not what I had hoped for, that doesn't mean the conditions were poor. To the contrary, I came back with some great shots, primarily of the parks animals and waterfalls. The new gallery will go up in the next few days at which time the last Yellowstone gallery from early summer a year ago will come down. So, if you're reading this, take a last look at that one. UPDATE -- The gallery is now up. Click on the first entry under the 'Galleries' tab.

The 2 bison in this shot are probably young ones, practicing their head-butting skills for the next bison rut, late summer. This pushing and shoving didn't last long; too bad still photos don't have a soundtrack, that part was fascinating.

Beetles All Around

2010-10-25T02:04:49Z

About a week ago, I returned from a photo shoot to Yellowstone N. P. As always, it was great to be there although I had hoped for some early season snow. Not a sure thing by mid-October but certainly possible. Instead, the weather was nearly summery with everything very dry and temps in the 60's and 70's. I was able to get to every part of the park, at least briefly. The image that accompanies this post was taken near Sylvan Pass, a high elevation location near the east entrance. It shows the devestation that has occurred over much of the mountain west over the past few years, a mature lodgepole pine forest stripped of all life by the Pine Bark Beetle. Although the beetle is native to the west, it has exploded in numbers because of global warming; specifically the absence of very cold winter temps that normally kill off most of an infestation. Over the past five years, literally millions of acres of pine forests have been destroyed increasing the threat of large wildfires and causing food shortages for the grizzly population. It was pretty discouraging to look out over vast expanses of gray in what should have been vibrant green.

There was one related curiosity, however. The day after I was at Sylvan Pass, I drove to the Northeast Entrance near Cooke City, a similar elevation and similar lodgepole pine forest. There was very little evidence of beetles in that part of the park. None of the park employees I talked with about the disparity had an answer as to why. Sure hope that the next time I go back, the beetles will not have found the northeast section of the park.

Olympic National Park Gallery

2010-07-12T22:42:45Z

Recently, June 2010, I had the chance to do a 5 day photo shoot in Olympic National Park on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. For those who might not know, Olympic is made up of three distinct types of ecosystem, an expansive rainforest, a mountainous alpine section and some very rugged and rocky seashore. I spent a bit of time at all three but it is a big place and would take a couple of weeks to do justice to the whole park. Weather was late spring/early summer with about equal parts sunshine and rain, temps mostly in the 50 to mid 60 range.

Beginning with this gallery posting, I'll take a gallery down when a new one goes up to keep the site manageable in size. If any regular viewers want to see any images from the departed gallery, an email or comment to the home page will get my response. The gallery going away this time is the oldest one, from Zion/Bryce N. P. in Utah. I appreciate your interest and welcome comments.

This image is from Olympic, a footbridge on the trail to Marymere Falls. The bridge is unusual in that it is a log that has been sawed in half lengthwise with the flat side up and is only wide enough for single file traffic. The Park Service is working on replacing the bridge; I'm sure the new one won't have the character of this one. Marymere is a very tall waterfall and hard to shoot because of the terrain.

Click here to go directly to the new gallery.

New Gallery Coming - Scenic Panoramas

2010-05-09T20:42:14Z

UPDATE: May 22 - The panoramic gallery is now up, the first choice under the galleries heading. Enjoy!!

There hasn't been a new gallery since this site was reorganized late last fall. Of course, I've put up new featured images and periodic blog posts but not a full new gallery. The new gallery, one made up exclusively of panoramas will be up in about a week and will feature images from a variety of locations. They will range in size from 3 to 6 shots wide and have been 'stitched' using Photoshop. The image widths vary depending on the scene as I saw it at the shooting location. This type of image is intended for printing in large sizes for display on large walls; so the web site representation will not do justice to what I saw at the location or what you would see on a full size print.

As an introduction, here is a representative shot. This one is 4 images wide and was shot from Olmsted Point overlooking Tenaya Lake in Yosemite National Park, CA. The view is WNW, the time is late morning and the elevation is about 7,800 Ft. When the Panoramic gallery goes up, I'll describe the general process I use to take and process this type of image. Yosemite is a spectacular place; ENJOY!

A Tough Place to Live

2010-04-07T00:25:25Z

As this site is about photography and environmental awareness, the 'Home' page will feature what I hope is a compelling image to start your viewing experience.

Yosemite and, in general, the Eastern Sierra is a place where there are a number of species of trees that, for the most part, aren't found elsewhere in the U. S. Among them are the Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pine, the California Red Fir and, of course, the giant Sequoias, Redwoods, Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce. Another one, and one which has become very visually attrative to me is the Western or Sierra Juniper, (Juniperus occidentalis). It grows at elevations up to 10,000 ft and in soil that is frequently more rock than dirt. At numerous locations, I have seen examples of hundred year old trees lthat are growing in what look to be decidedly uncooperative locations; yet these trees endure and seem to thrive. This image is of one such location, in Yosemite National Park on the east side of the park a short hike off of the Tioga Road. The elevation is about 7,800 feet and the group of trees appear to be growing in solid boulder. Part of what attracts me to the species is the ruggedness of the terrain, part is the asymetrical shape of the growth pattern, part is the red shaggy trunk. On this group, although the image isn't very large, you can also see examples of Staghorn Lichen, (Letharia vulpina) the almost neon green colored lichen that attaches itself to many old growth trees in Yosemite.

Thinking of Spring !!

2010-03-18T21:53:59Z

Ass this site is about photography and environmental awareness, the 'Home' page will feature what I hope is a compelling image to start the viewing experience.

For much of the northern hemisphere, this has been a tough winter. In the east and south, there was lots of snow, out west, it has been somewhat dry and mild and in the upper Midwest where I live, we have had continuous snow cover for nearly all of January and February. So, for most of us, signs of spring are welcomed. This image is one of my favorites of early spring even though it isn't an early spring flower such as a crocus. This is an emerging leaf set from a tree that is widely found throughout the eastern U. S., called an American Hornbeam or Blue Beech. (Carpinus caroliniana) As a photograph, I like it because of the vivid colors and the way in which the out of focus background set of leaves mimics the shape and orientation of the foreground.