Waterfalls in Southern California are a very infrequent experience. Most of the natural falls here appear ever so briefly after a series of storms hit the area. But when we get a wet winter you find some scenes that seem so foreign to a normally arid region. Last weekend I took a break from preparing for my upcoming wedding to do a little hike in the Santa Monica Mountains with my brothers. One of my all-time favorite locations to visit, […]
In April I did a little trip to the Eastern Sierra Nevada region. I didn’t have any set agenda, just some places I wanted to scout out, but on my return home the high winds kicked up the dust and made for some hazy conditions in the Owens Valley, so lingered a bit to see how that would affect the sunset. I had set up a composition for sunset, and while I waited for the setting sun I did some […]
One of my favorite things to do in Yosemite Valley is take in the transition from light to dark in the valley throughout the day. The prescribed burn in the valley added an extra layer of interest as the cool morning air pushed down the smoke into what looked like a fog bank at first. Last week my girls had their spring break so I took them on a quick trip, their first, to Yosemite. At least that they remember. […]
This past weekend I got a chance to spend a day sunrise-to-sunset in a locale near and dear to me. These are the mountains that galvanized my love for hiking and the outdoors growing up. I don’t get to spend as much time there nowadays but it’s always a joy to revisit these old friends.
Last week my family did a quick trip up to Virginia City for my unce’s 80th birthday party. I knew there would be potential of some beautiful fall colors on the trip so I kept close tabs on some of my favorite Eastern Sierra spots for fall. By Wednesday it was looking like there was a strong possibility of snow on our weekend trip which made things even more interesting. The fall colors themselves weren’t at their peak, we were […]
Two weeks ago I got a couple of days to myself, my girls went up to grandma and grandpa’s for half the week. As nice as it would have been to get away during my time sans kids I had a lot of work I needed to do at home. So instead I created a mini-project for myself. Three sunrises, three local spots within 40 minutes from my house. It was a much needed creative exercise to clear my head […]
If I had to pick one subject to photograph my whole life I would be quite happy choosing these rugged, beautifully ancient trees. Thankfully I don’t have to make that decision. The dichotomy of the scene, with the harsh lighting of the midday sun and the clouds dissipating over the White Mountains made this moment an apt time for doing a black & white composition. I was both delighted and disheartened to find out I was able to drive up […]
When I was planning my trip through the Eastern Sierra Nevada this was high on the list of places to revisit. The whole week leading up I watched the weather forecast frequently hoping for a storm or clouds of any kind. But after the trip started chances of any clouds were getting slimmer by the hour. The night preceding this shot I saw all the clouds blow away as I sat on the Eureka Sand Dunes waiting for a sunset […]
Last weekend I got to do a little getaway to one of my favorite places to explore, the Eastern Sierra portion of Highway 395. My first night out I stayed at the Eureka Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park. I have long wanted to experience the dunes and the nearby mountains, the Last Chance Range, at sunset. It wasn’t the dramatic sunset sky experience I had hoped for, but I did have the unexpected pleasure of hiking through a […]
This image was taken on the first night of our trip a little over a week ago while we watch to last light on Fire Canyon fade away. We definitely had no trouble with the smoke from all the wild fires that were raging in the west. We had very strong winds from the east, so strong that it blew over semi-trucks on I-15 in Utah. Where we were I had to hold onto my camera tripod to make sure […]