Been A While…
Wow. It’s been quite some time. A lot has happened. Initially, I was unemployed for a little bit, and anyone that has ever been there knows that priorities change. The internet had to go. Time was spent looking for a job, pounding the pavement, rather than walking the streets looking for photographs waiting to be taken. Money got tight, gas prices rose, and activity in my life ran down to a minimum.
But I’m back. I’m working, making money, and putting my camera back in hand, and priorities back in line. So by way of a re-introduction, here’s just a few random shots that have helped pass the time…
Zayne and Great Basin Gophersnake
My son and his girlfriend hunting for petroglyphs in the Volcanic Tablelands.
Goldfinch
Zayne enjoying Hot Ditch. Natural reflection from the water cured backlight shadows nicely.
Random front yard flower
1982 Shovelhead Custom Rigid. She will be mine. VERY soon…
So…yea…just a few shots to say, I’m back. And things are getting better. Thanks for stopping by!!
Little Lakes Valley
Went for a quick hike up through Little Lakes Valley this morning. Such a beautiful area…
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- Paintbrush
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- Heart Lake
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- Golden Mantle
Wild Iris
Well, flowers are starting to bloom, and spring is trying to be here, but for some reason, this cold wind just doesn’t seem to want to release its grip on the valley. So rather than battle the wind and shoot fast shutter speeds, or wait for the wind (and the Iris) to die, I decided to just go with it…
Wild Iris
There was a couple of other photographers out shooting, but the color never popped, and the wind was incessant. Rather than battle the conditions, I went with it, stopped down to f/22, and even dropped a 3stop ND filter on to slow it down and really exaggerate the blur. I think it came out fairly neat!
The Victoria and Wild Rose are blooming in the front yard, too…
Victoria
Wild Rose
And this is the closest I have ever gotten to a good shot of a Whiptail lizard…
Great Basin Whiptail--Aspidocelis tigris tigris
One of these days, spring will actually get here and stay for a little while…
Thanks for looking!
Backyard Birding
When you haven’t got a lot of time, you work with what you got. I got a nice, big, empty desert loaded with songbirds and blossoming brush as a backyard…
Sure Signs of Spring
So I was outside this evening shortly before sunset, and I noticed my almond and peach trees were just glowing beautifully with fresh blossoms. So I grabbed my camera and my 105mm macro lens for some shots…
I have 2 peach trees. One provides LOADS of smaller, white fleshed peaches, and the other provides fewer, larger yellow fleshed ones. These are all from the white-flesh tree…
Then I saw this guy buzzing around my almond tree…
He knew he was further than I wanted him to be, so he flew down to the peach tree for a closer look…
That’s it. Just some sure signs of spring from my front yard. Thanks for looking!
Spring…In Places…
So, I dropped the girls off for school this morning, and brought my camera bag with me…just in case. On the way back, I couldn’t help but catch the storm over the Sierras, moving in from the west…
Bishop Range--3-shot Panoramic
I decided to try a pano shot this morning. Most of my landscapes are shot at 14-20mm(28-40mm equivalent). This one was taken with 3 shots in portrait orientation, at 42mm(84mmequiv.), stitched in CS4. Below is a single exposure at 21mm…
Bishop Range
Just when it’s starting to look like winter isn’t done with us, yet, I pull in the driveway and find tiny, purple Storksbill flowers blooming everywhere! So here are the first wildflower macros of the season!!
Portrait, in full sunlight
Pretty Pair
It is starting to warm up around here. I imagine it won’t be but a couple of weeks before smaller wildflowers start springing up everywhere. Seems a trip to the Alabama Hills again may be in order…
Thanks for coming along!
Sunflower Sunrise
I went to an area known locally as “Farmer’s Pond”, this morning. In the winter, this entire area is flooded, and provides a lot of waterfowl habitat. In the summer, they drain the water off, and the entire area becomes flooded with wild sunflowers. One of the few places in the area that changes so drastically during the seasons, yet remains incredibly photogenic…
Sunflower Sunrise
Self Portrait
John
Bee
Grasshopper
Wheeler Crest
All in all, it was a really decent morning. Thanks for taking the time to look!
Rock Creek Lake
I went with Annette, Rose, and my good friend John for a short walk around Rock Creek Lake yesterday afternoon. Any excuse to get up in the mountains and out of the heat works just fine for me…
Fireweed
False Helleborne
John shooting Fireweed
Lupine
Some cultivated bright orange thing
Rose, Rex, and Annette
Rub-a-Dub-Dub
Some sort of Phlox, I think.
And that’s about that. Like I said…any excuse to get out of the heat of the desert and up into the elevation is a good excuse for me…
Thanks for stopping by!
North Fork Wildflowers
I took my daughter up to the North Fork of Bishop Creek this morning for some wildflowers. There wasn’t a whole lot just yet, but there were a few…
Brittle Bush
Wild Clover
No idea. Anyone know for sure?
Chia in bloom
Streamside Fireweed
As usual, I am not 100% on my identification of these flowers, so anyone with better information, I welcome your input.
And as always, thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to look!
Walk Around Lake George
I drove up to the Mammoth Lakes Basin yesterday, and took a quick walk around Lake George, just to see what was happening. There were a TON of wildflowers in bloom, but the mosquitos were so forceful…I snapped quickly and kept moving. So I only have a couple decent photos to share…
Lupine...with a friend
Leopard Lilly
That’s about it. Like I said…there were loads of flowers…but even more mosquitos. Maybe next time will be better…
Thanks for taking the time to look!
South Fork, Bishop Creek Canyon
So…my buddy John has been injured and sore for a few weeks. He can’t walk but a few feet at a time, and he’s in a lot of pain. This means that he hasn’t been hiking or out shooting photos as much as he would like. So I picked him up early this morning, and we made a quick run up The South Fork in search of some alpine wildflowers. We were not disappointed…
Alpine Columbine
Alpine Columbine
Creekside Splendor
Leopard Lily
Leopard Lilies
Saw this neat little guy, perched on the side of the road, too…
California Quail
And of course…first light at South Lake can be a pretty nice sight…
South Lake Basin
All in all, I have to say that it was quite a fantastic morning, just out and about, driving around, photographing wildflowers. I couldn’t have asked for a better, more satisfying Sunday Morning.
Thanks for taking the time to look!
Bishop Creek Canyon
I went camping with my daughter, my girlfriend, and her daughter up in Bishop Creek Canyon over the weekend. It was quite nice to get outta town and get out with a camera in hand…
Looking east
Baby Mountain Gartersnake that Annette spotted--Thamnophis elegans elegans
One of the many species of blue damselfly
Butterfly taking a morning "coffee break"
Mother Nature's Garden
Orange Mallow
Mojave Prickly Pear Blossom
Not sure on an ID for this Damselfly yet...
That’s about it for now. I took a bazillion pictures of the fire last night, too, but I haven’t processed them yet.
Anyhow…I really enjoyed the weekend. I hope you enjoyed seeing the photos!
Reptiles and Flowers
Went for a short walk in the desert behind my house, and found a few cool flowers and a neat little lizard…
Some pretty purple flowers. Anyone know?
No idea what these are. They look like octopus tentacles, to me...
Common Sideblotch--Uta stansburiana
California Kingsnake--Lampropeltis getula californiae
The Cali king was just a little thing. We found him crawling out into the road on the way home from picking up my daughter.
Thanks for taking the time to look!
Backyard Macros
So…I’m in the process of moving out of my tiny-ass apartment, and in to a large house. For the past 4 years, my daughter and I have shared a 2-bedroom apartment with a room mate, which means I have been sleeping on the couch for longer than I care to remember. We are finally moving in to a large 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom house with my girlfriend and her daughter. What a fantastic change!
However…this leaves me very little time to go out and shoot. So…backyard “wilderness” will have to suffice…
Western Longnose-Rhinocheilus lecontei
Make A Wish
Looking at the world through a Fly's Eyes
The Nucleus
One more great aspect of our new house…PLENTY of open habitat to explore. I haven’t walked around too much to explore the property in depth, but I know there are about 1,000 acres or so of public land surrounding us. I also know that I received 3 different rattlesnake removal calls from this area last year, and all 3 were very nice Panamint Rattlers. Rarely are removal calls actually for rattlesnakes. Most of the time, they are big gophersnakes, occasionally a kingsnake, and even a few garter snakes. But in this area, they have all been actual rattlers, and that makes me very happy, contrary to what one might think, considering there are 2 young girls running around. But my daughter is well trained in identification, and my girlfriend’s daughter is quickly learning…
Thanks for taking the time to look!
More Flowers…and Snakes…
Yup…it’s that time of year. The time we photographers live for. The time of year when everywhere you look there is something worth shooting…
Cultivated Honeysuckle
Cultivated Columbine
Cultivated and monsterous flower of some sort...
Sub-adult Panamint Rattlesnake
Thanks for taking the time to look!
Lots of Wildflowers
I went for a walk with Annette and Rose this morning, in search of some wildflowers. Nothing like a beautiful Sunday morning in fields of Wild Iris. Some of these are cultivated, but most are wild…
Pink Columbine
Pair of Wild Iris
Wild Iris Portrait
Forever Young
Summertime Rolls
Lupine Fields Forever
Ahh, spring in the Eastern Sierra. There aren’t many places I would rather be than right here, in the heart of the high desert, sitting at the feet of the tallest mountain range in the Continental United States. And this is why…
Bush Lupine blooming in what seems to be an endless field of purple
Lupine and Thistle
Lupine
Really small purple flowers. I think it's Wolf Violet. Anyone know for sure?
Thistle Bud
Division Creek
It was super windy, really chilly, and you still couldn’t prove to me that summer is coming. But boy are the flowers out there pretty…
Thanks for taking the time to look!
Today is brought to you by the letter “P”…
I went for a quick walk around yesterday, and took a few pictures. So here they are!!
Popped Poppy
Prickly Pear
Pair o' Poppies
Well…I didn’t plan it this way, but it seems that all my photos feature the letter “P”. So today is brought to you by the Letter “P”.
Thanks for looking!
Field Trip!!
So…went on the first field trip of 2010 for the Eastern Sierra Herpetology Club. Now, anyone that has followed this blog for a little while remembers the pictures from last year’s first field trip. We spent 3 hours driving south trying to outrun the heavy winds and snow. We never did, but we had a great time.
Good thing about that was I knew anyone that attended last year’s first trip…wouldn’t be scared off by the weather forecast for this year’s trip. The forecast called for cool temperatures in the low 60′s and heavy winds of 35-45mph, and gusts reaching as much as 65mph in the valleys. As my luck would have it…the trip was scheduled for Death Valley. We decided to head out to Darwin Falls, and to be honest, the wind was pretty blustery, but once we got up in the canyon…it was a really, really nice day…
Lower Darwin Falls
This is the lower falls. there was a really neat hike up to the upper falls which had quite a few hard 3rd class scrambles and even some intermediate 4th class climbing, which was a ton of fun. The upper falls is about 120′ tall or so, but I didn’t get a decent shot.
We didn’t find any California Toads (Bufo boreas halophilus), which was a main reason for going there, but I definitely heard one jump in the water and swim away, and we know there is a ton of habitat, they were just hiding. There were a LOT of people walking in to see the falls.
We did find a TON of wildflowers and lizards, however…
Yellow Desert Poppy
Mating Damselflies
Sagebrush Lizard
Sagebrush Lizard
Showy Gilia
Sticky Yellow Throats
Tiny Blazing Star
Yellow Monkey Flower
Yellow Monkey Flower
These following two presumed female Zebratail Lizards, were both very content to sit perfectly still in the sun and let all of us walk up to take their pictures…
Zebratail 1
Zebratail 2
On the way out, John and I were half-heartedly looking for snakes crossing the road. The storm clouds were building up, and as John pulled over to let some cars pass, I couldn’t resist switching to the 14mm lens, and shooting this B&W of the storm…
Storm Over Death Valley
All in all it was a fantastic day. The weather wasn’t perfect, but it was a pleasant day filled with good times and great company, so…who could complain?
Oh and…it snowed Sunday night…in Bishop. It was gone by Monday evening, but we got a few inches that night. I’m just glad I didn’t wake up to a few inches on Sunday morning like we did last year…
As always, thanks for taking the time to look!
A Great Day for Photos
John is an Aqueducts and Reservoir Keeper for the LA Department of Water and Power. That doesn’t really carry a whole tone of weight when you live in the Owens Valley, which has been sucked dry by the LADWP over the last 110 years, but it does mean that he spends the majority of his working days driving back roads, dirt lanes, and unbeaten paths checking water and snow levels, adjusting regulators, and opening/closing flow valves throughout the valley. And since he is one of my closest friends, he shares the “hot spots” for wildflowers with me.
Of course, with the amount of moisture we have seen this year, you can see most of the “hot spots” from the highway…
Baker Creek Canyon
Fiddle Neck
Wild Lupine
Some species of Phacelia, I believe
Scalebud Landscape North
This last shot….man alive, the entire west side of Highway 395 just north of Big Pine was bright yellow and orange. There is scalebud, storksbill, gilia, lupine, wooly daisy, fiddle neck, and paintbrush scattered all over the place. Most of the bright yellow is scalebud, but you can see some concentrations of woolly daisy in the foothills where the saturated orange is. The storksbill and gilia are too small to make an impression with such tall scalebud surrounding it, and the paintbrush and lupine are scattered infrequently enough to render them moot in a wide scene like this. But it won’t be long before there are wild iris, lupine, penstemon, colombine, paintbrush and all sorts of other larger flowers blanketing these fields and the upper elevation meadows. It’s gonna be a good flower year…
Thanks for taking the time to look!
Spring is definitely here!!
Went out with my buddy John to shoot some wildflowers this morning. We had a really nice day…except it was cold. Oh well…it only gets warmer from here…
Cool little beetle thing
Chapparal and Friend
Desert Paintbrush
Desert Paintbrush
Gilia
No idea...anyone?
John shooting gilia
That’s about it. A really decent day that did a really decent job of letting me know that spring has officially sprung. Thanks for looking!
More Flowers…
Spring is definitely in the air. Wildflowers are starting to pop up all over the place! Evening Snow Blanket is covering many a hillside in the early morning, gilia blankets anywhere there is dirt and some moisture, scalebud and tidy tips are popping up in the most unlikely of places… Yes, my friends…spring is here!
Chapparal and a Friend
Great Basin Gilia
Great Basin Gilia cluster
Another type of gilia
Great Basin Gili
Desert Paintbrush
Scalebud Clusters
Single Gilia
Tiny yellow...Gilia? Anyone know what this is?
Scalebud and Tidy Tips hillside
Thanks for coming along!
Walk About Town
I took a quick walk around town yesterday afternoon, just looking for things to shoot…
Thanks for looking!
Sunrise and Wildflowers
My met up with my good friend John this morning to go and get some sunrise shots. By the way…John is a very talented photographer who has been at this stuff for a long time. I finally got him convinced to start a photo blog, so keep your eyes open. When he gets it up and running, I’ll share a link…
Anyhow…
Rock Creek Pond
Reflecting Pool at the Equestrian Center
We also went looking for wildflowers in the Tungsten Hills..
Scalebud
Daisy Cluster
Showy Gilia, I believe
Great Basin Gilia
Desert Daisy
Another Daisy
Wildflowers are starting to pop up all over the foothills. Looks like it’s going to be a good spring in the Owens Valley…
Thanks for taking the time to look!
