Winter at the Beach

Late afternoon sun halo over the ocean at San Elijo State Beach, just north of San Diego.

Ghost Town #2

Old Building, Pioneertown

Pioneertown was built by western actors Gene Autry and Roy Rodgers in the 1940's as a movie set outside the desert town of Yucca Valley, near Joshua Tree.  Now mostly abandoned, it's a fun place to stop and look around for some interesting photos.  There is a popular motel next door as well as Pappy & Harriet's roadhouse, with good food and often world-class musical acts play there.

Elfin Forest

Pygmy Oaks; Morro Bay California

Oaks, centuries old, but stunted in their growth by the local environment at El Moro Elfin Forest, near Morro Bay on the central California coast. Can't walk around much in here, that ground cover is mostly poison oak.

Desert Survivor

Borrego Palm Canyon, California

Somehow this little cottonwood survives in the harsh Borrego Desert environment, growing by the little stream that flows down from the mountains, through the oasis of Palm Canyon.

Anza Borrego Desert

Fonts Point, Anza Borrego

Standing on Fonts Point in the Anza Borego State Park, looking west towards Borrego Springs. The common views you see of this location are taken in the opposite direction, out over the badlands, but at this time the light was more interesting on this beautifully eroded mountain. Look closely and you'll see a party of folks on the distant point that brought chairs and refreshments to be comfortable while waiting for the sunset.

Ghost Town #1

Model Seven; Jerome, Arizona

Pictograph Alcove, Palatki Ruin

One of several really interesting pueblo ruins near Sedona, AZ. A rough and dusty drive to get out there, but well worth it.

Watson Lake

Watson Lake in Prescott, AZ.   

Contemplating a move move to this area someday in the not too distant future. Nice place to retire and much closer to all the places I love to explore.

Old Ranch

Desert view from the adobe ruins at Ryan Ranch, in Joshua Tree. A location that I had missed, despite being in the area many times over the years. 

Back to the Sea

Boom! - La Jolla, California

I do love living in the mountains, but sometimes I miss the ocean... luckily it's not that far away. My go-to spot when I need some inspiration.. not just photographically speaking. No matter the season or time of day, there is always something going on, just depends on how hard you look.

Around the Lake

Autumn day, Convict Lake, Eastern Sierra.

Autumn Revival

Evening light on the foliage at Silver Lake, Eastern Sierra.

Fall always seems to remind me that the old blog is still here and I should post something new at least once in a while, so here we go with a few recent images.
This shot is from my first time out in the field with the mirrorless Fujifilm-X digital system, since ditching Nikon.  I'll keep my old Nikon gear to use in my home studio for product work, since it's very adequate for that and so familiar, but I am so far very happy with the smaller size, lightness and quality of the Fuji gear. It is SO much easier to travel and hike with the downsized kit. My medium format gear is gone, too.. I'll use only the 4x5 from now on when I want to shoot film.
I've always thought that shooting RAW is the only way to go, but under normal conditions it hardly seems necessary with the Fuji.. the jpegs right out of the camera are so crazy good.. dynamic range, color and sharpness, that I hardly have to mess with the exposures at all, as I have been in the habit of doing. Fuji of course has lots of experience with film, and their built-in film simulations cover all the classics: Velvia, Provia, ACROS, and a few more...and they do look really good with no fussing.

Eye See Right Through You

Window, historic adobe ranch building in the Santa Rosa Reserve, Murrieta, California.

Stormy Day Ends

Such a beautiful sky and light here after a very rainy day.   Took probably an hour and a half of slow driving over the rough dirt track to get to this point.. just a half mile or so past here, the valley road ends at the main highway. Only problem, there is a normally dry wash that was flowing like a river after a couple days of heavy rain, literally 50 yards from the road. No way I wanted to drive all the way back to the other end, especially in the dark, so I trusted my Jeep to perform like it does in the commercials... drove it through the water and up the last little section to the main road and off north towards Blanding.   Next day, the ruins I've wanted to shoot for years were unreachable, also due to rain runoff blocking the trail and making it too dangerous to try to cross.

Slot Canyon Pano

Printing up some new greeting cards for the gallery today and finding a few overlooked shots from last Fall that I kinda like. This one here, a panoramic image from Kanarra Creek slot canyon. I did some experimenting with shooting panos in unlikely, narrow spots on this trip; a few worked out quite nicely. 

A Good Call

This one is actually cropped out of a larger panorama that I am working on printing and framing for the gallery.   Almost passed it by.. after a long day and the rather long climb up to Delicate Arch and back, where I didn't really get any good light, I was thinking I was done... but the sky was starting to break just as I was passing by this spot.   Really glad I did pull over, allowing me to catch this few minutes of jaw-dropping light.

Autumn Paradise

The canyon opens up in spots heading upstream. So many perfect little scenes to stop and shoot, you can totally forgot about your wet feet.   Luckily, the water wasn't as cold as I expected and it wasn't a problem. Glad I left a dry pair of shoes and socks back at the beginning of the wet part of the hike, though...

Up the Creek

There are several pretty waterfalls along the creek in this canyon (which I'll get to), but this is the main one.  Pretty misty and wet in the cavern, but I managed to make it up the ladder with my camera still on the tripod in my left hand, which I probably should not have done:) On the way down, I decided to stash everything in my backpack and use both hands... didn't want to risk all the nice shots I made upstream, or my gear.

The Big Picture

Aspen covered lava field, southern Utah.
I made a point of shooting a lot of  panoramas on my most recent tour.. trying to literally get a new perspective on some old, familiar subjects. Since our eyes see close to 180°, not in small rectangles, I find that it more closely matches the impression you get standing in an expansive scene. I really like the results even in very narrow spots where you might not think of using a pano.. the effect can be almost surrealistic and much more interesting than a standard rectangular shot.. more coming on that.

Valley of the Gods

A rather appropriate name.   No crowds out here, for sure... one of the more remote places I have been. Not too far from Monument Valley, but on public land, whereas Monument is owned by the Navaho and you have to pay to get in, plus they keep the road there in horrible condition so you don't want to use your own vehicle to drive around.  The road here is generally much better.
Caught me some luck here after fighting rain off and on all day.   Good for the light, bad for the road, though.  A very long and lonely dirt path runs through this valley and the rain did a job on it every few hundred yards where little runoff streams flow across.. nothing technical, but teeth-jarring none the less.