Photographic meanderings

Access stairs, face of O’Shaughnessy dam.

Afternoon sun makes for a high contrast images of the access stairs on the face of O’Shaughnessy Dam, Hetch-Hetchy.

A weathered log balances on the edge of freedom. Hetch-Hetchy is at full capacity due to an above-average snowpack on the Tuolumne river drainage.

Hetch-Hetchy reservoir is at full capacity due to the above-average snowpack on the Tuolumne River drainage. As a result, old logs once stranded by low water have floated free and have collected against the dam. This one seems to have made it past the protective boom and sits poised on the edge of the spillway. Will it ever escape?

Once again, Steve Bumgarder does a fabulous job! Good onya, Steve!

Yes, I nudged the color–vibrance and saturation. OK, gave it a healthy push. *sigh* All right, I shoved it.

Indian Paintbrush (I’m not really sure I like that name, seems it could be demeaning to Indians) are the orange-red flowers. Penstemon are the smaller, mauve-pink flowers.

This lake shimmered with blues and greens in the mid-day sun.

Steve Berardi of Photonaturalist.net tweeted a serendipitous link this evening. I’m still waiting for word back from the good folks over at LNT.org to give me permission to use their material here on my blog; In the mean time, I’ll go ahead and find relevant material for the seven principles of Leave No Trace.

The first principle is “Plan Ahead and Prepare“. One of the surfaces they mention is “cryptobiotic soil”. I’d never heard of it before reading their web page, to be honest, then Steve steps up with a link explaining it.

Rather than quote them wholesale, I’m just going to sum it up, and provide the link Steve offered.

Cryptobiotic means “hidden life”. Cryptobiotic soil is a black crust on the desert floor, comprised of all sorts of flora. One footprint will last longer than we will live before it grows back. Don’t walk on it.

Now, here’s the link to the longer explanation: Cryptobiotic Soil in Arches National Park.

Thanks to the good folks at Gorp.com for providing the information, and to Steve for his oddly timely tweet.

Stay tuned for more on Plan Ahead and Prepare!

My friend G. Dan Mitchell has an interesting article up on his blog: In a nutshell, he is working through a photographer’s conundrum: How much location information is too much?

Dan is an intelligent and ethical photographer. I’ve had the pleasure of his company over coffee after a bone-rattling ride down Twenty Mule Team Canyon, and listened to his good advice on photography. I know, like me, he enjoys his solitude while shooting. I found his article thoughtful, and thought-provoking. His conclusion seems to be a new-found reluctance to reveal locations. I’m not sure I completely agree with him, though.

Many photographers, I’ve noted, don’t bother revealing their landscape locations. And after talking about this subject with many noted photographers, I’ve heard a lot of reasons why, and come up with a few of my own.

Some images are so iconic (read “Done to Death”) they really don’t need to be revealed. How can you NOT recognize Tunnel View in Yosemite National Park?

Does it really matter *which* little tarn I took it at? There are LOTS of them around the world, with lovely trees lining them. Go find water in front of trees, and take your own version of this shot!

Which brings me to my next point: Tripod Hole Hunters. Dan says he gets requests for hyper-specific directions to exact locations of his shots. I’ve never had that kind of location question asked of me. I’m wondering if my images are that un-interesting, or if Dan has a lot of copy-cat readers. In any case, I’d refuse to give that kind of hyper-specific information. Photography is personal, and you must develop your own style (says the lady who still manages to take images remarkably similar to some of the work by her favorite photogs…)

Gary, one of the commenters on Dan’s article brought up an interesting view: Refusal to provide location details tends to make photographers look “elitist”. He’s got a good point. What about the tripod-hole hunters? Do you really want someone to try to duplicate your photographs? All the hard work getting there in time for the light, and some schmuck comes up the next day and does the same thing? Not. Gonna. Happen. Any photographer worth her salt knows that the light is *constantly* changing, moment to moment, day to day. They *won’t* get the “same” shot.

I’m still trying to come up with my own style. But I’m still influenced by photographers whose work I admire, past and present. Is it a compliment when someone says “It looks like Ansel Adams took that picture!”? I’m not sure. At least it means I’m on the way to understanding what makes his work so special, and maybe others will say of some future photographer “That looks like Edie Howe took that picture!”

Which brings me to the ultimate reason to hold back information location: Internet idiots who have no understanding of the fragility of the environment they are trying to capture. I urge each and every reader to learn “Leave No Trace” ethics. I also urge all photobloggers to sing Leave No Trace loud and long. It should be as much a part of our knowledge base as “Sunny 16″, 90? from the sun for a circular polarizer to work, ƒ/22 is a smaller aperture than ƒ/8, and you’re gonna get noise at ISO 32,000. Over the summer I am going to be highlighting LNT principles here at the LRT. I plan on becoming a member, and I will be adding a link in my sidebar in an effort to help spread the word.

I will also reconsider how much information I am giving out about location, and try instead to provide information on the style of the shot, plus tips that will help you understand how I got the shot. I do think that giving a general area is a good idea; for example, the Ten Lakes area in the John Muir Wilderness, North Fork of Lone Pine Creek is a huge treasure trove of possible images, besides the now iconic Temple Crag above Second Lake. Likewise the area at the far end of Saddlebag Lake in the Hoover Wilderness just on the eastern boundary of Yosemite. Go, wander, find your own elements and compositions.

I make photographs to share the beauty of this land with others. If my work inspires others to discover it for themselves, that’s wonderful. If I inspire budding photographers, that’s good too. But I must also impart practical knowledge about walking the land gently as well as how to get the shot.

You really should put away your camera between 10 am and 3 pm in the Sierra Nevada. It’s just too damn bright to photograph without a 9 stop neutral density filter. No, really. I’m serious. Otherwise your pictures will come out like this after several hours work with the graphic image editing software of your choice.