Photographic meanderings

Sometimes it pays to trust strangers. I met a fellow photog at dinner on Tuesday night, and we commiserated about the inaccessibility of the Racetrack playa in Death Valley. I said I’d love to go, but I didn’t think my car would make it, and he said he’d love to go, but didn’t feel comfortable going alone in his all-wheel drive rental car. We decided to team up, and made an appointment to meet the following morning to head out.

At 3:42 am I awoke to the sound of rain on my tent. The Racetrack is a nightmare when wet, and footsteps in the mud leave prints that can last for decades. Jim suggested a trip down Titus Canyon road. I’m glad he did. The road is narrow, extremely rough in spots, and traverse some of the most incredibly beautiful scenery in Death Valley. It climbs up to aptly named Red Pass, and past the mining boom town of Leadville, and then meanders into Titus Canyon.

It rained a bit on our approach to Red Pass, and then the sun broke through for the rest of the day.

If you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle, I recommend this trip. Some day I’d like to walk it over two or three days. It’s a remarkable road.

Heartfelt thanks Jim Galvin for his kindness and generosity.

I’ve returned from my first trip of the year to Death Valley, and have brought back a boatload of images; I’ll be posting them here over the next few days! Stay tuned, friends and neighbors. Time for me to go *thunk* into bed.

Detail, Bridal Veil Falls. Taken from the vista point at the bottom of the falls.

Late afternoon light on the face of Half Dome. Taken from the parking lot at Curry Village on January 2, 2010.

As a resident of Yosemite, I am fortunate to meet extraordinary people who also have a deep connection with this place. This ongoing series is meant to spotlight remarkable people who’ve had a positive impact on my life in this glorious park.

David is a videographer and photographer specializing in filming and photographing the wildlife of Yosemite, with a special emphasis on birds of prey.

His blog is updated almost daily with images, and it’s an adventure trying to figure out his place names! David carries more gear with him than anybody I know. I will also always remember our trip to Death Valley on a whim last October, and his prosaic posture at Zabriskie Point, and his exuberance at seeing a coyote.

Follow David as he chases Coop and Cedar on the valley floor at Tree In The Door Flora and Fauna blog

In closing, here’s a shot of a little bird I saw recently on the Old Big Oak Flat road, just for David!

The Big Meadow Fire Report is out. You can view the PDF here Big Meadow Prescribed Fire Review (PDF)

I’d love to hear what others have to say about this review. Please feel free to comment on your take on it. Just limit your use of vulgarity and profanity.

This old road was closed in May of 1945 after a severe rockfall. Today it is a hiking trail, with spectacular views interspaced between canyon oaks, talus debris, and gully washes.

More history on this road can be found by clicking this finely-crafted hypertext link: Big Oak Flat Road History on Wikisource.org

It won’t be long now before the setting sun begins illuminating the eastern end of the El Capitan wall, and turning that ephemeral waterfall into a technicolor spectacle. Once again, I’m of the mind that the waterfall is pixel worthy even outside the prime-time of the second and third weeks of February.

Yes, I’ll be out at the El Capitan picnic area after work starting at the end of January. This year I hope to have a stainless steel thermos full of coffee, instead of trying to brew coffee on the spot.

See you there!

I’ve changed the metadata presets on LightRoom, started a new catalog and made it the default, reset the file numbering on my camera, and installed a 1TB hard drive in my old Mac G4. This year I want to improve my post-processing skills, focusing on B&W images. I also want to improve my understanding of what I consider the math of photography–but I’m not sure where to start.

I also want to learn how to use the video feature on my Canon T1i; I think a basic understanding of film making may help my still image work. I’m not really interested in becoming a videographer, but a broad knowledge base can inform your speciality.

I’m trying to come up with a plan for backing up my hard drives; especially my photos. At the risk of sounding paranoid, I really must consider what I would do in an emergency here in Yosemite. We’ve had fires, rockfalls and floods here in the past that have lead to evacuations. While I live a very spare life, there are some things that are irreplaceable, my photos being one of them.

Finally, I’ll be in the market for a Mac Pro Intel Quad Core machine very soon. I can’t afford a new one, but I’ve been lurking on eBay to get an idea of prices for used and refurbished units. Should any of my readers know of one, I’d love to hear from you. It must be Intel processor, at least 2 duo-cores. I want to upgrade to LightRoom 3, Snow Leopard, and try out Google Chrome, all of which require Intel processors. It doesn’t matter what software is loaded on it, but it would be nice if it were already running Snow Leopard. Hard drive space isn’t that big a deal, either, SATA drives are cheap. It should have 2 Gb RAM, though. An Airport Extreme card would be sweet, but I won’t kvetch if it doesn’t have one.

Here’s to a new year and a new decade. Here’s to constant improvement, and getting better as time goes on.

Just a reminder, folks–be sure to change your meta data presets to ©2010!

All the best for the new year and new decade. Here are my New Year’s resolutions:

1. Be Safe.
2. Have Fun.
3. Remember this: If you don’t breathe, you’ll die.