Reflections in the Morning

Lake Sabrina along with North and South Lakes were our destination for sunrise on the third day of the Eastern Sierra Workshop. What do you know, it was a beautiful morning. Not a cloud in the sky and with the slightest of breezes, a perfect morning for reflections and did we ever have fun with reflections.



After spending much of the previous two days in Owens Valley with temps above 100, the 47 degree temperature that greeted us at Lake Sabrina was a real treat. The alpenglow in the first image was replaced by the first light hitting the higher mountains on the second. The reflection was astonishing.

Another workshop group showed up between the alpenglow and first light. Seemed odd the group arrived when they did since we'd been in place for a good 45 minutes already and they missed a good show.



After shooting for a short while longer we quickly headed over to North Lake. We were in for a truly wonderful surprise here as well. The sun was lighting the surrounding mountains, the sky was a rich blue, the water was calm and we were located in the shade on the east side of the lake. Just the perfect setup.



It was such an incredible place to not only photograph but to just experience. It's important for me to 'try' to stop photographing for a moment and experience that places that I go and soak it in. Not all images are made with the camera. The body and soul take in the imagery as well as the smells, the sounds, the breeze, he temperature and the overall feeling of the location. It is these senses that I try to capture in the photographs I make.



Shooting went on until the sun rose to a point where we were no longer in the shade at which point the great light had slipped away. But we all came away with some stunning images as can be seen by the last three images.

We followed up our North Lake stop with a visit to South Lake but our 'time well spent' time put us at South Lake after the good light had disappeared for the morning. We stayed only for a few very short moments before heading off to a well deserved bacon, eggs and hash brown breakfast at Parchers Resort

Roger

Minnesota's Arrowhead

I like to spend my weekends way way up on the very tip of North Eastern Minnesota on and around the reservation of the Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe. This is known as the arrowhead region of Minnesota with the reservation located at the tip of the arrow. I started coming here four and a half years ago and I've been addicted ever since.



My first photography trip was with my brother Ralph back in the fall of 2004. It was with that trip that I discovered this wonderful place. Every year since I've spend many weekends along the northern Minnesota shore of Lake Superior.

It's not real close to home, 250 miles to Grand Marais and almost 300 miles to Grand Portage, but the time in the car gives me time to anticipate the upcoming visit or reflect on the last visit.




Last winter was my first along the North Shore and provided a very different and unique experience, as well as photographic challenges (photographing at -10 degrees takes some getting used to and I'm not so sure I got used to it.). The winter provides it's own beauty with the snow and ice and extreme weather conditions. I look forward to the upcoming winter, and all the weekends between now and then, with the anticipation of a child.



These images were made last weekend on Saturday night. My friend Travis and I went out on some rocks at his parents place and quietly experienced the evenings charm. (How would you like to have this view from your parents place.) I hope in some small way my images capture the moods of the North Shore from it's gentle side to it's angry side. It is these moods that I will continue to try to capture in the future.

Roger

Cascade Impressions

On the theme of being inspired by techniques of Tony Sweet, see Bristlecomb Abstracts, I made these two 12 exposure impressions. Each succeeding image is moved vertically then the images are combined in Photoshop one image per layer. The layers opacity is decreased from the bottom layer to the top layer to get the effect. A minor saturation adjustment and this is what I got.



These images were made yesterday on the lake side trail at Cascade River State Park in Minnesota. I have been wanting to explore this trail during an overcast day and yesterday was the perfect day.

This is my first attempt using this method. I like the results and need to experiment more with the method.

What do you think.

Roger

Bristlecone Abstracts

While on Ralph's workshop I was keeping tabs on some of the Blogs I follow from my iPhone. (I'm sure you've wondered what we did before the internet. Well I'm starting to wonder what I did before my iPhone. I'm terribly addicted.) One of the photography blogs I follow is that of Tony Sweet.



Tony is also on Facebook, something else I follow with my iPhone, and he and I are Friends. Tony had just been to the Bristlecone Pines a few days before we were to visit. Tony is a great impressionist photographer and as luck would have it he posted one of his Bristlecomb Pine blurs the day before our visit.



I've been playing with blurs for quite some time now, first inspired by Freeman Patterson and William Neil, but blurs weren't at the top of my list when preparing to visit the Bristlecones. Tony's post on Facebook was very timely since it inspired me to make a number of blurs three of which I'm sharing with you here.

Thanks Tony Sweet for the inspiration.

Roger

To

Night Descends on the Bristlecone Pines

We went to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the afternoon with the intention of staying for sunset. Once there we decided to stay a little longer and were rewarded with a cloudless, moonless star filled evening that begs for a return visit (some day).

The Bristlecone Pine forest stands high, 10,000 feet, in the White Mountains of Inyo National Forest in California. These pine trees prefer to grow in the white, rocky soil that gives this mountain range it's name. These white rocks, Dolomite, are a type of limestone created under a warm, shallow, inland lake that once covered this area. This highly alkaline soil presents serious growing conditions for most plants leaving the Bristlecomb to prosper without competition. The oldest trees on the face of the earth are found in this forest with the Methuselah pine estimated to be 4,789 based on core samples taken in 1957. It is an awesome experience standing among these ancient trees.

As the night fell upon us we began making long images, staying under 30 seconds to minimize the star trails. The last glow from the sun is illuminating the pine in the first image.



We had a fun time playing with light painting as we waited for the sky to turn completely black. I have a very strong flashlight that was making the tree look very harsh. So I had this bright idea. I went back to the car and got my sunglasses which have amber lenses. I then shined the flashlight thru a sunglass lens and bathed the tree with the warm light. It turned out really well.



The stars began to increase in numbers as the night sky turned a dark blue just before turning black. We concentrated alot of photography on this particular pine, as we called it Ralph's Tree. Just one look here will explain why.



I pointed my camera south and picked up the darkened sky with the Milky Way glowing in the night. A jet passed overhead as this image was made.

While there is no camping inside the Bristlecone Pine Forest there is a campground just on the outskirts. I hear it calling me for a future afternoon and evening of stellar photography.

Roger