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Exploring the Alabama Hills 2017
Visiting the Arch Trail Loop – “Venturing out for a good round of shots.” Thursday, March 23rd, 2017 On this new spring day, my travel companion and I traveled to the wonderful land of Alabama Hills for some exploration and photography. The weather was very clear and the sun was shining as bright as it could on us, but no more than a typical sunny day in Winter. Julia and I wanted to revisit the Mobius Arch trial loop and being a weekday, we had the place all to ourselves for a little while at least. “Lone Pine Peak rises high over the Alabama Hills.” Arch Trail Loop GPS Coordinates:…
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Lone Pine Winter Storm 2017 – Chapter 03
DAY 04 – “That morning light on high sierra granite.” Tuesday, January 24th, 2017 I woke up at 6 AM again on the nose and took a quick look outside to see what the weather was like. It was mostly clear and the Eastern Sierra peaks where definitely in view. I geared up fast and loaded everything into the Starship. I knew that I had to get out to a decent point along Whitney Portal Road if I was going to capture some Mt. Whitney alpenglow. Once it begins, good alpenglow will only last from five to eight minutes tops and the rose-pink color then becomes typical daylight. The sun had…
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Lone Pine Winter Storm 2017 – Chapter 02
DAY 03 – “A break in the storm brings some blue skies.” Monday, January 23rd, 2017 The past couple of nights were rough due to the sound of howling winds blasting ice pellets at my door and window. The wall heater also joined in the midnight orchestra by occasionally popping loud enough to startle me awake when it cooled and then roared when it fired back up. None of that mattered however because I was having a wonderful time and looking forward to what the weather would bring for the following day. I got up at 6 AM again without the need for an alarm. My body and mind were in “Venture Mode”…
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Lone Pine Winter Storm 2017 – Chapter 01
Saturday, January 21st, 2017 DAY 01 – “Journey to the north.” For weeks the Eastern Sierra has been pelted over and over by multiple storms being swept in from the Pacific Ocean in the form of what meteorologists are calling an “Atmospheric River”. As a photographer, the one thing you get very good at is watching the weather forecast like a hawk and predicting more or less what kind of photo opportunities you will be getting. I had taken notice that the Eastern Sierra was scheduled for one last big winter storm. The forecast after that revealed nothing but sunny days for a while. I knew this was my last opportunity to venture into…
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Mini Venture – El Mirage Dry Lake Bed
Tuesday, September 28th, 2016 After waiting more than six month for some decent storm clouds, we were finally paid a visit by a storm system that was forming everywhere around Victorville except overhead as usual. Regardless, It always makes me smile to see stormy weather, I get bored of clear skies which don’t do much for photos, especially sunset images. When a good storm system rolls in however, the skies become very interesting and that’s when I keep my eyes on the sky for potential photo opportunities. I had a feeling that today would be a great opportunity for a fantastic sunset at El Mirage Dry Lake Bed. I had…
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Day Venture – Highway 58 to Mojave, CA
Monday, April 11th, 2016 It was a stormy looking day and I decided that I wanted to venture out toward Highway 58 in search of some photo opportunities. I invited my mom to come along for the ride since I know that she loves getting out on small adventures like these. We started by taking Old Route 66 from Victorville to Lenwood and that’s when we hopped onto the 58 westbound toward Mojave, CA. The first half of the drive was amazing, the rain had started to really come down and began flooding several parts of Route 66 from Oro Grande to Bryman, but it was nothing that the Starship…
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Mini Venture – Minor Earth, Major Sky
Thursday, April 7th, 2016 I’ve been living in the Mojave over 25 years now and it’s nothing new to those who know me that when a Flash Flood Alert is in effect, it’s time for me to take my diesel out to play. Flash Floods are not very common out here so when they do happen it’s usually accompanied by some very gorgeous looking skies and that is always worth hauling along a bag of camera gear for. My gut feeling told me to head out to the El Mirage region and it did not disappoint! The skies were incredibly photogenic and the water that flooded Mojave Road was super…
