Nikon D850 – Page 2 – Ken's Photography and Travel Blog

California – Pismo Beach and Highway 1

When planning this road trip and picking a route between Santa Fe, New Mexico and San Jose, California, I drew upon memories from years ago, when I drove a short distance along the California coastline during a business trip to Southern California. Looking at a map the place that I remembered driving through or near back then was Pismo Beach. I don’t recall anything about Pismo Beach other than walking along a pleasant beach, which might not have even been near Pismo Beach, where I was the only one on the beach.

So I booked a room for a couple of nights in Pismo Beach, as our last stop over prior to our San Jose destination. Pismo Beach is a busy tourist town with many lodging choices on or near the beach. So there was no problem finding a place with an ocean view and from which one could be walking along the beach within a few minutes of leaving one’s lodging.

On our first walk along the crowded beach, we walked beneath Pismo Pier and I made the image above with my iPhone. This type image is typical of those that everyone makes below a pier. I cropped closely to the pylons to remove people moving about near the pylons.

Staying in Pismo Beach was not very enjoyable. It was crowded everywhere and noisy everywhere.

On our second day in the area, we drove north of Pismo Beach along highway 101 and highway 1. Highway 1 is a scenic drive near the coastline for a long distance, but we only traveled a small portion of this coastal highway. Highway 1 was still closed north of Lucia due to damage, so we could not have gone much farther than we did.

It was a foggy morning as we began our day, but the fog along the highway mostly dissipated quickly, but there was heavy fog offshore and in patches above the near shore hills.

We stopped in the smallish town of Cambria, where a sign pointing to “Moonstone Beach” got my attention along Highway 1. There was a walkway along the shoreline, where I walked a short distance and shot a few photos.

I have seen wonderful photos of wildflowers along the California shoreline, but those here were thin and past their prime.

We saw a couple of Elephant Seals along this beach, north of Cambria, but I did not have my big lens on my camera and the seals were just a bit too far away for my 24-70mm lens. The heavy fog bank in the background completely obscures the landscape behind it.

If I ever come back this way again, staying in Cambria, which has many lodging choices, will be a much better choice than Pismo Beach.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Sedona, Arizona – Part 4

On my final afternoon in Sedona in August, 2024, I decided to go back to Bell Rock and to take the trail up Bell Rock to shoot at sunset.

There were still tourist about, but not so many as during the middle of the day. I’m guessing most tourist had been out during the middle of the day and were back in town for dinner at this late time of the day.

The Bell Rock trail is a wide, gently sloped, gravely path at the beginning and becomes more rocky and steep fairly quickly. Yet, it is mostly easy, with a few big steps, with one notable exception.

I got to one point, where I was not sure where the official trail went. There was a big rock in front of me with an obvious trail marker on top of the rock. There were a couple of young, female hikers, sitting on a rock there, enjoying a late day meal. I asked them about the trail and they indicated that it had to continue on top of the big rock, but they could see no safe way they could continue. One either had to somehow climb the rock, which had a step like rock at its base or navigate a narrow crevice on the other side of the rock. They said it was their first day in this area and they did not want to risk an injury and not be able to enjoy the rest of their stay here, so they stopped at this point.

I considered my options and decided I agreed with them about the risk of continuing on the officially marked route. I looked around, considered and ruled out another option, before deciding I saw a possible route that I could access by backtracking a little.

That alternate route was still not as easy as it looked from a distance. It involved climbing up onto two rock ledges. I laid my tripod and camera up upon each of those ledges in turn and climbed up on my hands and knees (and those hard rocks hurt old knees). After a little more navigation, I got back onto the official trail. Now I had to hope that I could safely get back down.

I shot this panorama with my iPhone. The rock features from right to left are: Bell Rock, Courthouse Butte, Lee Mountain and unidentified ones on the far left.

Upon getting as high up on the Bell Rock slope as I could safely do, it was still well before sunset, yet most of Bell Rock was already in the shade of features to the west. It was obvious that the light illuminating the very peak of Bell Rock was the best “Golden Hour Light” that I would get today. So I made a couple of images and moved around on the rock ledge below this feature to photography the other local features.

Lee Mountain – As seen from the slope of Bell Rock

Lee Mountain (Left) and Courthouse Butte (Right)

This wraps up my photography in the area around Sedona, Arizona in August of 2024.

Thanks for following,

Ken

P.S. Obviously, I made it back down safely, otherwise this post would not exist. I took the official trail down, sliding down that big rock on my rear end until my feet reached the step rock at its base.

Sedona, Arizona – Part 3

This is a continuation of my early morning shoot at Cathedral Rock, near Sedona, Arizona.

After the very brief golden “hour” at Cathedral Rock, I began to work my way back towards the trail and look for other photographic subjects.

There were numerous Agave around, so I made numerous images of those, converting this one to monochrome.

And scattered clumps of grass with curly blades.

Just after the sun’s brief appearance, the cloud cover became heavier and obscured the sun. There were interesting rock features across the valley, so I used those as fore and middle ground to capture those magnificent clouds in the sky.

There were a few ocotillo with vibrant greenery and other trees in the area. I used those as foreground with Cathedral Rock in the background. This required focus stacking images to get good depth of field.

This wraps up this morning’s shoot.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Sedona, Arizona – Part 2

I had a limited time in Sedona and I had never been here previously, so I figured it best to visit the “easy” photographic targets, which were also popular ones.

I had visited the Bell Rock area on my first outing. Today, I planned an early morning shoot at Cathedral Rock. “Planned” is used very loosely. I had not scouted here, other than to drive through the parking lot one day. So I knew how to find the parking lot, but I had no idea about what was involved in hiking the trail nor did I have a scouted location from which to shoot.

There was only one other vehicle in the Cathedral Rock Trail parking lot, when I arrived in early morning dark. I could see lights on the slope at the base of the rock feature, so I figured there were early morning hikers out or maybe even one or more early morning photographers.

I had a quick snack, finished the cup of coffee I had brought from the motel, gathered my camera, tripod, headlamp and began walking through the parking lot, looking for the trailhead. In the dark, I walked past the trailhead, went into an adjacent parking area, where I encountered a small group of young people getting out of their vehicles. They greeted me in a friendly manner and I asked about the trailhead. They told me that I had just walked past it and where to find it. They also said I could follow them as they were headed that way. But I went ahead, just getting on the trail, when they quickly came in behind me. Seeing that they were experienced on this trail, had bright headlamps and were likely to be much faster hikers than me, I let them pass and fell in behind.

The trail was well defined, but rugged and a little steep as it headed uphill. After getting out of the forest on the lower slope of the trail, it became light enough that I did not need the headlamp and the young, energetic hikers rapidly gained ground ahead of me.

It was a warm, humid morning and I worked up a sweat before arriving at an open area beneath the Cathedral Rock feature. It was well before sunrise and I had a wide open view across the landscape to the east.

There were plentiful clouds in the sky and daylight was beginning to show in the distance. I made a few images of the pre-sunrise sky, then scouted around for a good place from which to shoot Cathedral Rock. I was disappointed at the views I had, looking up at that feature. The young hikers were nowhere to be seen and I assumed they had continued along the trail.

I began to work my way up a dry drainage, trying to get to a better vantage point, taking time to check out various locations off to the side of the drainage, up the steep slope, where ever I could safely do so.

I never succeeded in getting a really good, open view of the most attractive portions of the unique rock features, but being well off of the beaten path, maybe I got views that other have not. Setting up for these shots was not easy either, at times I had to abandon my tripod and shoot handheld.

Golden hour came suddenly and I was not where I wanted to be, but shot anyway and I like this image:

As I was shooting from well below these rock features, I kept hearing voices, which I hoped were not just in my head. Eventually, I realized the voices were coming from those young people I had followed part of the way up the trail and they were rock climbers, not just hikers. I could occasionally just barely make out one or two up on the rocks. That is when I realized that in the dim light, I had missed a junction in the trail that would have taken me to the base of these rocks. This is why knowledge of the area is important, when planning an effective photo shoot. So, someday maybe I will get back here and I will know where to go. But I can’t deny that I enjoyed the experience and challenge of exploring in the off trail area below the main feature.

If memory serves me correctly, I think I shot this image sitting on a narrow, slope ledge that I was able to pick my way onto above the dry drainage. The early morning clouds abbreviated the golden hour, which lasted for only a few minutes this morning.

To be continued,

Ken

Sedona, Arizona – Part 1

Sedona, Arizona is in a picturesque setting with massive, colorful rock formations all around. It is also a popular tourist city with all the trappings of such a city, many shops, restaurants and art galleries.

In the outlying areas there are many popular hiking trails, scenic destinations and places popular with rock climbers.

My wife and I drove around the local area around the city to check out the scenery. I made mental notes about possible places to return to at sunrise or sunset to engage in my photography hobby.

My first chosen destination, Bell Rock, for a sunset shoot is just off of a major road and is a popular tourist draw. As I left our motel in Sedona, an afternoon thunderstorm erupted with lots of lightening and heavy rain. The local rock features that are visible from the city streets were surrounded by clouds with intermittent breaks in the clouds allowing sunlight to illuminate those features for a short while. There would have been great photographic opportunities during the storm, if only there had been a place to safely pull over out of the heavy late day traffic and not be exposed to the heavy rain and possible lightening. I could only observe and admire the views, wishing I were able to photograph the storm.

I hoped that there would still be some of the storm around when I arrived at the Bell Rock parking area, but the storm had moved on into the far distance by the time that I arrived. The nearby sky was mostly clear, but the distant storm clouds were still visible.

There are a number of hiking trails around and near Bell Rock. Most tourists opt to hike up the slope towards Bell Rock. I decided to hike the less popular trail that went around behind Bell Rock towards other rock features nearby. I only recall encountering two or three others on this trail. The parking lot was not nearly as full, this late in the day, as it had been during my scouting pass through it earlier in the day.

As these first two images reveal, the distant clouds caused the light to constantly vary from entire shade to partial shade and the sky to vary from dark to light.

I made numerous, not so interesting, photographs of the distant rock outcrops as the late day light changed. While the distant storm clouds added interest, it was not until I noted a faint rainbow appear that I began to hope for something more interesting. Indeed, as I watched the scene that rainbow became brighter and a double rainbow appeared, seemingly terminating on the rocks with a golden glow from the late day sunlight.

As I prepared to photograph this old, majestic tree skeleton (old trees like this are one of my favorite subjects), the clouds in the sky began to glow with the golden color of sunset light. The golden cloud was perfectly positioned above the tree, as if forming a crown of honor and remembrance for the old tree.

This is not the same tree as in Veneration, but it is nearby, with more of the local environment in the background.

As I walked the trail back towards the parking lot, after my late day shoot, I had to stop to capture these colorful, post sunset clouds with the silhouette of rock formations in the foreground.

When I turned to look back at this rock feature, I noted that the color was a deeper red just after sunset. In researching this area, I had seen information that said these rocks looked best for photography just after sunset sunset. My observation confirms that statement.

Until next time,

Ken

Windmills and Storm

On my way home from my March road trip, a fierce storm was blowing in from the west. In the wide open space of the high plains, the distant storm front was visible for much of my journey. The storm front itself was interesting, but when I came upon an area with windmills, I had to stop to capture a few images.

This wide angle view captures the old ranch windmill and structure along with the modern, electric generating windmills in the distance and the massive storm clouds with rain in the distance.

I zoomed in to get more detail of the old windmill and its contrast with the modern windmills.

Zooming in has the disadvantage of removing some of the storm clouds.

On the opposite side of the roadway there were more windmills much closer to the road.

As I continued my journey to my overnight stop in Amarillo, Texas, the wind became more fierce, buffeting my vehicle all the way. The wind whipped up much dust north of Amarillo. The storm continued through out the night and I awoke to a dusting of snow and a light blowing snow, which continued for a short distance on the final day of my homeward bound journey.

I arrive home safely in the afternoon and now I have to look forward to another, as yet unplanned journey.

Until then,

Ken

Mono Lake, California – Part 2 (Republished to correct an image display problem on website)

Even though the afternoon light was not the most flattering for outdoor photography, it was unlikely that I would pass this way again in the foreseeable future, so I photographed the scenery while I could.

Some of the vegetation around Mono Lake gets coated with the chemicals dissolved in the water of Mono Lake. I assume this happens as winds across the lake spray water onto the vegetation or by some similar method.

There are similarities in the various components in this image, which are subtle, but the more I looked at this scene, I noted the ripples in the water, the varying heights of the tufa and the undulation in the mountains in the background. These features reminded me of vibrational waves , like those in music, hence the title “Symphonic”.

The chemicals in Mono Lake are surfactants that weaken the surface tension in the water, allowing bubbles to hang around for a long time, rather than disappearing quickly, which normally happens, when surfactants are not present in the water.

Maybe the little tufa in the foreground is the maestro behind this orchestral scene.

Until next time,

Ken

Mono Lake, California – Part 1 (Republished to correct an image display problem on website)

My son and I ventured back north of Lone Pine, California to explore more natural sites along US Highway 395. Our first stop was Mono Lake.

I have seen photographs of the tufa in Mono Lake and looked forward to seeing these. While the history of this lake and the science behind the natural creation of the tufa deposits are interesting, we were a bit disappointed in the photogenic appeal of the area; but we were not there at the best time for photography, which might have been the primary reason for our disappointment.

We hiked the loop from the parking lot to the lake twice. I used my 24-70mm lens during the first round, then switched to my 80-400mm with a 1.4 extension for the second round. The photos included in my posts are a mix of images made with those two lenses.

More Mono Lake next time,

Ken

Alabama Hills, March 21, 2024 – More Wandering

After our early morning sunrise shoot, my son and I went on another short scouting expedition.

Of course, I made a few shots during our little hike, scouting the area for possible sunrise or sunset shoots, but the two in this post are the only ones that I deemed presentable.

Until next time,

Ken

Alabama Hills, March 21, 2024 – Early Morning Photography – Part 2

After shooting at my preferred location this morning, I wandered around the area looking for other scenes to shoot.

I don’t think the many dirt, back roads here have names, but the early morning quiet led me to call this one Serenity Road.

Shooting from another point of view, I thought it would make no difference which way one turned at the T, as either way would let one see more of the awesome geology of this area.

Standing in the shadow of the massive rocks behind me, I watched as the early morning sun began to highlight the top of the rock features in front of me.

I wandered back through and over rocks and boulders to the place of my initial shots this morning. I climbed onto a massive rock and made one last image, wrapping up this sunrise shoot.

Until next time,

Ken

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Tag: Nikon D850

California – Pismo Beach and Highway 1

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Sedona, Arizona – Part 4

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Sedona, Arizona – Part 3

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Sedona, Arizona – Part 2

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Sedona, Arizona – Part 1

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Windmills and Storm

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Mono Lake, California – Part 2 (Republished to correct an image display problem on website)

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Mono Lake, California – Part 1 (Republished to correct an image display problem on website)

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Alabama Hills, March 21, 2024 – More Wandering

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Alabama Hills, March 21, 2024 – Early Morning Photography – Part 2

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