Eastern Sierra Light Rocks Again

Avocets at Sunset, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

I've been pursuing great light in the Eastern Sierra for many years. But it's only occasionally that you find an interesting wildlife subject willing to let you capture a few frames during that great light. So when I came across these American avocets feeding in brilliant orange sunset light, and they let me approach within a reasonable shooting distance, I had to shift focus from landscape to wildlife, or at least make the wildlife a key component in any landscape images I shot. So I focused on the avocets until the light faded signifcantly and their movements started to blur.

I was shooting with only one camera, so I didn't have much time or flexibility to switch between 200-400mm zoomed shots and much wider sunset landscape shots. So I chose to shoot the birds towards the sunset light, I did miss some incredible color on the clouds overhead and behind me.
Fortunately after the main light show subsided, there was still a lot of nice saturated blue light, and a subtle echo of sunset light re-emerged as well. I was able to productively shoot until nearly an hour after the "official" sunset time. All in all it was a great evening!

Sunset Trees Reflection

Sunset Trees Reflection II, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

Sometimes the simple, minimalist shots resonate with us. This scene was found on one of the reservoirs not far From Truckee, California. The particularly wet/humid Spring we've been having has been great for broken couds at sunset, while moderate temperatures have minimized wind.

Shooting the Big Sur Coast

Pre-Dawn Light on McWay Falls, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

If you're ever shooting on the Big Sur Coast, it helps to chat with the officers of the California Highway Patrol there. Aside fromresponding to accidents caused by the ocasional tourist who causes a truck to jackknife due to leaving her bicycle laying down on the road (true story), a lot of their time is spent interfacing with the public. They know every turnout and access point (and have participated in rescues people making their way to inaccessible spots), so they can help you spend your time there efficiently and safely

This waterfall, McWay Falls, is apparently one of two waterfalls dropping into the ocean in the continental United States, the other being Alamere Falls on Point Reyes.

This waterfall is accessed via the parking lot for Julia Pfeiffer State Park, but the park doesn't open until 8am, so I took this from a turnout up on Hwy 1, a few dozen yards higher than the standard path. The park also asks for a $10 fee for entry and parking!

There are some seriously quirkly rules and restrictions for accessing much of the coast, so I'll try to add notes as I add photos. For example, I blew off Pfeiffer Beach, a Forest Service access (due to all of those trees on the beach?), but unfortunately they've allowed a concessionaire to profit from Federal Recreation Passholders who bought the annual pass under the understanding that it would gain them entry to USDA Forest Service sites. They also close at sunset, not 30-40 minutes later when the sunset color is over, so it's virtually worthless to photographers who prefer to shoot in the best light(at least the ones who choose not to risk getting a ticket). I'll be sending the confused USDA bureaucrats some correspondence on that one... and I'll share the names with concerned photographers as well so your voices can be heard and your interests represented. Bureaucrats don't like risk, so I suspect they may show some flexibility if their users start raising a stink about counterproductive policies. Point Lobos State Park just up the road allows photographers to stay until 30 minutes after sunset, stilla bit tight but a far more reasonable compromise.

Topaz Lake Sunrise

Spinning Top, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan (actually indoors for a couple of da.

Topaz Lake is one of those places that I rarely plan on being at when the light is best, but I often find myself there anyway as I make my way between Tahoe, Mono Lake, and Monitor and Ebbetts passes.

On this morning I was there in time to watch a nicely shaped Sierra Wave lenticular cloud gradually light up from orange to pink to white, and I stayed long enough to watch the warm morning sunlight slide down the foothills to the lake.


The only thing I regretted was not carrying my fishing rods down to the lake, as there were large trout feeding, taunting me just within casting distance. The lake straddles the California Nevada border, and although I was standing in Nevada facing California, I later determined that my California fishing license would have enabled me to take a few casts. Oh well, the fish will only be bigger when I return!

Fiery Mono Lake Sunrise

Fiery Mono Lake Sunrise, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan (actually indoors for a couple of da.

I camped on a sagebrush-covered knoll overlooking Mono Lake with an expansive view so I could easily assess the prospects for a great sunrise early the next morning. As I had anticipated, the heavier storm clouds from the night before had broken up somewhat, leaving interesting clouds for the sun to light up but also leaving enough of an opening to the East to offer the promise of sending the orange sunrise light shooting in under them.



I moved quickly to get dressed and drive over to the South Tufa site with enough time left over to alk to the lake before the best light arrived. When I arrived, the parking lot was empty! The Sierra Nevada however already ahd a deep blood red tint on them, so there was no time to waste. I half walked, half jogged to the lake. It was tempting to start shooting immediately, but I watned to get a timelapse sequence going a couple of coves over, so I made my way over there as fast as I could.

Smoky Owens Valley Morning

Pre-Dawn Meander, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan (actually indoors for a couple of da.

This morning started with smoke from a forest management fire the night before having settled with the coldest air down towards Crowley Lake, so I decided to stay a little higher at first so I could shoot towards the Sierra Nevada without much optical interference. I visited an area of nice cracked mud patterns.


Next I visited a pond where I could find a nice reflection shooting towards the Sierra Nevada as they caught the rising sun.

I was fortunate to also find a pair of American Avocets performing a courtship dance.
Once the sun was up I moved over to a large pond where, wind conditions permitting, I might zoom in on a reflection featuring the backlit smoke against a minimalist horizon.


Next I moved to a very small vernal pool that I had shot at a year earlier under more cloudy conditions, but this time the shot would ahve a totally differnt feel, as I'd catch the snowy Sierra contrasted against a blue sky.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

If I count those candles correctly, she's 22 years old!

If you attended the party, I'm starting to upload photos on my site www.JeffSullivan.BIZ, in a gallery here:
http://jeffsullivan.smugmug.com/Events/Barbaras-75th-Birthday-Party/12285030_Yp4nM#876905885_Gj6kB

Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower Peaks in Early May; Perseid Meteor Timelapse I Revised: Slower HD Video

Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower Peaks in Early May; Perseid Meteor Timelapse I Revised: Slower HD Video, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

May 2, 2010 - The Eta Aquarids meteor shower, caused by debris from Halley's Comet, is happening all this week. "Meteor Mark" at MeteorBlog has a nice writeup on it:

www.meteorblog.com

"Since April 19th the Eta Aquariids meteor shower has been active. The shower will start to really heat up around May 3rd. The Eta Aquariids usually treats us to more than a full week of meteor activity. The shower will begin to get stronger and stronger as we near the peak on May 6th"

"The Eta Aquariids usually treats us to more than a full week of meteor activity. The shower will begin to get stronger and stronger as we near the peak on May 6th. Beginning with about 20 to 30 meteors per hour on May 3rd the shower will dazzle us on May 6th with up to 80 meteors per hour. The shower’s name is the Eta Aquariids and will appear to radiate from the constellation Aquarius. Viewers will be able to see approximately one or two meteors per minute."

Point Southeast near the horizon in a dark location to capture this one, perferably before the moonrise. If your camera can handle ISO 6400, try a 30 second exposure at f/2.8, or if you can use ISO 1600 with an f/1.4 lens, or simply use an external trigger or timer to lengthen your exposure.

Good luck!

Creating Timelapse Sequences from Digital Photos

Zion National Park - Sunrise Timelapse, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

If you have a timer that can trigger shots at a regular intervals (AKA an intervalommeter function), you can have the free VirtualDub software convert your shots into a timelapse video.

Browse the forums at Timescapes.org for more details, but in the meantime browse my draft results in my Timelapse & HD Video set on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreysullivan/sets/72157622147534372/

Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks April 21/22

Meteor Over the Salt Flats, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

Here are a couple of resources to help you identify where to look in the sky:

http://www.amsmeteors.org/showers.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_16541_view-lyrid-meteor.html

Here are the upcoing meteor showers for the year:

2010 Meteor Showers (major ones):
www.theskyscrapers.org/meteors/

Meteor shower calendar for 2010 (including smaller ones):
www.astronomia.org/2010/calfugaces.en.html

Search this blog for "meteor" for related posts, and for a discussion on converting a sequence of shots into a timelapse video using the free VirtualDub software:
http://activesole.blogspot.com/2009/08/perseid-meteor-shower-iii-hd-video.html

Fun With a Helmet Cam

Extreme Skiing at Alpine Meadows, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

I was on the verge of buying a cheap uderwater camera when I ran across the GoPro helmet cam: a compact unit that can shoot in one of 5 video formats all the way up to 1080P HD, plus the capability to shoot 5 megapixel still images one at a time or at selectable intervals.

The GoPro is water resistant to 80 meters deep, so no problem if you want to shoot video or stills while snorkling, fishing, whitewater rafting, or skiing.

It produces videos in an MP4 format which not all programs support, but I found free software which enables conversion to more common formats, while adjustment of video quality:
http://www.highballblog.com/2010/02/how-to-edit-your-gopro-hd-videos-with_25.html

At the risk of stating the obvious, the GoPro portion of the video here is the portion clearly shot from pro freeskier Kevin Wherritt's point of view. (I should also add the caveat that the video uploaded here is a quick preview edit, and is of course severely downgraded in resolution and quality for ease of online use.)

Orphan works: legalizing wholesale stealing of your online images

Malibu Sunset, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

Coming soon to a country near you:

UK Gov nationalises orphans and bans non-consensual photography in public
www.copyrightaction.com/forum/uk-gov-nationalises-orphans...

"The quaint notion that the author alone has prime and inalienable rights over his/her own work, must be able to restrict usage, negotiate a fee, prevent usage they consider immoral or distasteful, or assert their moral right to attribution, is about to pass into history"

Not only will companies be able to use your photso in virtually any way they want, but there will apparently be no penalty for a company intentionally setting up the conditions that will qualify your photos as orphan works:

" The Bill contains no deterrent to the creation of orphans, no penalties for anonymising your work, no requirement for bylines. It is a luncheon voucher for industry hungry for free and cheap content."

An "orphan works" bill is being actively pushed in the United States by aggressive corporate lobbying (bribes to politicians) as well so your images can be stolen, as long as someone can say that you couldn't be contacted (changed your email address since you uploaded photos somewhere). Under the UK model penalties for misuse will be nonexistent, companies can willfully misuse a photo and pay a modest fee only IF they are caught:


"So Flickr, Google Images, personal websites, all of it will become commercial publishers' photolibrary. A fee will have to be deposited with a collecting society in case the owner spots the usage. The author who discovers his work has been used as an orphan can then make a claim and receive a percentage of the peanuts, after the collecting society has had its share, and the government its share."

Don't want images of your children to be used inappropriately? Don't want images of your parents to be used to advertise mental illness or hemmorhoids? Tough luck. You didn't make it enough of an issue with your elected representatives, and you trusted the corporations that you uploaded your images to.

Joshua Tree Silhouette

Joshua Tree Silhouette, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

Just wrapped up the photoworkshop at Joshua Tree. Saw some returning customers who now seem like old friends, met some new ones who I hope to see again, and had a blast shootng from efore sunrise ultil after sunset... for eight days!

Normally we host a 3.5 day workshop, but this time we were flexible and let some people join us for the first half of the week when we normally get the instructors together to scout current conditions for a few days. The end result was like leading two back-to-back workshops. Fortunately we always seem to luck out adn have a great group. I love shooting with enthusiastic people who inspire me to greater levels of energy and creativity. I can't wait for Grand Teton and Yellowstone in late May/early June!

In A Sea Of Dunes

In A Sea Of Dunes, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

Another day, another playground made of sand. A playground for kids (young and old), a playground for photographers. Let the play begin!

Mesquite Flat Dunes

Mesquite Flat Dunes, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

The extensive dune field near Stovepipe Wells is by far the most heavily visited sand dune complex within Death Valley National Park, but even here you can find great views within a few short steps of the parking lot.

Return to Death Valley

Walking The Ridgeline, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

The last time I took my kids to Death Valley, we had a list of places we wanted to visit, so although we had a blast on the Eureka Dunes, we had to leave before we reached the top so we could make it to The Racetrack in time for sunset.

This time we had no such agenda, so we took our sweet time wherever we went, and thoroughly enjoyed each stop. I've been to the Eureka Dunes several times, and I've captured some nice landscape images, but I really like capturing people on the dunes. We're really small in comparison, and even our footprints are nothing more than temporary intrusions. The dunes themselves often take on sinuous shapes, and the lighting of the sun can enhance our perception of the subtle curves.

The forgiving nature of the soft sand also invites playful interaction via rolling, jumping, rolling and sliding across it. The Eureka Dunes are closed to skiing and sand boarding due to several endangered species that exist only on this one dune field, but I'll definitely consider taking old ski gear with me to the other dunes in Death Valley. Life too short to avoid playing with gravity!

Quick Stop in Death Valley

Zig Zag, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan.

One of the things I like about traveling to Utah is that I get to pass through the Eastern Sierra and Death Valley on my way out and/or back! In this case I visited a few spots to re-take some old shots with my new camera.

Dune fields in particular can be exciting to re-shoot. Not only do the dunes themselves change, but the light changes literally from minute to minute, so not only are your shots new compared to the last visit, but you'll get entirely different results at different times of day.

It's particularly rewarding to shoot dunes in Death Valley, where a little sweat equity will get you to remote sands untouched by human footprints. Just make sure that you visit at a time of year when the weather will be mild, and that you bring survival supplies, particularly plenty of water. They don't call it "Death Valley' for nothing!

Monument Valley, Eastern Approach

Monument Valley, Eastern Approach, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan (in Utah).

The popular shot taken from mile marker 13.

Snow Arrives in Arches

Snow Arrives in Arches, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan (in Utah).

What a difference a day makes! Arches National Park, Moab, Utah.

Clouds, Light Rays, and Sandstone

Sandstone Fins, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan (in Utah).

Partly couldy days can create some spectacular shooting opportunities at Arches National Park.

Ever Get That Feeling...

Ever Get That Feeling..., originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan (in Utah).

That you're being watched?

Light painting on Balanced Rock at dusk in Arches National Park, Moab, Utah. I like to use flashlights for light painting, since I can control in real time the beam of light and what is lit. For larger objects such as this I use a spotlight.

On another night we went up to Delicate Arch...

Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Mesa Arch Sunrise, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan (in Utah).

Sunrise at Mesa Arch, one of the most popular dawn shots available at Canyonlands.

Goblin Valley State Park, Utah

World's Greatest Concentration..., originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan (in Utah).

Doesn't it look like a massive collection of terra cotta lawn gnomes?

Waterpocket Fold and Capitol Reef

Waterpocket Fold, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan (in Utah).

This is one of the water pockets...

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

Bonneville Salt Flats Dawn

Bonneville Salt Flats Dawn, originally uploaded by Jeff Sullivan (in Utah).

Now I need to wash off the salt slush caked onto my car!