Scott Lake and Fall Color

Good friend and photographer Gino Creglia and I got an early start Friday in search of some high Sierra fall color. We were after aspen trees responding to the colder air and shorter days of the change of season. Scott Lake, off of Hwy 89, looked like a good candidate, although neither of us had been there before.

The air was crisp and the morning sunlight clear and bright as we started the hike. We soon found that, at least in this part of the Sierra, fall had yet to arrive. The leaves were bright green, transmitting the sharp sunlight beautifully, but had not yet begun their turn toward the red. No matter. We reached Scott Lake and saw the surprising results of our multi-year drought. Low water level revealed a forest of tree stumps where the lake bed had been. They were very eerie, and the quiet scene reminded me of a Dali painting-something surreal.

Later that day we had lunch and found some bright yellow foliage at Sorenson’s resort and further along Hwy 88.

Shack and coiled hose at Sorenson’s resort.

Although we were a little too early in the season, we still found bright sunlit trees, blue skies and the strange landscape of near-dead Scott Lake. A very interesting early fall drive.

Folsom Photo Walk

I hosted a photo walk in Folsom this last Saturday for members and friends of the 4th Tuesday Photo Group. We had 8 people take the walk. I chose to take the group down historic Sutter St., shooting old store fronts, signage, antiques, and any else of interest that we encountered. The benches and old brick were lit by the late afternoon sun, giving objects a warmth and texture that is always beautiful.

At the end of the street we entered the Larry Young photo gallery and viewed some nice work by a local photographer. Currently, he’s the only photo gallery on a street of several art galleries. A few of them show photography along side other art. I hope to see more photography displayed on Sutter St. in the future.

We then took the pedestrian bridge across the river to a parking area that afforded a good view of the Rainbow Bridge, with river rocks in the foreground and trees on both banks. We were also treated to a full moon rise just at dusk with plenty of light left on the bridge. We stayed until dark. Cameras with high ISO capability definitely had the advantage toward the end of the shoot. We had a good time shooting subjects that never seem to disappoint.

A couple of our photographers hard at work.

Exterior wall tiles and antique cups along Sutter Street.

A comfortable bench waits for weary feet.

The moon rises behind Rainbow Bridge.

Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. My thanks to my photo walkers. We’ll have to do it again!

Peddlers Fair, Folsom, CA.

Last Sunday Sutter St. hosted the annual Peddlers Fair. The street was blocked to traffic and filled with people and vendors selling antiques, coins, dolls, old records, fruits and vegetables and anything else that might turn a small profit. Not quite in the mood photographically, I went down anyway and soon changed my mind. There were photo ops everywhere.

I found the old and odd objects to be great subjects. Better than that, the manner in which the sellers displayed of all this stuff made statements all their own. I concentrated on finding quirky things, full of color, next to other quirky things. By selectively framing this menagerie I made my own statements. I ended up with images that bordered on the abstract, but with readily identifiable subjects. I came away with enough shots for a new portfolio of images quite different from what I usually do. It’s always good to stretch and grow and surprise yourself in the process.

These game boards required holding the camera over my head to reach the top shelf on which they sat.

A small farmer’s market was set up on a side street. More color opportunities.

After talking for awhile with a seller of antique typewriters, I asked for a photo. He wasn’t too sure, but graciously obliged. I converted to B&W with the channel mixer in Photoshop.

Color, texture, placement. All good for visual interest.

An obviously well-used tool kit in un-manly baby blue sits in direct sun. The shapes, shadows and angles of the tools looked like a jigsaw puzzle to me.

The Peddlers Fair turned out to be a rich source of images on a day when I was feeling pretty unmotivated. A good lesson for when we don’t think we’re feeling very creative. Just get out there and shoot.

Return to Desolation

Here are a couple of images from my third foray into the beautiful Desolation Wilderness with photo buddy Gino Creglia. This time we took our now familiar route from Echo Lakes, but went past Lake of the Woods to Ropi Lake. This extension of our last trip to this part of Desolation dropped us down into a wide and beautiful valley where Pyramid Creek runs in and out of several lakes on its way to Horsetail Falls. Unfortunately, fires somewhere south of here filled the valley with a light haze of smoke, preventing us from taking long and wide views of the locale. We had to focus on closer scenes in order to minimize the effect of the smoke in our photos.

Pyramid Creek flows out of Ropi Lake and cascades onward to Pitt and Avalanche Lakes. The smoke induced haze is evident in the sky.

Farther down the river, we worked on this view of a picturesque tree leaning over the creek. This is an example of layering an image. There is a foreground, a middle ground and a background, all of which have elements of interest. The creek leads the viewer’s eye up through these layers and acts as a unifying device. Following the creek up and into the image allows the viewer to stop at the different layers and inspect what’s interesting about each area.

Riding in the water taxi across upper Echo Lake on the return we had the good fortune to get a quick trip past the small islands in the middle of the lake. Shot from the moving boat, this tree-filled island offered this view in the late afternoon sun. The dead tree with the bleached trunk dominated the scene, so I gave it prominence. A conversion to black and white worked better, emphasizing contrast and tonality rather than color.

Effie Yeaw field trip

At 6:30 am last Saturday I found myself in the parking lot of the Effie Yeaw Nature Center. A new photo group I’ve met with, the 4th Tuesday photography group, were going on an early morning photo shoot at the center. We got there in advance of the sunrise and made our way along wooded trails toward the American River.

We had good light for about 1 1/2-2 hours before the golden colors of morning washed out. Small groups of young deer and clutches of turkeys crossed our paths and wandered through the oaks. It was my first time at the center and was a great way to spend a morning with friends without a long drive out of town.

Well into summer the vibrant color these plants once had is long gone. But enough interest remained in the way of texture and subtle shades for me to compose a close shot of random foliage.

Without a graduated neutral density filter this shot required a bit of massaging in Photoshop to bring the highlight and shadow portions into line with what the scene looked like. I’m using the classic compositional technique of leading the eye from the foreground into the scene to the background.

This shot of trees both in the shade and in the light didn’t work to my satisfaction in color. I converted to Black and White and cropped it down to a narrower view that I thought best represented where the interest really was.

The Effie Yeaw Nature Center is a great place to spend any portion of the day. Our early morning outing was especially rewarding. Highly recommended.

In the mix

I’ve been entering a few exhibits recently. I failed to land a spread in Color Magazine, but the news isn’t all bad. The California State Fair accepted one of my photographs and I received an Award of Merit in the photography division. The KVIE Art Auction also accepted a print to auction off in support of the local PBS station.

I scored a pretty good location at the KVIE studios where all of the artwork was displayed at a ‘preview party’. Lots of great art was on the walls, including some local artists with national and international reputations. Great company! Here’s my ‘Red Arches’ from the Oaxaca portfolio.

The exhibit halls at the state fair were a lot of fun. They were full of student art, three dimensional work and of course painting and photography. I’m displaying my ‘fashionably orange’ ribbon in front of the lucky (two awards so far) ‘La Tienda’.

At the Crocker

My friend Mike Wantz has a pass to get into the Crocker Art Museum to shoot their Third Thursday Jazz shows that are put on in the museum patio. Mike shoots these and other events for the museum for their use and gets stuff published in their brochures. I tagged along and got in free with Mikes’s pass and we shot photos of the Garrett Perkins Project as they played for about 150 people. Their tight, upbeat jazz got the crowd feeling good. We could move around at will and I selected few shots for today’s post.

It was hot, but thankfully we were in the shade.

Another shot showing part of the museum architecture.

At the end of the show some fans came up and had a moment with the leader/sax player.

Outside the museum I fired off a couple quick shots of the construction going on for possible submission to the calendar (see previous post).

We got access to the museum as well, and took advantage of that to see the Maxfield Parrish prints on display. Good stuff!

Desolation Wilderness

Last Saturday wedding and fine art shooter Gino Creglia and I decided we couldn’t resist the call of the wild any longer. Failing to take advantage of this awesome high Sierra wilderness area in our own backyard was no longer an option. With minimal gear but lots of enthusiasm we packed water, munchies, and a trail map and headed out to the Echo Lakes trailhead. Taking the convenient water-taxi saved about 2.5 miles each way at the beginning and end of the trip, but we totaled almost 9 miles by the time we finished up in the rain.

Beautiful clouds enhanced our images all day long. Lake of the Woods was blue and serene as Pyramid Peak dominated the skyline.

A small bouquet nestled against some large granite boulders at Lake Aloha.

A telephoto shot across Lake of the Woods compressed this scene of pines, water and rock, the basic elements of this landscape.

I converted a view of Lake Aloha to black and white to emphasize the basic shape of the rock and to play up the relationship of the near and far without the distraction of color.

The hiking and picture taking possibilities in the Desolation Wilderness are endless. We’ve got another excursion planned for later in the month. In the meantime there are plenty of images to work on from our tiring but rewarding outing.

KVIE Art Auction

Another good day. The letter arrived yesterday congratulating me on the fact that I’ve had a photograph accepted into the KVIE Art Auction. The artwork is donated to the station, our local PBS affiliate, and then auctioned off to the public live on the air. It’s a lot of fun, and I’ve enjoyed watching the auctions over the years. All lot of great art is produced by local artists in the Northern California area, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it for the first time.

Good friend, Mike Wantz, has also had a photo accepted into the auction, scheduled for late August. Here’s my entry, Red Arches, from my Oaxaca trip last year.

California State Fair

I got the news yesterday-I’ve had a photograph accepted into the California State Fair Fine Art Competition! This is the first time I’ve entered, and I’m thoroughly excited. There will be prizes awarded during the fair, but I’m content just to have been included.

The shot is entitled ‘La Tienda’, which means ‘the shop’. It was taken in Mexico, and is part of my portfolio of photos from Oaxaca. (To see the rest of the images, click on Buckley Photographs in the sidebar.) –Now to get into the KVIE art auction.