Do you look on the dark side or the bright side?

A couple more from the ghost town of Bodie mentioned in my last post. These two in particular I think are good examples of how you can come away with totally different moods/interpretations of essentially the same subject, depending on your own point of view and techniques used. The B&W shot is not quite so dark and decayed in feeling when seen in color, but if you want to emphasize that view, then monochrome seems the way to go. In the color shot, the fresh green grass and the blooming flowers become the subject, creating a whole different attitude where nature can be seen as always moving forward and renewing itself even while the manmade structures slowly return to the earth.

I need to get back to this location and spend at least a whole proper day working (this stop was too brief)... the still-life, detail and landscape possibilities are endless. I'm afraid though with all of California's budget cutting, if they start to close some state parks, this might be one of the first to go, since there was already some talk of closing it for preservation purposes.

Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask "how," while others of a more curious nature will ask "why." Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.

- Man Ray

Big Sky Over Owens Valley

After more than the usual amount of research and writing for my last post, I hope no one minds if I keep it short and simple for a few days. This scene is shot from the Whitney Portal road (leads to the main trailhead for climbing Mt. Whitney), looking north towards Bishop and across Owens Valley.  The edge of the Sierras are seen on the left and the White Mountains are on the right, (eastward) towards Nevada. It was a winter day as you can probably tell, though no snow was on the ground down in the valley. This road however, was closed due to snow and ice from the point where I took this. One brave solo backpacker was planning to climb the mountain alone and was trying to convince someone to give him a ride to the normal end of the road, which would have saved several extra miles of hiking, but after walking up the road a bit and seeing the conditions, I had to politely decline. He convinced someone else to try, but they were only gone a few minutes before coming back down, so I don't think he got much help.

Please click on the image for a larger view and be sure to check out lots and lots of other SkyWatch Friday No. 44 links at their home page.

The Oldest Living Things

Imagine the world 500 years ago, 1,000 years ago, 2000 years ago.. How much of human history has passed in that amount of time? These trees, the ancient Bristlecone Pines, have lived here in the cold, dry White Mountains, east California's Sierras, for all of that and much more. Some were alive when the pyramids were built and were already mature trees when Jesus was born.
Growing between 10,000 & 11,000 ft. elevation on rocky dolomite (limestone) slopes that resemble the surface of the moon, these ancient patriarchs cling to life in this arid, hostile climate. Off to the west, the Sierra mountains squeeze most of the moisture from clouds coming in off of the Pacific and little rain is left to fall after they cross the valley and reach this range to the east, close to Nevada. Not much else can grow here, giving the Bristlecones, which have adapted to the climate and soil, the head start they need to survive.
Many of these trees are 2000-3000 yrs. old, calculated by both ring-counting and carbon dating - and the oldest tree, nicknamed "Methuselah", is determined to be 4,750 years old; it's exact location is kept secret, to ensure protection from vandals. The trees that live in the "better" locations grow fatter and taller and thus have shorter lives. The stunted ones living alone in the harshest conditions are well adapted and live the longest. Their wood is dense and impervious to disease, insects and rot and they only need a tiny amount of bark to live.. in fact letting parts of the tree die off is part of their survival strategy.
My wife and I spent an afternoon wandering among and photographing these beauties last year. Several trails wind through this grove (which is the "lower" one at 10K ft.) and for the whole afternoon while hiking, we didn't see another person.. just these ancient sentinels standing quietly as they have for centuries, facing the crest of the Sierras off to the west.
This is my first time to participate in Monochrome Monday... you can see an index of other participants by clicking on the link. You can also click on the smaller, first image to get a more detailed view.

"The Sentinels" - Eastern Sierra

First Kiss of Dawn

"First Kiss of Dawn" - Eastern Sierra

Ahh.. what better place to be on a freezing December 31 morning than all alone among miles of hills and boulders, beneath the eastern wall of the Sierra Nevada mountains, waiting with your camera for the sun to come up? This particular area has thousands of fascinating granite formations and is right at the foot of the spectacular peaks surrounding Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states. Many old movies and TV shows like The Lone Ranger, Bonanza and Treasure of Sierra Madre were filmed here because of the unique western landscape of rocks and snow capped mountains, and it's still popular for commercials and movies. When my wife first saw this, she thought the subject rocks looked like two figures kissing, hence the title of this one. You can see some snowy peaks off on the left horizon, the distance exaggerated by a wide angle lens.