Organic Light Pan

It has been a trying couple of weeks.  Long days teaching rambunctious inquisitive children  in the midst of abstaining from food and fluids leaves one completely spent by the end of the day. However the day does not end.  There is time for maybe a few minutes for a quick nap before the breakfast meal is prepared.  By the time the meal is over, the evening prayer has arrived and after that additional prayers and recitations of the melodic words of the Quran.

Right now, in the middle of the night, with tiredness pervading, are some of the first quiet moments I have had in these last two weeks.  I have taken the time to reflect and realized the month of Ramadan is already half past.  Days of Mercy behind us as we continue on to through the Days of Forgiveness before culminating in the Days of Freedom from the Fire.  I returned to the memories of the day before it all started and remembered its humble beginning.

Ramadan Sunset

As the sun sank that day I was captured by the grass.  At the time I was not sure what it was about the grass that appealed to me but now I think I understand. Grass covers about 40% of the surface of all land on Mother Earth.  We rarely think much of it and we never seem to care as we trample over it beneath our feet.  It covers the ground.  Of all life on the Earth, it clings to the ground and it never rises more than a few feet.  It holds the soil of the Earth together and prevents it from being washed away.  It provides a home for many a small creature and insects and blankets the ground.

After The Sun

The photos I made that evening two weeks ago depict a vivid atmosphere. However these photos are not of the setting sun or the ocean of fog rising up to engulf where I was standing or even of the stark and colorful sky.  These photos are of the simple, unassuming and humble grass that stands between looking on and quietly fulfilling it role in creation.  Come winter when the rains come, the seeds from the very stalks depicted in these photos will germinate and will bare witness to the re-birth of a “dead” land.    It is then that the greatness of what humility is will be revealed.

Ramadan Blues

For now however, we just need to wait and continue along our path hopefully learning how to be as humble.  What we hope to reap from our humility on the Day when all Debts fall due, will be great.  As the great scholar, Abdul-Qadir Al-Gilani, of days past said in a book he wrote that I read years ago (I paraphrase) “I attempted to enter Paradise from all its gates, charity, prayer, fasting, and so on, only to find them all crowded  until I arrived at the gate of humility and found no one there and so I entered through it.”  That always amazed me.  We all try to rise up and stake our claim to something in this life.  It might be wealth or status or knowledge or any number of things that prove our unrelenting hubris.  And yet, what is asked of us by our Creator is nothing more than humble submission and obedience.  We have such a hard time doing and being something so simple.  Look at those photos again.  Do you see anything anymore besides the grass?  I thought not.

Thank you Grass for reminding me of my place.

Peace to you all.

I was out last night and this evening in search for the new crescent moon that marks the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting.  Last night, that would be July 19th, 2012, the moon was not seen.  It was only 12 minutes behind the sun and at the same time we had some fog to contend with.  Similarly, the moon was not positively seen anywhere in the world on the evening of the 19th.

This evening was a different story.  The conditions were perfect and the moon was easily seen.  Not that it made much difference, as the 19th was the 29th day of the previous month and was the critical day in determining when Ramadan would start.  However, it is my “thing” to be out there photographing the new moon, so out I went again this evening.

The moon was easily seen and a thought suddenly occurred to me.  For the longest time as I can recall the moons of Ramadan have appeared in a lack-luster entrance.  Quiet, humble and just there.  Suddenly it all made sense to me.

“Oh you who believe, Fasting has been proscribed upon you as it was proscribed on those who were before you so that you might increase in piety” ~ Quran.

Piety, this month is about piety.  Piety is never flashy.  Its not glamorous or forward or vain.

Its about humility, being patient, reserved, and quiet.  This evening it was quiet out there.  Few people, mild temperatures, slight breeze, very unassuming.  The moons of Ramadan have arrived showing us the very qualities that this month is designed to foster in all of us.  I am in awe.

Ramadan Moon

To all my Muslim Readers – Ramadan Mubarak!  Make use of this month to come out as humble and pious as the moon.

To all Peace.

On Tuesday June 5, 2012 an event occurred, that in all probability, will not be seen again by any living soul on the planet today, if not for a very few of us.  The planet Venus transited the the sun.  A transit is when a planet passes in between the sun and earth.  It is the same event as an eclipse, however in this case because the planet’s distance from the earth is so great, it cannot block out the entire sun.  Rather, it appears as a black dot on the disk of the sun.

Second Contact

As the transit continues, Venus has five points that are of interest, First Contact, Second Contact, Greatest Transit, Third Contact and Fourth Contact.  The contact points are when an edge of Venus touches the edge of the Sun.  First and second contact occur when Venus enters into the disk of the sun and third and fourth when it is exiting.  Of course the first and fourth contacts are to say the least not very exciting as Venus is outside of the disk and not seen.  Second contact, when Venus is completely in the Sun as shown above, is the first exciting celestial moment.

From there the traveler, which is the meaning of the word planet from ancient Greek, planetai, which literally meant traveling or wandering star, because the planets were “stars” but they continually moved around the sky appearing in the various constellations throughout the year, continued on its way across the face of the sun.  Today of course we know that they are spherical masses of either rock or gas that reflect the light of the sun back to us here on earth and seen in the night time sky.

The Traveler

The 2012 transit of Venus began at 3:06 pm PDT and continued and was in progress at the time of sunset.  It reached its Greatest Transit point at 6:29 pm PDT, which is the point where Venus is closets to the center of the sun.  From this point onward it will approach the edge of the sun and Third Contact as it leaves the disk.

No Return

The ending for us here in California was anti-climatic.  The Sun slowly sank into the cloud laden sky with Venus still well within its disk.  It was an event that I will remember for the rest of my life, an event that comes only once every 105 years and one that I am very fortunate to have been witness to.

Nearing The End

I hope you all had a chance to see this in person.  If not, take care of your self as you will need to live another 105 years to see it again.

Peace.

Annular Eclipse

On May 20th 2012, the Moon and Sun came together in a show that did not disappoint.  However, it was the Sun that took center stage as it was the object of occlusion that was to produce sights that few have seen.  It was an exhilarating event that did produce the excitement promised.

However, the eclipse of the sun could not have happened with out the moon.  This month’s eclipse eclipsed the fact that what took place was the conjunction of the moon and the sun, an event that takes place in every lunar cycle.  Conjunction marks the moment when the moon passe directly between the Earth and the Sun. Most months the Moon’s plane of orbit places it either above or below the Earth’s plane of orbit around the Sun and thus an eclipse of the Sun does not occur.  Yet each and every lunar cycle brings a conjunction and the birth of a new moon.

Fortunate is the one who had the opportunity to witness the physical conjunction take place on this current lunar cycle, for most months it is an invisible event.  The moment the Moon passes that conjunction the moon is born and the angle between the Moon-Earth-Sun, known as Elongation, begins to grow until it is large enough that light from the Sun will start reflecting off of the Moon and the surface of the Moon becomes visible to our eyes.

Last night it was the Moon’s turn to take center stage and reveal itself as the fine crescent that it is when it is a new moon.  On a first day, the Moon is not visible before sunset and in most cases it will not be visible until close to 4/9ths the time between sunset and moonset.  Many factors are involved in the visibility of the new crescent Moon after conjunction. Elongation, Moonset lag time after sunset, Percent of the Moon’s Illumination (also known as the Arc of Illumination), its Altitude at the time of sunset and the Age of the Moon past conjunction.

Last night at sunset the Moon was about 25 hours and 45 minute old.  A very young Moon.  It had an Elongation of only 12°, a value that is below the accepted 15° that is needed for easily seeing it and it was only 1% illuminated, the actual minimum that is needed to be seen.  At best it was going to be a difficult moon to see even with perfect sky conditions.

When I arrived last night at my normal viewing location atop Russian Ridge  just west of the SF Bay Area at 2300 feet above sea level, the sky was not looking good.

Sunset on Rajab 1, 1433

The horizon was nearly completely covered in high clouds obscuring the sky and almost any hope of seeing such a young crescent moon.  To make matters worse, this new Moon was to mark the beginning of the 8th month in the Islamic Calendar, Rajab, a hallmark month, and one that is critical in establishing the beginning of Ramadan just two months away.  For a new Moon sighting to be accepted according to Islamic Jurisprudence, two adults must witness the new crescent Moon as a naked eye sighting without any optical aids.  I was just one man, who could only coax his 12 year old and 6 year old daughters to accompany him.

It was not looking good.  Nonetheless, I waited, scanning the sky back and forth, referring to an ephemeris for guidance as to where in the sky the moon should be.  I looked, I measured, I waited.  The light was fading so I decided to do the Sunset prayer up there on the ridge.  Once finished I continued to look.  Text messages were filling my phone quickly with questions asking if the moon had been seen.  My only reply, “stay tuned”.  I only knew of one other person out looking in our area and even though he did say he would meet me up on the ridge it looked like he was not going to make it.

As the optimal viewing time approached I looked even harder, but to my disappointment the area I needed to be clear, where the Moon should be was obscured by clouds.  I decided to just start taking photos of the sky in the vicinity of where the moon should be and then later after I returned home I could examine them closely for any tell-tale signs of a crescent.  It would not count as a sighting but I could still check.

Just then my eyes caught a glimpse of a thin white curved line just poking out of the clouds.  I looked harder and to my utter amazement it was the crescent Moon! It was exactly where I thought it would be hidden behind a thin gray curtain of moisture in the sky.  My daughters rushed over and asked where it was.  I pointed it out and my eldest saw it immediately.  It was 8:53 pm when we made that first sighting, and I pointed the camera at it and started to photograph.  In between the shutter releases I would reply to the text messages in the confirmation of the sighting.  It was still not a valid sighting as I was the only adult, a situation that I have fallen into many times in the past, especially for the month of Rajab.

All of a sudden, in the twilight, I heard some voices.  I looked back to see it was my friend and his family.  They arrived just in time.  I called out to them to hurry before it sets.  They came up to me and I pointed it out and all but one of his younger sons could see it clearly as it continued to sink closer to the horizon.  We had a confirmed sighting and my demeanor changed instantly from contented sadness to jubilation.  I can’t remember a sighting event where I was so happy to have another adult with me to establish a positive sighting.

Rajab 1433

This Moon was only 26.3 hours old past conjunction.  One of the youngest moons I have ever had the pleasure to see and photograph.  As thin as this moon was it most definitely took the stage last night.

So to all my Muslim readers, a Rajab Mubarak!

Peace to You All!

The Light Source

This past Sunday was dedicated to photographing the annular eclipse of May 20th, 2012.  I had prepared for it on many levels from what exposure to use to where I would drop my tripod to how I was going to make what I captured unique, and had done so for weeks ahead of time.  The one thing that I failed to plan for was equipping my four photo/travel assistants with what they needed to view and keep themselves entertained for its duration.  Despite my earlier attempts to find solar viewing glasses I could not find any vendor who was not sold out.  In addition, the day before the eclipse I found myself in a discussion with another photographer who was making plans to photograph and produce HDR (high dynamic range) photos of the event showing both the eclipsed sun and landscape as they would normally appear to our eyes.  I contested his claim but he was insistent that it could be done.  This caused me to waiver in my plans, and coupled with the possibility of a mutiny on my hands with my assistants forced my hand to change my plans nearly entirely.   I found myslef the night before, rather than getting a good night’s rest, up late scouring various sites on what was capable while still maintaining a real look to HDR photography.  Then I happened to land on a news page about the museum and visitor center at Turtle Bay Exploration Park / Wild Bird Sancturay in Redding, Ca.  The article stated that they would be selling solar viewing glasses for $1 and the article was only written that day, the information had to be accurate, right?

Crescent Sun

In the 11th hour, I changed all my plans.  My destination was now Turtle Bay Wild Bird Sanctuary in spite of the fact that there would be hundreds if not thousands of people there.  Redding was not that far off the annularity line that it would change what I actually had in mind, and park environment would placate my assistants should the need arise.

We awoke Sunday morning and prepared our supplies for the day’s drive and viewing.  We were out the door with plenty of time and the  four and a half hour drive started out pleasant, however the further we drove the more tense things became in the car.  The tide of pleasant anticipation in my assistants was starting to turn.

We arrived with two and a half hours of buffer before the start of the eclipse.  The plan, buy the viewing glasses, eat lunch, find a suitable viewing location and then wait.  Disappointment met us from the beginning.  First the museum under estimated the response for viewing glasses and was sold out the day before.  Not to worry the employee told me, they will have 500 more glasses arriving at 4 pm, and will be available at the annex store by the famous Sundial Bridge.  By the time we arrived we found a line of about 100 people standing in the hot sun in 90° weather waiting to get in to the store at 4pm.  The roving employee there let us know we were in a part of the line where we might not get any glasses as each person could buy up to 5 glasses, putting us in a risky part of the line.  So with great hope we waited.  Slowly patience began to wear thin among my crew. One wanted to light a fire just because it was so hot, his incredulous claim was he could do it with just a focused pinhole of light.  Another wished he did not leave his water in the car.  Then the other wanted to play, and sleep and be carried on my head at the same time.  My patience was starting to wane.  By 4:45 we were inside and we made our purchase – lady luck smiled on us.

Obscured

We had less than 15 minutes before the start of the eclipse.  I announced that everyone should evacuate bladders and such for once I start the photo sequence there was no stopping.  No one heeded my words.  I was suspicious.  By the time we finished eating and squelching some sibling rivalry fires, the eclipse had started and I missed the initial contact of the moon with the sun and disappointment found its way into my head.

For the next two and a half hours, it was one dispute after another, one distraction after another, one question after another.  My mind was not focused at all on what I was doing.  My photos were not being timed carefully and I would miss the twenty second mark I had planned for each photo more times than I could keep count of.  I was also plagued by clouds, thin nefarious clouds that were just thick enough to keep the light levels jumping all over the place.  I could not make a sequence of more than 4 or 5 photos that had the same exposure level that I needed to make a time lapse sequence possible.  I also saw in my view finder this very odd haloing and glow around the sun nearly the whole time.  Something I did not notice in my practice photos.  It brought me great concern that I might find flares in all these photos making them useless in the end.  My mind started slipping into thoughts of inadequate equipment syndrome, something that did not torment me in more than a decade.

With This Ring

As the moon continued its encroachment of the sun, the anticipation of my assistants increased.  The arguing vanished into amazement, the prevailing thirst quenched with wonderment, and I as well was awe struck by the magnitude of what was occurring before my eyes.  Here was the moon, an entity in our sky that could not be seen if not for the light of the sun, moving in front of the source of what makes it existent to our eyes and blocking it out.  However, rather than overshadowing the sun it instead forms a ring of heavenly light as the the two wed in the sky for nearly 4 minutes in a display that had no beginning and no end.  It was as if time stood still and the world became dim and humbled in the grandeur of their union.  Being so close to a multitude of people, even though out of eyesight, we were not cheated out of hearing the cheers that belted out throughout the park as the ring became complete.  It was a spine tingling moment not to be soon forgotten.

Broken Light

Nonetheless, being created things that had a beginning so long ago, their nature is to end and they exhibited their primal nature with the moon breaking the ring of light as it continued on its way past the sun and ending totality.  Again a second cheer rings out among the crowd.  The event everyone came to see had happened.  In my exhilaration any thoughts I had about not capturing the eclipse the way I had intended had vanished if not for just a brief time.  I continued until the dreaded clouds that obscured the sky and mustered havoc with my exposures obliterated the light of the sun, just 10 minutes before the eclipse concluded.  A disappointing end, and one that brought question if I would have any usable photos at all.

After a long drive to Turtle Bay, and sitting square in the sun and heat for nearly five hours, I had to look forward to another long drive home unsatisfied in my work and with no hopes of a return on the investment made.  We arrived home just past midnight and my first act was to see and download the photos.  At first glance all were useless.  Not more than 4 or 5 photos in sequence were exposed at the same settings, making the probability of a time lapse sequence happening slim to none.  So I turned off the computer and retired to bed  hoping to come up with something in the morning.

The next day I started to process the photos to find almost all of them have a glowing halo around the sun that I could not remove without great difficulty.  In my desperation I start to process the photo Broken Light in a manner that I would never normally do to discover that the halo I was seeing was nothing more than the clouds that were obscuring the sun glowing in the light.  The use of the solar filter on my lens allowing me to view and photograph the sun had made the clouds so dark that they did not appear as clouds when normally processed against the brightness of the sun.  So with my modified processing suddenly the lost photos became as surreal as the momentous eclipse itself.  I searched the net for other photos of the eclipse to find that no one had anything like what I had been given.

My disappointment was suddenly transformed into delight.  Maybe someday I will have the opportunity to produce a time lapsed sequence of the moon eclipsing the sun.  However in hindsight, what I had envisioned would not have been very interesting and what I was given instead has pleased me much more.  Funny how things turn out.

Now I am looking 5 years ahead to the next eclipse that will cross over this neighborhood of the Earth, maybe then I will see my original vision come to fruition.

Peace to you All!

Spring seemed to come early this year, especially after an almost non-existent winter.  This seems to be the pattern in the past few years, the seasons seems confused, not unlike many of us with all that has been going on in the world.  We have all endured some very trying times in the last few years.  From loss of income and jobs to health issues and housing problems and mounting debt and wars, these tribulations have tired and tested all of us.  I could go on about the hardships that have befallen me and Organic Light Photography, but what good can come out of self-pity?  The important thing is that we are all still here, standing firm in the face of the onslaught, unwavering and resolute.  Doing what we are supposed to do, fulfilling our destiny and meeting our fate with patience and contentment.  I applaud all of you who have stood firm and weathered the storm.

Standing Firm

This was the sentiment I felt when I saw and photographed this photo titled ‘Standing Firm’.  The torrent of water rushing at this small delicate tree from all sides and its almost deafening roar would be enough to rattle any resolve. However, it has taken root in firm, unyielding, solid granite and with that as its foundation, finds the wherewithal to continue in its growth not bothered in the least by the madness rushing past it.

I do not find images to make photographs of; they find me.  They do so at exactly the right time when I need to see them and capture them that I may benefit from the message they are conveying and in turn pass it forward to all of you.  It is strange in that I have passed by this location more times than I can count and never once stopped to photograph.  However as it turned out this time, I was not passing by.  I decided on traveling up the Merced River canyon on a tip that wildflowers were blooming along the river.  Therefore, I made a day trip of it and discovered nothing of the sort in the way of flowers.  So, I continued up the canyon not intending going into Yosemite National Park at all, only to find myself at the park entrance.  It was still early in the season so I did not expect to see much in the Valley and again had no intention on going down into it.  Nevertheless, I drove in, pulled over at Cataract Falls, and walked around a bit.

The water flow was pretty heavy and I started to wonder where this water was coming from.  It then occurred to me that this water was probably the run off from Cascade and Tamarack Creeks that intersect Big Oak Flat Rd. that leads into the park from the North.  So, I decided to go up and take a look.  It was that wondering that brought me to make the Cascade Creek bridge over crossing a destination rather than just a place that I passed going into and out of the park.  It was not particularly crowded although many people were there stopping, looking and taking snapshots with everything from SLR cameras to iPads and phones.  No one bothered once to look down over the bridge while I was there making ‘Standing Firm’.

I was very excited about this photo and made it with both the large format camera on film as well as with the digital camera.  The version posted here, as well as other places on the web, is the digital version.  Once the film version arrives, I will post that one as well in the hopes of having more detail and texture throughout. The photo has potential as it has already been selected as the Editor’s Weekly Pick on NaturePhotographers.net, the premier nature photography site on the internet.

So with that, enjoy what remains of spring, get out there, and find some inspiration for your self.

Peace

For almost one year I had waited for last night. The last time I tried for this I was snubbed by fog at the coast.   The vision: photograph a rising full moon over arch rock at Natural Bridge State Beach in Santa Cruz.  I had everything planned out except for one thing.  To actually see the arch way in the rock and get the the full moon over it on a true full moon night is impossible.  A slight oversight on my part.  To capture what I had truly envisioned, I would have had to photograph it the day before, albeit not a full moon but close enough, at least I would hope so.

Beyond Blue

Nonetheless, with a full moon at its perigee, closet point in its orbit around the Earth, and the atmospherics present in the coastal environment, the colors were somewhat surreal.  I concentrated on that and came away with what I could.  At the time, I had two tripods set up, one carrying the large format 4×5 camera, which I used to expose 4 sheets of film, and the second tripod carrying the digital camera which captured the two photos presented here.  Had I only used one tripod, I could have been somewhat more mobile to find other compositions with the moon set in different locations among the rocks.

Full Moon Over Arch Rock

The search continues for the next date when the full moon will rise over Arch Rock.  I will be a little more careful in my planning and time things for the moon to be in a position that the arch will be clearly visible.  For now, I hope you enjoy these.  I’ll keep you all informed of the next attempt.

It was a lesson in planning and preparation.  I considered the day before but for some reason I was too caught up in the moment the moon broke the horizon, rather than when the moon would actually line up with the arch.  When the moon actually did break the horizon, the marine layer all but obscured it making it incredibly faint.  Its vividness, as shown, did not appear for nearly 15 to 20 minutes later.  A mistake that I will not make in the future with this subject.

I hope you all at least had the good fortune of seeing this full moon from where ever you happened to be.  Was was a stunning moon.

Peace.

As I started to write this post, about two weeks ago, nearly a third of winter had passed and barely a drop of rain had fallen here in California. This is troubling because if it does not rain in the low lands it is not going to be snowing in the high country. While the rain is important, its the snow pack in the higher elevations that fill our water reservoirs and keep the perennial creeks and rivers flowing. This year it has snowed once or twice leaving behind a negligible amount of snow on the ground.

The high country of the Sierra Nevada is normally unreachable by this time into winter by virtue of the hundreds of inches of snow that block roads and by the continuous storms that make snow plowing a futile effort. This year however, a new record has been set for the Tioga Road remaining open into winter. The previous record of January 1st set in 2006 has been put to rest and it has extended late into January.  This strange winter has also created an interesting and fairly unique opportunity to photograph places and events in the high country in winter normally not accessible.

Full Moon

The full moon this month fell on January 8th.  The full moon always rises as the sun is setting and this is a very nice time to add the moon to the landscape in photos.  Actually its better to make a photo with the rising moon a day or two before the moon is full due to the contrast variation between the land and moon at sunset.  On the day of the full moon, the sky and land will have darkened sufficiently such that to photograph both in a single exposure and retain detail in both the land and moon is nearly impossible.  However, the moon lags the sun by 45 to 50 minutes each day, so the day before the full moon the moon will rise about 45 minutes before sunset giving the opportunity to photograph the rising moon with sufficient light on the land as well.

The other interesting fact is that in January, the full moon rises just to the right of Half Dome in Yosemite when viewed from locations near Glacier Point.  In a normal winter, reaching Glacier Point is a monumental task as one has to either ski or snow shoe in for miles.  Not something that is done very often.  However this year the roads in the high country are still open, the full moon was rising, and access to these locations was incredibly easy.  Put all three of these circumstances together and you have the possibility for some interesting photo opportunities.

Knowing this, I presented the scenario to my 4 assistants two days before the full moon to hear there opinions on a one day excursion to the Yosemite High Country where we would hike in to the top of Sentinel Dome, a location west of Half Dome, like Glacier Point, but about 800 feet higher in elevation to see and photograph the rising full moon over Half Dome.  The consensus was a resounding yes!  So we started making plans for the trip, what we would need to bring, who would carry what and planned out our timetable.  We would leave on Saturday no later than 10 am, giving us enough time to reach the trail head and make the short 1.2 mile hike to the top of Sentinel Dome with enough time to set up the cameras.  Mind you, our youngest companion is only 5 years old.

I planned on making a couple of panoramic photos, one using the DSLR and one using the large format camera.  So rather than having to switch out cameras on one tripod, I opted to bring two tripods.  I would carry one and my oldest assistant, 14 years old would carry the second, along with extra water and food.  My second assistant, 12 years old, would carry extra warm clothing, water and some food.  The other two assistants, kept the hike lively.

Needless to say, we missed our departure deadline by one hour.  This cut into the schedule in a not so serious way as long as we did not have to make to many stops along the way…however we did, twice for bathroom breaks and once for gas.  As we made our way up the west side of the Sierra Nevada the absence of snow was very apparent and brought nothing but disappointment to my four assistants who secretly were hoping to find snow everywhere, after all it was winter.  Once we did reach an elevation of about 6000 feet we started seeing remnant ice fields from some snow storms in late autumn that have now turned into giant fields of frozen snow.  However to the occupants of a moving car, it looked white, it was on the ground, it had to be snow and the beseeching started. “Please!, Please!. Pleeeaseeeee!!….stop! we’ll do anything, Pleeaseeee!”  Icy patch after icy patch, the crescendo of pleading increased.  We finally reached the trail head at an elevation of about 7700 ft at around 3pm.  We still had close to one hour to reach the summit, I thought we were in good shape.

As soon as the assistants saw the ice fields they rushed to them with all abandon. It only took about 4 slips of the feet out from under them to realize it really was not snow and they came back with both their heads on straight and eyes on the prize of summitting Sentinel Dome.  This ate about 30 minutes of time before we were out on the trail.  The trail to Sentinel Dome is not a difficult one.  Elevation gain is only about 350 feet and it only gets steep once we reach the final ascent on the north side of the dome.  Along the trail there are two locations where Sentinel Dome can be seen completely and it was at the first location that my my youngest assistant, hand in my hand, asks “what is that?”  I replied, “that is the mountain we are going to climb, we are going up to the top”.  Suddenly she says, “Baba, I’m scared”  All her intrepidness seemed to vanish into thin air.  I reassured her that it would be ok.  She insisted that she did not know how to climb a mountain, but I continued to reassure here that she could hold my hand the whole way up and that we were not going to “rock climb”  Somehow I felt she really did not believe me.  Just before reaching the base of the granite dome, she started to give up out of tiredness and decided to just sit there in the middle of the trail.  After a little coaxing I manage to get her to continue.  The other assistants were already ahead of us and once she saw them ascending the dome, my little one suddenly became over exuberant and started after them.

It was as if I had not existed and this mountain was nothing more than a mole hill to her.  They all charged up the dome ahead of me.  I was about 50 feet from the summit, when my second oldest came rushing back down yelling “the moon is rising, hurry take a picture!”.  It was too late of course, I had missed the rising. Rather than trying to scramble and set up the camera on the slope I continued to the top and once there set everything up.  I started with the large format camera while the moon was still relatively close to the horizon.  I set it up, focused, metered and determined the filtering needed to hold the sky back while still keeping detail in the trees now in the shadow of Sentinel Dome.  I planned on using back shifts to create a two frame panoramic.  With this technique, I would only need to focus once and as long as I did not move the rear standard forwards or back, focus would stay the same.  Once I finished with the larger camera, I switched to the DSLR.  I planned out a sweeping panorama using my 80-200 mm lens set at 80 mm.  Even at 80mm the angle of view was quite tight so it required three vertical passes.  I made 36 separate exposures, twelve in three rows.  By the time I had finished all of this, the wind had started to pick up and with it the wind chill kicked in fiercely.  The air temperature was around 40°F and with that brisk wind, possibly 15 mph, the temperature suddenly felt like it was below freezing.

Moonrise over Half Dome

My assistants started to complainof the cold and found a small impression on the dome and all huddled in it to shield themselves from the wind.  Rather than risking anyone getting really cold, I packed up and we started down just as the the light was starting to become golden in color.  I sensed that the sky was going to ignite with color however reason won out and we found ourselves on the trail and heading down hill.  Once below the tree line the wind was non-existent and everyone was happy again.  Just before reaching the trial head we crossed over a wooden foot bridge that spans over a small unnamed tributary creek that feeds into Sentinel Creek.  The creek is not more than about 10 feet wide and it was completely frozen over.  The creek was a ribbon of ice meandering through the trees, each cascade, with all its ripples and splashes, caught frozen in time. It was too much for them to bear, they just had to walk out onto it.  At first they did so with an ample amount of care, which slowly eroded away and it led them to only find themselves flat on their backs on the icy surface.  This lasted for about 5 minutes with me bellowing out loud in both laughter and admonition to come back off the ice.

We all reached our vehicle in one piece and with our spirits soaring.  We made a quick trip down to Washburn Point, where I made two more photos of little Yosemite Valley under the light of the full moon and fading dusk light and then it was down to the Valley for something warm to eat before heading home.

Dusk at Washburn Point

On the short trip down to the Valley, we started recounting our hike and realized that my youngest assistant suddenly became the record holder in our clan as the youngest to summit Sentinel Dome, at 5 years old.  Not to be outdone, the others started to boast of their own records.  My next youngest holds the record of most number of times to Yosemite before age one.  He in fact visited Yosemite three times before reaching the ripe old age of one year.  Then my oldest of course holds the record for longest hike as a toddler, 4.5 miles at the age of 4 years.  My second oldest holds the record for many things in our clan none of which are for our outdoor escapades.

We arrived home just over 13 hours from the time we left.  We spent about as much time at 8000 feet as we would have on any of our local outings and yet somehow it was not just another day in the park.  We accomplished something great together, as a unit, and discovered things about ourselves and shared an experience, laughter, and each other.  I think we fell in love that day, with each other, with Sentinel Dome, and with Mother Earth.  I don’t know about  my assistants, but to me I feel like every step we took that day forged a stronger bond between the five of us, a bond, God Willing, that will hold us together for many moons to come. It also has seemed to light a desire in us that keeps calling us back to the mountains.

I encourage all of you to go out and do something epic with someone you want to get close to, as epic as you dare, or perhaps maybe even just with Mother Earth. She just might show you the time of your life and lasso your heart.

Peace.

Heart Of Hearts

This photo was made at the end of October.  I was photographing this colorful frosted edge Cottonwood leaf on a cold autumn morning in Yosemite National Park on the outskirts of a small Cottonwood grove along the Merced river.  It was a cold chilly morning and the leaves were still delicately frosted on the leaf face and along the edges.  I still use my old manual focus lenses from my 35mm film camera days, but now on a DSLR.  One of my favorite lenses is the 80-200mm fixed f/4 lens.  It has a single focusing ring and to zoom in  and out the barrel is move in and out respectively.  As I was working the camera was pointed directly down at the leaf.  As I was metering the leaf, I kept seeing the leaf size changing as the lens’ barrel kept sliding down changing the focal length.  Suddenly an idea hit me.  What would happen if zoomed in or out during the exposure.  I closed down the aperture to its smallest setting which gave me the longest shutter I could muster.  I started the exposure with the lens zoomed in to 200 mm and then about 1/3 of the way through the exposure I quickly zoomed out to 80mm and allowed the exposure to finish.  I must have made over 20 attempts to get both the zoomed out and zoomed in leaf well defined in the photo.  This one was my favorite.  My reflection about this photo is below.

Making photographs is an enigma to most when asked why the take photos, or at least it might spark some introspection. Photography, writing with light, is something that might be rooted deep in the need for us to share our experiences with others. It might also be rooted in the need to feel connected to what the photograph was taken of. It could also be rooted in the need to hold on to those things we find dear to our heart. When we look into our heart of hearts we just might find that photography fulfills all of these needs, regardless of what we photograph. In fact, even if the image is never really captured due to the absence of film or other capture media, the very act of tripping a shutter to trap the brief moment of light might be all that is needed to find fulfillment, reward and connection to the things that we love.

Heart Of Hearts has just been announced as the 2nd Honorable Mention on the NPN (Nature Photographers.Net) Editors Pick Awards 2011.  You can see it on the NPN website HERE.

Heart Of Hearts is available for orders on the Organic Light Photography website at this link, HERE

Peace.

It was a strange year of photography for me.  It seemed like I hardly got out at all, but the number of photographs made this past year speak to the contrary.  It was difficult narrowing down all the photos to just these favorites.  The other thing I noticed was that I did not update the website as I normally do, unfortunately time just did not allow for it.  I will try to do better this coming year.  So without any further delay, enjoy my favorite images from 2011.  And don’t forget to visit the website to see the other photos from the year in the “new images” section, HERE

Number 1:

I think by far my most favorite photograph of the year is The Gathering.  It was a whole family effort and it brings back a great memory of my four children, uh assistants, and I stomping around in the surf at the coast gathering and placing all these amazing rocks.  And I did not think I would even make a photo that day as the coast was completely socked in with a thick fog that never lifted.  ‘The Gathering’ has also been a big hit in the art show exhibit as well.  I am hoping for great things with this photo.

The Gathering

Number 2:

I started out the year in a real funk.  I was having a very hard time “seeing”.  I went out one warm, we’re talking like 70 degrees warm, yeah California is strange, February day to the coast with my four assistants to play in the sand.  I wandered the beach while the assistants did what they do best, play.  I soon became enamored with patterns in the sand and started to work.  As soon as I made this photo, my youngest got caught by a sneaker wave and even though it was warm to a dry body, her little 5 year old wet body could not handle it and started to shiver uncontrollably.  We piled whatever clothes we could on her, packed up the camera and carried our little treasure for over 1/2 mile back to the car to warm her up.  She was fine, and my vision was renewed with Treasure.

Treasure

 Number 3:

There are those times when you walk upon a scene where the light is just speaking to you in a very deep way.  This was one of those times.  The light falling on this small area of fallen Black Oak leaves was something I just could not pass up.  I look forward to printing this one very large and exhibiting Final Words in the show.

Final Words

Number 4:

There is a place along the Merced River in Yosemite National Park that brings tranquility to my heart.  Its the place I think of when I need to go to my ‘Happy Place’ and its a place that I have been photographing for years with only marginal success.  This year, the photos I made there were exceptional.  The variety of colors and shapes made me think of an Autumn Garden.

Autumn Garden

Number 5:

This past spring was lackluster at best in California, at least for me.  The one photo that I came back with was from Carizzo Plain.  It was my first multi-4×5-sheet film stitched panoramic.  It brought my computer to its knees, then running Windows XP with only 2 GB of RAM.  The final photograph opened for me some great possibilities in both size and detail in my prints.  The final photograph, Remembering Spring, can be printed out at its native resolution of 360 dpi to the size of 50 inches tall by 100 inches wide!  It can go even larger than that.  I am looking for takers.

Remembering Spring

Number 6:

I have been photographing the moon, the new crescent in particular, for the last 20 years.  I go out each and every month to find it in the sky if not to photographing it as well.  Some months the sky sings with color and vibrancy as the moon sinks slowly to the horizon.  However on this night, color was not even a question, but the atmosphere and the company, Venus shown there to the left, made up for it.  To add to the ambiance, this moon marked the beginning of the new Islamic year, 1433 AH.  This scene made Starting Anew one of my all time favorite new moon photos.

Starting Anew

Number 7:

Some friends and I have a tradition where we take our kids out for several days of camping and fun in the Sierra.  Most often we find ourselves somewhere along the Yuba River.  Years ago, I found a tributary to the Yuba river which came to this lush waterfall about a mile or some up this side canyon.  Each time we camp in the area, I try to make a photograph of it.  It has taken me quite a long time, but I finally captured that waterfall to my liking.  The Long Wait was a exercise in patience.  I guess good things do come those who wait.

The Long Wait

Number 8:

Acquiring wisdom is a life long effort.  The longer we live the better the chances of becoming wise as we have more chances of learning the life lessons associated with wisdom.  I am always in awe of things that portray wisdom by virtue of their age.  Desert Sage and Tufa formations impart that awe to me.  My recent visit to South Tufa Beach along the Mono Lake shore was interesting in that I found a serendipitous juxtaposition of the young crescent moon with old desert sage and ancient Tufa.  I saw myself sitting before The Tufa Sage seeking the wisdom to navigate through life.  Knowing myself and how forgetful I am, I left Mono Lake with a sprig of the desert sage that I now keep in my studio hoping that the aroma would remind me of what I learned.  My studio now reminds me daily with the scent of desert sage to be cognizant that every event in life has a lesson to be learned and waxes my wisdom just a little bit more.

The Tufa Sage

These are the eight photos from this past year that meant the most to me.  I invite you all to let me know which of these  photos are your favorite.  If you would like more information about each photo, the title of each was hyperlinked to the photo on the Organic Light Photography website where you can read my reflections about the photo and possibly purchase a print for your home, office or as a gift to a friend or loved one.  I thank all of my patrons and supporters for the continued support that makes this body of work and what is to come possible.

Have a Happy, Prosperous and Peace filled New Year.