Slow down and wait for it

On a recent trip to Death Valley National Park, I was out wandering the Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes early one morning.  I was looking for lines and shapes in the dunes that might make interesting compositions.  It was just over an hour past sunrise and the sun was still low in the sky, giving some nice side light.  It was also overcast and the sunlight was constantly changing.

I made the first shot below while the sun was between clouds.  I had hiked all over the dunes looking for a composition like this with a leading line, ripples in the sand, and no footprints.  The low side light produced some nice dramatic shadows in the sand, which was also one of the elements I was looking for. 

First Shot

 About 30 seconds later the sun went behind a cloud and without moving the camera I got a different photo.

Second Shot 

I actually like the second shot better.  There was enough indirect sunlight to make the ripples in the sand and the shape of the dunes stand out, without the high contrast shadows.  What looks good is subjective and you make like the first one better. The thing about art is there is no right answer.

Sometimes we shoot like we are in a hurry.  Set up, make the shot, move on to the next one.  It pays to slow down and wait for different lighting.  You don't know what you will get.

Change Your Perspective

Here's an example that shows how changing your camera position relative to the subject can make a difference in your photo's composition.

I took these two photos earlier this week in Joshua Tree National Park.  The first one was taken at 5:52 PM using a focal length of 52mm (78mm in full frame equivalent terms). 

52mm from closer

I intentionally stood where the crescent moon would be between the branches.  I like that composition, but I didn't stop there.  I took several more shots of the moon and that tree.  

88mm from farther away

The second photo was taken less than two minutes later.  I stepped back several feet from the tree and zoomed in to 88mm (132mm).  Simply moving changed the position of the moon relative to the tree.  Zooming in also increased the size of the band of warm sunset color and made the moon appear larger relative to the tree.

Neither composition is "right".  With all art, it is a matter of personal taste.  I hope you enjoy one of these photos and get some value from this blog post.  Please leave a comment and let me know.

California Natural Areas Are Burning

Carr Fire - not my photo

Back in May, we visited the area around Redding California.   That area is now in the national news because of the terrible forest fires that are burning more of California than ever.  This has prompted me to go back and take a look at some of the photos we took of that area before the fires.

By now you have seen photos like the one on the right.  Take a look at some of my photos from before the fire to appreciate the beauty of the area.

Mount Shasta and Shasta Lake

When we were there it was the end of spring.  There was still plenty of new growth on the trees and shrubs but the grasses were just starting to turn golden.  The temperatures were getting up there and things were starting to dry out.  A day after we visited the Redding area we were in Sonoma County where we saw the aftermath of fires that ravaged the hills the year before.  Little did we know it was a preview of things to come.

We took an interesting tour of Shasta Dam.  It was built in 1938 - 1945 and created Shasta Lake which is the largest reservoir in the state. 

Shasta Dam

Bridge Bay, Shasta Lake

You can see from these photos that we were there on a clear sky day, which is the worst conditions to take landscape photos in general and especially waterfalls.  The waterfalls were beautiful to look at and enjoy, but next to impossible to photograph to create a pleasing photo.  I struggled with high contrast, intense whites, and dark shadows.  Normally I wouldn't even try to photograph the waterfalls under these conditions but this was the only time we will be there so I made the best of it.

We spent several hours at the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area surrounding the crystal clear Whiskeytown Lake.  The area is now closed until further notice because the Carr fire is actively burning throughout the Recreation Area.  The fire continues to grow and as of two days ago was 160,000 acres, with 1,604 buildings destroyed, including 1,080 homes.  Tragically, seven people have lost their lives in this fire.

Lower Crystal Creek Falls

When we were there the biggest issue was the heat and bright sun, neither of which slowed us down.

Lower Crystal Creek Falls

When dealing with intense high contrast light the best photograph can often be found in the details where the light is more manageable.  I found this shot off to the side in the shade. It's probably my favorite of the day.

Isolated Cascade

It's ironic that the trail we hiked on to Whiskeytown Falls is named after James K. Carr, Undersecretary of the Interior in 1963.  The fire that is ravaging this area is also named Carr, but was named after his father Francis Carr who was a prominent figure in the creation of the federal Central Valley Project to manage water in the area.

Top of Whiskeytown Falls

For over 40 years the Whiskeytown 220-foot waterfall was a secret to the few that knew it existed. For a variety of reasons, some people decided not to share the falls' existence with others. After two years of work, the NPS opened the Carr trail to the falls so the rest of us can enjoy it.

This area will be devastated but nature will eventually return it to a natural condition. It won't ever be the same, but new life will spring up.  God continues to renew the Earth.

What Were They Thinking?

Glass Beach is the well-known southern beach of MacKerricher State Park in Fort Bragg California. Glass Beach gets its name from the smooth colorful glass pieces that you can find in the pebbly beach. Sounds pretty cool, huh?

Glass and Pebbles

From 1906 to 1967, everything from cars to batteries to bottles, cans, and appliances were unceremoniously pushed over the cliffs into the ocean — a common practice of seaside cities for centuries. Locals referred to it as "The Dumps." Fires were often lit to reduce the size of the trash pile. What were they thinking? When the original dump site filled in 1943, they created another dump down the beach, followed by a third, which remained an active dump site until 1967 when it was closed by the State Water Resources Control Board.  Over several decades the metal was removed and the biodegradable stuff simply degraded and washed into the sea.  Not all items were removed and in this case, were embedded in the rock on the beach.

Spark Plug and Insulator

What was left was mostly pottery and glass from bottles and autos.  The constant waves of the Pacific broke and ground down this trash into small colored pebbles.  Today the most popular thing to do in Fort Bragg is to go to Glass Beach and collect colored glass.  Officially the glass is not to be removed, but when we were there we saw dozens of people collecting it.  Some have made it a cottage industry with glass jewelry shops in town.

In the first half of the 20th century, people dumped their garbage into the ocean.  Why not?  After all, the ocean is huge and will wash all that unwanted stuff away.  The same thought process meant factories dumped toxic waste into waterways and lakes.   We have made great progress in cleaning up our fresh water in developed nations around the world.

We are now filling the oceans with waste plastic that lasts from 450 years to forever. Over 18 billion pounds of plastic ends up in the oceans every year.  Over 1 million plastic bottles are sold around the world every day.  Much of the plastic is used for packaging and single-use purposes.  Water bottles, straws, plastic trays for your salad at a fast food restaurant are used once and discarded. 





Recycling helps.  June and I try to recycle all our household plastic, glass, cardboard, and aluminum.  Globally, the US lags behind Europe in recycling in general and we are doing a terrible job recycling plastics.

What else can we do?   One simple thing is to limit the use of single-use plastics, such as water bottles, straws, and food packaged in plastic.  Instead, we can take our own insulated tumbler, use paper straws or no straws, and not buy food packaged in plastic.

Fifty years from now our children and grandchildren will look at the oceans and ask "What were they thinking?" Let's start thinking about reducing the plastics in our landfills and oceans.