Storm over Selfjorden

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snow covered boat shed on shore of Selfjord in winter, near Fredvang, Moskenesoy, Lofoten islands, Norway

Boat sheds on the Moskenesøya side of Selfjorden, the far shore being Flakstadøya.

Travel landscape stock photography: boat shed in winter snow storm, Selfjorden, Lofoten islands, Norway

Only 15 minutes between these photos.  I had been haunted by this storm for hours as I watched it slowly approach.  At times it would be held up by the 1000 meter high mountain peaks rising from the sea and I would escape its arrival for a precious few minutes, but once I gained exposure to the north it hit with a fury of snow and wind.  A bitter cold straight from the arctic winter, chilling me to the bone.   It was a wild ride that night, alone in my tent halfway up some mountain pass.

Conway Summit

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Panoramic landscape photography: Conway summit, Sierra Nevada mountains, California

Pano Stitching Gone Wrong

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I make most my panoramic photos using photomerge in Photoshop.  Normally it works super good without any problems but sometimes I just have to sit there and scratch my head with what it outputs.  This first photo for example:  3 vertical images with a Nikon 85mm tilt-shift lens.  In other words, it should go together absolutely perfectly, without any distortion or misalignment anywhere.  What happened in photomerge?  A great mystery of life.  All I can think of is that the clouds may have given it some problems.  I just had to use the old fashioned way and combine it by hand.  No problem.

bad-stitch2 mountain-snow-pano

Interesting results on this second photo as well.  And again, it was simple enough to align and blend by hand for a perfect result.

bad-stitch

lofoten-islands-winter-snow

The Kind and the Cruel Sea

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Further down highway 1 from the Redwood national park area, yet still a few hours north of San Francisco, is Salt Point state park.  The waves here crash against rocky beaches and cliffs, rising into coastal bluffs and forests.

Salt Point state park, California

silhouette of trees at sunset

Rocky coastline at sunset, Salt Point state park, California

Dead seal pup on beach, Salt Point state park, California

In the rugged beauty of places like this, one is often reminded in the frailty of the life that lives there.  While the never ending crashing of waves may look good for my photo’s, they can be deadly obstacle for a young seal pup.  I counted 4 of the little guys along the short stretch of coast I walked along at days end.  The wind was blowing so fiercely that I would only pickup the smell when walking immediately down wind.  A quick search among the boulders and the source would be found.

Tafoni eroded boulder, Salt Point state park, California

Cool looking erosion in the sandstone rocks, called Tafoni.

Tafoni eroded boulder, Salt Point state park, California

Salt Point state park, California

The North Coast

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After a night in the Mt. Shasta Area I headed west, through the winding mountain roads of the Trinity Alps and out towards the coast north of Eureka, almost to the Oregon border.  This area is the home to Redwood national park and numerous smaller state parks.  My favorite being Prairie Creek Redwoods state park, a mixture of thick redwood forests and beautiful beaches.  This area is so from my home in southern California (it is a shorter drive from Seattle, Washington than from Santa Barbara) that I only first came through here a couple years ago in the summer and then again in the autumn of 2007.

Gold Bluffs beach - Prairie Creek Redwoods state park, California

Prairie Creek Redwoods state park, California - tents among sanddunes at Gold Bluffs Beach Campground

There is this super cool campground at Gold Bluffs beach, set amongst coastal dunes with the endless crashing waves of the Northern Pacific ocean just a couple hundred feet away.

Roosevelt Elk graze in camproung at Gold Bluffs Beach, Prairie creek redwoods state park, California

Roosevelt Elk lazily wander and graze throughout the tents and campsites.  I would have liked to get a photo of them walking along the beach, but I never saw them there this time.  More reason to go back again.

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Fourth

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Santa Barbara, California - 4th of July fireworks over harbor

4th of July fireworks over Santa Barbara Harbor.

Mount Shasta

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Mount Shasta is one of my favorite mountains in California.  Unlike the chain of rugged granite peaks of the Sierra, Shasta is simply a giant volcano rising 10,000 (3,000m) above the surrounding landscape to a height of 14,179 ft (4,322 m).  The mountain is at the southern end of the Cascade range, a series of (mostly) volcanic peaks surrounded by endless Bigfoot-roamed forests starting in northern California, through Oregon and Washington and up into British Columbia.

Panoramic landscape photography Nikon d700 85mm tilt-shift lens - Mount Shasta, California

Landscape stock photography - Mount Shasta, California

Panoramic landscape photography Nikon d700 85mm tilt-shift lens - Mount Shasta, California

Landscape stock photography - Mount Shasta, California

Tuolumne Meadows and the Yosemite High Country

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After the Morning at the Alabama Hills I was yet undecided as to where to go.  As I headed north towards Bishop I heard the days weather forecast on the radio:  hot and sunny in the Owen’s valley and a possibility of thunderstorms up by Yosemite.  So off I went!

No thunderstorms ever arrived, but at least there were some nice clouds during the afternoon and of course at the 9,000ft of Tuolumne Meadows, a sane temperature.  I’ve never acually been here during the summer (usually in the autumn), so it was nice to see everything lush and green, and full of tourists.  Lucky enough, I found myself a campsite at the Tuolumne Meadows campground which saved me from having to drive out of the park at night, and back again in the early morning for sunrise.

Even in the sun, the Sierra hummingbird mosquito was in full attack mode.  Around sunset, while standing in the meadows, I estimate something like 5-6 bites per photo taken.  I remembered why I never go near the Sierra high country during summer.

Lone rock on top of Pothole dome, Tuolumne meadown, Yosemite national park, California

Lone rock sits on Pothole dome.  I wonder how long that rock has been sitting there?

Panoramic landscape photo of granite mountains of Yosemite high country, California

Panoramic photo of Tenaya lake and high country, Yosemite national park, California

View from above Olmstead point looking back towards Tenaya lake.

Panoramic landscape photo: Tuolumne meadows at sunset, Yosemite national park, California

Sunset over flooded field in Tuolumne Meadows.  Lembert dome in the middle of photo, with 13,053 ft (3979 m) Mt. Dana rising in the distant background.

Alabama Hills and Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains

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The Alabama Hills are one of my favorite places here in California and a usual stop anytime I head to the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  Normally I avoid the area during summer as the temperature is often well above my level of tolerance,  But I decided to check things out anyhow.  On the way up as I was crossing the Antelope Valley before entering the high desert area, I knew I would be in trouble from the heat.  I guess after too much time in Northern Europe, I had forgotten that I really don’t enjoy myself in 100˚ (37˚c) temperatures (yes, I’m spoiled living on the coast).  Turning off in Lone Pine during the late afternoon I headed straight through the Alabama hills and up to the 8,000 (2500m) foot coolness of the Whitney Portal to get a bit of an escape from the heat.  The light was pretty bad anyhow, so I sat around up there and got eaten by mosquitoes for an hour or two.

I have a couple favorite places to camp, but since there is so much to see, I usually do a little exploring to see if I can’t find some cool new place.  The whole area is open for wild camping, so I like to look for a spot where I can roll out the back of my truck at dawn, walk about 10 feet or crawl up some rock and start shooting.  Sure beats having to drive anywhere!

Alabama HIlls, Owen's valley, California

Panoramic landscape stock photography: Alabama Hills, Owen's valley, California

Night panoramic landscape photography Nikon d700 85mm tilt-shift lens: Sierra Nevada Mountains, California

The sunset was actually one of the boring-er ones that I’ve witnessed, but what can you do.  Took a few night photos, but a pretty good wind picked up around sundown which was blowing a lot of dust around.  So after a five minute photo, I’d have to clean everything off again.

NIght photography Nikon d700: star trails over rock formations, Alabama Hills, California

Dawn broke to a perfectly clear sky, again, nothing spectacular.  Better weather for climbing than photography.

Tilt-Shift panoramic landscape photography: Sierra Nevada mountains, California

Lone Pine peak in the center of the photo, with Mount Whitney (14,505 feet – 4,421m, highest mountain in California and lower 48) on the very right of the photo in the pre-dawn light.

Landscape stock photography: Mobius Arch, Alabama Hills, Owen's Valley, California

Mobius Arch, one of the more famous icons in the area.

Alabama Hills and Sierra Nevada Mountains, Lone Pine, California

By 7:00 am it was already getting hot and the light hazy and washed out.  So I decided to some place higher and cooler for the day…

California Road Trip

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mount shasta, California

Took a little road trip around California during the last week.  Mostly to visit old places that I haven’t been to for a while, such as Mt. Shasta (above), which I climbed back in 2005, but haven’t seen since.  Up every morning at 4:30, but the light was pretty dissapointing for the most part.  Still nice scenery though, if not so good for photography.  Still managed a few nice shots though.  More in the next days…