If your interests have expanded into Video, take some time to watch this video.  Apparently it will be rebroadcast on their YouTube channel on Friday January 28th at 7pm locally.  I found out about it after the day of filming but before the submission deadline.  Luckily I had recorded some video that day of the World Wide Photo Walk that I attended in San Francisco.  Not sure if my clip made it (I doubt it, as I had not followed the key directives for the day) but it still feels great to think that I contributed…and watching the bits of the film that I caught tonight has inspired me to work more on video in the future.

Thompson Lake Aspens (2010)

Plumas County Leaf Peeper’s report, available in my Landscape Location Reports list, is updated daily during the fall by the county visitor’s center staff.  They do a good job of giving updates and are helpful to guide you to various out of the way shows of color.  But they can’t predict the color, just report on it.  And this year it seems to be running a bit late.  In general, you’ll see spots of yellow and red around the county (more further north or at higher elevations) but in general the trees need another week or two to get closer to peak.

For those who are familiar with color in the Eastern Sierras, Plumas County offers a more intimate view of fall foliage and requires a bit more time off the main roads to find it.  Part of the fun is exploring!

The following list is a general report from the various areas that we drove through (and day(s) visited).  See the handy Fall Color Tour Map (pdf) for reference to locations/highways.  This is a handy map to save to your iPhone or iPad for reference while on the road (though for some reason the Foliage Guide part of the map doesn’t display correctly on either device).

• Gold Lake Highway and Gold Lake (Friday): The few patches of Aspen and Willow that I spotted along this scenic mountain pass were just starting to hint at yellow, but were mostly green.
• Highway 70/89 from Cromberg to Quincy (Friday): Most of the trees along this stretch were still green.
• Downtown Quincy (Friday/Saturday): The large population of decorative trees within Quincy that change color were still just starting to show signs of color.  There were a few odd trees that were in full color (a few even having lost half their leaves).  It looked like another week might have the majority of the trees in Quincy approaching peak.
• Quincy to Bucks Lake (Saturday): There are two roads to get to Bucks Lake from Quincy: Bucks Lake Road takes a higher elevation route along the ridge line and contains spots of color along the road; Big Creek Road follows the creek bed in the valley and has very little color from along the road.  Once you get to Bucks Lake, there are just spots of color in the various locations around the lake: Thompson Lake has a small grove of Aspen that are mostly yellow right now; Sandy Point boat launch area has a small grove of Aspen as you enter that are yellow.  There is also a grove of Aspen near Haskins Bay that are mostly Yellow (though the younger Aspen seem to have lost half their leaves already).
• 

  Highway 89 North of 70 Intersection (2010)

  Highway 89, Canyon North of Junction with 70 (Sunday): this canyon is showing larger sections of yellow, mostly in the shrubs along the roadway and river bed.

• Round Valley Lake (Saturday): The shrubs around the lake are just starting to turn shades of yellow.  There is one lone tree across the lake that is yellow and stands out nicely against the pine forest.
• Chester (Sunday): Like Quincy, there are isolated decorative trees in town that are either at peak color or transitioning to peak (red tips with green cores).  The wider Chester area is still just starting to turn to light shades of yellow.
• Highway 70, Feather River Canyon Highway from Junction with 89 toward Orville (Sunday): Like the rest of the main highways, there are spots of yellow closer to the 70/89 Junction but quickly turn to full green as you continue down highway 70.  As you continue descending highway 70 you will spot groves of Aspen turning Yellow and Orange higher up in elevation on higher hillsides of the canyon.

Bucks Lake Road Aspen Grove (2010)

Just like leaf peeping in the Eastern Sierras along Highway 395, Plumas County contains many locations for potential color but  you have to drive around to get to them.  Unlike the Eastern Sierras a bit more hunting, and investment in time and gas, is involved to locate the groves of color as they seem to be smaller in scope and don’t allways fall along the roads and rivers.  My estimate for Plumas County is that things should be getting closer to peak in general around the area within the next week or two (weather permitting).

I’ll be posting a few more photos from the trip over the next few days.

This evening I wheeled our garbage can out to the curb, it probably contained over 50 diapers from the past week. And unfortunately, each one will live in a landfill for the next 500 years.

I then came across a TV program on CNBC called Trash Inc. – The Secret Life of Garbage. Very informative (yet frightening) information about what happens to everything in that garbage can sitting out on my curb.  Did you know that:

• the NYC budget for the Department of Sanitation (aka NYC Garbage Men) is over a billion dollars a year…$1B+.
• while we have problems with garbage here in the United States that only 60% of the garbage in Beijing is ever collected.  And who knows what that number is from other parts of China.
• there are five (5) country or continent sized garbage zones in the worlds oceans that contain the refuse that washes down the worlds streams and rivers.  Plastic with Korean writing can be found on beaches in Hawaii.

As a naturalist, landscape photographer, and citizen of the planet I recommend that you check out this program.  It will make you sit back and think.  Think about what you consume on a daily basis.  Think about how we treat the things we produce as a world economy.  Think about the impact that our consumption and garbage has on the planet.

A positive note is that a young photographer from Beijing photographed the city’s trash problem over the past few years and his photos have helped raise awareness to the issue.  How many times have you been out photographing in nature and encountered trash?  I know I usually pack out a good amount of other’s people’s trash on every hiking trip I do.

While my family’s recycling can is as large as our garbage can (and typically fuller) I know we could be doing better.  What about your family?

9/11 Memorial at St. Paul's Church

I was browsing through a collection of photos taken in New York City in the spring of 2002 and came across this image that seemed rather apropos for today.  This impromptu memorial came to life on Fulton Street, just a block from ground zero.  My wife and I came across it during a visit to New York City back in April of 2002.

Part of me wants to get on my political soap box and comment about the absurd things that are still happening in the world today that are direct affect of 9 years ago.    But rather than do that I’d rather just ask everyone to keep these comments in mind as they navigate through the modern world starting tomorrow:

• Too many people to count have given their lives to define and defend the freedom’s that we enjoy in the United States.  Keep those constitutional freedoms in fore front in your mind when you deal with the daily rhetoric that is blasted at us all from all sides and special interestes via our modern media.  Cherish and protect those freedoms.
• Extremism comes in many colors and shades.  When you hear someone touting a message that rings of fear or hate, step back and consider the words being spoken and and the speakers agenda from all angles.  How can you hate someone you have never meet or some idea you have never considered?  Tolerance and Consideration goes a long way.

Fog Shrouded Bay Bridge

While having dinner on Friday, a friend mentioned to me about this huge photography collection/museum that he read about recently.  A huge warehouse in San Francisco that was supposed to house thousands of photographs and, while not a official museum, be open to the public.  At first I thought he was joking, but after a quick search I found the San Francisco Chronicle article about a vast photo collection shown in S.F. warehouse.  That warehouse is Pier 24, located right under the Bay Bridge.

While the official public details about Pier 24 are still en route, the Chronicle article gives the back story on the collection and Pier 24.  Coincidentally, I was walking along the Embarcadero past Pier 24 about 2 weeks ago and notice the corner window of the building, featured on their website cover photo.  There were a few people standing in the window and it looked like a developed space from what I could glimpse from the street.  But the rest of the building looked less that publicly inviting.

I’m hoping to find out more and possible visit in the near future; at which point I share more details from first hand experience.  But if you’re from the Bay Area or a photographer visiting San Francisco, check into Pier 24.

The Categories include:

• Mountain Adventure
• Mountain Culture
• Mountain Environment
• Mountain Flora/Fauna
• Mountain Landscape

Photos can from any mountain area, not just Banff.  The Grand Prize is $1,000 Cdn for overall best photograph and $500 Cdn for best photograph from each category.  So break out those jaw dropping Mountain photos!

I hope that you rang out 2009 with a bang.  As has become tradition for me, here is a list of sites showcasing 2009 in photos with some comments on favorites of mine:

• ABC’s Year in Pictures 2009
  • I know two of the people in photo #4…
• BBC’s Reader’s Picture Roundup, 2009
• Boston Globe’s The Big Picture:  part 1, part 2, part 3
• The Huffington Post 2009: The Year in PHOTOS.
  • I found image from the Malaysian flood quite striking.
• National Geographic
  • Best of Photos of the Day (broken down by month)
  • Best Wall Paper of 2009 (all available for download!)
    
  • Top Ten Space Pictures: Best of 2009
  • Traveler’s Best Photos of 2009
    • What’s great about this set is that it’s a video with the Editor explaining what he likes about each of the selected photos.
• The New York Time’s 2009: Year in Pictures
• Time The Year in Pictures 2009.
  • I especially like #44, an event I had not heard about during 2009.
• US Army’s Year in Photos 2009
  • Selected from various Defense Department sources, I was surprised to find this Year in Photos set.
  • To show how busy my year was, this was the first time I heard about the events portrayed in the May/02 and June/04…make sure to check out the full broadcast related to those photos.
• The Wall Street Journal: 2009 Year in Photos.
  • I always like how the WSJ creates a number of categories of photos for the year.
  • I love the messaging portrayed in “Obama’s First Year” #22.
  • “Conflict Zone” #12 is quite a sobering and frightening image.
  • Make sure you check out the “Remembrances” section for photos of those we lost in 2009.

Have you put together your personal 2009 in photos?  If so, share it with the world;  Jim Goldstein is running his Your Best Best Photos from 2009 blog project again this year.  I’ll be trying to contribute to his blog project again; since I’m still traveling for the holidays, I’ll have a small window of time to put together my list once I get back home.  So stay tuned…

As the storm front moved in, these wonderful clouds and patchy light moved over the lake.  So, I had to head back to the Visitor’s Center and capture a few photos of the moment.  Lucky thing I did too.  This delay resulted in my passing over 120 at the perfect time to witness one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen.  It lasted for about 10 minutes and just as it started I drove by an overlook where I could witness the entire show (watch for these photos over the next few days).  Had I not gone back to Mono Lake, I would have missed this show entirely!  (Thanks to the Mrs. for urging me to turn right..)  It pays to be lucky (and have the camera ready when the luck strikes)!

On to the last fall color update for the Easter Sierra, here were the locations that I was able to visit today:

Rock Creek:  Lower Rock Creek had nice colors up to Iris Meadow camp ground.  Further up only one grove near of Aspen that had some green and any color was right near the entrance to Big Meadow campground.  Everything higher up than Big Meadow was stripped bare by the wind.  There was still a few nice spots to capture Rock Creek surrounded in yellow Aspen.

McGee Creek:  Lower McGee appeared to be just past prime, thought still plenty of yellow. Upper McGee Creek
was well past prime. Trees up past the trail head have started to loose considerable leaves.

Convict Lake: While there still are some yellows left, they are past prime and the wind is quickly stripping the leaves off up around the lake.

Lee Vining: Lee Vining Creek Trail is largely brown or barren from the recent winds. Unsure how many leaves will remain after today’s wind storm.  The Lee Vining Canyon (beneath Tioga Pass Road) still had nice stands of Yellow and one amazing stand of Orange and Yellow fades just past the Mobile Station heading up to the pass.  Unsure how these will fare with the winds.  A few other scattered stands of color around Lee Vining.

Lundy Canyon: Lots of color, some trees even green still!  But the big windstorm that was coming through in late afternoon will likely leave only 40% of the leaves by morning.

Virginia Lake Road:  About 60% of leaves left on the large grove of Aspen just north of Conway Summit. Those are the only leaves you  will find as higher up and at Virginia Lake all the leaves have been  stripped by the wind.  There was a few nice groves of Aspen about 1/3 of the way up the road where all the fallen leaves were still on the ground and creating nice back lighting on barren trees.

My gut is telling me that depending on the possible storm on Monday and how bad the wind was the rest of this evening, there is probably only a week left of patches of substantial in the Eastern Sierras.

Watch for some photos from this weekend’s trip over the coming days.

Earlier this week we had the first winter storm of the season.  For us in the Bay Area this mean lots of rain and strong winds (enough of both for me to find a few leaks around some of our windows…).  For the Sierra Nevadas, it meant snow above 8000 feet elevation.  As we were driving through Yosemite this morning, just as we passed the 8000 foot elevation sign we started seeing snow on the side of the road.  Some places the snow was still 6 inches thick.  All this snow meant that the falls were running again.  As we drove along 120 toward Tioga Pass, a few new waterfalls appears that I had never seen before (because I have never driven up there in the spring time).  It was quite a treat to see the waterfalls and the snow caped ridges.  And my wife thought it was quite a treat to see me wearing shorts in 55 degree weather taking pictures (I didn’t expect to stop till we got through Yosemite and on the eastern side where it was supposed to be 80 degrees…so I was planning ahead!    ).

As you descend down Tioga Pass Road to Lee Vining, there are some nice bright yellow groves of Aspen along Poole Power Plant Road.  The stream there is running swiftly with the recent rain/snow so I wasn’t able to cross to get a picture of a specific grove I spotted.  Maybe tomorrow…

June Lake Loop has nice stands of Yellow and Orange higher up the hill sides.  There are plenty of nice yellow groves right near Silver Lake Resort (which closes on Monday). The photo on the right was taken a few years back near Silver Lake Resort.  I’m realizing that we were there much later in October that year as there were no boats along the shore, today this spot was lined with row boats and it just didn’t quite feel the same…

We also did a drive into Mammoth and saw very little color except on the slopes close to and facing 395.  Up near Twin Lakes and Lake Mary there was plenty of snow on the ground still and a few of the ski runs on Mammoth Mountain were actually open.  The road past the main ski lifts up on highway 203 was closed down for the rest of year.

We didn’t have much time to run up to Bishop Creek today and I plan on catching sunrise tomorrow outside of Bishop versus up at Bishop Creek, I don’t think there would be much color left up there after the storms.  However, there is still plenty of snow left in the Sierra Peaks so I’m hopeful for some nice photographs in the morning.  There is even a few small patches left in the White Mountains, which I was able to capture tonight at sunset.

Tomorrow is the drive home and as I head North I’ll try to drive down most of the main valleys where the color lives.  So look for another report tomorrow night (time and energy permitting) once I get back home.

And watch for a few more photographs from this trip over the next week or two.

Blue Angels over San Francisco

This weekend is Fleet Week here in San Francisco, which means the Blue Angels are in town.  The above photograph was taken in 2005 during Fleet week.  If you’re in the Bay Area, check out the Fleet Week schedule, the Blue Angles will be flying around 3-4pm.  A few great places to photograph the Blue Angels from are:

• Golden Gate Bridge, South Tower: The Angels use this tower to line up for their runs…
• The Presidio’s Inspiration Point
• The Park and Hills of Fort Mason
• The Spit at Aquatic Park

Just remember to get to your photography spot of choice early as the crowds always build and and it is difficult sometimes ot photograph over people.  Zoom lenses tend to work better for photographing the Angels.  And having your camera set to burst shooting mode will help you capture the action (just bring a large memory card).