Greetings from California — the journey thread

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

05/16/2011 08:23:59 PM · #26

Originally posted by briantammy:

So where to next?

Tomorrow morning we leave for Truckee (Donner Pass, Tahoe) for a few days. We'll hook up with

GeneralE and

BrennanOB there, if all goes well. Then at the end of the week, down to Carmel, from whence we'll do some serious Big Sur trippage.

Onwards and Upwards!

BUT.... What the heck is this "Light on White" and "Color on Color" garbage? We get the photographic road trip to end all road trips, and Langdon keeps throwing studio challenges at us? Sigh...

R.

BrennanOB

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

05/16/2011 08:27:11 PM · #27

I just got some new flash toys, want me to bring them up and we can set up a studio in the forest?

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

05/16/2011 09:11:17 PM · #28

Originally posted by BrennanOB:

I just got some new flash toys, want me to bring them up and we can set up a studio in the forest?

That's a thought. Might try bringing some interesting things-of-color too, I donno...

R.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

05/16/2011 09:34:30 PM · #29

Anybody have a (gasp) film camera? Isaac's mom has a Pentax SLR with a couple of lenses, but the film advance mechanism is kaput. I have a few rolls of film I'd like to use up, and this seemed like a good opportunity until the camera shop gave me the terminal diagnosis ...

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

Penny, I have to say that beard of his is much more kempt since you showed up on the scene...

Uh oh ... right now mine is more in the style of Robinson Crusoe ... ;-)

Message edited by author 2011-05-16 21:36:53.

05/16/2011 09:46:57 PM · #30

Bummer :-( A few weeks ago, a neighbor gave us a very nice, mint-condition Pentax film body with a couple lenses. I promptly turned around and gave that to another friend, who still shoots film, with Pentax, but he didn't really NEED another body. I'd have happily gifted it to you. Plus, I have an OM-1 Olympus with 3 lenses knocking around, coulda' brought THAT too. Gimme some advance warning, willya? Even WORSE, my brother in law has a film Canon in his study he hasn't used for years and years, which we could've loaned ya, but we aren't about to drive back to the Bay Area to get it, LOL. So it goes...

R.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

05/16/2011 09:48:12 PM · #31

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Penny grabbed a shot of me in my DPC hat this afternoon, which I hereby post a Leo's request. Leo, are you watching?

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

05/16/2011 09:50:35 PM · #32

"And so it goes" is how Linda Ellerbee used to sign off one of the more underappreciated news shows of the last century ... and she used it for the title of her (very funny) book.

And indeed it does ...

05/16/2011 10:10:07 PM · #33

Originally posted by GeneralE:

I think Vonnegut used that phrase? In Cat's Cradle? Pretty sure...

R.

05/16/2011 10:11:01 PM · #34

And still back on the ranch, after posing for his chapeau shot, Bear saw a Bobcat and was able to grab this:

05/16/2011 10:38:37 PM · #35

And the Bobcat was sharing the meadow with this deer (and 3 others besides):

This is the meadow where they were, backed by one of the iconic granite walls; this is right by Yosemite Falls.

PenelopeK

Sony Alpha a7 II

05/16/2011 11:50:22 PM · #36

And now for an indoor shot, here is the amazing dining room in the Ahwahnee Hotel, where we had a late lunch today on the spur of the minute, getting there just 2 minutes before they closed the door. I'm so glad we did. The trip to Yosemite would not have been complete without it. "The 34-foot-high beamed ceiling with large sugar pine trestles that complement the roomâ��s granite pillars, floor-to-ceiling windows, chandeliers..."

I'll let Robert fill you on Ansel Adams's links to this place, and the annual Bracebridge dinner held at Christmas time, etc, etc.

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

05/17/2011 12:48:09 AM · #37

And one more: an overview of the meadow, looking West into the weak, westering light. Very poor lighting conditions; worked hard to try to create an old-school, hand-tinted effect.

Adz

Nikon D80

05/17/2011 04:44:55 AM · #38

Looks like you're having a fantastic time! How long are you out for?

05/17/2011 09:55:01 PM · #39

Originally posted by Adz:

Looks like you're having a fantastic time! How long are you out for?

About 3 more weeks...

R.

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

05/17/2011 10:05:40 PM · #40

Meanwhile, a funny thing happened on the way up the mountain...

We left Yosemite and headed for Truckee/Tahoe, as planned. But it had been snowing/raining all night, so we went down out of Yosemite on a less direct route, then circled through Merced and down to 99N and headed up for Sacramento. Things looked OK for a while, but as we skirted Sacramento and headed for Reno on 80E, climbing, the weather got really snotty. Freeway communication signs were saying "chains required", and reports of substantial snowfall were flying around. Now, we are driving a 4WD Denali with snow/mud tires, but... Sierra snowpack this year is 199% of normal, and there's supposedly still 10-20 feet of snowpack around the house we were headed for. Add to that snotty weather and fresh snow/rain/freezing, and we said to ourselves "WHY?"

Didn't have a good answer for that, so we turned around and headed back for the coast a few days early. Got ahold of Brennan enroute and told him of change of plans, and he told Paul. Now we're in Carmel, which is a lot more temperate :-) Took Penny for a quick driveby of my old stomping grounds. Here's the house I lived in for the last couple years of my time here:

More soon â�� Brennan and Paul (and his son Isaac) coming in, then in a couple days Johanna and Deb, and then Alice from SF, so it's gonna be some fun DPCing the next little while :-)

R.

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

05/18/2011 05:06:49 AM · #41

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Brennan and Paul (and his son Isaac) coming in, then in a couple days Johanna and Deb, and then Alice from SF, so it's gonna be some fun DPCing the next little while :-)

that is going to be some sweet lemonade. do enjoy!

05/18/2011 10:39:38 AM · #42

Old-School power generation, hard by the harbor at Moss Landing, between Santa Cruz and Monterey.

Rainy Day Blues:

R.

Message edited by author 2011-05-18 12:30:05.

Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G

05/19/2011 07:36:03 PM · #43

BrennanOB and I took a little jaunt over the old Post Road high above Point Sur, the Bixby Creek bypass. This was the only way out of Big Sur before they finished the famous Bixby Creek bridge back in the '30s. I hadn't realized how much mud was remaining on this VERY scary, steep, narrow, unimproved road through the high ridges and the deep redwood canyons. It was heart-in-throat driving, but the Denali came through with flying colors. Too scared to stop for pictures of the bad part though, had to keep moving and praying.

Anyway, here's Brennan and the Denali after the bad part was over :-)

Penny, Paul (GeneralE), Isaac, and Brennan are down to Point Lobos now. I'm calming down, and getting ready to roast a chicken and braise some baby artichoke hearts...

R.

vikas

Apple iPhone 13

05/19/2011 09:03:14 PM · #44

Your posts are helping me decide on what we will do in the week that we are in northern California!
Thanks for posting, I have never been to the wild west, this is helpful.

sfalice

Canon PowerShot SX60 HS

05/19/2011 09:47:16 PM · #45

Originally posted by vikas:

Your posts are helping me decide on what we will do in the week that we are in northern California!
Thanks for posting, I have never been to the wild west, this is helpful.

Vikas, unless you are Stirling Moss or equivalent, think seriously about NOT taking that Bixby Creek bypass.
But yeah, the rest of it, splendid travel material.
:))

Message edited by author 2011-05-19 21:47:32.

briantammy

Olympus PEN E-P3

Konica Minolta MF 85mm f/1.7

05/19/2011 11:07:08 PM · #46

Hey Robert, my wife, Tammy and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary this weekend and have been planning a mini drive-about to get away. We were wanting to see some coastline as we are always in the mountains. She suggested Monterey but I'm not sure I want to go quite that far. Anyway, if we do make it up near there do you mind us stopping by to say hi?

PenelopeK

Sony Alpha a7 II

Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G

05/20/2011 01:12:43 PM · #47

The first day that Paul, Isaac, and Brennan arrived we took an even longer trip than the one Bear subsequently went on with Brennan, also entailing a climb over the hills, this time in the vicinity of Nacimiento canyon. As we climbed we encountered a thick layer of fog... Here's a picture of (from left to right) Brennan (

BrennanOB), Isaac (Paul's son), and Paul (

GeneralE) heading back to the car after shooting in the fog. Just to add to the excitement, this route is now used for an 80 mile detour of Hwy 1 because of the rock slide further south, so we encountered quite a lot of traffic.

vikas

Apple iPhone 13

05/20/2011 01:24:24 PM · #48

Originally posted by sfalice:

Originally posted by vikas:
Your posts are helping me decide on what we will do in the week that we are in northern California!
Thanks for posting, I have never been to the wild west, this is helpful.

Vikas, unless you are Stirling Moss or equivalent, think seriously about NOT taking that Bixby Creek bypass.
But yeah, the rest of it, splendid travel material.
:))

:) - I will avoid unless I get upgraded from a compact car to Denali at no extra charge :)

PenelopeK

Sony Alpha a7 II

05/20/2011 01:41:03 PM · #49

..(continued from my earlier post) and finally we could see the coast again below the fog, and the cameras came out again. Here are Brennan and Paul.