Los Angeles Foothills

Foothills - Los Angeles  2024

Foothills - Los Angeles  2024

We flew down to Los Angeles for our last visit. I was able to get some views from the airplane of the arid foothills surrounding the city.

Rocks, Ferns, Fog

Rocks, Fog (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2024

Ferns, Bay (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2024

Photos taken on the summit of Pilot Knob. It took me a while to realize that the body of water in the distance was San Pablo Bay, with the Richmond Bridge just barely visible.

Richmond Bridge from Pilot Knob (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2024

Fog, Oaks

Oak (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2024

Oaks (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2024

Top: Oak surrounded by ferns at the top of Pilot Knob.

Next: Oaks and moss-covered rocks on the trail going down.

Fog, Lake Lagunitas

Madrone, Fog (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2024

Madrone Trunks, Fog (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2024

Taken during an April hike up Pilot Knob overlooking Lake Lagunitas and the Richmond Bridge.

Monday Scrub Jay Blogging

Scrub Jay (San Geronimo Valley) - Marin County  2024

Scrub Jay (Fairfax) - Marin County  2024

Top: January photo of a Scrub Jay in a patch of poison oak. Next, one perched on a fence in our backyard in March. 

Panamint Valley (Death Valley 2010)

Panamint Valley Road - Death Valley  2010

Snow Flurries - Death Valley  2010

I woke up to the sound of rain on the camper shell. A quick breakfast and then I was on the road towards Lone Pine in Owens Valley. As I gained elevation I pulled off the road at one point, got out and was greeted by the clittering of small ice pellets bouncing off the pavement. 

Telephone Poles (Death Valley 2010)

Telephone Poles, Highway 190, Rain - Death Valley  2010

Telephone Poles, Rain - Death Valley  2010

I had often driven by these telephone poles before, and wanted to stop for a photograph, but I was always stymied by clear skies and unflattering light. However, this time I was lucky - I got dark overcast skies and rain, sometimes snow.

Dante's View (Death Valley 2010)

Dante's View - Death Valley  2020

Salt Flats from Dante's View - Death Valley  2020

Iconic view. As you'll recall, Mos Eisley is located there in the original Star Wars film. 

"A wretched hive of scum and villainy," according to Obi-Wan.

Hills (Death Valley 2010)

Hills (vert) - Death Valley  2010

Hills (horiz) - Death Valley  2010

The hills in back of the Texas Springs Campground are curiously spongy and friable. One sinks into the crumbly soil at each step, but when looking back there are no footprints.

Curious, as I said.

Zabriskie Point (Death Valley 2010)

Zabriskie Point - Death Valley  2010

Zabriskie Point Hills - Death Valley  2010

Early morning. I shot the hills photo from the Zabriskie Point parking lot.

Michael Antonioni made a movie titled "Zabriskie Point" in 1970. Roger Ebert didn't like it:

"This is such a silly and stupid movie, all burdened down with ideological luggage it clearly doesn't understand, that our immediate reaction is pity."

Dunes (Death Valley 2010)

Dunes, Branch - Death Valley  2010

Dunes, Clouds - Death Valley  2010

Photos taken around 10:00 AM. It was interesting to view the dunes during an overcast sky.

Monday Rabbit Blogging

Jackrabbit - Death Valley  2010

Walking around the desert hills surrounding the Texas Springs campground.

Sandstorm (Death Valley 2010)

Sandstorm, Clouds - Death Valley  2010

Sandstorm and Clouds - Death Valley  2010

It seems that the last time I was in Death Valley was in April, 2010. I was using a Nikon D90 DSLR at the time. I remember being pushed around by the wind as I took some photos of the sandstorm taking place in the valley below. 

I guess that I should consider going back, but I'd be worried about the crowds. 

Campground - Death Valley  2010

Sage, Hills (Death Valley 1984)

Sage, Hills, Clouds - Death Valley  1984

Sage, Hills - Death Valley  1984

As I've said before, I label all desert plants as "sage," even though that's most likely not correct.

It's interesting that there are no 35mm negatives taken on this trip. Just medium format film. I should have brought my Olympus OM-1 SLR, but I didn't. 

Dry Lake Bed (Death Valley 1984)

Rocks, Lake Bed - Death Valley  1984

Rocks, Lake Bed, Mountains - Death Valley  1984

I'd like to think that these photos were taken at the famous "Racetrack" in Death Valley. But probably not, since the celebrated moving rocks there are not on any of the other photos on the roll. 

Also, I guess you can notice in the above photos that one sky is clear, and the other one has clouds. This is the result of my experimenting with Photoshop's sky replacement feature. I wouldn't consider using it on a regular basis, but the skies in the scans definitely needed help, being completely covered in dust spots and scratches. The replacement skies were too digitally perfect, so I had to add some digital noise to them.

Below, a 1977 35mm photo definitely taken at the Racetrack.

Rock, Racetrack - Death Valley  1977

Sand Dunes (Death Valley 1984)

Sand Dunes, Clouds - Death Valley  1984

Sand Dunes, Plants - Death Valley  1984

Probably taken in early morning (best time to avoid footprints). 

Road, Clouds / Charcoal Kilns (Death Valley 1984)

Road, Clouds - Death Valley  1984

I must have been in a medium/large format film period at the time. All the 1984 Death Valley photos were taken using 120 roll film, which would supposedly result in reduced film grain. So it's interesting that the above photo certainly has a lot of visible grain. Maybe it got overdeveloped?

Below: a photo of my brother Joe hanging out in one of the charcoal kilns just off Emigrant Canyon Road.

Joe, Charcoal Kiln - Death Valley  1984

Aguereberry Point (Death Valley 1984)

Aguereberry Point Road - Death Valley  1984

In 1984 my brother Joe and I took one of our trips to Death Valley - for the scenery and the overall enjoyment of being in the desert. 

Here's one of the photos from that trip, taken as we drove to the viewpoint at Aguereberry Point. (There's an earlier 1973 photo of the same area already posted on the blog.)

Monday Coyote Blogging

Coyote - Marin County  2024

Drinking some water from a rain pool on the fire road up the street. Luckily I had an Olympus E-M1II camera with a 14-150mm zoom lens that gave me some extra reach.

Clouds, Trees

Tree, Clouds (Fairfax) - Marin County  2024

Branches, Clouds (Fairfax) - Marin County  2024

iPhone and Olympus photos near our house in Fairfax.

Santa Cruz 1984

Palmist - Santa Cruz  1984

Sea Food - Santa Cruz  1984

So . . . Santa Cruz? Maybe. Could be Pismo Beach, I guess. Alas, no extra surrounding photos on the contact sheet for context. Photos taken using a Mamiya twin-lens reflex.

Morning Walk Sightems

Madrone, Oaks, Fog - Marin County  2024

Fire Road, Rock, Tree - Marin County  2024

This is my more strenuous morning walk, up the fire road to some water tanks.

Clouds, Branches

Redwoods, Clouds (Fairfax) - Marin County  2024

Oak Branches (Fairfax) - Marin County  2024

Top photo of trees in back of our house taken with a small Canon G5XII. The bottom one taken with a much larger Nikon Z7II.

January Sightems

Mount Tamalpais - Marin County  2024

Moon - Marin County  2024

Early morning photos taken last January.

Winter Fog

Buckeyes, Redwoods, Fog (Fairfax) - Marin County  2024

Oak Branches, Fog (Fairfax) - Marin County  2024

Top: Canon G5XII. Next: Nikon Z7II.