Smith Rock

I've been to Smith Rock twice in my life, and each time I view the canyon, its beauty always takes my breath away.  Located north of Bend, Oregon, Smith Rock boasts one of the best sport climbing locations on the West Coast.  It's not for the weak of heart, since many of the climbing routes are frighteningly under-bolted.

I was chased out of Squamish, Canada during my vacation due to rain, and sought sanctuary at Smith Rock.  Unfortunately, the storm followed us to Smith where we were bombarded by hail despite the 85 degree weather.  Everyone, including the locals were baffled by the weather pattern.....blue skies one minute, and foreboding storm clouds the next.  Disappointingly, my visit was cut short, but I did manage to find a pause in between the rain to capture this stunning place.

Read more...

A Peek at Paradise

A friend introduced me to Paradise Valley near Squamish, British Columbia, and I immediately fell in love with this hidden gem. I was mesmerized by the abundance of lush green foliage and moss covered trees....a rare visual treat for a city girl like me.  I'm not a writer or poet, so it's difficult to describe my emotional response to a place like Paradise.  Instead,  I'll let  David Wagoner, a poet, express my thoughts for me:

Lost

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you,
If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

Read more...

Recommitting myself to fun

I've been in a rut lately and realized it's because I've been producing work for other people, and forgetting to do stuff for myself.  Today, I sat down at the computer with the express purpose of having some "me" time and going through images that I shot for fun weeks ago.  I had forgotten that I had started this blog as a space to display personal work, and as a place of creative experimentation.  I've lost sight of this goal.  Well, that all changes now.....I am officially recommitting myself to having fun with my camera once again.

By now, you're probably aware that I love trees.  Especially trees that are overtaken by fog.  There's a yearning, loneliness, dignity and romanticism to the scene that recalls a great Bronte novel.

Read more...

Re-examining Sutro Baths

There are lots of misconceptions about photography.  Most people have this misleading notion that it's difficult to find interesting things to shoot in one's hometown, and that one must travel somewhere new and exotic (like a third world country) in order to find entirely fresh, compelling subject matter.  I disagree.

I bring up this issue because of what someone said to me recently: "You have the opportunity to take great photos because you travel all the time."  OUCH.  That felt almost like an accusation.  So of course I had to prove to myself that much of my photography is attributed to hard work and a dose of talent, as opposed to sheer opportunity.  I needed to show that I could create interesting landscape photos without having to travel beyond three miles. 

So here it is, Sutro Baths, a tourist destination also popular among amateur and professional photographers.  The abandoned ruins of San Francisco's old bath house, nestled against Ocean Beach, is eerily beautiful, especially after the sun sets.  I was lucky to have a full moon this week, which cast a nice glow over the ruins and allowed me to reduce exposure time for these night shots.
 
I initially photographed Sutro Baths a little over three years when I was a photography student (images below).  This was a fascinating exercise for me because it allowed me to compare and contrast these two sets of images (taken 3.5 years apart) and examine whether I've shifted the way I see and compose things over the years.  Do you notice the differences?

Read more...

Red Rocks Adventure

Most people go to Las Vegas, Nevada to gamble away their hard-earned money at the casinos, but few ever venture off the strip to explore the Red Rocks Canyon located 15 miles from the city.  Too broke to travel abroad for Christmas this year, and too impatient to spend the holidays with family, my friends and I decided to spend our precious vacation climbing Red Rock's famous sandstone rocks. We encountered surprisingly warm sunny weather at the beginning of our trip, but a storm eventually moved its way in, bringing dramatic fiery sunsets.  With tripod in hand, I took multiple exposures for the sky and the land and rendered the images through an HDR program to create these "realistic" landscape images.  Why yes, the sunset colors are genuine, and I was lucky to have witnessed this rare occasion.

Okay, enough landscapes photos. 

I've mentioned rock climbing several times in my earlier posts,  but haven't yet posted any pictures.  So finally..... some climbing pics of my burly/badass friends Steve DeLuca, Thomas Gronkbukt, Skippy Gaunt, and Isabel Von Rittenberg at Stratocaster Wall in Red Rocks.  Facebook friends may have seen these already, so I apologize for the redundancy.

 By the way, have you met my husband, Aaron?  He's pretty dorky looking when he boulders/climbs, but I've always had a soft spot for dorks.

Read more...

Passing Through Joshua Tree

 I love road trips.  My Dodge Sprinter van, with a built in bed for two, and expansive storage room, makes it incredibly easy to just pick up and go.  We loaded up our car with rock climbing and ski gear,  then made our way to Las Vegas to spend the Winter holidays with friends.   A quick detour to Joshua Tree proved to be rewarding.  Unlike other times of the year,  such as Thanksgiving, when the cooler weather draws out rock climbers in droves to battle over available campsites and climbing routes, Joshua Tree was surprisingly empty on the days leading up to Christmas.  The warm weather, brilliant sunshine, empty campsites, and lack of crowds, made for a pleasant experience, and we were reluctant to move on after only one day and night in this desert paradise.

Read more...

Yosemite Fog

Although I’ve spent the past 12 years rockclimbing in Yosemite Valley, I’ve never bothered to photograph this picturesque place until a few days ago.  Ansel Adams, in a way, had ruined Yosemite for me.  I never felt compelled to capture a place that had already been so well documented by Adams and a gazillion other landscape photographers.  And truth be told, I never thought I could bring Yosemite any justice after seeing Adam’s classic work.

So what changed my mind about photographing Yosemite?  Boredom and the lack of desire to participate in a threesome.  No, silly, I’m not talking about a menage a trois.  I’m back to the topic of rockclimbing.  There’s a time and place for a threesome, but not when you are trad climbing.  Having three people in a traditional climbing party is slow and inefficient, and with the brief amount of daylight these days, I opted out, and allowed my husband and his friend to get more climbing in for themselves.  Yes, I know, I’m a very kind and thoughtful wife. 

So for the first time ever in Yosemite Valley, I got to spend the weekend hiking and exploring, rather than be strapped into a rope and harness.  The weather was surprisingly gorgeous; t-shirt weather in fact, if you happened to be in the sun.  The warm air, and snow-covered ground created an interesting fog layer, and I loved the way it hovered around the trees.  Naturally, this became my photo theme.  Who needs yet another photo of Half Dome and the Nose on El Capitan anyway? 

Read more...

Another Look at Bishop (part 1)

Bishop is my favorite place in the Eastern Sierras, and I go there to boulder in the Buttermilks and the Happy's several times a year.  Since a lot of my friends are climbers,  I get inundated with climbing photos.  I am guilty of taking quite a few bouldering shots myself.   It gets wearisome at times to see photos of the Iron Man traverse, and the Peabody boulders over and over again on Facebook.  During this Thanksgiving trip, I wanted to connect to Bishop differently, and instead of spending the majority of my time climbing, I went out exploring with my dogs instead.  I needed to challenge myself to see things I've overlooked and take images that other people weren't taking.

Read more...