Patience

Tree stump star trails, Crater Lake National Park

I saw the remains of this tree while scouting at Crater Lake early in the day, and while I had another tree in mind for my night shot, I really wanted to find a way to squeeze this one in. After waiting through sunset, civil twilight, nautical, then astronomical light, I photographed my "Plan A" tree for about an hour and a half, then came back to this one. It took a while to get set up in the dark and get good focus on the stars. Once that was complete, I waited an hour while my camera recorded the star trails. Once I was sure I had enough images to create long star trails, I refocused again - this time on the tree - and took several shots while painting it with my headlamp. 

This is not the kind of shot you pop out of the car and shoot at a whim. It took some trial and error, and a whole lot of waiting to get it right. Photography has a way of teaching you patience whether you want it or not. 

Planning

Hole in the Wall Beach, sunset, Davenport California

This particular beach is not easy to find. It isn't signed and you can't see the beach until you walk through a hole in a large rock fin that extends into the surf. It cannot be accessed at high tide, and I wouldn't recommend going when the tide is rising. Because of this, I had to plan for a low, receding tide at sunset. Then I had to drive from beach to beach to find the right one. I used all the information I could find online to narrow my search (which was vague at the time), then started scouting early in the day until I was confident I had found my beach. If you are looking for it today, it is about 2 miles south of the town of Davenport and a half mile south of Bonny Doon Beach at approximately mile 26.5. 

One thing I hadn't planned for was a group of beach goers that were walking the beach while chugging lots of beer. One of them was a large guy who decided to come over and chat me up. He was super friendly but he smelled like a Budweiser factory and kept making grand gestures with his arms - a little too close to me - who was standing about a foot from the edge. I kept thinking, "Oh geez, this drunk guy is going to swing me right into the ocean". Thankfully, he did not, and I lived to shoot another day. . .  

Sacrifice

Tree and Milky Way, Yosemite National Park

At some point in my photographic adventures, I decided to try out night photography. I'm so glad I did because it has opened up a whole world of photography I had been missing out on. 

One thing night photography does require is sacrifice. . . of sleep! I took this shot of a tree in Yosemite at about 3:00 am because that is when the Milky Way was going to be in the best position. I actually shot another nearby tree right before this, so I was out of bed by 2:00 am and after finishing up with this tree, it was time to head to my sunrise location. I usually try to sneak in an hour nap in the middle of the day to keep from becoming a total zombie. 

Motivation

Painted Dunes sunrise panoramic, Lassen National Park

This picture almost didn't happen. I planned out a trip to Lassen, Crater Lake, and the Redwoods this summer and this shot was a top priority for me while in Lassen. I was supposed to have 3 days/nights there but was delayed by an unexpected family emergency and I was afraid the Lassen part of my trip was going to get cut. The threat of not getting a shot I had been planning for definitely boosted my motivation. 

I ended up getting to leave on a Sunday afternoon, drove 3 hours to the park, then another hour to get to Butte Lake. I arrived a couple hours before sunset. My goal was to hike this very early then next morning so I could be at the top of Cinder Cone at sunrise. I was feeling a little anxious because I had never been on this trail and knew the last part was quite a butt-buster. I decided to hike it the evening I arrived to scout the shot and time my hiking speed. I was back on the trail at 4:00 then next morning to do it all over again. I'm glad I did because this was a pretty neat little scene. 

Perseverance 

Arch Rock, sun burst at sunrise, Joshua Tree National Park

I've hiked to and shot this arch four times, at sunrise, sunset, night, and here - about 1 hour after sunrise. Sometimes it pays to keep going back to a location over and over to try for different results. 

Respect

Marmot, Yosemite National Park

When I first started taking photos, I really focused on wildlife photography. There's just something about animals making a successful living in a variety of environments, weather, and challenges that has always fascinated me. Heck, I even enjoy watching the squirrels in my backyard! What I learned early on is that wildlife do not have it easy. We humans have it so easy by comparison. Most people can give mediocre effort at work and just keep collecting their check, living in their house, and getting prepackaged food at the grocery store. Wildlife have to fight for survival every day. Real survival - not "I overslept and didn't make it to Starbucks this morning. How will I make it through the day?" 

It's because of this that I purchase long lenses so I can enjoy wildlife from a respectable distance. I remain quiet and leave if my presence causes them to change their behavior. I don't chase, approach, yell at, or feed wildlife. I've actually told others being downright disrespectful to knock it off but I tread lightly here because you never know how people might react.

This marmot was a pretty curious little fellow. I saw him and stood very quietly and over time, he settled on these rocks nearby and let me take many photos. 

Courage

Burney Falls, sunset, Burney California

If you know me, you know that me, camera gear, and water do not mix. It is because of this that anytime I put me and my gear this close to water, it takes a whole heapload of courage. 

I was actually shaking pretty bad when I was taking these shots at Burney Falls. I was balanced on some rocks a few inches above the water so I could get the rapids and grass in the foreground and I would not have forgiven myself if I had lost yet another camera/lens combo to the water gods. 

Failure

Broken orb and Milky Way, Donner Lake

I love trying different light painting techniques, including these broken orbs. I talk about how to create these in my three-part night photography blog post. This is not done in Photoshop. It is done in one shot with modified battery operated Christmas lights. Creating orbs are not too difficult but broken orbs are tough. You have to turn the lights on as you are swinging down and off on the way back up. I usually have to fail at this at least 10 times before I get one right. Each time I fail though, I get more determined to get it right, especially if it is cold out!

This shot is two exposures in the exact same location. One exposure to get the broken orb and another to capture the Milky Way. 

Hope

Jumbo Rock sunset, Joshua Tree National Park

Whenever I am out shooting, I always hope for a good sunset or sunrise. And by good, I mean no flat blue skies, no flat gray skies, and no downpour. I've experienced my fair share of not good skies but I always keep hoping because when it is good, I remember why I love being out there so much. 

This shot is in the Jumbo Rocks area of Joshua Tree National Park. I had several bleh sunsets on this trip and this restored my faith in the weather gods again. 

Luck

Tenaya Lake sunset, Yosemite National Park

Most of the time, I am pretty disciplined about getting to my sunset location early to scout and execute on Plan B if necessary. This day. . .I was distracted by a marmot. What can I say, he was super cute. 

I knew I was going to shoot on the east shore of Tenaya Lake at sunset but I hadn't planned on arriving as late as I did. I was doing that frantic speed walk that you do when you know you need to find a foreground element fast when I walked right up on this delightful little log. After I set up, I realized I had left my flash and graduated neutral density filter in my vehicle. I was actually close enough that I ran back real quick and retrieved both and still had enough time to compose several shots before the light faded. I don't think I will push my luck as a recurring habit though. 

Peace

Cholla Cactus, sunburst at sunrise, Joshua Tree National Park

This could also qualify as the value of humor too but I'll tell my story and you can decide. 

I arrived at the cholla cactus garden for a sunrise shoot and I was pretty early because I came directly from my night shot. I had enough time to make a cup of coffee (decaf of course, because I'm weird) and relax for a bit. When I popped out of my camper, I noticed a couple other cars had arrived which told me other photographers were there to shoot the same thing as me. No big deal.

As I happily walked along the path, I heard a familiar sound. It was the sound of a couple bickering. The man appeared to be a pretty experienced photographer who was teaching his (not experienced) counterpart how to use all those fun functions on her fancy camera. The tone between the two of them was less than pleasant so I walked by as fast as possible and got into a more peaceful group of chollas! 

This is yet another sunburst through a cholla branch. I used both a reflector and a flash to illuminate the chollas since they were strongly backlit. 

Perspective

Horse Sculptures and clouds, Anza Borrego State Park

Finally - perspective. Photography can be done at eye height but where is the fun in that? Photography is all about seeing things that others may not see and capturing it in a well composed but creative way. If I come back from shooting and I don't have dirt, water, or mud on me, I feel like I didn't try hard enough. 

These horse sculptures are one of many in the Borrego Springs area. They are lot of fun to shot during the day or night as you will see in an upcoming post. 

I hope you enjoyed all that photography has taught me.