An unexpected trip to a surprise island
For many years now, we head to mid-coast California on vacation. Monterey, Big Sur, Carmel Village, Salinas valley, Paso Robles – we love this area, but now that Big Sur is basically an island it’s a little harder to get around.
If you haven’t heard, the recent landslides on the coast have taken out big sections of US 1 which is the only main road in and out of Big Sur. There’s a resort there we’ve been to that we love and when I got an email saying they were flying people to and from Monterey airport in a helicopter, we decided to go. When are we ever going to do this again? Fly over Carmel Valley or Big Sur just a few hundred feet off the ground? Never.
And it was worth it. I didn’t get many good shots because the movement of the helicopter was sometimes erratic and the reflections off the curved glass were a challenge. This first shot is taken looking toward the Pacific from Carmel Valley, basically the backside of Big Sur. The low clouds come in almost daily from the action of the warming air and the cool ocean. They played a little havoc with the helicopter, but our pilot was a pro and completely unshaken by the need to dance around a little.
When we landed on the lower lawn of the property we were greeted as warmly and attentively as usual and we had some snacks and champagne while we waited for our room to be ready. Here is the view from the room’s patio the next morning while I was enjoying my coffee.
Yeah, it’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. lol.
The resort was functioning, but in a little more relaxed style than usual. A rough road through the valley and hills was opened through the back of Big Sur on a military base near the 101. It’s VERY slow and dangerous going, but it is literally the only way to get supplies and people into the property and Big Sur as a whole. There is staff housing on property, but the people still had to hike 2 miles to a parking lot where they could get a ride out this road and to their homes and families. One night we noticed the sommelier was a bit roughly shod. He explained that he hiked in that day, but forgot his dress shoes so was wearing hiking boots in the restaurant. No one minded, everyone understood and we proceeded to help drink down the cellar. How can you get wine in with conditions like this? Crazy. But it seems to be working and we spent a couple of lovely days on the island of Big Sur.
For a bit we hung out by one of the pools and this was our only company –
Before we knew it, we were whisking off to Monterey airport again. Different helicopter and different pilot and wow, a different view!
That is the Point Sur lighthouse sticking out there and on the right is US 1 where it is still open and functioning. We’ve driven by this little point a bunch of times, but never dreamed we’d see it like this! Sometimes there are cows grazing in the fields between the rocky outcrop and the highway. It’s so beautiful. If they ever get US 1 open again, drive it while you can. You won’t be disappointed.
One of the big challenges is going to be to replace a bridge that got wiped out near the southern reach of Big Sur. There are many small creeks and rivers that wind through the hills and down to the ocean. Even though they are tiny, the hills and valleys are enormous and require substantial constructions to span them, like the Bixby Creek bridge here –
We’d never even thought of the chance to see it like this and so it was amazing. Those little specks are cars and trucks. The beach is nearly inaccessible, but I think there is a steep path leading to it. So amazing.
Beyond Human Scale
One of the big reasons I wanted to go to Northern California is to experience the redwoods. Sure, I’d been in forests in Big Sur. Alfred Molera and Garapatta State Parks, but those groves, while precious, are small and made up of all new growth. I wanted the big forests and if I got lucky, a few older growth groves. Trunks so big you could live inside one. Canopies that soar and soar out of sight and out of human scope. And fog. I envisioned fog. Boy, did I get my wish. If only I had gotten a few more days.
All the foggy shots were taken in the Lady Bird Johnson Grove which was dedicated by the First Lady in 1968 making it one of the first preserved redwood forests in all of California. People were slow to protect these amazing trees, but now there are large, interconnected tracts that you can get lost in.
In the beginning
Cast your mind back
Even though this was the most crowded forest we visited, the fog just made it so special that I could ignore the traffic. Coastal fog is essential to redwoods’ survival. Not only does it help create a more temperate environment with stable temperatures, but in summer when there is reduced rainfall, the fog helps bring water to the canopy and protects against moisture loss in the massive surface area these trees have. As the fog condenses on the vegetation, it drips and flows into the bark, moss, lichens and eventually the forest floor itself.
If you could take a moment
Just come this way
Even when the fog lifted, there was beauty so rich and otherworldly that I stopped about every 20 feet for another shot. This one has the camera off the tripod and me leaning on one of these massive beauties for support.
On the heels of a dream
Of course, when you’re in a redwood forest, you spend a lot of time doing this –
The Heights
That was the Stout Grove which is in the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Forest. There is the most amazing road snaking its way to this grove. We came in on the long side so got to wind through and around the tremendous trees. The light was very different and I did my best to emphasize how gorgeous it is in the canopy.
Presence
One thing you may notice is the difference in the undergrowth from the Lady Bird Johnson Grove and here in Stout Grove. It’s much shorter and less dense. The sword ferns in most of the forests really dominate the lower landscape as well as rhododendrons. In Stout grove it’s less of a factor and instead it seemed there were more downed trees than anywhere else. I was fascinated with how they decay and lose their bark and their round shapes, becoming square and lying there like enormous Lincoln Logs.
Fallen brothers
Is everlasting
In addition to being fun to explore and great subjects to shoot, they made handy camera supports as well.
The work of a moment
Oh for a time machine so I could go back and be present during the storm that brought these elders crashing down. The noise. The power. The earth-shattering impact. Oh that would be something to behold.
So if I haven’t convinced you that you should go witness these incredible trees firsthand, I don’t know what will. They are majestic beyond all human expression. So massive that you feel a similar humility as you do when next to whales. There isn’t that same sense of communication that I felt with whales, but there is an antiquity and a timelessness that only an ancient ecosystem can make you feel. These trees were alive long before my birth and they will remain alive long after my death. Their timescale as well as they physicality is outside of humanity in almost every way, except in the connection we have to the earth and the cycles of the sun.
Go Cave!
Yeah. It’s been a dog’s age. I know. I’m a bad blogger. If you can guess the band that I snagged the post title from, you get…uh pictures of caves.
Anyway, here’s more from the Oregon/California trip. After Crater Lake, we decided to head to Lava Beds National Monument. For some reason we had it in our heads that it would be a lot like Lassen, but we were in for a surprise.
Caves.
Lots and lots of caves. Very little supervision. Only one cave in the whole gigantic park has lights in it. And unless you catch a tour with a guide and that person’s pet cave project, there are none. You are on your own.
Awesome. We dig that and apart from the tour we went on, we only saw people one time when exploring the caves. It was so amazing. The intense darkness and silence were something I would love to experience again. A lot of people said they were afraid in the caves, but I never once felt anything like that. Just awe and humility.
Anyway…here’s Mushpot cave, the one with lights. It’s right by the visitor’s center and is a good starting point.
I was really glad I had my travel tripod with me. I was gonna need it! Basically all the easily accessible caves are on a loop and so you drive and park to each of them. Another good thing is my ultra-prepared husband and the fact that he had a couple of good flashlights with him. This next cave had a couple of natural skylights that allowed for some illumination, but the rest of it is in total darkness so photography would have been impossible without the flashlights.
Sunshine Cave
The caves are made by tubes of lava as they exploded from the nearby volcano which is called the Medicine Lake Volcano. It is still active and last erupted approximately 950 years ago. As the lava flows across the desert floor, it cools and becomes hollow inside as the flow ends and the outside layers cool. The tubes eventually are covered entirely in lava and presto! Caves. Awesome, windy, bumpy, mysterious caves.
This one is called Golden Dome and the second shot will show you why more than this one. It is incredibly hard to show depth in these shots. The tunnels wind around and out of sight and vary a lot in height. We decided we were good with crouching and duck-walking, but without kneepads it’s a bad idea to crawl so we didn’t. This one is only about 5 feet high and the floor is really difficult to manage because it’s so uneven and strewn with loose rocks and rubble.
Golden dome 1
At a few points between these two shots, we’d stop and turn out all the lights and just sit. Unless you’ve experienced being underground like this I can’t even describe it to you. There isn’t silence like this anywhere on earth. No sounds at all. At all. No wind. No birds. No planes overhead. No cars in the distance. Just your own breathing and the pulse in your neck. And dark. There is no dark like under the earth dark. Pitch dark. Absolute dark. Words cannot describe it. You lose all sense of surroundings and have to rely on gravity alone to guide you. Not that I moved around much, it was too treacherous, but damn it was an amazing thing to sit in perfect dark and silence.
Golden dome 2
That’s the reason for the name. The rock becomes a rich, deep yellow color with splashes of green and even blue. Another big challenge for me was composition and focus. We had to keep shining the flashlights at the walls while I set up and framed. I locked the focus on the mid-distance and then we went dark for a couple of seconds and when the shutter opened we painted the walls, floor and ceiling with the flashlight beams. He would take a certain section of the cave and I another. After a few tries, I got the exposure down and just used manual settings for every shot. Color temperature varied hugely between the two flashlights and it was really hard to capture the true color of the rock. I did my best. Not all the shots translate though. It’s hard to have depth in these and so I have dozens of them that I can appreciate because I was there, but that if I was a stranger looking at them I’d wonder what the heck I was seeing.
During the time we explored Golden Dome we got a tiny bit turned around and had a moment of slight panic. A lot of the tunnel looks the same and there were loops and switchbacks and dead ends. And did I mention there are no lights, maps or blazes? Yeah. Once you’re down there, you’re down there. I can’t even imagine losing or breaking the flashlights. Or having dead batteries. The panic would be intense. Only later did we learn the way to tell if you’re heading in or out of a lava tube cave. It’s all about the smiley faces.
This next one is called Skull cave because of ancient bear skulls that were found at the bottom of it. Also at the bottom (there were I think four total staircases like these) is ice. Ice! It’s so deep that it never melts although now it is barricaded off because the constant traffic and soil tracked in by boots was causing it to melt. Other caves had already lost their ice, so this is the very last cave at Lava Beds that has intact ice. Very cool. Literally.
Skull cave
It was extremely hard to light and you can see the temperature difference between the two lights really easily in this shot. The ceiling is 80 feet high, making it the largest cave in the system. At least so far. Every year spelunkers find more caves. Despite it being in the middle of nowhere California, I’d go back. And bring kneepads.
Our next caving adventure was in Oregon and fell along more conventional lines. These caves are large, tall and open and are more what you think of when you think of caves. They have stalagmites and stalactites and are entirely formed of limestone. Check this out –
Oregon caves
Apparently way back before it was a state park, it was privately owned and they used to have weddings on this spot. Kind of cool, but damn way to inconvenience your guests. Unfortunately you could neither explore on your own nor bring a tripod into these caves and so I had to crank the ISO and shoot basically wide open. Luckily my new lenses have a maximum aperture of 2.8 so it was manageable. Handheld underground, baby. Far out.
For this next shot, I put the camera on a rock wall and shot. This space used to be a speak easy during prohibition. Hundreds of bathtub gin drinkers would gather down there and line the staircases. Amazing.
One bourbon, one shot and one beer
Just behind me and to the left is a huge chimney formation –
Alien ship
Don’t they look like the formations on the mother ship in Aliens? OMG. They were jaw-dropping in their weirdness and intricacy. I’m guilty of holding up the tour group because I kept turning around and around in the space getting dizzy with the idea of the time involved in making these formations. So much time that you can’t fit it into human scale. A problem I would continue to have on this vacation only above ground.
So that’s our cave experience. We had no idea we’d spend so much time underground on this vacation, but we’d do it all over again. It’s so outside of the way we live our lives these days. And there isn’t much in the way of caving here in New England, so it’s especially weird for me. I loved it.
There’s an update. I hope not to be such a lazy jerk in future. Sorry for the lapse.
I’m Back
Didja miss me?
Yes it’s true.
I’m a bad blogger.
Autumn is almost over (well photographically speaking) and I haven’t posted ONE shot yet. Haven’t even posted anything from my California trip either. Considering I was inspirationally and creatively pooped out was part of the problem. Several times I didn’t even bother taking the camera out of the bag. Just didn’t want to be that person, you know, the one with the camera. The one who doesn’t really experience where she is, just documents it. I did shoot though, in the one place I can never resist – the forest. And what a forest. Even though it isn’t terribly huge, the redwood grove at Garrapata State Park on US 1 in Big Sur is still pretty amazing. I haven’t spent a lot of time in redwood forests, but every time I do I’m stunned at how different they are from eastern forests. Not only in the size of the trees, but in the undergrowth, right down to the mushrooms (I saw exactly ONE). It even smells different. As fate would have it, I forgot my tripod in the hotel in Monterey and had to improvise like mad. Lots of camera on rock and camera on backpack and leaning on trees. In a way it was liberating; forcing me out of the normal shot and into something different.
Bracing myself and the camera against a tree –
Land of Giants
Modified Weaver stance –
Path to Glory
Camera on bit of rock sticking out of steep embankment –
Gold in the Valley
Camera on backpack which was on a slope steep enough that I had to stand on one of its straps to keep it from sliding into the drink –
Soberanes Creek
Surprisingly, even though it was so late in the season, I found a few lupines were still blooming. Their color is a bit different from the ones we have here, but the biggest difference is the leaves. Big Sur lupines have tiny leaves and the shade of green is much, much cooler. I couldn’t resist the contrast or the dew.
Late lupines
Even though the light was harsh and the wind wicked strong and relentless, I ventured over to the coastal side of US 1. I’m not thrilled with this shot, but at least I found something to put in the foreground besides scrubby bushes. The birds were a bonus. Couldn’t see them when I shot. Damn the wind though. I had to take my sunglasses off and put them in my pocket because I was afraid they’d blow off. Haven’t been in wind like that since the last time I was in California only that time it was in Mono Lake basin by the Sierras. Phew.
Big Sur
Another reason for no posts is that WordPress stymied me with picture editing. Normally I resize them slightly once I load them, but the icon didn’t appear. I searched the help forum to no avail and so just gave up. Hoping that things would be back to normal I tried again, looking in vain for the picture editor. Visiting the forum did turn up an answer this time and I got things to work. Roundabout way though and I’d have never thought of it so I’m glad to be back.
Desert Blooms
May in California is wildflower season and the high desert of the eastern Sierras is no exception. I took tons of photos, but due to the harsh light, relentless wind and time constraints (who can wait forever for the wind to die down on every single shot?) most of them are for my reference and remembrance only. Some did work out well though I wasn’t able to identify most of them. I had a book and have used the internet, but still their IDs elude me. If anyone definitely knows what some of these are, feel free to add a comment.
Desert Prince's Plume
No ID, I loved the morning light through them though.
Shot at dawn, no ID, they were everywhere, like grass.
No ID, found on the slopes of Black Point by Mono Lake
No ID, found on the rim of the Panum Crater by Mono Lake
No ID, but the backlighting was awesome at dawn
No ID, I loved their shy quality and the little droopy bits
Most of these are unbelievably tiny and I can hardly believe they survive, much less thrive, in such seemingly harsh conditions. So different from the wildflowers in New England, but gorgeous none-the-less. I spent a lot of time oohing and ahhing over them. It was hilarious and I felt really bad that I kept saying ‘Just one more’ to my stalwart husband. He’s a gem, he is.
So, if anyone knows what these are, chime in.
Mono Lake and Musings on Travel Photography
So I’ve been thinking about this blog post and putting it off because I didn’t have an angle, a theme or a cohesive idea to pull it together. As with a lot of my writing it just needed time to brew, like a good pot of French Press coffee. (Four minutes with 200 degree water and fresh ground Starbucks coffee, preferably a darker roast like Sumatra (my current fave) or Italian roast.) After a few days, I realized what’s really been rattling around in my head – the differences between travel photography and home turf photography.
A little while ago I wrote about The Art of the Do-Over and how that takes some of the pressure off getting the “perfect” shot. And in the Are We Blind article I showed two shots of the same waterfall separated by about a year of serious shooting. Knowing that you can easily go back to a location and get the shot you missed is an immense comfort. You can control the light by watching the weather. You can control the time of day you shoot. You can control the equipment you have with you. And last, you bring your experience and knowledge to the shoot; you know what you’re after and you know the location from having shot it before. All really fine circumstances, but travel photography is different.
Spacegirl Blues
Travel photography is loaded with pressure. With angst. Will I get that iconic photo? Will I be able to document what it was really like to be in this place? Will I just get “tourist snaps”? Will I find some hidden wonder no one’s ever shot before? Will I get up for the perfect sunrise? Will I have enough memory cards? It’s a crazy, anxiety producing time for a serious photographer, even when it’s supposed to be relaxing. Oh the things we do to ourselves.
There’s an old adage that says familiarity breeds contempt, but I try not to let that happen. Familiarity can also breed ideas and a level of comfort with the area that the travel photographer doesn’t have. My biggest hurdle on vacation is not being familiar with the location. Oh sure you can use online maps and specialized programs like The Photographer’s Ephemeris, but they can only do so much. Like when you drive and drive to reach a sunset location only to find the river in shackles provided by the Los Angeles water department. Or when you get up before the sun and drive to what you think will be the perfect beach only to find there’s a huge fence and the gate is locked. Yeah, that kind of thing. Being a native is a tremendous advantage in any setting and I can see why photographers hire guides to help them find the best locations. But I’m on vacation, not a photo shoot and I have to be mindful that my husband has different ideas about fun and relaxation. Learn to let it go if a shot just doesn’t come together perfectly. If a location doesn’t turn out to be as good as advertised. If you have to make do with something other than your ideal. Let. It. Go.
Gemini Spacecraft
And then there’s the weather. You’re only going to be in that spot for a short amount of time so you take what you get. Hopefully it’s something you can manage and work with instead of against. I ruined one whole vacation’s worth of shooting by fighting the light instead of managing it to advantage. Clouds don’t show up for your sunrise…find something else. Too much cloud cover for your sunset shoot? Harsh light all day? Wind? Rain? Snow? Freezing temps? Ah the joys of travel photography.
That’s when flexibility is key. I’ve heard it said that the best way to get good images is to have a shot list and plan them in advance. All well and good except that you’re planning with in a finite box of perfect conditions. Ha! We all know Mother Nature’s sense of humor and unless you have a lot of time and an unlimited travel budget, chances are you’re not going to get the shot you envision. That’s when the ability to see photographs on the fly comes in so handy. I did that pretty well on my last trip to CA and tried to do it on this one. Experience and a solid foundation of good photography practices will be something to lean on in times of trouble. Think of it as your fallback position. Fallback onto solid, traditional compositions and subjects that are dictated by what you see, not what you want to see. Remember what I said about letting it go? This is when you do it. Be flexible and let it go if you can’t accomplish it.
Songs for Future Gods
So along with setting a shot list that you can be flexible about, it’s important to set expectations, too. Study the weather. Look at the elevation. Check out the terrain. Know where the light is coming from. Go to your favorite photography forums and see what threads have been posted about where you’re going. Post your own thread asking for advice. Check out blogs from local photographers or pros who have been to the area. Oh what did we do before the internet? Seriously, it’s so much easier now and so there’s no excuse for not being prepared when you get there. Just knowing what the typical day is like where you’re going is a huge advantage. This will help you visualize ahead of time and you won’t be surprised about what you find. Think of it as sending an advance team.
Riders of the Dawn
After years of bringing the kitchen sink with me on vacation, now I travel with minimal gear. It’s rare that I find myself wishing for something I didn’t have. But what if you do need something that you didn’t bring? If you are lucky enough to be in an area that has a decent camera store, you might be able to talk your way into a quickie rental. Or if you’re traveling with other photographers who use the same brand, you can always beg or borrow. Mostly though understanding your own photography is your answer. Analyze what you use, really use, not just own. Think about what you want to produce while you’re on vacation and pack accordingly. On this trip I brought an older telephoto lens because I don’t have any new Olympus tele-zooms. Having gotten decent results with it before, I thought it would work. Unfortunately the camera out-resolves it and I didn’t get a single useful image with it. Maybe I should have brought the one I have more experience with, but I brought the 180mm because I so rarely use it. And vacation is not the time to be learning or perfecting techniques. Work on that when you can have an easy do over.
Interstellar Communique
What about fun? What about relaxing? What about enjoying a place without having to photograph every inch of it? Knowing when enough is enough is so important. I’m not a street photographer and so my instinct to bring a camera with me into town to get breakfast is weak. Sure I thought of doing it, but I didn’t because that’s my time. My relaxation time. My time to just sit with my husband, laugh, eat and find the course of the day. Being with a single-minded automaton is a real drag and who wants to be that person? Putting the camera down and experiencing a place is sometimes more important than snapping away. Sometimes the camera is a barrier to being, just being in a location. More than once it’s happened that I come away from a place without a sense of it…I was too busy looking through the viewfinder.
Monocerous
Oh jeez that was rambling, wasn’t it? Here’s a summary to better prepare for a “once in a lifetime” location –
- Study the location remotely – weather, light, terrain and choice locations are all available online to help you get a feel for a place
- Be flexible – chances are the perfect conditions will never present themselves and you have to be able to envision good photos on the fly using what you see, not what you want to see
- Bring gear that suits your style – don’t try to break out of your zone on vacation, bring equipment that enhances your viewpoint not what disrupts it
- Fallback to the familiar – can’t make the original images you want, fallback on tried and true techniques and compositions; imitate the masters, they earned that title, find out why
- Work with what you have – if you can’t get to a spot or find conditions different from what you expected, exploit what you find and work it hard, let go of your preconceived photo
- Put the camera down for a while and really feel what it’s like to be where you are and with the person beside you – don’t let the camera be a barrier to fun
Desert Visitor – me!
To many people the word desert conjures up images of dunes, rippling sand, cactus and brutal temperatures. While some of that might be true, many deserts are far from that. Their lushness and color just might surprise you. Even though I’ve never lived near one, I’ve always loved the desert. High desert especially. That’s one of the reasons I keep returning to the west. The immensity of it just gets to me. The ever-changing face of it. Here are some of my favorite desert images from my recent trip to California.
First is a sunset taken just outside Bishop at the start of Silver Canyon. Unfortunately no clouds came to play so I was very glad the earth brought its own colors.
Pastel Hills (Silver Canyon)
I just love this next one. It’s the same sunset, but with the hill in shadow and the sun lighting up that terrifically fluffy plant. I have no idea what it is, but I love it. I think it’s the ribbon of trail leading up and out of the frame that makes it so magical for me.
Prestidigitation
Ok, so this next one isn’t so much desert as mountains, but in the Sierras they go together. The colors in this are just amazing and again, made up for the lack of clouds. I think this is my first ever shot of alpenglow – that pink glow of wonderfullness on the snowy peaks.
Alpenglow above the desert
Of course the desert is not all soft colors and gentle hills. It’s mostly a harsh environment that takes willpower to survive in. Except for the sunrise shot, the others were all taken with a pretty stiff wind blowing. So much so that my long exposures lack clarity because my lightweight, travel tripod wasn’t heavy enough. That wind was nothing. A few days later in Mono Basin we had steady wind in the 20 mph range with frequent gusts up to 50mph. Unreal. It made it very difficult to deal with and I worried that my camera would be clogged. The grit flew everywhere! Up my nose. In my eyes. I swear it took 10 minutes to rinse my hair in the shower that night. Mostly it was pumice from the volcanoes that created this whole valley. It’s so light that it flies in wind.
Anyway, these next two shots are taken right near the Mono Craters. It was one of the only times the harsh light actually worked in my favor. The fire was recent; in the last couple of years and not a thing is growing yet. Nothing. Zip. It was pretty creepy actually because other than the unrelenting wind, nothing moved or made a sound. No birds. That was the most noticeable. Compare it to the next shot where the desert has come back after a much earlier fire.
A Dead Heavy Day
The proximity of a big lake, mountains and desert makes for some extreme weather. No doubt these clouds had something to do with the wind. Aren’t they great? Like the clouds that hid the alien ships in Independence Day.
It Came from the Skies
Not the most intimate of portraits. Believe me I felt my visitor status the whole time I was out there. So overawed by it all I had very little time to really get to know it. Besides that I had to balance my photography with our vacation and not drive my ever-patient husband crazy. Only once during the whole trip did I feel my photo mania irritated him, so I dialed back and we were good.
