Journal of my travels for the perfect photo

My Favorite/Best Photographs of 2011

2011-12-31T12:19:00.000-08:00

Whishing all of you a Happy and Prosperous 2012.

I skipped posting this series in 2010, however you can find it here: flickr for my Best of 2010.

I was inspired in 2009 when Dan Mitchell and Jim Goldstein, posted their best of the year images. I got out quite a few times in 2011 and had a difficult time picking what I thought are my best/favorites. If I stuck with my favorites there would be a whole bunch more (and I may just add them later).

You can also view this photo set on flickr for my best of 2011, not necessarily the “BEST”, but images making it into the set were selected as follows:

I got positive feedback on them.

Memories or circumstances in which it was made and where I was when the image was taken.

Just because I like it.

Sabrina Basin Last Light

Last Light at sunset – September 29, 2011. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Juvenile Bear munching away at bark goodies

A Yosemite Bear foraging – May 14, 2011. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Avenue of the Giants, California

My version of the Jeep commercial……. – May 27, 2011. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Pink Dogwoods

Thanks to my friend Jim I was able to shoot these pink dogwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains – April 29, 2011. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Rhododendron - Del Norte Coast Redwoods, California

From my annual pilgrimage to the Redwoods – June 12, 2011. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Elk at Prairie Creek Park, California

During the Memorial Weekend I drove to Crescent City to visit the Redwoods National Parks. On my way one of my stops was the Prairie Creek State Park, where I was treated to observe a herd of bull Roosevelt Elks – May 27, 2011. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Windsurfer Salto

2011 Santa Cruz Classic Windsurfing Contest at Waddell Beach. – May 8, 2011. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Almond Blossoms

End of the Almond Blossoms, the orchards look like they have rows of snow – March 12, 2011. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Hope Valley in Winter

Always a treat when I get out after a snow storm to capture the mood of the snow covered country side – February 20, 2011. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Almond Blossom – Digital Painting

Almond Blossom – Digital Art - Images by Inge Fernau

Dana Fork in Winter

A once in a lifetime experience to drive over the Tioga Pass in late December to be treated to the views of frozen creeks and lakes usually under a few feet of snow this time of year. Amazing – December 30, 2011. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Crescent City Lighthouse

A great Memory - My last trip to the North Coast rewarded me with a beautiful sunset. A bonus is the couple sitting on the rocks enjoying the view. – November 6, 2011. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

These are my favorites, and the others from previous years can be seen here:
Best of….

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Merry Christmas Greeting

2011-12-25T18:14:00.000-08:00

This December there were no trips to catch the snow in Yosemite, so I thought I post something from a snowy day in February. Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.

Merry Christmas 2011 - Images by Inge Fernau

I am excellent in giving photo walks/tours and I will freely share my ‘secret spots’ with you. I am very familiar with Yosemite, the Eastern Sierra, Wine Country or California Coast. To find out more about taking a photo walk/tour with me Contact Us

This (digital) photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, it may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Santa Cruz Classic -2011 American Windsurfing Tour

2011-05-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

In early May I had the chance to see some of the world class Windsurfers at the Santa Cruz Classic at Waddell Beach, about six miles north of Davenport. It's the first stop of the 2011 American Windsurfing Tour. It was pretty amazing seeing the loops and jumps live.

2011 American Windsurfing Tour at Waddell Beach - Images by Inge Fernau

Fall Colors 2010

2010-11-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

After having to skip most of the Eastern Sierra Fall colors in 2009, I was able to spend several days in the Eastern Sierra in 2010. The “show” started in the upper elevations in mid September and was going strong until about the first week in October. This year I found a lot more incredible red leaves than in previous years. Some of the reds were just unbelievable.
Then came the standstill or “green lull” as my friend Kahlee named it. The upper elevations are done and everything below 8000’ is very slow in changing colors.
By mid October, things started to change and colors popped up all along US395. I am behind with processing, but uploaded photos to my Magical Glow website . Enjoy the slide show of what I have so far:

Eastern Sierra Fall 2010 - Images by Inge Fernau

This (digital) photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, it may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Looking for Wildflowers.

2010-04-11T13:58:00.000-07:00

A Field of Dreams in Colusa County:

I took a drive on April 7, 2010 up north, visiting Colusa, Yolo, Lake and Napa Counties. Wildflowers are few and far in between. One field was very impressive and the cows were munching away at the delicious treat. I had to wait until about 9:30AM for the Cream Cups to open up, but it was worth the wait…and I got no cows in my shot. Other areas I saw in previous years did not yield anything great. A few spots were good for macro photography.

Field of Dreams – April 7, 2010. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

My Wildflower Gallery:

Wild Flowers - Images by Inge Fernau

This (digital) photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, it may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Images are now available to purchase on-line at PhotoShelter

2010-01-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

From my Eastern Sierra Fall Collection:

This (digital) photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, it may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

PhotoShelter Stock Images - Magical Glow Photography
Inge Fernau is available for Photo Tours/Walks or Short Hikes in Yosemite, the Eastern Sierra, Wine Country or the California Coast. Contact Us
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Last Sunrise of this Decade 12-31-2009

2009-12-31T10:19:00.000-08:00

I actually wanted to photograph the moonset this morning, but there was too much cloud cover. I arrived on Treasure Island by 6:10AM, never saw the moon. I was surprised that the Embarcadero Buildings were not lit with the Holiday Lights. Looks like they are trying to save electricity. I waited in my car until dawn and then there was a beautiful fiery sunrise. The color lasted for about 5 minutes. The last sunrise of the decade was truly special.
4SS-GND - Three vertical images merged in Photoshop.

Eastern Span Bay Bridge at Sunrise – the Last for 2009

Last Sunrise of this decade from Treasure Island on New Years Eve – December 31, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This (digital) photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, it may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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My Favorite/Best Photographs of 2009

2009-12-26T20:25:00.000-08:00

I was inspired last year when Dan Mitchell and Jim Goldstein, posted their best of the year images. Unfortunately I did not get out as much I would have liked in 2009 and therefore the variety of images is limited. I created a photo set on flickr for my best of 2009, not necessarily the “BEST”, but images making it into the set were selected as follows:

I got a lot of positive feedback on them.

Memories or circumstances in which it was made and where I was when the image was taken.

Just because I like it.

Bay Bridge at Sunset

San Francisco Bay Bridge from Treasure Island on Christmas Day – December 25, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Magical Sunset – Gates of the Valley

Winter Yosemite Valley View – December 8, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Black Oak Fall Colors at Bridal Veil Falls

Fall comes to Yosemite Valley – October 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Siesta Lake shows off glowing October Colors

Siesta Lake – can be found along the Tioga Pass Road – October 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Sunrise in the Buttermilks

Eastern Sierra Fall Colors were asleep – alternative was to shoot a sunrise in the Buttermilks – October 8, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Last of the June Lake Fall Colors

Driving around the June Lake Loop I came across this Reflection – October 22, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Reflection Abstract

Aspen Trees reflecting on a pond in a light breeze – October 7, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Windsurfer

Summer Fun – Windsurfer is catching the waves at Waddell Beach – August 24, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Green Pond

Pond hidden from the fast pace - Yosemite – June 13, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Yosemite Valley in Winter

Merced River after a Winter Storm - Yosemite – February 14, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Dogwood is blooming in Yosemite Valley

Blooming Dogwood – May 9, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

My Bear encounter in Yosemite

Bear Meadow – June 23, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

These are 12 of my favorites, and the balance can be seen here:
Best of 2009

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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San Francisco Skyline from Treasure Island

2009-12-26T18:37:00.000-08:00

Drove to Treasure Island on Christmas Day to shoot the sunset…….

San Francisco at Sunset on Christmas Day – December 25, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This (digital) photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, it may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Season's Greetings

2009-12-19T13:41:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This (digital) photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, it may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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First Snow of 2009 in Yosemite

2009-12-09T23:02:00.000-08:00

Watching the weather with excitement and knowing that there will be snow in Yosemite, it was almost impossible to make arrangements to get there on Tuesday. A rental SUV was not in my current budget, other photographer friends could not make it…..My only real option was to ask my daughter in law and my son to swap cars for a day. They have a Toyota 4-runner. Yeahhhhh and thank you my dear family! I carefully planned around not going during the storm, since I could not stay overnight. I choose to take highway 140 and my trip started at 3:45AM, because I figured with the low snow levels and the freeze warnings I needed extra driving time. I saw the first signs of frost on highway 99 and slowed down. I saw evidence of snow and ice starting in Merced. There was even reminiscence of snow in the Merced River Canyon; I never seen that before.

My first image of the day was to shoot the snow covered Yosemite Chapel. When entering the park the temperature was 11°F. Arrived at the Chapel just before 8AM, set up the camera and…. I had equipment failure….eh I mean people failure, my camera was locked into an f-stop of 5.6 and nothing I could do would change that. Thinking it was the cold, I was mad and disappointed at the same time, all this planning and my camera was messed up. What a great start! I switched over to my other cameras and took a couple of images. A lot of the snow had already slipped off of the Chapels roof and the oak tree had lost some of it due to wind the night before.

From here I drove to the Yosemite Village and parked the 4-runner for a while to calm down and check my camera again. What I found was that it was ME causing this lock-up. I pressed a button on the camera that locks the f-stop, dah. Happy again, I started driving the loop and found all kinds of photo ops. I love taking images of the snow covered trees and the partially frozen Merced River. As I was making my way through the park, one of my stops was – you guessed it – the iconic Gates of the Valley. Here I finally met Edie Howe a photographer living in Yosemite. We had been in contact via twitter and flickr, but managed to miss each other when I visited Yosemite. I just yelled hey Edie, Inge here… and we hit it off like we knew each other for years. I followed her to a few of her favorite spots. Fell once in the snow, but Edie was very helpful and I enjoyed every moment with this talented photographer.

Winter Yosemite Valley View – December 8, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Winter Wonderland – El Capitan Meadow – Yosemite national Park – December 8, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

The sky at the Gates of the Valley was bright blue; not a cloud in sight. But I was told that things can change quickly and sure enough by the time sunset rolled around, clouds came in. Edie and I hooked up again for sunset at the Gates of the Valley. The area was crowded with other photographers waiting for the light. Some of them walked right into our frames. Around 4:20PM I had already given up – not listening to Edie – and packed it in. I hear her yelling something about the light. When I looked over, I saw the show. I hurried up and set up again, thanks to Edie I was able to get the magical light. Check out Edie’s collection of this moment Wait it out

Gates of the Valley in Blue – Yosemite national Park – December 8, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Gates of the Valley waiting for the light – Yosemite national Park – December 8, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Gates of the Valley show over so I thought - WRONG – Yosemite national Park – December 8, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Made it back home around 8:40PM, tired and sore from all that driving, but completely excited with all the images I got to take with me. Winter in Yosemite is truly magical and it brings out the Christmas spirit of peace. Leaving all of you with the final image of the day and hope all of you have a Merry Christmas.

Magical Sunset in Winter Wonderland – Gates of the Valley – Yosemite national Park – December 8, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Not too late for Fall Colors

2009-11-29T20:16:00.001-08:00

When driving to the town of Clearlake on Thanksgiving, I saw plenty of fall colors in the Napa Valley Wine Country and in Lake County. Amazingly the Oak trees still had bright yellow leaves and a few vineyards were displaying the full fall color spectrum.

I drove back to catch some of the lasting color on Saturday. I was up at a pre-scoped out spot by sunrise, withstanding the howling wind. The storm and wind from the previous day had littered the roads with leaves and branches. Wind was an issue all day and a lot of my images show motion blur because of it. I drove around “newly” discovered back roads in Lake County and I have so much more to see. Besides vineyards there are hill sides covered with oak trees; real eye candy.

Vineyard in full fall color – November 28, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Bright yellow leaf orchard – November 28, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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PhotoShelter Gallery

2009-11-20T11:12:00.001-08:00

Testing out the slide show feature. Still have a lot of work to do on my PhotoShelter website until I can sell and license my images using this stock photo site.

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Surfer Dude

2009-11-19T18:43:00.001-08:00

When I heard about the “high surf warning” last week, I got into my car on Saturday to catch some windsurfers – so I thought. When I got to the beach, no surfers, low tide…..I should have checked the tide tables before I drove all the way to the coast.
Learning from this I got up early the next day (Sunday) to get to the coast by the time high tide hit. I found a lot of surfers in the water enjoying the waves. Not very high waves I must say. Not one windsurfer or kite boarder around. Still I took over 500 images using a 100-400mm lens with a 1.4 extender, giving me a total of 560mm focal length. It is fun looking through the images to see what I actually got, because whenever the surfers caught a wave I kept on clicking away until they scrubbed.
The image below is a tight crop, the surfer almost jumped out of my frame, so no cropping on the top.

Catching the Wave – November 15, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This (digital) photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

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Yosemite Valley and beyond October 30, 2009

2009-11-04T18:04:00.001-08:00

Wednesday’s day trip to Yosemite did not happen – too tired, too much wind & Tioga Pass closed; one of the images I wanted to take was at Siesta Lake along the Tioga Road.

The urge to go, however, festered and Friday 10/30 was it, I just had to get up and go. Overall I could have turned around and go back to sleep when my alarm went off, but I am too nosey and have to see for myself. In hindsight, I should have taken all the images I wanted on Monday, but I ran out of light… :-(
On the road at 3:30AM (took hwy 120 this time). Stopped in Oakdale for gas and at Denny’s for a breakfast to go. Was by the Yosemite Chapel at 6:50AM and dawn was just breaking.
I drove to the Yosemite Village Parking lot and ate my breakfast. The trees that would be in full color in front of the store were already bare……

So, I started my valley loop around 7:30AM. Most of the dogwoods around the village are either green-brown, light yellow or bare. The elm tree in Cooks meadow is just about bare. The oak trees are at peak (orange-brown or 50% bare) I had a morning image planned here but skipped it based on these conditions. Some of the other places I had scoped out on Monday were now past peak or bare. The oak behind the chapel is about 75% bare and the color is deep orange-brown.

Fall Colors along a trail with a view of the three brothers – October 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Dogwoods around the valley look like they are going to the yellow-brown stage. There are a few colorful trees here and there, but I did not stop for them. At Fern Spring I could see the damage the wind has done. A lot of green leaves were ripped off of the trees and were now on the ground. The spring itself was full of leaves, but not what I had pictured it to be. I have an image from 2008 where the whole small pond is covered in leaves.

I left the valley to drive to Siesta Lake at ~8,000 ft. I wanted a shot of the lake and its October ring of red blueberry bushes. They were somewhat past peak and part of the lake was frozen, but I think I got a few good reflections on the unfrozen parts. From here I turned around and drove into the Merced River Canyon. You will find great color along highway 140 and Incline Road, but it is difficult to get a good shot, not unless you want to rock hop or stand in the river. I found a couple of areas along Incline Road where I could stop and shoot. For most of it I just enjoyed the drive amongst the color.

Siesta Lake – Yosemite National Park – October 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Siesta Lake Reflections – Yosemite National Park – October 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Siesta Lake – Yosemite National Park – October 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Merced River Reflections – October 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Yellow Fall Wildflower found along Incline Road outside of Yosemite – October 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Back to the valley by 1:30PM for one more loop. I got a great shot of Bridalveil Falls and a yellow oak right from the parking lot. The afternoon sun was back lighting the oaks in El Capitan meadow and I shot here for a while. Most of them were orange-brown with a few yellow ones. A few of them were already 50% bare.

Bridalveil Falls – October 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Black Oak El Capitan Meadow – October 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Colorful leaves on shrubs found in El Capitan Meadow – October 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Taking highway 120 to leave the park, I came upon a bear jam, with cars parking in the middle of the road – I did not stop this time, the bear was up on a hill and there was no way to pull over. I had to drive into on-coming traffic to get by. The dogwoods along Highway 120 west of Crane Flat were bare. I had planned on shooting them…….too late. There may be some colorful ones left in the Merced or Tuolumne Groves.
A few colorful spots can be found along hwy 120 and I took the Smith Station Road - J132 to Coulterville. This was a beautiful drive, the road is littered with yellow oaks (but no way to stop), and I just enjoyed the colorful ride to hwy 49. Back home at 7:45PM.

Black Oak Leaves – October 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Yosemite Valley and beyond October 26, 2009

2009-11-03T18:12:00.000-08:00

Well I did a crazy on Monday 10/26; I drove to Yosemite - left the house around 11AM. One of those short circuit decisions….Before I got to Yosemite I stopped in Mariposa, where I saw this extremely colorful tree. Don’t know the name, but it was glowing in all shades of red and orange.

Colorful leaf along a rest stop in Mariposa – October 26, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Highway 140 along the Merced River has some nice color and worth trying to find a spot to be able to take images. A little harder for me, since I cannot rock hop or climb down a cliff….. I scoped out where to take images on Wednesday along the Merced River Canyon.

Highway 140 – Merced River Canyon – October 26, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Big Leaf Maple and Black Oak shine along the Merced River – October 26, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Photographed the oak behind the chapel; color was already orange, not yellow :-(
I didn’t think it would survive the winds on Tuesday and Wednesday, as it was, even with a light breeze, the oaks dropped leaves like rain. I also grabbed an image of the Yosemite Falls with a colorful Black Oak.

Yosemite Chapel – October 26, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Yosemite Falls View – October 26, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

The area around Fern Spring was very colorful and I spend some time shooting here as well.

Hiking Trail by the Merced River – October 26, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Fall Color Road – October 26, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

The oaks in Cooks and El Capitan Meadows were at peak. I had a feeling that the places where I wanted to take images had progressed faster than I had anticipated – and I was right!

Elm Tree and Half Dome – October 26, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Colorful Black Oaks – October 26, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

I stopped for some sunset shots at an overlook to see the damage the Big Meadow fire caused. It was amazing to see how a few trees were untouched by the fire and other areas were devastated. I missed however much better sunset clouds - was in an area where I could not pull over....Got back home at 9:40PM.

Area of the Big Meadow Fire – October 26, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Yosemite Valley Fall Colors October 22, 2009

2009-10-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

Yosemite Valley was crowded for a Thursday. ROADWORK - I got stuck waiting for a flagman to let a caravan of cars going thru between Crane Flat and the Foresta Road. 90% of the big-leaf maples are at peak, with some of the losing their leaves. The dogwoods are at peak around the 5000 to 6000 foot elevation along Highways 41 and 120, and there are some red ones there as well. In the valley the dogwoods are about 50% turned. Most of them are a light yellow and only a very few are pink or red. Best places were Curry Village, Valley View, and Fern Spring areas. The Oaks seem to turn fast, I’ve seen a lot more yellow in them than 6 days ago. All the leaves appear to barely hang on, a light breeze in the valley yesterday and they were dropping. The light was harsh when I got to the valley and I was not going to stay until 5PM. The Merced River Canyon is coming along with great colors as well, but time to shoot here is in the morning (before noon).

Colorful Big-Leaf Maple along the Merced River – October 22, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Motion Blur – October 22, 2009. I have seen this before and wanted to try taking a photo while driving to create this blurry image. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Black Oak in the shadow of Giants – October 22, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Black Oak Leaves – October 22, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Dogwoods in Color – October 22, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Eastern Sierra Fall Colors October 22, 2009

2009-10-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

I made one LAST whirlwind trip to the Eastern Sierra on Thursday, October 22. I had heard from Kahlee on Monday that there was still color at Silver Lake, but that is was also snowing up there. A cold snap can turn these precious leaves black over night. My goal was to visit the June Lake Loop and the Lee Vining Canyon. On the road at 3AM, a short stop at the Whoa Nellie Deli for my last breakfast to go in 2009 and then straight to Silver Lake. Saw a bunch of photog’s hiking up the Parker Peak hillside area. This one still had a lot of orange. It was 25°F at 7:45AM when I got out of my car and there were frozen leaves around the shores of the lake. A lot of the leaves had been blown off by the recent storms and the trees by the picnic area had mostly black leaves or were bare. Overall there was still some color to be found, but I had to look for it. It became difficult to keep brown or black leaves out of my frames.

A beauty amongst the frozen – October 22, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

A Cold Morning at Silver Lake – October 22, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

FROZEN – October 22, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Fall Color Reflection at Silver Lake – October 22, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Fall Color Reflection at Gull Lake – October 22, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

The Lee Vining Canyon was hit harder by the cold spells. About 75% of the jeaves had turned black or the trees were bare. At the start of the Poole Power Plant road there was a nice section of aspens, but there were black leaved ones as well. Other areas by the campgrounds were almost all black. I did not spend much time in the Lee Vining Canyon, as far as I am concerned fall is done here. There is a nice stand of Aspens on the way down to Lee Vining along highway 120 and another one just past the Tioga Lodge on US 395. I made the decision to drive back to the Yosemite Valley by 11:30AM.

Majestic View - Eastern Sierra – October 22, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Small Aspen Grove along highway 120 – October 22, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

On my way back over the Tioga Pass I came across a few aspen trees around the Yosemite Creek area and one that really lit up in the midday sun. It was along a turnout close to the Lukens Lake trail head parking. There are a couple of more niceAspen stands close by the Tuolumne Grove. The black oaks along the Tioga road are at peak.

Aspen light up in the Midday Sun – October 22, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

You will find the continuation of my report on Yosemite here:

Yosemite Fall Colors October 22, 2009

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

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Yosemite Fall Colors October 17, 2009

2009-10-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

It was a spur of the moment decision to drive to Yosemite on Saturday 10/17. My friends Susan and Jim saw the fall color reports and wanted to go. We were going to meet between 7 and 8 in the AM by the Yosemite Chapel. My trip started at 3:45AM and I was at the Chapel by 7:15AM. My friends arrived 15 minutes later. We drove around the valley for a while and parted shortly after 9:30AM, because they wanted to hike to Sentinel Dome and also photograph the famous Ansel Adams Tree (which has now toppled over).

Yosemite Valley has plenty of good color right now. The sugar maple is amazing and has colors of deep orange and leaves turning red (and there is still a hint of lime green). To me a must see. The black oak behind the chapel is just starting to turn. It appears that most of the bigleaf maples have turned bright yellow, but a few leaves are already brown. Some of the dogwoods in Curry Village have turned and show of a colorful yellow and one is already red. I saw a few more colorful trees, but for most part the dogwoods in the valley just starting to turn and the best is yet to come.

Sugar Mapel – October 17, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Sugar Mapel – I used a flash and it really showed how the transion is progressing. - October 17, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

The Elm tree in Cooks meadow looked brown and the black oaks just started to turn here. The same is true for the oaks in the El Capitan meadow, they are just starting. I did see a few black oaks with yellow leaves as well as brown ones.
To kill time during the harsh light hours I drove hwy 41 all the way to Wawona and the color of the trees in the 1990 burn area past Wawona Tunnel View--awesome with all the reds. I found most of the color around the Wawona campground and the creek (Alder Creek?). There is some color along Glacier Point Road, but with all the construction there is no space to pull out, so I enjoyed the colors.
The dogwoods between the Crane Flat entrance station and the Merced Grove are in full fall color spectrum – yellow, lime green, orange and red.

Dogwoods are Red – October 17, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Dogwoods Fall Color Spectrum – October 17, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Also there are a lot of yellow trees in the talus slopes below Sentinel Rock. Other areas with color are at the junction of hwy 140 & 120 and across from the Cascade Falls.

The Talus Slopes around the Sentinel Rock are dotted in Yellow – October 17, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Some color can be found along the Merced River Canyon outside of Yosemite.

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

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Fall Color Summery 2009

2009-10-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

2009 brought a lot of changes for me. One of them was that I had to drop my usual plans to chase the Aspen fall colors in the Eastern Sierra because in April my contract with a Biotech firm was cancelled and I joined the oodles of unemployed on May 6th. Renting an SUV was not in the budget this year, so a lot of the dirt roads I would normally explore had to wait until another year.
I was able to squeeze in four trips to the Eastern Sierra and details from three of them can be found here:

Fall Colors September 23, 2009
Fall Colors September 29 & 30, 2009
Fall Colors October 22, 2009

Fall Colors along the South Fork of Bishop Creek – September 23, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This season in the Eastern Sierra was very different from others I have been covering. The show started the last week of September in the Bishop Creek drainage above 9000’ and it was awesome for about two weeks. The Rock Creek Canyon around the lake also turned, however it was behind in terms of color as I had seen it the year before. Heavy winds and snow flurries on September 29th started to take down some of the colors and then an early cold snow storm on October 4th did its deed. This snow storm prevented me from meeting up at June Lake with a few photog’s from the California Nature Photographers Net . It had closed the Tioga Pass as well as the Sonora Pass and I was not going to install chains on my Corolla.

A Stormy Morning at Lake Sabrina – September 29, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Morning at Weir Pond – September 29, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

What made this year so unusual is that the Aspen groves all along the Eastern Sierra below 8500’ were still green and showed no signs of wanting to turn. There was talk about an “early fall” or was it just wishful thinking? Except for Bishop Creek and Rock Creek there was no other color worth noting during this “early fall” spell. Everything at the lower or middle elevations was not cooperating. This year was also different in terms of a lot more people started to pick up on sites reporting fall colors, which was very helpful (in some way) planning trips to where the colors were:

Dan Mitchell’s list of fall color reports has a bunch of links to current updates. (Now they might be a little out-dated)
I recommend checking the fall color reports at the CalPhoto Website or some others such as Steven Bourelle’s Sierra Visions: Eastern Sierra Fall Color Report Links before heading up to the Eastern Sierra. Networks like twitter, facebook and flickr had fall color reports as well.

Colorful Leaves – September 29, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

North Lake Road Glow – September 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Sun crests the mountains and lights up these trees – September 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

My last trip over the mountain for this fall season (this wasn’t my last, I went one more time – go figure) was from October 7th to October 10th. My shooting partner from last year Randy Walton and his wife and daughter had come over the Sierra Mountains on Sunday taking a long d-tour after the Tioga Pass literally closed as they got there. They ended up taking Hwy 50 to US 395 to Bishop. Randy send me a couple of disappointing color reports, so my hopes were low when I started my trip on Wednesday October 7th. As suspected the Conway Summit was still asleep and the groves were green or lime green. Color along the slopes was more brown or bare, than bright orange as I have seen it. The Jordan Basin and about 1 mile into the Virginia Lakes road was lime green, yellow or had bare trees. The yellow leaves were littered with brown spots. The story was about the same along the Lundy Canyon road up to the resort (I passed on the dirt road), there were a couple of yellow Aspen in the day use areas, but upon close-up, I saw brown spots again. The views did not improve down the canyons along US 395. Some groves had potential such as Sherwin Creek and McGee Creek Canyon a mile or so up the trail. Randy, family and I went shooting on Thursday starting with a “boring” sunrise in the Buttermilks. We drove along the South Fork Bishop Creek Canyon and in desperation for color at one point gathered fallen red leaves and placed them on a nearby rock, taking images that way.

A cool reflection at Cardinal Pond – October 7, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Sunrise in the Buttermilks – October 8, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

My Staged Leaf – October 9, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

It was great to actually put faces on people I knew from the forums, but not in person during my trips. Alpenglow’s Greg Russell and myself text each other with color locations or called the cell phones with messages on where the color is. I finally came across Greg by chance at the Cardinal Pond (in fact he was the one asking if I was Inge?). I met Kahlee and Cris for lunch at Jack’s in Bishop on October 9th and we shot for a while along Bishop Creek Canyon. Cardinal Pond and the area around the “Mist Falls” and Mountain Glenn campground were places with some color. Kahlee and I called each other a few more times with color locations – really cool.

On my way home on October 10th I took the June Lake Loop and found it promising. The Aspens along the shores of June Lake were turning yellow, however the ones along the road above the lake had a lot of black/brown leaves. Best color was around Silver Lake and Grant Lake. Carol spotted me at the Silver Lake picnic area and we chatted for a while. I planned on driving all the way to the Monitor pass and then cut over to Hwy 88. There was some good color around Lee Vining, but the Conway Summit was still mostly lime green with a few yellow areas. The Monitor pass had promise, but it was noon by then and I stopped on top of the pass only to eat my breakfast. Nothing I saw along the Monitor pass was worth my time photographing. The same was true for Hope Valley and the western slopes along Hwy 88. There was a lot of traffic going east on the road – not surprising, people were looking for the fall colors. I should have stayed around Lee Vining, not waste driving all the way over to Hope Valley! By the time I drove down Hwy 88, I was so tired of lime green, brown spotted yellow leaves and bare trees, I turned onto the Mormon Emigrant Pass to see something different. I passed this road many a times so this was as good as any for me to drive it. No Aspens here, but it is still a nice back road. Toward the end of this road I stopped at a dogwood patch that had a few red leaves.

It was an interesting 2009 fall season; not what I was used to in the past seven years. I will add on more as I check out the Wine Country and Yosemite………..
Instead of posting more images about my Yosemite Trips go to the links below:

Yosemite Fall Colors October 17, 2009
Yosemite Fall Colors October 22, 2009
Yosemite Fall Colors October 26, 2009
Yosemite Fall Colors October 30, 2009

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Eastern Sierra Fall Colors October 10, 2009

2009-10-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

I send the following Eastern Sierra Fall color report to the CalPhoto Website:

JUNE LAKE LOOP: This one has promise. The shores along June Lake have yellow Aspen, but the rim has a lot of brown leaved trees. Shooting down from the beach is most likely best. All along the loop there are more and more yellow trees vs. lime green or green. Silver Lake picnic area and around the lake are more yellow than lime green. On close-up the yellow leaves have a lot of brown spots. Between Silver Lake and Grant Lake I saw 4 different stands of Aspen in bright yellow. Aerie Crag is also yellow and lime green. Along Grant Lake are groves in orange/brown, yellow, lime green, green and bare.

LEE VINING AREA: Looking down from Lee Vining to the creek trail (this trail starts in the town of Lee Vining), the Aspen are yellow. Just outside of town along US 395 are a couple of small groves turning yellow.

MONITOR PASS: The big grove east from top of the pass is yellow, lime green and bare as well. Other groves are still green and bare. The grove on top of the pass is yellow, lime green and bare. Driving west on hwy 89 before it intersects with hwy 4, I saw a few nice yellow Aspen stands.

HWY 89 to HWY 88: The East Carson River Valley has some really nice sections with very yellow trees.

HWY 88, HOPE VALLEY, CARSON PASS: The trees at Soresens’s Resort finally starting to turn, and the trees between here and Picket junction are either bare, lime green or yellow. On close-up the yellow leaves have brown spots. Other areas around Hope Valley are yellow, lime green, brown, bare and some have an orange tint (can’t tell from afar if is orange/brown). The trees by the cabins that had color last week are bare now. Up towards the Carson Pass the trees are lime green or bare. Hwy 88 western side is mostly green, lime green, yellow w/brown spots or bare.

There is hope for a 2nd season, as long as this next storm is not taking down what is left. I am working on my summery right now and will post it in a few days with images.

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Eastern Sierra Fall Colors September 29/30, 2009

2009-10-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

My second marathon (to be) chasing the Eastern Sierra Fall colors started at 2AM on Tuesday September 29, 2009. The Old Priest Grade was still closed, so I had to take the longer way up Hwy 120. It was very lonely driving east on the Tioga Pass road, except for a few deer. I trucked along with my high beams on and about a mile before Olmstead Point during a left curve I saw a black shadow moving on the dark side of the road. I thought to myself, what is this guy doing in the pitch dark on the road and hit the brakes….my car came to a stop, the shadow jumped and came into my sights, and it was a black bear using the road for travel. I passed him with my heart still pounding. A fast and short encounter I will remember for a long time. We both are lucky; the only thing that happened was we both were scared. I don't drive fast around the curves anyway, because you are so blind, and I am glad I saw the movement in the corner of my eye. Hitting the bear would have been disaster for the two of us. Wow in all my years driving along the Tioga pass at night I have seen deer and coyote’s but never a bear. There is always a first and Tuesday morning was it. I think I am going to avoid driving the Tioga Pass in the dark for now.
There was not much wind along the western slopes, but as soon as I got to the steep section of the pass the wind was howling. I had to evade a couple of bigger rocks that were littering the road on my way down. It took 4 hours and 15 minutes to get to Lee Vining; the Tioga Gas Mart was still closed. I pressed on to Lake Sabrina, where Kahlee and I were planning on meeting at 8AM. Unfortunately she was not up to the task after that nasty fall she took the day before at North Lake, and I shall meet her next week. The wind was fierce at the lake, and in the late afternoon it started to snow a little. I did not drive back home that day; I spend the night at my favorite motel. The thought of being on the road in the dark, tired and in possible snow just did not appeal to me. Instead of talking about Bishop Creek Canyon again, I will report first on other places I visited on Tuesday and Wednesday. My decision was made to come home over the Carson Pass (Hwy 88), checking on the Monitor Pass and Hope Valley.

McGee Creek Canyon:
There was some brutal wind on Tuesday ripping off green leaves up there. The trees by the bridge are green. The Aspens by the campground are still green; color by the trail parking lot is mostly green with some trees showing change. A view into the canyon showed yellow, orange and green. Not sure how the leaves survived the dusting of snow and the wind.

A Stormy View into the McGee Creek Canyon – September 29, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

June Lake Loop:
The Parker Mountain side is a mix of orange, yellow and lime green. The Aspens along Grant Lake are still mostly green with small yellow patches. The grove at Aerie Crag is mostly lime green with a little yellow. Hwy 158 between Grant Lake and Silver Lake is green/lime green. Silver Lake has mostly green trees with a few yellow patches. I saw some trees that have gone from green to black leaves. The trees at June Lake are lime green, yellow and some have already brown leaves. I took no images along the June Lake Loop this time around.

Along US 395 south:
The Mammoth Creek area looks mostly green. The Aspen “River” coming down from Laurel Canyon has some orange, but is mostly green/lime green. The Aspens at Sherwin Creek are lime green and yellow as well as orange higher up. Day temps along US 395 stayed around 50F on 9/30.

Virginia Lakes Road:
At the Jordan basin the trees are yellow, orange, lime green, brown and bare. By the creek there is a mix of lime green, green, yellow and some orange. Drove only as far as the heliport and the slopes with the Dunderberg Peak showing in the background are a mix of lime green, yellow and orange.

Conway Summit:
As has been reported before the big groves are still green, with a few Aspens showing some change. The groves on the slopes in the back country are a mix of lime green, yellow and orange. This could suggest that the Dunderberg Meadow is approaching full fall color. With the wind and cold there is no guarantee that the Aspens are going to make it much longer up there.

Monitor Pass & the Carson River Valley:
From the junction of Hwy 4 to the top of the pass mostly lime green and a few bare trees. Top of the pass mostly green with some yellow. A little bit further east a mix of lime green, yellow and orange and again some bare trees. The Carson River Valley is still green/lime green and I would expect this in late September.

Top of Monitor Pass – September 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Hope Valley:
This area has some nice colors by the cabins, but otherwise still a lot of green. Some areas in Hope Valley have small yellow patches. Hwy 88/89 between the Pickett's Junction turn-off and Sorensen’s show some colors, but the resort is still mostly green. I was fighting direct sun at 5PM when I took the image below. The western slopes of Hwy 88 are still mostly green.

Cabin at Hope Valley – September 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

O.K. this is it for new places I checked out and now I am back to Bishop Creek Canyon, because here is where the color was. So if you are tired reading about fall colors at Bishop Creek Canyon you can stop now. I did not make to Rock Creek so no further reports from there.

I made it to Lake Sabrina on 9/29 by 7:30AM and it was very very windy here. I was going to try a pano regardless, so off I went to the dam. Some of the groves around the lake looked bare, but I saw some green trees holding on. I found still a lot of color along the middle fork, but also some trees with black leaves. The trees below the Lake Sabrina dam are coming into color; they are orange/red, yellow and green. The big grove above Aspendell is half bare and the trees around Cardinal Village are still mostly lime green with a small patch of yellow/orange.

Road to Lake Sabrina – September 29, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Along the South Lake Road between Willow camp and the South Lake parking lot the trees are yellow/orange and bare, there is still some green mixed in. The slopes above Weir Pond are mostly bare. The area around Table Mountain is at peak with some bare trees and still some green ones. At 2PM I returned to Bishop for some food and when I returned to Bishop Creek, the mountain range was enshrouded in one big moist cloud. In the late afternoon it started to snow lightly above 8700 feet and the temps had dropped to 42F by 5PM. The snow did not stick where I was, but I checked out North Lake road and it had a lot of red, yellow and orange.
I went back on 9/30 to see what damage the wind/snow had done. At 8AM the skies were blue, almost wind still and the temp at North Lake was 22F. To my delight the damage from the day before was not as bad as I feared. The grove behind the lake is about 1/3 bare and the rest is yellow/orange and green. The slopes above are brown/orange and bare. Just as I was packing up my gear to come down a hill by North Lake when I saw a familiar face, it was Phil Radlick I met last year at a photog meet. We swapped a few fall color findings and I was on my way. There is a lot of red and yellow along the road as well as a little green. Some leaves have developed those ugly brown spots.

North Lake after the wind and snow – September 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Color along North Lake Road – September 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

I did see more brown/black leaves around the higher elevations at Bishop Creek and it appeared to me as the sun started to hit the yellow/red leaves they were turning brown. I left the area around noon and the temps stayed below 30F, so I am not sure if more trees turned brown.
The lower elevations such as around the Bishop Creek Lodge, before Aspendell and Intake II are still mostly green. The small Aspens on the slopes above Intake II are orange, yellow and bare.

Color along a Trail in the Sabrina Basin – September 30, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Eastern Sierra Fall Colors September 23, 2009

2009-09-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

My first chase to catch the Eastern Sierra Fall Colors started at 2:40AM on September 23, 2009. I was able to take the Old Priest Grade before they closed it. Very little wildlife crossed my path, one deer that was it. Hunting season is upon us and it always seems there are less deer close to the road. When coming down the steep section of the Tioga pass, right after Ellery Lake, the Aspen “shrubs” have turned yellow and orange with very little green. This is a very difficult image to take due to the jumbled view, so no image.
Looking down into the Lee Vining Canyon, it was still green/lime green. Barely a few Aspen started to show color. One short stop at the Tioga Gas Mart for a breakfast and coffee to go.
The Parker Bench as seen from US 395 has one patch of orange and the rest still looks green.

Bishop Creek Canyon:

Up to Aspendell, the trees are mostly lime green with the mountain sides above Intake II looking yellow with a little green. The big grove behind Aspendell has the smaller Aspens are mostly yellow/orange with a few green trees; the taller Aspens are still green. From here all the way up to Lake Sabrina, 60% of the Aspens are yellow, orange and some red. The rest is still green. Here is some bad news; I did see some trees with brown leaves already mixed in (by the small bridge past the Sabrina campground). Lake Sabrina color is about 75% turned. I barely missed an early morning reflection – just as I set up the camera, fishing boats were crossing the lake and that was it for the reflection. I went back in the afternoon and the sun lit up the trees in a sparkling yellow and orange. There are still some green ones on the slopes. I was trying for a pano, but there was just too much sun. All day - not a cloud in sight. In my opinion the colors at the lake approach peak fast. This coming weekend should be awesome!

As the Sun crests over the mountains, it lights up an Aspen Tree – September 23, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Fishermen enjoying the afternoon on Lake Sabrina – September 23, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

The Aspen color along the North Lake Road is about 50/50. With yellow, orange and red colors. The famous “tree tunnel” has one side green, the other side yellow. The big Aspen grove behind the lake is about half yellow with some orange and half green. The slopes up the mountain are mostly a reddish orange with some green. Some of the Aspens close to the outlet by the lake are already red and some trees have brown leaves and don’t look very good. The colors by the first day use parking lot are, in my opinion, at peak. The afternoon sun produced a nice reflection on the lake.

Aspens close by the outlet at North Lake – September 23, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Aspens glowing in the afternoon sun at North Lake – September 23, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

I had set up a time table for myself to catch most of the good light along the Bishop Creek Canyon, but there is just no way to catch all the best hours in one day. So I hit the South Fork of Bishop Creek close to 11:30AM. From the Forks campground to the Mountain Glenn campground the trees are mostly green with a hint of yellow here and there. Between this campground and Parchers Resort the color is coming in nicely and the Aspen trees are about 60% turned. Lots of yellow and orange, however the trees around the Table Mountain group camp are still mostly green. The slopes in this area have brilliant colors already, especially the small Aspen shrubs. There is still green in this section. 75% of the Aspens between Parchers and the South Lake parking lot are yellow and orange.

Sun light is bringing out the brilliant colors in the Aspens along the South Fork of Bishop Creek – September 23, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Rock Creek Canyon:
After exploring enough of the South For it was time to make it to the Rock Creek Canyon. Due to my time constraints, I got there around 1:30PM. Last year Rock Creek dazzled me with gorgeous colors, but this year ….hmm less impressive. Don’t get me wrong there is color; the show is just not like last year. The trees along road between US 395 and the snow park area are mostly green with a few colors along the slopes. Starting at the snow park area the color is yellow, red and some green. Overall color is about 50/50. From the Pack Station to the Mosquito Flat trailhead parking the color is at 80%. A lot of the trees are already yellow, with some orange and red. Some of the trees have lost their leaves or have brown leaves mixed into them.

Rock Creek Canyon Fall Color – September 23, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This was a long day for me and I returned to the Bishop Creek Canyon to get some afternoon light. The sky was blue all day - not a single cloud. It makes shooting at midday pretty hard. On most of my images at that time I used a 4 stop soft GND filter to tone down some of the harsh sky. I am not sure why some of the trees already had brown leaves, because a local told me they had no freeze up there yet; maybe drought? Sunset was not going to be eventful so I started to make my way back home. I did observe great sunset light once in Yosemite, most likely from the smoke in the air. The sunset afterglow lasted for a long time. The Old Priest Grade was closed due to repairs, so I had to take the long way down….I was beat by the time I got home at 11PM. It was too warm, with too much sun to take an afternoon nap and for the life of me I could not find a spot shady enough to close my eyes. My body was aching (still is) from all the driving. I have to come up with a different game plan when I go back next week to be able to stay past sunset (if it is promising). I will definitely have to take an afternoon nap.

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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October – Lundy Canyon.

2009-09-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

Searching for Eastern Sierra Fall Colors in the later part of October – Lundy Canyon.

In the past few years I visited the Lundy Canyon in the Eastern Sierra between October 8th and October 20th. Lundy Canyon is part of the Hoover Wilderness. The May Lundy mine was organized in 1879 after promising gold discoveries. Lundy Lake Road goes up Lundy Canyon from US Highway 395 to the trailhead past the Lundy Lake Resort. This road turns into a rocky dirt road and it ends in a one-way loop around an outhouse at the Lundy Canyon Trailhead. The trees in this canyon appear to turn a little later in October and then the Aspen trees lining the lake and the canyon put on a spectacular color show.
The dirt road is as I mentioned rocky, it is also narrow in some sections and has a couple of big potholes filled with water. I tried to navigate it in 2003 with a VW Bug and turned around after I hit a few big rocks; way before I got close to the 1st beaver pond. It is up to your comfort level taking a passenger car up there, I think it is doable to the 1st beaver pond and I have seen passenger cars along the road all the way to the trailhead. I take an SUV or high clearance vehicle when driving this road.
Alongside the dirt road are two beaver ponds with big Aspen groves. These groves either elate your spirits with color or they just plain disappoint. Early snow and cold spells take their toll on these groves and signs such as of brown/black leaves, bare trees or trees that have a lot of their still green leaves blown off are apparent.

Aspen Grove at the end of 1st Beaver Pond – Lundy Canyon – October 17, 2005. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Aspen Grove at the end of 1st Beaver Pond – Lundy Canyon – October 20, 2007. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Aspen Grove at the end of 2nd Beaver Pond – Lundy Canyon – October 8, 2005. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Aspen Grove at the end of 2nd Beaver Pond – Lundy Canyon – October 12, 2007. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Aspen Grove at the end of 1st Beaver Pond – Lundy Canyon – October 6, 2006. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

A different take of the 1st Beaver Pond – Lundy Canyon – October 8, 2004. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

There is color along the road towards the lake and the resort in early October. I believe I drove along this road on October 1st one year and found a lot of color along the road all the way up to the beaver ponds just not in the big groves. The Aspens along the dirt road are losing their leaves due to strong winds coming down the canyon and from my past experiences, these trees are mostly bare by the time the big Aspen Groves come into prime.

Fall Color Dirt Road to the Beaver Ponds in Lundy Canyon – October 6, 2006. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Lundy Lake and a View into the Canyon – October 6, 2006. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Aspen Grove – October 8, 2004. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Searching for Eastern Sierra Fall Colors in the later part of October.

2009-09-12T13:32:00.000-07:00

In 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008 I visited the Eastern Sierra between October 15th and October 22nd. Most of the Aspen groves at the higher elevations such as Bishop Creek Canyon or Rock Creek Canyon are past peak by then, but there are a couple of places holding on to color. One of them is the June Lake Loop.
The June Lake Loop is a 15 Mile Scenic Loop, with 4 lakes, a waterfall and majestic mountains. The June Lake Loop road is found just south of the town of Lee Vining off U.S. 395. Soon after you enter the June Lake loop you drop down behind some low foothills into the Grant Lake area. From here the land becomes more varied and interesting as you pass down a nice canyon dotted with pine trees and quaking aspen.
I found the Aspen groves to be at peak and glowing in the sun. Cold wind and frost can change things here within a day as I experienced. I had checked on a couple of spots too late in the day to get a good composition and came back the next morning; only to find the aspen leaves had turned into an ugly black/brown color.

Aspen Grove with a view on the Mono Craters – October 17, 2005. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Late Fall Color along the June Lake Loop – October 18, 2005. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Fall Color Road along the June Lake Loop – October 20, 2007. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

Reflection at Silver Lake - June Lake Loop – October 19, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

These (digital) photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, they may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Windsurfer getting caught by the wave.

2009-09-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

I was trying to be smart and use flickr to update my blog. Not….Flickr uploaded a small measly image.
I went to Waddell Beach a couple of times in August and enjoyed photographing the windsurfers and kiteboarders here. The image is a sequence of one of them getting caught by the wave.

Windsurfer

2009-09-12T10:50:00.001-07:00

Windsurfer
Originally uploaded by ifernau

Getting caught up in the wave.
August 24, 2009

This (digital) photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media, it may not be copied, printed or otherwise reproduced in any manner or form, whether in whole or in part without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

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Blog - Journal of my travels for the perfect photo

From my Urban Flowerscape

2009-07-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

This image was taken in the backyard of a friend. The macro setting was used with the Canon Powershot G10. I love it how the inside looks like candy.

Close-up – Red Wild Rose Bush. May 29, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

My “Bear Encounter”

2009-07-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

I took a couple of day trips in June over the Tioga Pass to take in the beautiful scenery.
On my first trip I was stumped by snow flurries at 9,000ft and since I was in my little Corolla, I decided to turn around. I did not want to be on the Eastside if they closed the pass.
As I was coming down to where you turn onto Hwy 120 to leave the park, I came across the scene photographer Dan Mitchell had described and who had posted an image from there in early June.

A ton of cars were parked/stopped all over and a ranger did traffic control. The tourist attraction was a “bear jam” - two cinnamon colored bears - one pretty big were foraging in a meadow. So I mounted my 100-400 lens, changed ISO to 1600 and turned on IS. Did all that but NONE of my shots taken with the 100-400 turned out - all blurry. I got one good shot with the G10 that I had set to sports....but very noisy.
My second trip took me all the way to Bishop Creek Canyon and beyond (more on this trip at a later time).
Coming to the same spot on my way home the “bear jam” again. Two bears in the meadow, tons of cars, a ranger making sure some crazy people don't try to get too close. I tried to learn from my previous mistakes - had mirror lock up on......
I changed to ISO to 800, turned on IS, turned off mirror lock-up, changed to AV and AGAIN all shots were blurry. I had the autofocus on..... Once more my G10 gave me a few good shots using a preset for kids/pets.
The moral of my story at this point is that I am lousy at hand holding a camera with a 100-400 lens mounted on it.

My last trip was solely to see if I can get a decent image of the bears munching on grass in the meadow. I know, I know it was a big tourist attraction and not a wild encounter, but good for practice. I got to the meadow around 6PM and found the park service had blocked the areas on the shoulders, so cars could not park in there. I went ahead and parked at the Crane Flat gas station and walked down to the side of the road.
This time I think I had all my settings correct, ISO 400, AV, Manual Focus, no IS, mirror lock up off and the tripod.
Only a couple of people were there when I set up my tripod, but that changed quickly. Big traffic jam, a ranger told people to move on, move their cars etc. Two bears foraged on the grass for about 45 minutes, and then the show was over. I shot over 400 images and got about 5 - 10 keepers. I have to admit that the 100-400mm lens is just not long enough to get real good close-ups. All of the images had to be cropped.

These photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

Also visit my images on shutterstock

Urban Flowerscape

2009-06-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

When on a tight budget, I had to find ways to still follow my passion of photography. My friend Jim Reynolds has a beautiful front and back yard and I was allowed to take images of the gorgeous flowers his wife has planted. I started photo walks around my neighborhood and took images of the flowers in the yards. Except for roses, I don’t know most of the names…..So here are a few images from the “urban flowerscape”.

Visiting my Mom in Germany May 2009

2009-06-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

My mom is 91 years old and she broke her hip back in April. It was time for me to visit her. She is in a nursing home in Hildesheim, Germany to heal. I thought she would go back to her apartment in about 3 or 4 months, but it was decided that she will stay in this home and give up her apartment in Hannover, Germany. I am not sure if this is the right thing, but it is her decision….I know she already regrets this, but it is done deal now.
Anyway, while visiting her I stayed in Hannover at her apartment and took the train to Hildesheim where the nursing home is. On my way I saw some wild flowers and flowers in the front yards of some homes. Time to take out my G10 and take close-ups. So this series is for you Mom – the Urban Flowerscape.

To start off with my mom’s favorite house plant the Amaryllis, it was in bloom and mom would miss it. This plant blooms for about 8 days and then the plant goes dormant until the next time…..I had a print made for her so she could see how beautiful he bloom is/was.

Kruse Rhododendron State Reserve

2009-05-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday May 13th, I drove to the Kruse Rhododendron State Reserve to get a look at the “Rhodies”. I really had no reports on any bloom yet, but since I am now unemployed, I will not have the means to visit the Redwoods National Parks for the gorgeous bloom. If you want to see the “Rhodies” bloom, Redwood National Park is the way to go, see this older blog:
Journal of my travels for the perfect photo
I met up with my friend Jim Reynolds at the trailhead inside the Park. It was a real disappointment – we only found a few good blossoms. I have more close-ups than grand views. We just made the best of it. A local told us that this was the peak season here.

These photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau
Please visit my website for this and more. All images may be purchased or licensed in a range of sizes.

I also posted more images in the Kruse Rhododendron State Reserve set on flickr.

Chasing the Dogwoods

2009-05-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

Even so I was going to be out of work very soon, I played hooky from the consulting job I had on Monday April 27th. I was itching to see the progress the Dogwoods were making in Yosemite. I take highway 140 when I drive into the Yosemite Valley and I know the Highway Patrol is out on 140 in full force, just waiting to catch speeders like me……I could not slow down fast enough and was clocked at 67 miles/hr. That ticket just came in the mail ($218.- ouch). My fault I know better to turn on cruise control when driving on highway 140 or 120. Enough of this…..
I encountered some Mule Ears and other yellow blossoms along the Merced River Canyon.

Once I arrived at Yosemite I checked for the dogwoods. The bloom was very sparse and most of the ones that did bloom were still greenish. Too much light also made it difficult to get a good shot, so I opted for shady areas.

On Saturday May 2nd was another day to go to Yosemite to hunt for dogwoods. Based on what I had seen on Monday the bloom should be a little better. It started to rain once I passed through Mariposa. Dogwoods in the rain are a good thing for the photography I had in mind. I was going to concentrate on Macro photography. I met an old friend of mine inside the park. He just started to become interested in wild life photography a couple of years ago, but also was interested in landscape.
My first stop for dogwoods was in the residential area of the village. On Monday I had spotted a couple of pink dogwood trees blooming – yes, I know they are not native to California, but they are absolutely beautiful. An accident had closed the road and the access to them on Monday evening and I had to give up on the shot. The rain made for much better images….

I posted a few other images in the California Nature Photographer Blog

My shooting partner wanted some more landscape so we stopped at the the Cascade Falls. These falls were roaring with the rain and snowmelt coming down. We parted here after he broke his lens……..
The strongest show of dogwoods was around Curry Village, but I skipped it. Not sure why, but there was already a lot of traffic in the area. I found other places and got a lot of close-ups.

By 11AM it was time to leave the park, it was getting crowded, even with the rain. I took several back roads and found Royal Larkspur, Fairy Lantern, Farewell to Spring Clarkia, Ithuriel Spear and others I have no name for.

Knowing that the weekend of May 9th was most likely the peak for the Valley Dogwoods, I made the decision to go to Yosemite one more time. The dogwoods did not disappoint.
The Valley was crowded with photographers, I ran into Michael Routh I had met in 2004 during my fall color safaris. I also finally met photographer Dan Mitchell who was shooting dogwoods in the shade. I had just finished getting some backlit images of the gorgeous dogwoods around Curry Village and was on my way out of the valley. One more stop at the “gates of the Valley” and here was this photographer shooting the dogwoods in the shade, just as I had planned on to do. I struck up a conversation and so we met……remarkable!

These photographs are not in the public domain! They may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Don’t Under-estimate a Winter Storm Warning!

2009-03-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

Over the Washington Birthday Holiday weekend, I was actually exited that snow was in the forecast. Plans had been made to spend a night in Bishop and the 4 Wheel Drive SUV was rented. I watched the weather reports on Saturday night and figured I can beat part of the winter storm. Did not pay much attention to the Monday forecast. I got up in the wee hours and took Hwy 50 over the mountains. It was raining and very windy when I left the SF Bay Area, but encountered only moderate snowfall when coming over the Echo Summit on Hwy 50. It started to snow when I drove over to Hwy 88 on Hwy 89. Not really a problem, I just drove slow (~30mph & 4Wheel drive). There was no more snow falling after I got past Woodfords. Made my way to Minden and stopped for breakfast, a bathroom break and some other groceries.
Finally on my way along US395 to Bishop. The Sierra Mountains from Lee Vining to Bishop were shrouded in clouds, so I did not take many images. Made it to Bishop by noon. (9 hours from the SF Bay Area with several stops)

Round Valley – Mountains are shrouded in clouds. February 15, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

It was too early to check into my motel, so I drove up the Bishop Creek Canyon. Snapped a few more images, but I wanted snowy trees and for that I needed new snow.
After checking into the motel, I took another drive to Convict Lake and got a few interesting images.

Storm is coming. February 15, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

There was no sunset to photograph, so I went back to the motel and called my daughter to check in. She told me to watch the weather, because the TV stations were announcing a winter storm warning for the Sierra Mountains.
I went on line and found the weather reports and they were not good for my trip back the next day. I enjoy driving when it snows, but it has to be reasonable. My plans on waiting for sunrise in the Buttermilks were just put to bed, I knew I had to get on the road and make my way back to the SF Bay Area. (Rental return was by 8:30PM)
Getting on the road at 6AM it started to snow a little in Bishop. Had the CalTrans number on speed dial on my cell to check road conditions. My next encounter with snow was over the Sherwin Summit. Not a big deal, I drive slow and in 4x4. The snowfall increased as I passed Mammoth and here vehicles just passed me, because I was going too slow. There was actually very little traffic on the road at this early hour. The wind was blowing pretty hard and every time a car did pass me, snow was blown onto my windshield and left me just about blind for a few seconds – until the windshield wipers cleared the view. Did not see too many snow plows clearing the road, so snow accumulated fast. No time for real photography, but I took my Powershot G7 and snapped a few thru my windshield as I stopped here and there.
The snowfall became heavier as I passed Lee Vining and for a while a snow plow was my guiding light, because visibility was bad. I saw one car that had ended up in the snow bank before I got to Bridgeport.

Guiding Light in the Storm. February 16, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

In Minden I called CalTrans to make sure roads were open. I made the bad decision to take Hwy 88 over the mountain. Text my daughter that I was getting ready to cross at 11AM. Once I was pass Woodfords the snow came down hard and visibility was not good, but I could manage by just going slow. I stopped at Hope Valley right before you go up onto the Carson Pass to take a few images. I should have turned around here to take Hwy 50……

Hope Valley is getting dumped on. February 16, 2009. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Driving over Hwy 88 in this snow storm was outright scary. Normally you can see the tire tracks from other vehicles and you can follow them, not this time, I could barely see 20 feet ahead of me. Every once in a while I was able to follow a car, but most of them were going faster than I felt was safe for me. It was snowing hard and the wind was blowing heavy and blew up the snow so I could not see anything, just guessing at times where the road was, looking for the snow poles on both sides and placing myself in the middle and moving out of the way when I saw headlights coming. On top of the Carson Pass there were several cars stuck in the snow bank. I slowed down to 10mph and had my hazard lights flashing. I must have pissed off a lot of drivers, because I only pulled over when I could and then a long line of vehicles zipped by me…..
I saw only ONE snow plow and that one was going the other direction, throwing up a bunch of stuff on my windshield. 5 minutes later my windshield developed a crack right above the steering wheel. I thought after passing Caples Lake the visibility would get better, but no chance. The crack on the windshield got longer as the wipers passed over it, but the windshield did not break. Puttering along in slow speed, I thought I never get off this mountain, driving in almost whiteout conditions dragged on for what seemed to be forever.
Finally once I passed Cook’s Station the snow on the road turned to slush and the visibility was much better. I encountered heavy rain, but that was fine with me. I got over the mountain in one piece and I must admit I underestimated the force of the storm. It took me 11 hours to get back to the SF Bay Area. I will be a better judge next time, but for now I saw all the snow I want to for a while…..

2008 Fall Color Summary Part 2

2008-11-29T16:06:00.000-08:00

I realized that it will take longer than expected to get this summary completed, so I am writing it in parts
If you don’t want to read thru this report you can view all my Fall Colors here:
Fall Color Collection

September 30th was another day spend mostly along the Bishop Creek Canyon. There are so many different places to photograph along this area, even if you go to the same spot, there is different light, different clouds, a reflection and so on. I don’t get tired to photograph the Bishop Creek Canyon in the fall. We took a side trip to Convict lake and the McGee Creek Canyon trailhead. Both locations were as disappointing as others we had explored so far. Mostly green trees with a little yellow.

On October 1st, I drove solo to see what is going on in Hope Valley and along the Monitor Pass. Hope Valley still had a lot of green Aspens, but some really nice ones as well. There was a lot of color around the Sorenson’s Resort. I found some colorful Aspen groves along the Monitor Pass, but there was still a lot of green. After spending a couple of hours in Hope Valley and along the Monitor Pass, I decided to check out the beaver ponds at Lundy Canyon; the story was the same here. The big Aspen Groves were still green with a little color around the ponds. Another disappointment…..
A short trip to Lee Vining Canyon and the June Lake loop proved to be just that – disappointing!

October 1st concluded with the same theme I had seen this fall, most of the places that are normally in full fall color swing were late and mostly green.

October 2nd was my last day shooting with Randy and we tried to pack as many places as possible into this day. Beautiful clouds interrupted our drive to the Upper Summers Meadow Road. We just had to stop along US395 and take some beautiful images with the storm coming in. Just about every place we visited had mostly green trees. Fall was late again. Storm Clouds spilling over the Sierra Crest announced the oncoming weather system.

On October 3rd I said good bye to Randy and his wife and I headed up to North Lake. Was greeted with a mirror image on the lake and tons of photog’s. When one of them constantly walked in front of my camera to get “his” shot, I packed up and looked for other views.

View my entire - Fall Color Collection

2008 was a different kind of Fall Color year. The Eastern Sierra Aspens turned later than expected. It was unseasonable warm in September and the first few days in October. A lot of trees stayed green well into October and then starting October 10th an early cold winter storm put an end to most of the color. Some trees went from green to brown. Yellow, orange and red trees went to an almost black color. A couple of places held on to some color until the fourth weekend in October. Yosemite had some color, but it was not a banner year. Even the Wine Countries of Napa Valley and Sonoma were slow in turning color; by November 1st I finally saw more yellow and reds than green. I visited the Wine Country until November 30th and still found color.

This is still in draft form – more to follow.

2008 Fall Color Summary Part 1

2008-11-23T13:20:00.000-08:00

I started planning my Fall Color Safaris for 2008 in December of 2007. Little did I know, that some of these plans had to change! The company I worked for (Nektar) laid me off on February 11, 2008….
My plans for any trips in 2008 were in limbo. Good luck had it however that one of my former directors hired me as a consultant at Proteus Biomedical and good fortune has it that I am still here.
I could not do all the travel I had planned, because as a consultant you only get paid when you work, any vacation is coming out of your pocket. Enough of this sad stuff and let’s go on with Fall in Northern California!

If you don’t want to read thru this report you can view all my Fall Colors here:
Fall Color Collection

In September I always drive into the Napa Valley, because there are early small shows of grapes and colored leaves.

Napa Valley Color. September 20, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

This year I had a shooting partner; Photographer Randy Walton and his wife Diane joined me for 6 days during my first Safari. We started on September 27th and got our first glimpse of Fall Colors (or not) down the Lee Vining Canyon. Lee Vining Canyon was still green, the Aspens were still in Summer mode. We stopped at the Tioga Mobile Station and then made our way up to the Dunderberg Meadow. Even here along the dirt road we found a lot of green amongst some colorful Aspens. My favorite Aspen grove was about 50% turned.

My Favorite Aspen Grove. September 27, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

We checked out Conway Summit and it was still mostly green. As we were making our way to Bishop, we took the June Lake loop and found most Aspens were still green as well. Rock Creek Canyon up at Lake level and above had the most color. Once we passed a certain altitude the color was just exploding. We took a bunch of images ….who says you can’t get good shots in the midday sun.
The afternoon was spend along Bishop Creek Canyon from the North Fork to the South Fork. The theme was the same colorful with some green at the upper elevations and mostly green at the lower elevations.

Randy at work at North Lake. September 27, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Bishop Creek Canyon Fall Colors. September 27, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

The next day we got up real early to make the traditional (for me anyway) stop at North Lake for the sunrise. Thinking it was Sunday, it would be less crowded…think again. Two workshops had already set up and it was tripod to tripod at the shores.

North Lake Photographer Jam. September 28, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

The big Aspen Grove at North Lake was beautiful and we spend this day all along the Bishop Creek Canyon from one end to the other. This day was also the only one with a decent sunset.

Another side of Bishop Creek Canyon. September 28, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Colorful Stream along the North Fork of Bishop Creek Canyon. September 28, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Only Good Sunset we had during my first Fall Color Safari. September 28, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Monday 9/29/08 we drove up to Rock Creek Lake and got there when it was still dark. The sunrise was not with the red clouds we had hoped for, but nevertheless it was beautiful. It was cold and the lack of wind produced a mirror image on the lake. Rock Creek Canyon had one of the best fall color displays I have seen. I was always wondering why others said Rock Creek colors are awesome, in the past I had gone up there when a lot of leaves had already been blown off. NOW I understand…..Starting at the Palisades Group Camp all the way to the Mosquito Flat, the colors were popping. When we were done working this area, we returned to Bishop Creek. Clouds were building and it became very windy with a few rain showers. We spend the rest of the day at Bishop Creek working the spots that had gorgeous fall colors. With all the clouds a good sunset just did not develop.

Rock Creek Lake at Dawn. September 29, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Rock Creek Canyon. September 29, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

South Lake – Bishop Creek Canyon. September 29, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

North Fork – Bishop Creek Canyon. September 29, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

The Colors of Fall – Bishop Creek Canyon. September 29, 2008. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

View my entire - Fall Color Collection

Getting this summary written takes longer than I thought so….Part 2 to follow soon

Fall in Lundy Canyon

2008-08-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

I was recently inspired by Jeffrey’s post on the FM Forum Fall in the Eastern Sierra to go back to my images I took on October 12, 2007. Lundy Canyon was at it’s prime, maybe a little past prime already. Early snow and wind had left its mark. It was still beautiful and worth the trip up the dirt road to the Beaver Ponds.

Lundy Canyon – Second Beaver Pond. October 12, 2007. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Lundy Canyon – Fist Beaver Pond. October 12, 2007. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Lundy Canyon – First Beaver Pond. October 12, 2007. © Copyright Inge Fernau .

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

View my entire - Fall Color Collection on Flickr

You can find a detailed 2007 Fall Color Summary I posted in my blog:
Journal of my travels for the perfect photo

A Visit to the Napa Valley Wine Country

2008-08-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

On Sunday August 3, 2008 I took a drive into the Napa Valley Wine Country. I checked on how the grapes were coming along. The ones at the Duckhorn Vineyards look like they are ready for harvest. This is one of the few Wineries that harvests in August. Last year I wanted to take some more images of their green grapes, but they had already harvested by the second week in August.

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

Other Vineyards are coming along great and I shall visit them a few more times in August/September.
View the entire - Wine Country Set

This photograph is not in the public domain! It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance written permission from Inge Fernau

The Ghost of Howland Hill Road

2008-06-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

Howland Hill Road, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, this dirt road passes through the center of the park, and is one of the best redwood drives anywhere.

Howland Hill Road is actually a road a lot of people take and that’s how the “Ghost” came about. This is a truck with a camper shell driving through my image.

This photograph is not in the public domain and any use requires advance written permission from Inge Fernau

My colleague Bill Tyler summits Mount Everest May 20th 2007

2007-06-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

I have a very couarages colleague (Bill Tyler); he attempted to summit Mount Everest in 2006 and had to turn back due to health complications. Bill came back to make his second attempt via the North Ridge Route in 2007. I was one of his sponsors and I believed in him. With that I was privilaged to have my name printed on a banner he planned on taking to the summit. As a photographer I am fascinated by these adventures and I know I would not be able to make it to the top of the worrld myself. Bill let me see this trek thru his eyes. A lot of his co-workers including myself eagerly followed all the updates he posted.

Bill Tyler made the summit of Mount Everest on Sunday May 20th 2007 at 7:40am! He stood on top of the world (actually he sat down). I got a call from his manager about 10 minutes after his summit. I was so happy for Bill and tears of joy filled my eyes. He made it YEAHHHHHH! I feel so honored to know someone who climbed to the top of the world. Thanks to Bill I also own a piece (my name) of the banner that he took to the top of Mount Everest, how cool is that?

Bill has written up-dates that were posted on the 7summits forum here: http://7summits.com/forum/index.php?board=34.0

Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth, as measured by the height of its summit above sea level at 8,848 meters (29,029 ft). The mountain, which is part of the Himalaya range in High Asia, is located on the border between Nepal and Tibet (People's Republic of China). Climbing this mountain means you are entering the Death zone. This term refers to high altitudes, encountered by mountain climbers, where the amount of oxygen present cannot sustain human life. Specifically, it refers to altitudes above 8000 meters (26,250 feet).

As humans go higher, the air pressure drops and so does the amount of available oxygen. At 5,666 meters (17,000 feet, height of Mount Everest North Ridge base camp), the amount of oxygen is only half that at sea level. At 8,848 meters (29,028 feet, summit of Mount Everest), only one third is available. When the partial pressure of oxygen drops, the human body tries to compensate by a process known as altitude acclimatization. Additional red blood cells are manufactured, the heart beats faster, non-essential body functions are temporarily shut down, and one breathes more deeply and more frequently. However, acclimatization cannot take place immediately – in fact, it takes place over a period of days or even weeks. Failure to acclimatize may result in altitude sickness, including high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) or cerebral edema (HACE).
At extreme altitudes (above 7,500 meters, 24,600 feet), sleeping becomes very difficult, digesting food is impossible (as the body shuts the digestive system down), and the risk of HAPE or HACE increases greatly.
Finally, in the "death zone" at 8,000 meters (26,250 feet) and higher, no human body can acclimatize. Staying longer than necessary will result in deterioration of body functions, loss of consciousness and ultimately, death.

Bill Tyler Summits Mount Everest, Himalaya Range Tibet, May 20, 2007. © Copyright Bill Tyler.