21. August 2010 by David.

Yesterday after work I decided to take a little drive with no intended destination.

I drove up highway 140, the road to Yosemite, and took the turnoff to the little town of Hornitos, a road I’d never taken. Glad I did. My main problem was where to stop. The dead grass grew very close to the road and I didn’t want a hot muffler to start a fire. Luckily there was a wide spot on the side of a hill. I like the contrast between the brown of the hills and the orange of the sunset with a wonderful transition area in between. Hope you enjoy.

f22 at 1/8sec, 47mm, iso125, graduated neutral density filter. tripod mounted.

Keep clicking

Dave

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2. April 2010 by David.

I liked the contrast between the hardness of the rock and the softness of the flower. I left the background slightly blurred to focus on the flower. The lines in the rock also continues the angle and direction of the flower. Hope you enjoy.

F4.5 at 1/200 sec, 38mm with 2x converter, ISO 200, tripod mounted.

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Dave

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28. March 2010 by David.

The single flower against a sea of poppies attracted me. I wanted the background poppies to be just clear enough to be recognized and maybe look a little like a pastel painting. I also like the contrasting lines, the stems of the poppies are at a different angle than the lone flower and add a little tension to the photograph.

f16 at 1/25sec, 135mm with doubler lens at about 3ft. ISO 200

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Dave

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26. March 2010 by David.

While hiking the Hite Cove trail and photographing wildflowers I came across this small creek.

I had to trek through some brush and trees to get to this spot and found out I am only mildly allergic to poison oak. Using a rock, log and my reflector as a  base I was able to set up my tripod so I could be steady enough to get this shot. I used a long exposure and high f-stop to get the water to blur and as much depth of field as possible.

1 sec. at f29, 50mm, ISO 200

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Dave

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25. March 2010 by David.

While hiking the Hite Cove trail I came upon this juxtaposition of old and new. It took a while to find the right angle and set up my tripod since the trail is very narrow and steep on both sides. It’s simply a fulfillment of mother natures promise.

f5.7 at 1/80 see, 105m, ISO200. 1.4 doubler and tripod mounted.

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Dave

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22. March 2010 by Friedhelm.

The wild flowers are on their peak right know. If you are in living in Central California go up the hills and see the hillsides covered with beautiful flowers. Camera setting: 70-200 lens, extension tube, f5.6, 1640sec., ISO 100.

Have a great week!

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17. March 2010 by Friedhelm.

I photographed this California Wildflower yesterday on the Hyte Cove trail.  The official name is Dodecatheon Clevelandii or Shooting Star. The wildflowers are in full bloom and I suggest that you get your camera out, forget your plans and get out into foothills. Since the precipitation was above normal you should find fields of flowers almost everywhere in the California foothills. Don’t forget to bring a translucent reflector to avoid photographing in direct sunlight.

Enjoy and have a great photographic day!

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3. March 2010 by Friedhelm.

I photographed this image in March of 2009. The wildflowers were great last year. I expect them to be spectacular this year. Spring time is simply unbeatable in California, especially in the foothills. I took the short drive from Merced via Mariposa to the Merced River Canyon, where there are many trails and opportunities to photograph an incredibly beautiful country. I hope I get your appetite going.

Happy photographing!

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11. January 2010 by Friedhelm.

David and I photographed at Lake McClure shortly before sunset. We drove uphill towards the dam. We had to walk the last part on top of the dam with camera, lenses and tripods. The water level was very low. I shot downwards in about a 45degree angle using my 200mm lens. The light was incredibly soft and I was able to get this shot of the houseboats.

Enjoy!

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1. January 2010 by David.

Last week I went up to Yosemite and got some great photographs. However today I’d like to share a couple of photographs I took along the Merced River off of Highway 140. In both instances I noticed them as I passed by and had to turn around.

There was a small trickle of water coming off the hillside and these ferns seemed to be thriving. I really like the contrast in colors and the overall texture of the photograph. I used a small aperture f22 which resulted in a 2 second exposure to slightly blur the trickle of water. The slower the water is running the longer the exposure is required to get the blurring effect  ISO 100 at 28mm.

Every time I’ve gone to Yosemite by Highway 140 I’ve passed Cold Canyon Creek. This time it caught my eye and  also taught me a lesson. If you’re going to take a photograph of running water focus on a nearby rock or manually focus the camera. I took several photographs letting the camera automatically focus on the running water and invariably they were out of focus. Manually focusing on this shot solved that problem. Learn something new every day. F14, 1/5sec, ISO100 at 28mm.

Keep clicking

Dave

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