11. August 2011 by Friedhelm.

Nancy and I were hiking in Kings Canyon National Park when we had an encounter with this bear. He was about 60 feet away from us and he easily could have charged us. Thankfully he did not. He even looked at me and gave me the opportunity to photograph him. For me it was a powerful reminder that the national parks belong to the animals and we are the intruders.

Enjoy and have respect for mother nature!

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19. July 2011 by Friedhelm.

Hiking in the back country of Kings Canyon National Park I photographed the rock formation. In this case I like the harsh light that created the shadows and contrast in this image.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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18. July 2011 by Friedhelm.

Grizzly Falls is located on Hwy. 180 going towards Cedar Grove in Sequoia National Forest in beautiful California. It is hard to photograph since there are so many trees in the way. I climbed down into a ravine a got this shot of the bottom of the fall.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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1. July 2011 by Friedhelm.

Photographing the big trees can be a real challenge, especially if you want to go beyond the obvious. Everybody can buy a $100.00 camera and snap some great images. As a photographer you want to do more. You strive to see the subject with fresh eyes. You want to create an image that goes beyond the great image. So you challenge yourself constantly. You look for different angles, different perspectives. You work with the light and you go and shoot again and again and again until finally new images show up that make you say “wow!”

Kepp pushing yourself and go beyond the usual shots and create stunning images that are standing tall and standing out!

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30. June 2011 by Friedhelm.

Kings Canyon national Park is by far less visited than Yosemite, however it is incredibly pretty and has a lot to offer. This year the water lever in the Kings River is very high and you see beautiful scenery driving along it.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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22. June 2011 by Friedhelm.

Just a few days ago the dogwood was not blooming at Kings Canyon. Now the trees are in full bloom. I photographed these blossoms at the North Grove Loop trail, which is a 1.5 mile long pleasant walk around Grant Grove.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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15. June 2011 by Friedhelm.

To create this image I used a single raw file which I converted into several different black and white images. These images I overlaid in Photoshop using different blending modes and mask.

Enjoy and happy photographing/editing!

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14. June 2011 by Friedhelm.

Many of the giant Sequoias show signs of fire. Since the bark is about a foot thick most of the fires don’t harm the tree. I was told that the Sequoia trees need the fire because it kills all the young trees and brush around them.

The overcast day provided great light for photographing the bark the tree. Enjoy and keep on photographing!

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13. June 2011 by Friedhelm.

When Robert and I arrived at Kings Canyon National Park we were surprised that there were still patches of snow around 6000f elevation. It was overcast and relatively cold for June. Despite the fact that there were too many tourist walking around this amazing tree I was able to photograph it when for a moment no one was walking or standing around the tree. I used the fence as leading lines and the younger trees worked well as a “natural” frame.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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30. March 2011 by Friedhelm.

We were told that Kings canyon received 100 inches of snow (about three meters) in just one week! It took me about 90 minutes for the short walk around the  Sequoia trees in Grand Grove. The trees were covered in snow in this winter wonderland.

Enjoy and happy photographing! 

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