You may recognize this from my prior post: 46 Fire Photos: Anatomy of a grass fire
This is today’s Front Page of the weekly newspaper, The Cambrian:
The editor contacted me for permission to use this, and I sent him the original. Congratulations, Rock Knocker!
Coming up from the coast, to my roost at the top, I get to experience all the subtleties that Big Sur offers.
I start with fog above me.
And then, I get into the fog. I am always amazed at how bright the greens are in the fog.
A little while later, I see the beginnings of the sun peeking through, but fog still settled over all.
Then … I get to the demarcation line. This is a very difficult spot for a photographer, and I haven’t gotten it down, yet. This tree sits right there, where the fog ends and the sun begins. On the left, you can see the fog, on the right, is the blue sky. Today, this tree marked the “spot.”
All photos taken this afternoon (7/29/10) going up Plaskett.
Do not forget. Tomorrow is the BSMAAC meeting, starting at 10 am.
And now, for a change of pace. You’ve seen the perils of living in the wilds, now for a few of the benefits of living in the wilds of Big Sur.
Do you remember this photograph I posted of the yellow hills of Big Sur?
Well, I ran into Joe Burnett, biologist for the VWS’s Condor reintroduction program, last night and he suggested a challenge. If Jeff Norman were still around (we miss you Jeff!) this challenge would not be necessary.
This is the challenge – hike into Mt. Manual, and take close-up photographs of the various yellow flowers contributing to this unusual phenomena, and send them to me at kwnovoa@mac.com I will post them on my blog. If you know what they are, include that information. But even if you do NOT know what they are, send them in, and hopefully, someone can help us identify them. We will also see how much of what we are seeing is native or introduced.
Here is a close-up of one flower that is making the hills yellow, at least close to the highway. Is it also on Mt. Manual? I originally thought it was a tansy, but I believe that may be incorrect, and would love for someone to identify it for me. It is all over right now, in more abundance than I have ever seen – both in areas touched by the Basin Fire, and those untouched.
Do you know what this is? Barbara Woyt does. It is Eriophyllum staechadifolium or lizard tail, also known as Seaside Woolly Sunflower. Is it part of the display on Mt. Manuel? Get out there soon, as this display won’t last long in this hot weather! And send those photos in! Let’s all find out what is causing this unusual display! Thanks, Joe, for the challenge. Now let’s see if my readers are up for it!
(Note, this photo was not taken for the challenge, or it would be a closer shot. Here, I wanted the hills and ocean in the background, but a good photo for this challenge would clearly show the flowers AND the leaves for identification purposes as close-up as your camera would allow.)
This has been on my wall for some time, and I’ve always wanted to scan it into my computer. I finally did. This was taken in 1993 at Rain Rocks. While slightly blurry (I was on “dawn patrol” in a moving truck – shush – don’t tell Cal-Trans) it is still a classic. Maybe I’ll upload it for sale at my smugmug site.
While there are a number of fires in progress, none are close or in neighboring counties, and it is Tuesday in Big Sur, I decided to go back to my long-ago roots a few days ago.
Last week, while Gideon was a drop-off at the Vet’s, I found myself with a lot of time to wander. So, of course, I took photos. One of the things I discovered about my D-90, was that I could shoot in monochrome. One sees differently, when photographing in Black & White. It is the shapes, the light, the shadows, the textures that catches one’s eyes.
I was inspired to try it again, after viewing Kirsty’s photographs here.. She lives in Australia, and has an incredible talent. She put together a slide show of an abandoned factory, perfectly suited for the medium, and did such an awesome job, I decided to wander Morro Bay with a black and white eye. These are some of the things I discovered.
Shapes
Textures
Shapes & Textures
Shapes, Light, and Reflections
Its been a long time since I was in a “rough” bar – oh, wait a minute. I went to the DOG not long ago, but not rough anymore!
There is something refreshing and alluring about the summer fog on the coast. Living up here above it, I get scorching temperatures, and look down on the fog below. Sometimes envious, but mostly grateful I don’t live in it.
I had to pass into it several times this week, and was surprised about how thick it was. For me, the fog presents another photo opportunity. I love what the fog does to the forest.
This is just one aspect of the magic that is Big Sur. This lonely little columbine is one of the few remaining.
When I saw this, I had to stop and capture it. The dark, the contrast between the one bright spot and the shadowy green called me. I shot it dark in the camera, and unlike most shots, I only took one, and was happy with what I saw in the LCD. I was even happier when I saw it larger on my computer. This is straight out of the camera, exactly what I witnessed. Mother Nature’s gift. And interestingly, I violated all the cannons of composition by placing the subject dead center, and still, it works.
Just because … Mother Nature’s beauty cannot be enhanced.
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On a completely different note, Gideon has been sick since Saturday, and was at the vet’s Tuesday, and again today, when he was admitted to the hospital. News tonight is that he is improving. His fever is going down, and his pain has been lessened by an inflammatory drug. We are hoping he will come home Friday. Dr. will call again tomorrow morning. I am a tad distracted from my blog, but had this one prepared to go up. I’ll be back when Gideon is home again.
As I indicated earlier, Limekiln State Park officially opened in time for the July 4th weekend. Dan Danbom, a photographer who has been featured on this blog in the past, and who tied with Ken Harlan for this quarter’s header photograph, came down the coast last week to enjoy his prize. Ken Harlan provides lunch for two at Lucia Lodge, or an SD card to the quarterly winner. (I can’t thank you enough for your generosity, Ken!)
Since Dan rarely gets this far South, he used the opportunity to check out Limekiln State Park, and sent me a report and some photos for your enjoyment.
From Dan: ” We also had wanted to see first hand the major construction of the highway, and also see how Limekiln had fared after the fire. When we drove by not long after the fire, it looked like it would be terrible, and it was closed. We usually do not have time to get that far south often.
Limekiln is different, but as we started up through the campground you could see the fire effects around, but a lot of the sorrel had come back nicely. Really we were very surprised how much the same it looked. We took our time up the Hare trail, and there were some big changes, and we could see where a lot of effort was put in to make the trail over, and improved. There are a lot of scarred and charred tree trunks and some left over fallen trees, branches that you could see would be hard to dispose of manually. But it really is still very pretty and a lot of the same character is still there.
It was a sunny day, and really contrasty, so not optimum for photos. (That is the one time I really wish for high thin clouds or some fog overcast, to give that open almost shadowless light for the forest.) But, I found a few selected vignettes of the creek, that still are pretty gorgeous in the shadows. And I think the redwood sorrel seems better than ever and really lush. So, it was a fun time taking some photos and enjoying a gorgeous piece of the coast. If you can stand a couple of more photos from me, I am attaching a couple of Limekiln for your review.”
Thanks Dan for the report, and the photos!
And as to his lunch at Lucia Lodge? This is what Dan had to say: “We read your comment that Limekiln was open or sort of, so since my schedule had changed unexpectedly, we decided to try to get an early start south, and take advantage of my Lunch (for Two) certificate for winning your header contest. Avis, mailed me a cert for lunch for two, at Lucia Lodge. So, despite the slow traffic at times, and the road stops, which really were not bad at all, we made it there for lunch. Very nice! It was a little hazy as the coast can be, but the view was stunning. We sat along the view table rail looking down the coast. Lovely lunch, be sure to thank Ken, (I will send Avis an email thanks too.) What a nice treat!”
