Bob Kent 5/18/23 Bob Kent 5/18/23

Cloudy with a 100% of Spectacular

The Clouds are calling and I must go!

There is nothing wrong with blue skies. In landscape images, a pure blue sky can be a bit boring. That is why clouds are a landscape photographer's best friend.

There have been summers where I have complained of a cloud drought. You will not hear me complain about the lack of clouds in 2022 or 2023. Using Waynes World speak, 2022 has been cloudalicous.

For the last several months the clouds have been amazing. They have sometimes been complex, threatening, angry and other times o majestic hanging in the mountains

I thought it would be an excellent blog post to pair these images with great quotes about clouds.

Here we go on our cloud trip and quotes

“We pledge to fight 'blue-sky thinking wherever we find it. Life would be dull if we had to look up at cloudless monotony day after day.”
― Gavin Pretor-Pinney, The Cloudspotter's Guide:

“Thirty-nine years of my life had passed before I understood that clouds were not my enemy; that they were beautiful, and that I needed them. I suppose this, for me, marked the beginning of wisdom. Life is short.”
― Iimani David

I’m sure it is a great mistake always to know enough to go in when it rains. One may keep snug and dry by such knowledge, but one misses a world ofloveliness. -- Adeline Knapp

“Clouds are the most egalitarian of nature's displays, since each one of us has a good view of them, so it really doesn't matter where you are.”
― Gavin Pretor-Pinney, The Cloudspotter's Guide

Well, I hope you enjoyed all these clouds as much as I did. Now it is time to float away…

Bob Kent 1/17/22 Bob Kent 1/17/22

Best Images 0f 2021

My best Eastern Sierra images of 2021

It is that time of year where folks publish their best images of the previous year. Here is my list.

Locations include:

Owens River
June Lake Loop
Bishop Canyon
Bridgeport
Sage Hen
Silver Lake
Gull Lake
Mammoth Lakes
Round Valley

While 2021 had its issues it was a great year for photographing the Eastern Sierra.

Would love to know what you think of the images and which one you liked the best.

Wishing you an awesome 2022!

Bob Kent 7/12/21 Bob Kent 7/12/21

Sound of Silence

We need silence to be able to touch souls

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

Mother Teresa

Typically, the 4th of July weekend Mammoth is so crowded you need to get away from your getaway. To avoid the crowds, I started to get out around 4:30 in the morning. I wanted to go out and look for sunrise images. For several days in a row, the weather was perfect for photography:

Perfectly still in the morning

Clouds in the afternoon
High clouds in the evening providing some sunset color

Originally, I was going to head up towards Sagehen because I had never been past the Aspens at the summit. With it being perfectly still I changed my plan and headed into the June Lake Loop. June Lake already had some wind so there was no chance of getting any reflections. I was thinking, oh well, at least I tried.

I headed to Gull lake and about had a heart attack. There was no water movement, no wind, no early fishermen, nothing, nada. It was just me and a few ducks. The lake was like polished glass. In fact, in some places, the reflection of the colorless cloudless sky, appeared like it wasn’t there at all.

I took a few pre-sunrise images from the boat ramp figuring it would not be long before the ramp became active with fishermen. I then went onto the boat docks for the sunrise because there were some interesting foreground elements. For me, taking multiple long exposures on a floating dock requires some forethought and control. These days, I am a Covid “heavy” boy and any movement I make will rock the dock.

I had to set the tripod up, frame the composition, and then, with a wide stance, hold perfectly still for several minutes to let the dock stop rocking. I then had to touch the shutter release lightly and only move my hand half an inch away from the camera to not rock the dock.

Well, the work was worth it. One of my signature styles as a landscape photographer is still lakes with glass-like reflections. In my biased opinion, these images came out awesome. I cannot wait to print these on metal.

After Gull, I went to Silver Lake and discovered it was the exact same way. No movement, no wind, no fisherman, nothing, nada. I set up to shoot Carson peak that was ablaze from the sunrise. Just as I am about to shoot this duck comes swimming into my composition. My first reaction was to shoo her off. Instead, I started to talk to her.

You see my group of close friends believes in “making friends wherever we go. I figured I would make friends with her. I asked her if she was intent on ruining my picture? She responded by standing on a rock right in front of the camera so as not to create any ripples. She kept pruning herself so I asked her if she could pose? She stretched her neck out and held perfectly still while I took my series of HDR images. I thanked her. She then did this amazing thing. She stood on one leg and spread her right wing out to show the coloring in the wing. She held that pose long enough for me to get several HDR series of her “Instagram” posing! It was like she was saying “ I am ready for my close-up Mr, Dimille.

It was an incredible experience and I made a new friend. As Mother Teresa said in her quote “We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

My next post will be on the clouds from the 4th of July weekend. Be sure to check it out.

As always feel free to share this blog with anyone you think would enjoy it!

Bob Kent 5/17/21 Bob Kent 5/17/21

Early Morning Around the Loop

It is so beautiful and diverse you cannot go wrong taking images in the “Loop”. Plus, people who love the area never get tired of looking at images of the area. I guess the old saying applies; “When in doubt…” head towards the “Loop.”

The June Lake Loop is the gift that keeps on giving for a landscape photographer who focuses on the Eastern Sierra. It is so beautiful and diverse you cannot go wrong taking images in the “Loop”. Plus, people who love the area never get tired of looking at images of the area. I guess the old saying applies; “When in doubt…” head towards the “Loop.”

This early morning, I originally intended to head out east on Highway 120 to explore parts of Sage Hen that I have not been at yet. Driving north on 395 I realized I had gotten on the road too late to get there before the sunrise. There was now this debate in my head between keeping to the plan and turn right on HWY 120 or go to plan “B” and turn left on HWY 158 and go into the “Loop.” The voices in my head kept arguing Plan A, no Plan B, no Plan A…

With the title being “around the Loop” you can guess that I went with plan “B” and turned left into the “Loop.” There is a small isthmus on the north side of Grant Lake. It has this grand view of the lake and Reverse and Carson Peaks. I have taken pictures there before but was not completely happy with the results. I went back to the isthmus. I arrived early enough, trying not to wake up the folks sleeping in the van, to be able to poke around a bit to find the perfect spot for sunrise.

With my composition locked I had some time on my hands. As the scene unveiled around me, it presented some additional looks that I was able to capture before getting my sunrise image. It was cold with just a touch of wind to wipe out the chance of a glass reflection from the lake. However, it was still enough to project the colors from the mountains.

On the way back to 395, I noticed this awesome road scene so I quickly pulled over and changed to my telephoto lens. I am so glad I did, just love this scene.

All in all, a nice set of images for a plan “B.” As I said earlier you really cannot go wrong taking images around the “Loop.”