Bob Kent Bob Kent

Three Days of Fall Colors in the Eastern Sierra

Three days of fall colors

I had a wonderful time bopping around the Eastern Sierra enjoying and capturing the season’s fall colors and clouds.

God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also in the trees, and in the flowers, and clouds, and stars. Martin Luther

Three days of exploring the Fall Color in the Eastern Sierra

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Bob Kent Bob Kent

Cloudy with a 100% of Spectacular

The Clouds are calling and I must go!

Kearsarge Station, Owens Valley

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.

Last of the ice at Grant Lake

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.

Last of the Ice a Silver Lake

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:

Iris Field in Bishop

“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

Pine Creek

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

Lower Owens River near Independence

“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…

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Bob Kent Bob Kent

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!

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Bob Kent Bob Kent

Owens Valley: The Tule Elk on Hwy 395

The tule elk herd was established in Owens Valley on October 10, 1933. Twenty-six tule elk, 7 bulls, 3 yearlings, 11 cows, and 6 calves, were brought from Yosemite National Park to an enclosure in the Owens Valley near Aberdeen and held for several days before their release. Four months later, 28 more elk were brought from Buttonwillow (which became the Tupman Tule Elk State Reserve) to augment that initial release. These original translocated elk have since expanded in size and range and have formed eight distinct tule elk sub-herds located throughout Owens Valley.

Bull Elk

Our Elk Photographic Journey

When traveling on 395 just south of Big Pine we always look for the Tule Elk at the wildlife turnouts.  It was always a mystery to us when they would be in the field there.  Unfortunately, when we were lucky enough to see them, I hadn’t had much luck in photographing them. 

We usually find the Elk in the late afternoon.  That meant I was shooting straight into the sun, which is not ideal.  Lots of lens flare.  Other times they were way at the far end of the field.  Too far away to get a good image.

Riding with the King

One time, all the conditions were perfect.  They were near the road.  The sun was still high in the sky.  I even had rented a long telephoto lens.  When we saw the Elk, we pulled off into the viewing pull-out.  I grabbed my camera with the telephoto on it.  I took a bunch of images and they all looked great on the camera display.  When I got them on the computer it was a different story.  All the images were blurry.  I use a tripod a lot, so don’t usually worry about the shutter speeds too much.  Turned out I was shooting a 400 MM telephoto handheld and only had the shutter speed at 60th of a second.  Another fail.

A couple of weeks ago we hit all the right conditions.  The images you see in this post are from then.  I can check another bucket list from my Hwy 395-image list as I now have some Elk images I like!

Keeping an Eye on Me

History of the Owens Valley Elk

Some history about these Tule Elk.  Most of the info below is taken from the Fish and Wildlife’s “Distribution and Abundance of Tule Elk in the Owens Valley January 2020” report.  You can see the full report here.

The Tule Elk herd was established in Owens Valley on October 10, 1933. Twenty-six Tule Elk, 7 bulls, 3 yearlings, 11 cows, and 6 calves, were brought from Yosemite National Park to an enclosure in the Owens Valley near Aberdeen and held for several days before their release. Four months later, 28 more Elk were brought from Buttonwillow (which became the Tupman Tule Elk State Reserve) to augment that initial release. These original translocated Elk have since expanded in size and range and have formed eight distinct Tule Elk sub-herds located throughout Owens Valley.

The count of the Elk in 2018 showed the following herd sizes.

  • ·         Bishop: 80-100

  • ·         Tinemaha: 80-100

  • ·         Goodale: 50-70

  • ·         Independence: 60-80

  • ·         Lone Pine: 60-80

  • ·         Whitney: 40-60

Where and When to See the Elk

One place to view the Elk is the wildlife viewing pullouts on Hwy 395 just south of Big Pine.  The herd there includes bulls with expansive antlers and plenty of cows and calves.  There are "Wildlife Viewing" signs that point car pull-outs near two of the herd's most favorite places to graze and bed down. This allows you a safe way to look and photograph the Elk.

Gorgeous Antlers

The best time to see the Elk is spring through fall as the herd stays on or close to irrigated fields to take advantage of the ample water and feed.  The best time of day to see them is in the morning.

I am sure to include one of my Elk images on next year’s Eastern Sierra calendar!

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