Bob Kent 6/10/19 Bob Kent 6/10/19

Heaven

A few years ago, I experienced a drought of clouds for what seemed like an eternity. Every time I went on a photo expedition it was nothing but blue skies. It was frustrating as I love clouds in my landscape images. Well this spring ended the cloud drought in a spectacular way!

Spring or 2019 - Wildflowers, snow, and winter that won’t go away!

Now the cloud “drought” was not all bad as any day in the Eastern Sierra is a good day; with or without clouds. The lack of clouds forced me to experiment with new compositions and subjects which made me a better photographer. In the end I still wanted clouds.

I am here to say with the Spring of 2109 my cloud drought is over. The last couple of meanderings has been off the charts. There were clouds, and I mean awesome clouds, everywhere you looked. They weren’t high clouds, so they didn’t go orange and red at sunrise and sunset, but it didn’t matter. Their size, complexity, brutishness made them totally photogenic. The main key to getting great images was to just get out there, and stay out there, capturing the clouds as they morphed throughout the day. All the while I was in heaven.

The road and clouds inviting us to explore!

I am doing research on a photography class I am going to teach at the Mono Arts Council in the fall. The class will not focus technology but on using personal vision, style, and composition to create “remarkable” photographs. During this cloudfest I started to apply some of the things that were newly learned from my research.. It was difficult to do things differently.

I may be biased but it made a huge positive difference in the impact of the images I was able to create. I will have to wait to see if the peer reviews from my fellow photographers agree with my self-assessment.

In any case sit back and enjoy my vision of heaven on earth, even though it is extremely cloudy.

Storms over the Eastern Sierra. Lots of snow still on Mammoth!

and on and on and on! Truly Heaven on Earth!

FYI, as I mentioned above I will be teaching a Photography Composition class at the Mono Arts Gallery on September 28th. Then on the 29th will facilitate a field trip to put what you learn into practice. You can sign up here. Would love to see you there!

Feel free to comment and share!

Bob Kent 7/10/17 Bob Kent 7/10/17

The Streams are Alive

Images from this years epic snow run off!

I have never seen a river that I could not love. Moving water . . . has a fascinating vitality. It has power and grace and associations. It has a thousand colors and a thousand shapes, yet it follows laws so definite that the tiniest streamlet is an exact replica of a great river. — (Roderick Haig-Brown)

Over the last few weeks we have been wandering the Eastern Sierra exploring this year's epic snow melt. So I thought it would be appropriate to put a story board together that shows part of the water's epic journey from the high country down to the valleys below.

Over the last few weeks we have been wandering the Eastern Sierra exploring this year's epic snow melt. So I thought it would be cool to put a photo story board together that shows part of the water's epic journey from the high country down to the valleys below.

High Country

So let's start in the high country with semi frozen lakes. It is almost unbelievable that in July some lakes still have ice on them and others like Saddlebag are still completely frozen.

I knew about skiers that hiked up slopes to ski down, but this year we got to meet a few of them in person. From that point on kept looking for ski tracks on the faces of the mountains. Dang those folks are in shape and dedicated. If you look closely at the picture above you can see their tracks.

My wife usually never goes with me on my early morning explorations. This time she got up well before the sunrise and I was trying to get her to Tuolumne Meadows at sunrise. There is nothing more magical than Tuolumne at sunrise, but a semi frozen Ellery Lake waking up to the morning sun was too beautiful to pass up.

Fast and Furious with a chance of Slow Trickle

The streams are flowing like few have ever seen. There is water everywhere, creeks that are now rivers, there are now creeks in places that I have never seen before.

First Way-Stop

The water settles in ponds like it wants to take a rest and nourish the local inhabitants stop before continuing on its journey.

I even hate to fathom the massive amount of mosquito there will be hiking this year. So far they have been light but I fear not for long!

Crashing Down

Then along the way the water discovers steep drops that you and I would fear to traverse. Not the water; it is fearless. In fact it races to the challenge and shows off its skills as it dashes down the steep terrain.

Some no-name fall in a forgettable little valley called Yosemite. :-)

Second Way-Stop - Reservoirs

Taking to the Skies

If we are lucky, the water takes to the air, via evaporation, and starts the cycle all over by coming back down as rain to feed the rivers.

So let us enjoy this epic run off and remember water is the key element that makes the Sierra the beautiful place that it is. It is under our stewardship so we must fiercely protect it so our children can enjoy it as well.

Bob Kent 1/16/17 Bob Kent 1/16/17

Clouds are the Photographers Spice of Life

Clouds are a landscape photographer's spice to add flavor to their images. Don't believe me, do a google on "Ansel Adam on cloud" and see how many hits come up of his images that have "cloud" in the name.

My point is this, There are a lot of good images that have a bright blue cloudless sky. There are many more "great" images of the same location that have clouds in the sky! I love the Owens Valley, it is gorgeous. That said, would the above image be so moving if it did not have those wonderful clouds in the sky? I think not.

At times I travel a lot. When I do I spend a lot of hours in airplanes. It was during those hours that I really fell in love with clouds and how God paints the sky with them. I am amazed how many folks who have window seats who never even look out at the incredible scenes that are going by their windows.

Now, I always try for a window seat. It soothes my soul watching those wonderful clouds float by. It makes the hours of the flight, fly by (pun intended.) I take my camera almost every trip and have come away with some incredible images. See a few below. Most think I am crazy because I root for the plane to get closer to those thunderheads, damn the turbulence, I want to get my picture!

Can You See it? Near the top of the cloud, just to the right of center there looks like a scratch in the image.  It is actually another airliner.  So just imagine the immense scale of that cloud! — Can You See it? Near the top of the cloud, just to the right of center there looks like a scratch in the image. It is actually another airliner. So just imagine the immense scale of that cloud!

So forgive the long download time. I am going to let my cloud images do the talking for me. After an hour + of trying to whittle the number of images down I still have too many images in this post . If you like the images with clouds you may want to check out my friend Matt Granz work http://avax.news/charming/Storm_Clouds_by_Photographer_Matt_Granz.html. He has gone head over heels for Storm chasing and a lot fo his images are breathtaking!

So sit back and enjoy the clouds!

Reflections

Tenaya Lake, Yosemite - Stormy Above, Calm Below

Venice Beach California - Looking into a Mirror

Horse Shoe Lake Mammoth Lakes, Ca - Big Sky

Stormy

Crowley Lake, Mammoth Lakes, Ca - Sunset was competing with the 4th of July Fireworks

Clearing Storm over the Minaretes, Mammoth Lakes, Ca

Tuscany, Italy - Clouds Add Spice Everywhere in the World

El Matador State Beach, Ca - God Painting His Canvas with Color

Sunrise over Mono Lake, Ca - Trail to Parker Lake

Sunset Mammoth Lakes, Ca - This is under 10 feet of snow right now!

Have I convinced you? Don't landscape images look better with a touch of photogrpaher's spice?

Bob Kent 12/5/16 Bob Kent 12/5/16

Quests in the Owens Valley are Fun

Over the years I have had fun with quests finding the Petroglyphs that are in the Owens Valley and the Tablelands. The first quest started with some photography friends; Paul, George, Kahlee, Nate, Dave, and some others. We were at a meet up in Lone Pine when I convinced them we should try and find the Petroglyphs near Keeler. We looked near and far and came up empty. Over the course of next few summers I finally found a ranger that gave me the clues that allowed me to find them.

You see most people won't tell you exact directions to where they are. If you are nice they will give you clues. That's it clues. Giving just clues are done for good reason. The Petroglyphs are treasures, looks into the past, some 6,000 years old. Some folks don't do well in respecting how valuable they are. They either vandalize them or put their own mark next to them to try and become immortal themselves. Sorry to tell them “Betsy and Mark 1983” will only get folks extremely mad and you will be cursed at for the next 5,000 years . So to find these sites you have to do your research on the internet and talk to people to get clues. Then you weave it all together to guess where they are. Finally, you have to go out and look.

Benton Crossing a Cool Place on the way to Hunt Petroglyphs

Over the years I have had fun with quests finding the Petroglyphs that are in the Owens Valley and the Tablelands. The first quest started with some photography friends; Paul, George, Kahlee, Nate, Dave, and some others. We were at a meet up in Lone Pine when I convinced them we should try and find the Petroglyphs near Keeler. We looked near and far and came up empty. Over the course of next few summers I finally found a Ranger that gave me the clues that allowed me to find them.

You see most people won't tell you exact directions to where they are. If you are nice they will give you clues. That's it clues. Giving just clues are done for good reason. The Petroglyphs are treasures, looks into the past, some 6,000 years old. Some folks don't do well in respecting how valuable they are. They either vandalize them or put their own mark next to them to try and become immortal themselves. That mark will only get folks extremely mad and they will be cursed at for the next 5,000 years . So to find these sites you have to do your research on the internet and talk to people to get clues. Then you weave it all together to guess where they are. Finally, you have to go out and look.

It took me three or four years and multiple hikes to find Sky Rock and then I found it by sheer luck. One time I was sure I was on the right path and ran into some rock climbers and we started to talk. I told them what I was looking for and they looked at me funny. She then told me “most people don't access that site using this trail.” Now that was the nicest way that I have ever been told that I am on the wrong freakin' trail! But she was kind and gave me some clues. "Try the trail about a half mile down." She then gave me the clue worth a million bucks. She said “once up the slope get up on the top of the rocks because you won't see it from the trail.” Without that clue I think I would still be looking.

Now that I had found the petroglyphs at Sky Rock, Fish Slough, and Keeler I thought I had only have a couple more to go. The elusive ones for me were the Thirteen Moons and Chalfant Petroglyphs. I am pretty sure I now know where the Thirteen Moons is and I just have to plan a hike to find them. Chalfant was another story. A lot of people know where they are. After those idiots cut parts of the petroglyphs out with chain saws no one tells you where they are. They just look at you and smile and say no I don't know where they are. Not even any clues.

Well I did my research. I found a web sight with some detail and then found an old Zerox directions sheet the visitors office gave me years ago. The directions were not that precise. Drive x miles from Bishop, turn left, and go to the end of the road. That's it.

Unfortunately, I was coming from Benton Crossing not Bishop so I had to guess the distance. The road that I thought was the one, wasn't. In the drive down however we passed a road that fit my memory of the internet site's info. So we took a gamble and down the road we went. It was the road! There were the Chaflant Petroglyphs! I felt like I had just won the Kentucky Derby! They were beautiful! I don't think I have used that many exclamation points in a row in my lifetime. But finding those elusive petroglyphs was that exciting to me.

Anyone See a Petrified Crow in the Picture

There was an added bonus that day. A storm was coming in and the clouds were putting on a show. I took some pictures of the clouds at the petroglyph site. Then stopped several times on the way home to take more pictures. In hindsight, I did not stop enough. There was one scene where the clouds had turned gold. They were so bright their reflection turned the water in Crowley Lake gold as well. It was gorgeous and I did no stop. Still kicking myself. Oh well.

As we drove back to Mammoth it looked like it was already snowing in town. It was and we preceded to get 6-8 inches of snow that night and the next day. It was beautiful but it was cold and I was not anxious to put on chains. So we stayed in and enjoyed the fireplace. So no fresh snow pictures for Christmas cards.

Back at home started doing more research on the petroglyphs and read there are like 400 petroglyphs in Red Canyon. Hmmm… I have another quest to go along with finally finding the thirteen moons! Stay tuned.