Los Angeles
And yet another amazing workshop has concluded. David Metcalf and I had the immense pleasure of presenting a spectacular 13 day workshop and tour commencing in Los Angeles and moving through the Eastern Sierras , Death Valley, Yosemite and winding up at San Francisco. Commencing at the Marriott at Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles our group came together for a welcoming dinner. Too many restaurants to choose from but we settled on the fabulous Canoli near Venice Beach. Superb meal and a taste of things to come.
But before we start let's wind back the clock a couple of days. Our fun had already begun.
Geoff had arrived early and hired a car and as I checked in a couple of days before the workshop he grabbed me and said, "What are we doing today?". The best cure for jet-lag is to keep moving and sleep that night to get your body in sync. Who was I to argue and so off we went on a brand new adventure. Driving on the wrong side of the road with a sat-nav that always provided a few surprises. In fact we were fortunate that we had the dodgy sat-nav as we saw many things that we were not expecting :-)
Some how we survived and we did have a great time visiting the USS IOWA, a huge battleship with massive, massive guns, Huntington Gardens, LA Zoo, and impromptu model shoot in Hollywood and much more. Over the following days Neil and Sue also popped in early and joined in our adventures.
Hera are are few images from the pre-workshop.
And yet another amazing workshop has concluded. David Metcalf and I had the immense pleasure of presenting a spectacular 13 day workshop and tour commencing in Los Angeles and moving through the Eastern Sierras , Death Valley, Yosemite and winding up at San Francisco. Commencing at the Marriott at Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles our group came together for a welcoming dinner. Too many restaurants to choose from but we settled on the fabulous Canoli near Venice Beach. Superb meal and a taste of things to come.
But before we start let's wind back the clock a couple of days. Our fun had already begun.
Geoff had arrived early and hired a car and as I checked in a couple of days before the workshop he grabbed me and said, "What are we doing today?". The best cure for jet-lag is to keep moving and sleep that night to get your body in sync. Who was I to argue and so off we went on a brand new adventure. Driving on the wrong side of the road with a sat-nav that always provided a few surprises. In fact we were fortunate that we had the dodgy sat-nav as we saw many things that we were not expecting :-)
Some how we survived and we did have a great time visiting the USS IOWA, a huge battleship with massive, massive guns, Huntington Gardens, LA Zoo, and impromptu model shoot in Hollywood and much more. Over the following days Neil and Sue also popped in early and joined in our adventures.
Hera are are few images from the pre-workshop.
Geoff and his Big Guns
First Squirrel
First Hummingbird
Yep, LA Zoo
Jasmine, our first US model
LA Zoo
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Hello Sailor
Fall Colours
Very fast
Huntington Gardens
LA Zoo
Venice Beach
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Huntington Gardens
LA Zoo
LA Zoo
Huntington Gardens
LA Zoo
Santa Monica
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Now where was I. Oh yeah, dinner at Canolis and then next morning Day two and our first day 'proper' commenced with a cruise north along the scenic coast road and then in to the quaint town of Ojai for coffee. Onto Death Valley and a night at Furnace Creek Resort. No jackets required here and heaven only knows how people survive there in summer. The drive in was full of many awe inspiring landscapes but we were not sure what to expect once we were right into the park. The government shutdown was apparently going to make our lives miserable and restrict our access to key locations.
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. We virtually had the place to ourselves. Having been told different stories from reception staff to other travellers we had no option but to check out the situation for ourselves. We headed off to Zabriskie Point to find it open and accessible with only a few other people around. A magic sunset and then a slightly cloudy star trails session and back to the lodge for dinner.
Day three kicked off with sunrise back at Zabriskie Point and we not disappointed. This place was fantastic with many changing colours as the sun rose. Check out and then off to the desert dunes with some stops along the way when spectacular scenes presented. Incredibly we encountered our only inclement weather for the entire trip in the desert of Death Valley where it rained. Bizarre!!!
Onwards towards Lone Pine, the home of many John Wayne movies as well as many others and again we stopped along the way to photograph fantastic landscapes. Arriving in Lone Pine we saw clouds building and thought that we may be in for a nasty change in the weather. A few of us headed off to explore the area and turned up a side street which just happened to lead into the Alabama Hills. Unbelievable as we were driving along we saw a BMW heading the other way covered in snow. We couldn't believe our eyes and as we continued on we were snowed on for the first time. Out of the SUV and into the cold as we all reveled in the white landscape.
We were somewhat disappointed that our hotel rooms faced away from the mountains that we had seen as we drove into Lone Pine. Little did we know what was in store for us in the morning.
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. We virtually had the place to ourselves. Having been told different stories from reception staff to other travellers we had no option but to check out the situation for ourselves. We headed off to Zabriskie Point to find it open and accessible with only a few other people around. A magic sunset and then a slightly cloudy star trails session and back to the lodge for dinner.
Day three kicked off with sunrise back at Zabriskie Point and we not disappointed. This place was fantastic with many changing colours as the sun rose. Check out and then off to the desert dunes with some stops along the way when spectacular scenes presented. Incredibly we encountered our only inclement weather for the entire trip in the desert of Death Valley where it rained. Bizarre!!!
Onwards towards Lone Pine, the home of many John Wayne movies as well as many others and again we stopped along the way to photograph fantastic landscapes. Arriving in Lone Pine we saw clouds building and thought that we may be in for a nasty change in the weather. A few of us headed off to explore the area and turned up a side street which just happened to lead into the Alabama Hills. Unbelievable as we were driving along we saw a BMW heading the other way covered in snow. We couldn't believe our eyes and as we continued on we were snowed on for the first time. Out of the SUV and into the cold as we all reveled in the white landscape.
We were somewhat disappointed that our hotel rooms faced away from the mountains that we had seen as we drove into Lone Pine. Little did we know what was in store for us in the morning.
Road Closed - Nope.
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Death Valley
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Day four and I was awakened by Dave on the phone exclaiming, in a very excited voice, "Have you looked out the window?" I hadn't but when I did I couldn't believe it. Unbeknown to us we were on the side of the hotel that looked straight up to the highest mountain in the USA, Mount Whitney. What a magic sight. Snow capped mountains and clear blue sky. Wow, wow, wow!!!!
I was dressed and out like a shot to photograph the magic vistas before breakfast, and this was the view from my window.
I was dressed and out like a shot to photograph the magic vistas before breakfast, and this was the view from my window.
View from hotel window
After a quaint breakfast we jumped into both vehicles. Dave was driving a Chevy Impala and I was taking care of a larger SUV Chevy Traverse. We headed off and lost sight of Dave who had pulled the in for fuel. We turned down a side street to explore the views and then made our way back to the road we had travelled the evening before into the hills. We had no idea what was in store for us as we set off.
We began climbing and soon passed our turn around point from the night before. Snow was everywhere and we stopped many times to shoot the amazing mountain landscapes. There were fresh tracks through the snow so we continued climbing and climbing and climbing. The higher we went the more slippery the road became. We pulled over for more photos and a ute drove past so we thought, yep, no problem we can do this. One thing we had noticed in the USA so far was a distinct lack of guard rails that we are accustomed to in Australia. Here we were on slippery icy roads with no guard rails and huge drop offs to below.
After a somewhat tense drive we made the top and were rewarded with an incredible winter wonderland. Hot coffee in the warm cafe and we were set for a great shoot in the snow and ice.
We carefully made our descent and met up with the others to check out and head for June Lake and our home for the next few days, the Double Eagle Lodge. A few stops along the way and then we detoured into Convict Lake for amazing reflections of ice covered peaks and autumn colours around sunset.
We began climbing and soon passed our turn around point from the night before. Snow was everywhere and we stopped many times to shoot the amazing mountain landscapes. There were fresh tracks through the snow so we continued climbing and climbing and climbing. The higher we went the more slippery the road became. We pulled over for more photos and a ute drove past so we thought, yep, no problem we can do this. One thing we had noticed in the USA so far was a distinct lack of guard rails that we are accustomed to in Australia. Here we were on slippery icy roads with no guard rails and huge drop offs to below.
After a somewhat tense drive we made the top and were rewarded with an incredible winter wonderland. Hot coffee in the warm cafe and we were set for a great shoot in the snow and ice.
We carefully made our descent and met up with the others to check out and head for June Lake and our home for the next few days, the Double Eagle Lodge. A few stops along the way and then we detoured into Convict Lake for amazing reflections of ice covered peaks and autumn colours around sunset.
Day five saw us up before sunrise in freezing conditions on the edge of June Lake. The edges of the lake were frozen with thin sheets of very slippery ice so some care was needed to get in close for that all important foreground detail but it was all worthwhile as we enjoyed a magic session.
That evening we made our first trip to Mono Lake for sunset and stayed on for star trails at this surreal landscape. The structures at Mono Lake are called 'Tufas' and are a type of limestone deposit. The lake was formed over 760,000 years ago and has no outlet so salinity and mineral levels continue to rise as they re deposited into the lake with nowhere to go. The lake is alkaline but stills harbours a huge brine shrimp supply and is an important stop-over for many migratory birds. We saw thousands of what appeared to be grebes bobbing around on the lake while we were there.
That evening we made our first trip to Mono Lake for sunset and stayed on for star trails at this surreal landscape. The structures at Mono Lake are called 'Tufas' and are a type of limestone deposit. The lake was formed over 760,000 years ago and has no outlet so salinity and mineral levels continue to rise as they re deposited into the lake with nowhere to go. The lake is alkaline but stills harbours a huge brine shrimp supply and is an important stop-over for many migratory birds. We saw thousands of what appeared to be grebes bobbing around on the lake while we were there.
Day six saw us heading back past Bishop to head for the ancient Bristlecone Pine forest. No facilities were open but all the roads were accessible so we had no trouble visiting the site. Some of the trees here are over 3000 years old and the recent snow added a special touch.
Our day concluded with a stunning sunset over the snow clad mountains before heading back to the lodge for dinner.
Our day concluded with a stunning sunset over the snow clad mountains before heading back to the lodge for dinner.
Day seven and we opened with sunrise back at Mono Lake and then a magic breakfast at a very popular diner in Lee Vining. With everyone well fed we continued onto the old Ghost Town of Bodie again with a few stops along the way to take advantage of wonderful landscapes.
Bodie was another gem with many old abandoned buildings, cars and machinery. And then it snowed. It was all rather surreal wandering around in a ghost town in the desert and being snowed on. Wonderful.
To finish our day we headed to Virginia Lakes and Lundy Lake chasing the autumn colours. Another wonderful experience as we stopped in at the cafe on the lake to find a real character running the place. John was keen to let us know his political views and some friendly banter ensued as we discussed the government shutdown. It was also the last day the store would be open as they were 'closing for the season' the next day. They literally shut up shop and reopen in six months time when the snows melt and the lake thaws so that people can fish again.
Bodie was another gem with many old abandoned buildings, cars and machinery. And then it snowed. It was all rather surreal wandering around in a ghost town in the desert and being snowed on. Wonderful.
To finish our day we headed to Virginia Lakes and Lundy Lake chasing the autumn colours. Another wonderful experience as we stopped in at the cafe on the lake to find a real character running the place. John was keen to let us know his political views and some friendly banter ensued as we discussed the government shutdown. It was also the last day the store would be open as they were 'closing for the season' the next day. They literally shut up shop and reopen in six months time when the snows melt and the lake thaws so that people can fish again.
So we are just over half way and already had the most amazing time and photographic opportunities. Soon, we'll be into Yosemite but that will be in Part 2.
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