Author: circadianreflections

Half Dome from Glacier Point Yosemite National Park, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Myself and 5 friends went up to spend the day in Yosemite to see the view from Glacier Point before it closes for winter, and to shoot the nearly full moon rising from behind Half Dome if the clouds and weather permitted.

We had a lovely picnic lunch here at Glacier Point. The view is fantastic!

I used my Singh Ray LB ColorCombo Warming Circular Polarizer today. It really helped the shot by tamping down the glare on the clouds, and it brought out more of the grays and blues in the sky.

Unfortunately, at the time the moon was rising behind Half Dome the clouds had covered the entire dome so we never saw the moon.
We packed up and went into Groveland for a Mexican dinner before heading home.

PP- Vibrancy, clarity, and a bit of sharpening, resized.
Nikon D90, Nikkor 17-35mm @ 22mm, f8, 1/160s, ISO 200, Manual Mode, on a Tripod.
Yosemite National Park, Stanislaus National Forest, California, Yosemite Wilderness

"There are only two ways to live your life…one is as though nothing is a miracle, and the other is as though everything is a miracle." ~Albert Einstein, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

This was taken on the second morning of the Eastern Sierra Workshop I took. After shooting around North Lake for sometime we had a lovely picnic breakfast then spent a little more time shooting before moving onto the next location.

North Lake is in a valley or bowl surrounded by mountains and hills. Just a few minutes before we were ready to leave the sun reached high enough to light the tops of these Aspens that were across a meadow and lake lining the craggy rock wall of the mountain side. The oranges and bright yellow were just the colors I’d been hoping for.
I chose to quickly switch to my telephoto lens to zoom in on those sun lit tops.

Exposure – I used my B+W warming filter on this shot to help bring out the warm colors. This lens is a smaller lens diameter than my 17-35mm so in order to keep my equipment to minimum I used a step up ring to be able to use the same Warming filter on both lenses.

PP- Recovery, vibrance, clarity, levels, small crop off the left side, a little bit of USM, and resized.
Nikon D300s, Nikkor 70-300mmVR @ 200mm, f8, 1/160s, ISO 320, Aperture Priority, handheld

"I have been here before, But when or how I cannot tell; I know the grass beyond the door, The sweet keen smell, The sighing sound, the light around the shore." ~George Meredith, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

After our Sunrise hike to McGee Lake we had breakfast then packed a lunch and grabbed water for the afternoon’s hike at Parker Lake off Hwy 395. It’s a strenuous 2.2 mile hike up to the Mountain Lake. The trail meanders through wooded, and high dessert open areas that are hot and dusty, rocky terrain, and here and there are lovely meadows.

Most of us brought our lunch and water on the hike, but some did not. They were told it was only a 1.2 mile hike and didn’t think it would take 2 hours to hike up to the lake. They were pretty thirsty when they got to the lake. There was enough water between us to get those without it enough to keep them going. We had an 88 year old woman in this workshop who made it all the to the Lake and back down on her own two feet. She is amazing, and an inspiration. Can I just say – ALWAYS TAKE WATER! Even on short hikes.

There was a dog chasing fish in the lake out of the frame on the right. He was our lunch entertainment. After he got tired of fishing he got hold of a huge branch and carried or tried to carry it everywhere. When we were hiking down he and his owners passed us and the dog still had that branch!

I plan on doing this hike again. There is a meadow with Aspens that were at their peak about a mile in. I’d like to shoot them in the morning light. We were there in the afternoon – sun was in the wrong direction.
My friend Dali and I did this hike. While my friend Theresa went with Bill Wight, and Win to find some beaver ponds.

The color had just started to turn here and what had turned was yellow, not oranges on the Lake.

PP- Vibrance, clarity, levels, tweaked the yellows and greens to get them to look the way I remembered them, resized, and cropped off a bit at the top.

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 17-35mm @ 17mm, f16, 1/20s, ISO 200, Manual Mode, On a Tripod

"The world is but a canvas to our imaginations." Henry David Thoreau, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

My day started at 5AM when a couple of friends and I set out at 6:30AM for Hope Valley in Northern California on Saturday to shoot more fall color. We had a great day with a lovely picnic by Silver Lake, and ended up at Sorensen’s Resort where we were enchanted with the rustic cabins and beautiful Aspens, and even ran into a friend, and on the way to Lake Tahoe ran into two other friends at a coffee shop.
This shot was taken at Sand Harbor in Lake Tahoe. It was quiet and so tranquil here. The great gray/blue/purplish cloud on top is full of smoke. I’m sure that played into the nice color we had in the sunset this evening. I loved the pinks, and reds!
After sunset we stopped in Truckee to have a long overdue dinner which I didn’t photograph then we headed home. I got home at 11:35PM.

PP- Recovery, vibrance, clarity, a little sharpening, levels, resized

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 17-35mm f2.8@ 20mm, 1/13s, f11, ISO 200, Manual Mode, on a Tripod

"Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn."- Elizabeth Lawrence, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Somewhere on Hwy 89 in the Hope Valley

PP- vibrance, clarity, resized
Nikon D300s, Nikkor 17-35mm @35mm, f16, 1/4s, ISO 200, Manual Mode, on a tripod

Rock Creek Lake Rd_101110_1447, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

On the last afternoon of the Eastern Sierra Workshop we were on the way up to Rock Creek Lake when we saw all this wonderful color. Unfortunately the leader didn’t stop to pull over, and once at the Lake we discovered there wasn’t very much color around the lake itself. Making the decision to head back down the road we were disappointed to find we had lost the light.
My friends and I vowed to come back on our own after our sunrise shoot and breakfast the following morning. One of my friends not feeling well decided to go home after breakfast so only myself and one other friend went back to Rock Creek Road.

This was taken from on top a boulder off the roadside. I think that’s Mammoth Mountain all covered in snow in the background but I’m not sure. I can’t locate a decent map of this area.

PP- Vibrancy, clarity, recovery, levels, and a tiny crop off the top then resized, small boost of USM.
Nikon D300s, Nikkor 17-35 @ 17mm, 1/15s, f13, ISO 200, Manual Mode, On a Tripod

Week-End Road Trip, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Copyright © 2010 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

After our trip to the Eastern Sierras myself and 2 friends were following the reports of the Fall Color level in Hope Valley, California. We read it was peaking on Friday so we decided to make a road trip on the following day. We left at 6:30AM for the normally 4 hour drive to Hope Valley.
On the way to Sorensen’s Resort in Hope Valley to find a trail to hike out to see more Fall Color we saw this little cabin, and behind me a little meadow ,and red barn that looked picturesque and interesting so we pulled over to the side of the road to photograph them.
We saw so many beautiful Aspens along Highways 88 and 89, and at Sorensen’s we ran into a Meet-Up friend, and spent so much time shooting the cute resort cabins that we ran out of time and never did find the trail to an overlook of the valley.
From Sorensen’s we decided to head further north to Lake Tahoe to shoot the sunset. We stopped for a much need caffeine break at a famous coffee shop in Tahoe and there we ran into 2 more friends from another Meet- Up group! After sunset we stopped in Truckee to have dinner which I didn’t photograph then we headed home. I got home at 11:35PM.
We had a wonderful day, and perhaps next year I’ll find that trail.

Exposure and PP- I decided to try my ND filter and Warming filter today when the sun came out. I hoped the warming filter would bring out the oranges and golds in the trees and bushes. It did!
PP-Vibrance, clarity, levels, WB adjustment to bring out more of the color that was in the clouds, cropped of some of the bottom, and resized.

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 17-35mm @17mm, f9, 1/30s, ISO 200, Manual Mode, Hoya 0.9 Neutral Density Filter, B+W Warming 81A filter, Sandisk Ultra II Digital Film