Death Valley National Park is a desert wonderland of immense scale, beauty and power. It’s 3.3 million acres, and the vast majority of which are roadless wilderness. It encompass a staggering array of landscapes, unique geologic formations, and colorful vistas. The largest National Park in the contiguous United States, Death Valley is both beautiful to behold and rich in history, mood and mystique. Its towering sand dunes, seasonally snow-capped mountains, warm springs, and vast empty valleys offer endless opportunity for exploration and ample subject matter for the creative artist. There’s no place on earth quite like it.

"The Mighty and the Mini"

In January half a score of LPA members met at Piedras Blancas State Beach to photograph  Northern  Elephant Seals.  The weather was clear; the winds were biting and  the seals were huge and plentiful.  In December and January female seals haul out at this beach to birth their single pups who typically weigh a whopping 60-70 pounds and gain 10 pounds each day thereafter.  About 4 weeks after birth the female seal leaves her pups, breeds again and goes to sea.  The adolescent seals remain on the beach for about 3 months, living off their fat before they too go to sea.  The male seals arrive in January to assemble as large a harem as possible.  These behemoths can weigh 4500 pounds.  Two fighting seals is a clash of the titans.  The loser galumphs off bleeding and bruised often being chased by the winner.  Then there are the young opportunistic males  gliding in and out hoping to go unnoticed by the alpha male but often run off down the beach.  There were indeed photographic opportunities both in the morning and late afternoon.

Some intrepid souls drove down to Pismo Beach State Park during midday to check out the Butterfly Preserve.  23,000 Monarch Butterflies clustered in one Cypress Tree  to stay out of the cold weather.  Only a few hardy butterflies opened their wings in the pale sunlight.  A better photographic opportunity, according to the docents, occurs when the temperatures range in the 60 - 70 degree range.  There will be more action in this grove around Valentine’s Day when the butterflies mate before flying north.

Others of our group photographed structures around Harmony (pop. 18) and coastal sunsets, otters and the peregrine flacon pair (20 pixels in the wind).  Lots of challenges, Lots of fun.

Check out our member's photos in the gallery.

Clark Court : Holiday Lights and so much more.

December 10th, a group of nine made the trek to Clark Court in Lancaster to photograph the holiday lights. In attendance, from left to right, Jim Wise, Sue Craft, Doug Weber, Vickie Wise, Wayne Staley, Douglas Wade, Scott Shackelford, Carol Moss, and Paul Craft.

More lights were up and ready on Clark Court this year than last year. Although two or three houses were still be decorated as we arrived. We arrived at 4:00pm to a clear night and discussed approaches to how we could maximize the evening. We talked about long exposures and shooting in Raw format. Shooting, for example, in aperture or manual mode and learning how to make the adjustments to our cameras. Shooting Christmas lights does require us to take the camera off auto; the camera sensor is confused with pen-size lights. Long exposures are required to add interest. Everyone had a tripod and was well equiped to shoot. We scoped out our houses;, we agreed the best side to start would be the west side to include the sunset glow. We talked about effects such as panning the zoom ring on the lens while the shutter is open.

Fall Color… ummm?

Winter Wonderland… Oh Yeah!!!

A fall color photography trip for LPA members was led by Sue Craft and Bill Sutton, to coincide with what is typically peak time for color in Yosemite Valley (end of October through beginning of November).

Instead of great fall color, we were surprised with a very early snowstorm!  Two of them actually!  We arrived Friday, greeted by the sparkly white remains of an overnight snowfall.  The view from Tunnel View was incredible!  Snow was everywhere, from the tall granite peaks, down to the valley floor.  What we came to see was buried underneath.

Eleven LPA members participated in the 2nd annual Santa Anita Photography Day on October 7, 2011.  A $20 All Day “Press Pass” included parking, trackside photography of the early morning workouts, a tram ride, a scrumptious trackside buffet, two photography workshops presented by Canon Rep Lance Folden, and  trackside access for 8 races!  What a deal!

We all gathered for that LPA “Group Pic” and since tripods were not allowed, I tapped on the shoulder of the nearest person to ask if they’d take our photo.  It just so happened to be the Canon Photo Rep!  After the group shot, Canon Rep Lance Folden shared many photo tips, and gave suggestions on how to set our cameras up for best photo ops for this event.

Led by Arliss Dawson & Sue Craft, August 13 at 7:30am

An even 10 photographers braved the flying dirt to get close to the motocross action at the AV Motoplex.  This was a practice day, so the riders weren't pushing as hard as if it had been a competition, but nevertheless there were plenty of riders flying through the air and sliding around the turns.

Sue handed out a tip sheet with helpful tips for shooting action, and we all got some good shots using the panning and stop-action methods.

By: Lyle Trusty, MLPA, AS4C

For those seeking to capture images for competition it’s not until you start shooting that you realize you’re dealing with several distinct photography subjects…

Saturday was a good day for club members, as well as quite a few people from the Antelope Valley public sector, at the Prime Desert Woodlands Preserve (PDWP). Helen Henry and Chris Wilkins, backed up by Jerry Henry on the projector presented a fast paced and well organized program on photographing in the preserve.  The beautiful presentation of images from our past efforts gave everyone excellent examples of the flora and fauna native to the preserve, and the variety of ways to capture great images of them. Helen’s presentation of photography equipment most suited to the project included examples of camera, lenses and the use of tripods. Christine provided information on the range of animals and bird life currently residing in the natural habitat, and where they had been sighted. Maps and brochures rounded out the support provided at no charge.

LPA Field Trip Apr 15-18, 2011 - Led by Bill Sutton and Sue Craft

Last fall, Bill had an idea… let’s go to Yosemite to capture the Moonbow!  By planning over 6 months in advance, most of the group got a sweet deal at Yosemite Lodge.  Book early, stay in the park, remember that the tent cabins have no power to charge your batteries, and that the shuttle stops running at 10pm so you want to be within walking distance of the waterfalls.  Parking was a bit tight in April and the number of visitors is still very low.

Moonbows, also known as lunar rainbows, are a phenomenon that only occur about three or four times a year, and are only visible for about one to two hours each time they occur.  Moonbows usually only occur during the months of April, May and June and are dependent upon having bright moonlight, the moon must have risen above the south rim of the Yosemite Valley, sufficient mist and spray from the snowmelt runoff, clear skies, and the moon at a direction toward the base of the falls at or near a “rainbow angle” of 42°.  When the conditions are right, what appears as a “white”, “grey” or “silvery” streak to the human eye will reveal a photograph with the full spectrum of the rainbow’s colors.