We're Inyo Forest, snapping yo pics

schmoo

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Over the holiday weekend, my husband and I decided to try to get away for a few days. We don't get to spend much free time together at home, and we even missed our 5th anniversary last month because we were both so preoccupied with things. Given last weekend we were shooting the crowds of SF Pride Weekend, I also wanted to go someplace without thousands of people. :lol3

So we threw all our gear in the car along with the dog and some supplies, and headed south.

Our home base was Bishop, CA, sandwiched between three major National Parks: Sequioa, Kings Canyon, and Death Valley. Of course, since we had our dog, we couldn't visit any of them, but there was already plenty to see in the Inyo Forest -- which soon because a running joke (see title).

I'll spare all the details, but time for shooting ended up being fairly limited. Still, we were able to do a few drives around Lake Sabrina (eh, too many people camping and fishing) and the Bristlecone Pine Forest (:thumb:thumb). We'd missed the sweet light each day, but it was still gorgeous and a ton of fun.

The road back from Aspendell



Heading east from Bishop. We ended up not being able to take this road because it was too rough for the Mini :lol3 Cue sadface, but we got around it by heading to Big Pine and taking the southern entrance into the park.



I'll never rival Galen Rowell (whose gallery we did visit)



Facing west from the top of Patriarch Grove, you can see all the snow-capped mountains at eye-level across the valley



Climbing a 500-foot hill is no easy feat at this elevation



We always just missed sunset, but the purple haze up at 12k feet is just breathtaking



And of course, a couple of attempts at star trails. This one was fun because we stalked the sunset. Only after we set up and started shooting did we realize that functional satellite dishes move. :rolleyes



I've already posted this one, but the people we met while shooting this were just awesome. We'd reached the top of the road, where hikers park their cars and finish the climb to White Mountain, supposedly the USA's most underrated 14er. It's a very nice place to set up camp and acclimate yourself to the altitude, and we spent the evening warming ourselves by the fire and talking photography with two hikers from Detroit.



All in all a great trip. For a forest there sure weren't many trees. :lol3

Thanks for looking!

Cygnus Studios

Definitely a cool looking place. I love shot #2. I believe that California has a different definition of forest than those of us from the east coast

hawkeye978

Nice series. I like the light and the BW version of #3. Is that a bristlecone?

Also, the #6 pano is really something. Maybe it's not the perfect light but it's still pretty spectacular.

schmoo

Cygnus Studios wrote:

Definitely a cool looking place. I love shot #2. I believe that California has a different definition of forest than those of us from the east coast

I'm starting to get that feeling, too. You have teeny little hardy trees, or ginormous ones like redwoods and sequoias. Both are awesome!

schmoo

hawkeye978 wrote:

Nice series. I like the light and the BW version of #3. Is that a bristlecone?

Also, the #6 pano is really something. Maybe it's not the perfect light but it's still pretty spectacular.

Thanks, Tom! Yes that was a bristlecone, and I have no idea if it was alive or not. Not that tourists should treat it any differently of course, as I imagine either way it was probably a few thousand years old. If you're going to be camping you have to bring your own wood, understandably.

Just walking five steps had me gasping for breath. Climbing the hill to that tree (about 30 feet) my vision started to get all watery Still, it's definitely worth a visit. The forest was much, much cooler (and rougher) than I expected!

Andy

schmoo wrote:

I'll spare all the details, but time for shooting ended up being fairly limited.

:hide

schmoo

Andy wrote:

:hide

I'm glad all of that got done when it did, though. And we got to avoid the worst heat of the day -- which was a quadruple plus

Kory Lidstrom

Ok, this is officially the best thread title EVER!

#2 is my fave. Nicely done.

BTW, if you're interested in doing more star trail photography, Floris Van Breugel has made a very good tutorial here.

thapamd

Holy moly! That's quite a series, Schmoo! Thank you so much for sharing the beautiful images.

schmoo

Thanks, Mahesh! When are you coming down this way, or have you already shot these? I think we need a Map This! button just for you. :smo

Kory Lidstrom wrote:

Ok, this is officially the best thread title EVER!

#2 is my fave. Nicely done.

BTW, if you're interested in doing more star trail photography, Floris Van Breugel has made a very good tutorial here.

Yay! I was wondering if anyone would find the name of the forest as amusing as I did, or if I was just wired strangely

I learned a little about shooting star trails from Andy and Marc, but wow that page has amazing advice. Thanks for sharing that! I've bookmarked that, especially for processing star shots.

TheLuckyPhotos

All beautiful shots! 3rd one is my favorite.

Marc Muench

Always good to see your pics Number 4 is so very nice what a good find.

The Inyo Forest Service makes up for the lack of trees with the age of them:D

schmoo

Marc Muench wrote:

Always good to see your pics Number 4 is so very nice what a good find.

The Inyo Forest Service makes up for the lack of trees with the age of them:D

Thanks guys, and Marc yah definitely. I wish there was an easy way to tell which ones were old and which ones are positively ancient. I know that it's best for them to stay anonymous but here I thought some of the sequoias was old. And I was whining about turning 30...

TJDIV

brings back memories of driving to Mammoth. Cool shots.

NeilL

Re the Inyo 'Forest', in the Northern Territory of Australia folk use the word 'desert' a little differently from the rest of us. People say for example 'over there in the desert' and indicate a flourishing thicket of trees and bushes. The best logic I could make of it was that the area was uncultivated, wild, in other words, and therefore deserted.

Schmoo, the second is the outstanding one for me. That road is the one you take when you don't intend to come back. So good that you didn't take it, eh!:D

I also like the first and the pano, though I won't hide the fact that my fingers are lusting to tickle the PP (oh! now there's a touch of innuendo ).

These shots show your eye looking for spacey scale, and I'm a sucker for big ideas. (I think my Freudian side is getting the upper - I'll stop! )

EDIT: I meant #2, not #3, is the outstanding one for me.

Awais Yaqub

clap
Beautiful photographs !

kdog

Great stuff, Schmoo. I think your B&W work, #2, 3, and the big dish star trails shots rate with the best I've ever seen.

Anyway, looks like a very fun and productive trip.

Cheers,
-joel

redleash

Terrific series, and obviously a fun trip! You have such a flair for story-telling in your shots. I think I've seen #2 in a few old B&W movies!

I agree with the comments about #4--what a super image!

Lauren