Alabama Hills, CA

kdog

The Alabama Hills are in California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and near the town of Lone Pine. They used to film western movies there because it's such a cool looking place. I went there mainly to see the Mobius Arch and was amazed how large and interesting the area was.


1 Hills at sunset


2


3 Mobius Arch (next morning)



4 Closer shot through the arch, looking towards Mount Whitney. Guess which peak is Mount Whitney?


5 This one.


6 Back side of arch looking out towards the rest of the hills


7 Heart Arch


8 Panamint Valley at dawn, on the way to Hills from Death Valley. That's the road through the park you take to get there.


C&C's welcome, and thanks for looking.

-joel

Sexy6Chick

Joel this is a fantastic set, I can't even pick a favorite! That place looks amazing.

PGM

All great shots! Best, Pam

anwmn1

Great stuff Joel!

#3 and #4 are standouts!

David_S85

You found the arch (and view) Marc's father was talking about in Outdoor Photographer a year ago!

Jason Hermann

Killer series! Great comps and all the rest

Best,
Jay

bryanj87

Niiiiiiice! I really like 1 and 3.

Doug Solis

Really nice set of images. I love #4 the closer look, It allow us to see the A. hills better. I also wonder about perspective how large is this Mobius Arch? I would bring up the yellow/orange hue in this rock as it seems to be desaturated compared to the other shots. Also I love #5 the close up of the beautiful peaks, this immediately reminds me of Torres Del Paine in Chile

kdog

Sexy6Chick wrote: »

Joel this is a fantastic set, I can't even pick a favorite! That place looks amazing.

Thanks, Natalie. This place IS amazing. I didn't allow myself nearly enough time to do it justice. I will be back.

PGM wrote: »

All great shots! Best, Pam

Thanks, Pam!

anwmn1 wrote: »

Great stuff Joel!

#3 and #4 are standouts!

Thank, Aaron. The arch is pretty neat, and I'm happy with the way they came out considering it was late morning.

David_S85 wrote: »

You found the arch (and view) Marc's father was talking about in Outdoor Photographer a year ago!

Hey David, I think that shot is fairly iconic now. The ranger even described the shot to me when I asked for directions there. Perhaps David Meunch's article was the catalyst behind that. I didn't see the article, but now I'm really curious.

Jason Hermann wrote: »

Killer series! Great comps and all the rest

Best,
Jay

Thanks, Jay!

bryanj87 wrote: »

Niiiiiiice! I really like 1 and 3.

Thanks, Bryan! Those are my favorites as well.

kdog

Doug Solis wrote: »

Really nice set of images. I love #4 the closer look, It allow us to see the A. hills better. I also wonder about perspective how large is this Mobius Arch? I would bring up the yellow/orange hue in this rock as it seems to be desaturated compared to the other shots. Also I love #5 the close up of the beautiful peaks, this immediately reminds me of Torres Del Paine in Chile

Hey Doug, thanks. The aperture (technical term) of Mobius is probably just over 5' tall. I couldn't stand up fully inside of it. I think you're right that #4 could use a bit more saturation. My workflow could have been more consistent there. This is the first time I've taken such a close look at Whitney, and it's pretty impressive. I've never been to Chile, but the pictures I've seen look incredible and I can see the resemblance now that you mention it.

schmoo

Nice work, Joel! I've been to that side of the Sierras a couple of times but strangely, never been to the Alabama Hills. I had no idea the Mobius arch was that small, as I just assumed they were as huge as the ones in Moab. But very cool to know... and I'm surprised that there isn't more snow on those mountains!

Seefutlung

Nice ... seems well worth the drive. I have to make a note under "Places I Gotta Shoot".

Gary

dlplumer

anwmn1 wrote: »

Great stuff Joel!

#3 and #4 are standouts!

.

DsrtVW

Nice work Joel. I ran through there around Thanksgiving and snapped a few shots. The time before that when I had more time to spend there they were shooting a movie and had the road shut down.
Taking my trailer and going to camp out there. It is a very interesting area.

Awais Yaqub

Stunning work! loved them all.

jdryan3

#5 shows just how large Mt Whitney is (and the Sierras are) when you can count the large trees on its slope. I like #6 alot

wfeller

Great shots!!!

-

Sam

Nice set of images. I will put Alabama Hills on my list of places to visit.

Sam

Angelo

Joel - great series. Prompted me to a virtual tour on Google Earth. Such natural beauty so close by. Now on my list of things to do very soon

kdog

schmoo wrote: »

Nice work, Joel! I've been to that side of the Sierras a couple of times but strangely, never been to the Alabama Hills. I had no idea the Mobius arch was that small, as I just assumed they were as huge as the ones in Moab. But very cool to know... and I'm surprised that there isn't more snow on those mountains!

Thanks, Schmoo! Yeah, I'd come within a mile or two of that area myself in the past and never knew it was there. I too was a bit surprised that the arch was so small, almost disappointing in a way that's not totally unlike discovering that Sylvester Stallone is only 5'7". :giggle

Seefutlung wrote: »

Nice ... seems well worth the drive. I have to make a note under "Places I Gotta Shoot".

Gary

Thanks, Gary. I don't think you would be disappointed.

dlplumer wrote: »

.

Thanks, Dan! See you soon.

DsrtVW wrote: »

Nice work Joel. I ran through there around Thanksgiving and snapped a few shots. The time before that when I had more time to spend there they were shooting a movie and had the road shut down.
Taking my trailer and going to camp out there. It is a very interesting area.

Thanks, Chris. I didn't know they were still making movies there. I wonder if they allow spectators to watch at all. That would be fun to watch!

Awais Yaqub wrote: »

Stunning work! loved them all.

Thanks, Awais!

jdryan3 wrote: »

#5 shows just how large Mt Whitney is (and the Sierras are) when you can count the large trees on its slope. I like #6 alot

Thanks, David! Yeah, finally how Whitney looks so small until you realize it's set much further back than the other mountains that appear along the same ridge. It's pretty huge. Looking forward to seeing your shot from the trip as well.

wfeller wrote: »

Great shots!!!

-

Thank you, Walter.

Sam wrote: »

Nice set of images. I will put Alabama Hills on my list of places to visit.

Sam

Thanks, Sam. Definitely, and so close to Death Valley.

kdog

Angelo wrote: »

Joel - great series. Prompted me to a virtual tour on Google Earth. Such natural beauty so close by. Now on my list of things to do very soon

Thanks, Angelo! Maybe we should do a Dgrin shootout there some time.

TreyHoff

Hey, Great shots! 3,4 & 5 are my favs with such good clarity.

OffTopic

Absolutely gorgeous shots of one of my favorite areas!

Dogdots

I agree .. they are all fantastic

Really enjoyed the series of photos. Looks like you had a wonderful area to photograph.

Angelo

kdog wrote: »

Thanks, Angelo! Maybe we should do a Dgrin shootout there some time.

.

kdog

TreyHoff wrote: »

Hey, Great shots! 3,4 & 5 are my favs with such good clarity.

Thanks, Trey!

OffTopic wrote: »

Absolutely gorgeous shots of one of my favorite areas!

Thanks, Lori. Haven't seen you around in a while. I checked out your gallery -- you've been busy!

Dogdots wrote: »

I agree .. they are all fantastic

Really enjoyed the series of photos. Looks like you had a wonderful area to photograph.

Thanks, Mary. Glad you liked the shots. The area turned out to be quite a surprise. I definitely need to get back there when I have more time to do it justice.

Angelo wrote: »

Cool! Now we just need to pick a date. Maybe in the spring. Maybe we should throw in Bodie at the same time.


Cheers,
-joel

jasonstone

wow - they really almost pop out of the screen - beautiful colours and sharpness!