Roger D. Reading Fine Art Photo Blog

Winter Waterfall, South Fork Tuolumne River - Yosemite National Park, CA

Winter Waterfall, South Fork Tuolumne River – Yosemite National Park, CA

The Tioga road (http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tiogaopen.htm) is normally closed for the winter, from about mid-November through mid-May. This winter, however, has been very dry so far, allowing the road to stay open until January 17 (the latest closing date on record).

On my most recent visit to the Sierras, in late November/early December (2011), I was excited to be able to revisit this waterfall that I had photographed before in August of 2010 (http://rogerdreadingphoto.com/blog/?p=5). There wasn’t much snow, but the nights had been cold enough to form these beautiful ice crystals.

Click on the Map Link to see where this Photo was taken!   

Technical Info:

Title: Winter Waterfall, South Fork Tuolumne River
Yosemite National Park, CA

Image Date: November 29, 2011

Exposure: Canon EOS 5D MarkII – EF300mm f/4L IS USM Lens – f29 – 1/8sec

Media: Printed December 2011 – Canon iPF5100 Archival Pigment Inkjet -
Moab Entrada Rag Bright 100% Cotton Acid Free Paper – Archivally Matted -
Framed in 20 X 26″ Pewter colored Aluminum Frame
With UV  filtering Acrylic glass

$250.00

This photo will be available for viewing and purchase at AvantGarden – The Art Gallery on the First Saturday Artwalks on February 4 & March 3…Hope to see you there!

Rock Creek December - Mono County, CA

Rock Creek December – Mono County, CA

Happy New Year!

I’ve had a fascination with mountain streams for quite a while now. The sound and atmosphere of water rushing in its travels from the high country to the valley is inspiring to me, and tends to help me feel peaceful & happy. This fascination seems to be emerging into the beginnings of a body of photographic work, exploring the shapes of water in motion in these streams in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Rock Creek is one of the streams I like to frequent on my trips to the Sierras. Rock Creek Road closely parallels Rock Creek starting at Tom’s Place, and ending in the high country at the trailhead for the Little Lakes Valley in the John Muir Wilderness.

This has been an unusually dry winter so far in the Eastern Sierra, so when I visited this spot in early December, there was very little snow on the ground. I was attracted to the movement of the water between and beneath the ice.

Click on the Map Link to see Where this Photo Was taken!    

Image Date: December 2, 2011, 4:02pm

Exposure: Canon EOS 5D MarkII-EF300mm f/4L IS USM Lens – f29 – 1/2sec

Media: Printed December 2011 – Canon iPF5100 Archival Pigment Inkjet
Moab Entrada Rag Bright 100% Cotton Acid Free Paper – Archivally Matted
Framed in 20 X 26″ Pewter colored Aluminum Frame with UV  filtering Acrylic glass

$250.00

This photo will be available for viewing and purchase at AvantGarden – The Art Gallery on the First Saturday Artwalks on January 7 and February 4…Hope to see you there!

Stormy Moon, South Tufa - Mono Lake, CA

 Stormy Moon, South Tufa – Mono Lake, CA

This photo was taken during a very stormy and cold late May in 2010. Just three days before, I had attended a “paint-out” and barbecue hosted by the Eastern Sierra Land Trust at the Historic Benton Hot Springs Ranch that had to be cut short due to snow! The “Sierra Wave” cloud formations that you see in the picture had just come from adding more late snow and freezing rain to the Sierras, and were headed towards the White Mountains to do the same. It wasn’t snowing at Mono Lake (el. 6,000′+) as I took this photo, but was very windy and cold.

Mono Lake is a salt lake in north-eastern California that is a major migratory stop and breeding ground for many types of birds. It is a starkly beautiful, mystical place. Until the late 1970′s, it was in danger of becoming a salt flat due to diversions by the Los Angeles DWP since the 1940′s. Since 1978, the Mono Lake Committee has worked to restore Mono Lake, and to educate the public about this special place.

The rock formation you see on the right side of the image (behind the sagebrush) is called a “Tufa”. These were at one time completely submerged, and were formed from calcium carbonate deposits around underwater springs (http://www.monolake.org/about/geotufa). This photo was taken in the “South Tufa Grove”, one of the areas of Mono Lake that is most abundant with tufa towers.

Click on the Map Link to see Where this Photo Was taken!     

Image Date: May 25, 2010, 7:27pm

Exposure: Canon EOS 5D Mark II- EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens – f22 – 1/160sec

Media: Printed June 2010 – Canon iPF5100 Archival Pigment Inkjet
Moab Entrada Rag Bright 100% Cotton Acid Free Paper – Archivally Matted
Framed in 20 X 26″ Pewter colored Aluminum Frame with UV  filtering Acrylic glass

$250.00

This photo will be available for viewing and purchase from November 3-28 as part of the “Visions of Mono Lake” art show at the Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center. The Center is open Thursdays through Mondays, 9am to 4:30pm, and located 1/2 mile north of Lee Vining. There will be an opening reception (that I will not be able to attend, unfortunately) November 18, 2011, from 5-7pm. It is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be provided. The Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association (who is partnering with the Mono Council for the Arts to bring the show to the Visitor Center) will also have discounts on many items in their bookstore in the Center that night.

Flood, Dana Fork - Yosemite National Park, CA

Flood, Dana Fork – Yosemite National Park, CA

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while…it’s been a busy summer! This image was taken along the Tioga Road in Yosemite this June, the week after the pass opened for the first time this year. There had been late, heavy snows this spring/early summer, so the runoff from the melting snow & ice was amazing. To give you an idea of the scale, the tops of these boulders usually stand about 3-5 feet above the surface of the river!

This photo was taken just a few steps from where I took April’s Photo of the Month in August of 2010 (Flow, Dana Fork – Yosemite National Park, CA).

Click on the Map Link to see Where this Photo Was taken!   

Technical Info:

Title: Flood, Dana Fork
Yosemite National Park, CA

Image Date: June 22, 2011, 12:25pm

Exposure: Canon EOS 5D Mark II- EF180mm f/3.5L Macro USM Lens – f29 – 1/40sec

Media: Printed August 2011 – Canon iPF5100 Archival Pigment Inkjet
Moab Entrada Rag Bright 100% Cotton Acid Free Paper – Archivally Matted
Framed in 20 X 26″ Pewter colored Aluminum Frame with UV  filtering Acrylic glass

$250.00

This Photo can be seen at AvantGarden – The Art Gallery on the First Saturday Artwalks on October 1 and November 5…Hope to see you there!

Snowmelt Alpenglow Reflections, Lake Mary - Mammoth Lakes, CA

Snowmelt Alpenglow Reflections, Lake Mary – Mammoth Lakes, CA

I was in Mammoth Lakes last summer to deliver my photographs for the Eastern Sierra Land Trust‘s 2nd Annual Art for Conservation Show & Sale. I was exploring around the lakes at Mammoth around sunset, taking pictures here and there. The sunlight was fading fast, and I was beginning to think I was done photographing for the night, when I passed by this view and stopped in my tracks.

There had been heavy snow in Mammoth up through the end of May last year, and the snow that was melting by then (right foreground) had formed a small pond just steps from the shore of Lake Mary. The cliffs on the far side of the lake were glowing bright orange from the last vestiges of sunlight. The shadows from the pine trees, along with the reflections of the sky and cliffs in the pond and lake made a kind of abstract, almost surreal image.

Click on the Map Link to see Where this Photo Was taken!   

Technical Info:

Title: Snowmelt Alpenglow Reflections, Lake Mary
Mammoth Lakes, CA

Image Date: July 2, 2010

Exposure: Canon EOS 5D Mark II-EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens – f22 – 0.4sec

Media: Printed February 2011- Canon iPF5100 Archival Pigment Inkjet
Moab Entrada Rag Bright 100% Cotton Acid Free Paper – Archivally Matted
Framed in 20 X 26″ Pewter colored Aluminum Frame with UV  filtering Acrylic glass

$250.00

This Photo can be seen at AvantGarden – The Art Gallery on the First Saturday Artwalk on June 4, and at ESLT‘s 3rd annual Art for Conservation Show & Sale, June 26 – July 10, Minaret Village (Vons) Shopping Center, Mammoth Lakes…Hope to see you there!

Springtime Wonderland - Near Conway Summit, CA

Springtime Wonderland

There had been several heavy snowstorms in the Eastern Sierras during the first days of spring this year. I was up in Mammoth Lakes for the 10th Anniversary (“Birthday”) party for the Eastern Sierra Land Trust. There was a small blizzard in Mammoth before the party, but the next morning the sun was shining and the sky was blue, but with a brisk wind.

These hills are off Highway 395, just north of Conway Summit. The sagebrush covered hills with aspen & pine trees are interesting to photograph in every season. This photo was taken in the late afternoon, when the light accentuates the contours of the hills, and as another storm was threatening to blow in.

Click on the Map Link to see Where this Photo Was taken!   

Technical Info:

Title: Springtime Wonderland
Near Conway Summit, CA

Image Date: March 27, 2011

Exposure: Canon EOS 5D MarkII-EF180mm f/3.5L Macro USM Lens – f29 – 1/125sec

Media: Printed May 2011 – Canon iPF5100 Archival Pigment Inkjet
Moab Entrada Rag Bright 100% Cotton Acid Free Paper – Archival Matting
Framed in 20 X 26″ Pewter colored Aluminum Frame
With UV  filtering Acrylic glass

$250.00

This Photo can be seen at AvantGarden – The Art Gallery on the First Saturday Artwalks on May 7 & June 4…Hope to see you there!

Flow, Dana Fork - Yosemite National Park, CA

This is another image from the Tioga Road in Yosemite (see Photo of the Month – March 2011). It was taken at Dana Fork, a stream that runs along the road, and one of the places that I visit almost every time I travel this road. I was setting up my camera & tripod to take a picture of the whole stream, when the light reflecting on the water in this little eddy of the stream caught my eye. Later, I managed to restrain myself from naming the image “Flow n’ Eddy” (a lame reference to 1960′s pop)…

Click on the Map Link to see where this Photo was taken!    

Technical Info:

Title: Flow, Dana Fork
Yosemite National Park, CA

Image Date: August 3, 2010

Exposure: Canon EOS 5D MarkII – EF300mm f/4L IS USM Lens – f32 - 1/25sec

Media: Printed October 2010 – Canon iPF5100 Archival Pigment Inkjet -
Moab Entrada Rag Bright 100% Cotton Acid Free Paper – Archivally Matted-

Framed in 20 X 26″ Pewter colored Aluminum Frame
With UV  filtering Acrylic glass

Waterfall, South Fork Tuolumne River - Yosemite National Park, CA

The Tioga road crosses the Sierras through the spectacular high country of Yosemite National Park, starting just south of Lee Vining, CA (near Mono Lake), through the Tioga Pass (el. 9,943 ft.), and ending in the Yosemite Valley. It is closed much of the year due to snow. There had been late snow through the end of May (2010), so when I came through in August, the streams were still full of water and the meadows full of flowers. As I was passing this waterfall, I caught it out of the corner of my eye, and I had to stop. The narrow stream of water was caught in the light as it flowed over the large, dark boulders.

Click on the Map Link to see where this Photo was taken!    

Technical Info:

Title: Waterfall, South Fork Tuolumne River
Yosemite National Park, CA

Image Date: August 3, 2010

Exposure: Canon EOS 5D MarkII – EF300mm f/4L IS USM Lens – f29 – 1/8sec

Media: Printed October 2010 – Canon iPF5100 Archival Pigment Inkjet -
Moab Entrada Rag Bright 100% Cotton Acid Free Paper – Archivally Matted -
Framed in 20 X 26″ Pewter colored Aluminum Frame
With UV  filtering Acrylic glass