The Photographic Aspect

Winter at the Beach

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 20:12:00 +0000

Late afternoon sun halo over the ocean at San Elijo State Beach, just north of San Diego.

Ghost Town #2

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Sat, 17 Feb 2018 19:30:00 +0000

Old Building, Pioneertown

Pioneertown was built by western actors Gene Autry and Roy Rodgers in the 1940's as a movie set outside the desert town of Yucca Valley, near Joshua Tree. Now mostly abandoned, it's a fun place to stop and look around for some interesting photos. There is a popular motel next door as well as Pappy & Harriet's roadhouse, with good food and often world-class musical acts play there.

Elfin Forest

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 18:37:00 +0000

Pygmy Oaks; Morro Bay California

Oaks, centuries old, but stunted in their growth by the local environment at El Moro Elfin Forest, near Morro Bay on the central California coast. Can't walk around much in here, that ground cover is mostly poison oak.

Desert Survivor

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 21:08:00 +0000

Borrego Palm Canyon, California

Somehow this little cottonwood survives in the harsh Borrego Desert environment, growing by the little stream that flows down from the mountains, through the oasis of Palm Canyon.

Anza Borrego Desert

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 21:44:00 +0000

Fonts Point, Anza Borrego

Standing on Fonts Point in the Anza Borego State Park, looking west towards Borrego Springs. The common views you see of this location are taken in the opposite direction, out over the badlands, but at this time the light was more interesting on this beautifully eroded mountain. Look closely and you'll see a party of folks on the distant point that brought chairs and refreshments to be comfortable while waiting for the sunset.

Ghost Town #1

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 19:46:00 +0000

Model Seven; Jerome, Arizona

Pictograph Alcove, Palatki Ruin

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 00:33:00 +0000

One of several really interesting pueblo ruins near Sedona, AZ. A rough and dusty drive to get out there, but well worth it.

Watson Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Thu, 14 Dec 2017 20:14:00 +0000

Watson Lake in Prescott, AZ.

Contemplating a move move to this area someday in the not too distant future. Nice place to retire and much closer to all the places I love to explore.

Old Ranch

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 05:05:00 +0000

Desert view from the adobe ruins at Ryan Ranch, in Joshua Tree. A location that I had missed, despite being in the area many times over the years.

Back to the Sea

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 20:11:00 +0000

Boom! - La Jolla, California

I do love living in the mountains, but sometimes I miss the ocean... luckily it's not that far away. My go-to spot when I need some inspiration.. not just photographically speaking. No matter the season or time of day, there is always something going on, just depends on how hard you look.

Around the Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 23:38:00 +0000

Autumn day, Convict Lake, Eastern Sierra.

Autumn Revival

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 00:11:00 +0000

Evening light on the foliage at Silver Lake, Eastern Sierra.

Fall always seems to remind me that the old blog is still here and I should post something new at least once in a while, so here we go with a few recent images.
This shot is from my first time out in the field with the mirrorless Fujifilm-X digital system, since ditching Nikon. I'll keep my old Nikon gear to use in my home studio for product work, since it's very adequate for that and so familiar, but I am so far very happy with the smaller size, lightness and quality of the Fuji gear. It is SO much easier to travel and hike with the downsized kit. My medium format gear is gone, too.. I'll use only the 4x5 from now on when I want to shoot film.
I've always thought that shooting RAW is the only way to go, but under normal conditions it hardly seems necessary with the Fuji.. the jpegs right out of the camera are so crazy good.. dynamic range, color and sharpness, that I hardly have to mess with the exposures at all, as I have been in the habit of doing. Fuji of course has lots of experience with film, and their built-in film simulations cover all the classics: Velvia, Provia, ACROS, and a few more...and they do look really good with no fussing.

Eye See Right Through You

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 23:17:00 +0000

Window, historic adobe ranch building in the Santa Rosa Reserve, Murrieta, California.

Stormy Day Ends

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 20:00:00 +0000

Such a beautiful sky and light here after a very rainy day. Took probably an hour and a half of slow driving over the rough dirt track to get to this point.. just a half mile or so past here, the valley road ends at the main highway. Only problem, there is a normally dry wash that was flowing like a river after a couple days of heavy rain, literally 50 yards from the road. No way I wanted to drive all the way back to the other end, especially in the dark, so I trusted my Jeep to perform like it does in the commercials... drove it through the water and up the last little section to the main road and off north towards Blanding. Next day, the ruins I've wanted to shoot for years were unreachable, also due to rain runoff blocking the trail and making it too dangerous to try to cross.

Slot Canyon Pano

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 01:07:00 +0000

Printing up some new greeting cards for the gallery today and finding a few overlooked shots from last Fall that I kinda like. This one here, a panoramic image from Kanarra Creek slot canyon. I did some experimenting with shooting panos in unlikely, narrow spots on this trip; a few worked out quite nicely.

A Good Call

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Sun, 22 Nov 2015 00:54:00 +0000

This one is actually cropped out of a larger panorama that I am working on printing and framing for the gallery. Almost passed it by.. after a long day and the rather long climb up to Delicate Arch and back, where I didn't really get any good light, I was thinking I was done... but the sky was starting to break just as I was passing by this spot. Really glad I did pull over, allowing me to catch this few minutes of jaw-dropping light.

Autumn Paradise

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 21:17:00 +0000

The canyon opens up in spots heading upstream. So many perfect little scenes to stop and shoot, you can totally forgot about your wet feet. Luckily, the water wasn't as cold as I expected and it wasn't a problem. Glad I left a dry pair of shoes and socks back at the beginning of the wet part of the hike, though...

Up the Creek

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 00:05:00 +0000

There are several pretty waterfalls along the creek in this canyon (which I'll get to), but this is the main one. Pretty misty and wet in the cavern, but I managed to make it up the ladder with my camera still on the tripod in my left hand, which I probably should not have done:) On the way down, I decided to stash everything in my backpack and use both hands... didn't want to risk all the nice shots I made upstream, or my gear.

The Big Picture

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 17:18:00 +0000

Aspen covered lava field, southern Utah.
I made a point of shooting a lot of panoramas on my most recent tour.. trying to literally get a new perspective on some old, familiar subjects. Since our eyes see close to 180°, not in small rectangles, I find that it more closely matches the impression you get standing in an expansive scene. I really like the results even in very narrow spots where you might not think of using a pano.. the effect can be almost surrealistic and much more interesting than a standard rectangular shot.. more coming on that.

Valley of the Gods

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 04:22:00 +0000

A rather appropriate name. No crowds out here, for sure... one of the more remote places I have been. Not too far from Monument Valley, but on public land, whereas Monument is owned by the Navaho and you have to pay to get in, plus they keep the road there in horrible condition so you don't want to use your own vehicle to drive around. The road here is generally much better.
Caught me some luck here after fighting rain off and on all day. Good for the light, bad for the road, though. A very long and lonely dirt path runs through this valley and the rain did a job on it every few hundred yards where little runoff streams flow across.. nothing technical, but teeth-jarring none the less.

Lomaki Ruins

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 21:53:00 +0000

My first stop on a week-long, 1900 mile road trip around Arizona and Utah. Had to deal with some pretty heavy rain the first couple of days (as you can probably see by the ominous clouds), but there were enough breaks in between showers to get some good shots accomplished while here, although I did have to pass on some spots that I wanted to get. Wupatki Monument, just north of Flagstaff, has a bunch of these Peubloan sites, but this was my favorite, built right on the edge of a small box canyon and surrounded by beautiful rolling hills as far as the eye can see. "Lomaki" translates as "Beautiful House" in the Hopi language. Built by the Sinagua Puebloan people and apparently abandoned around 1250AD, it's still standing rather proudly looking out over the canyon and the surrounding hills.

Just a Trickle

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 00:48:00 +0000

Went out to see if I could scout up some new locations here in my own area last weekend. I expected all the streams to be bone dry, so was surprised to find a little bit of flow still going on in a few spots. Very, very dry again this winter.. normally this would be a pretty good little waterfall at this time of year. On the one hand, it's nice that it has been so warm, but here's hoping for some snow, or at least rain, before the season ends.

Never Disappoints

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 01:45:00 +0000

It's harder for me to get down to the shore now that I'm 2 hours away than it used to be when I lived only 15 minutes away, so when I do get down there, I try to take advantage. If I was somehow limited to just one spot to photograph forever, I think this would be it.. an afternoon at the coast never fails to result in something interesting.
Using a little more exaggerated processing here to bring out the underlying graphic design, and just because I'm having fun experimenting with some new looks recently.

Snow, Mistletoe, Doves and Really Cold

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 04:32:00 +0000

Last post for this year; a winter scene in the San Jacinto mountains of Southern California. Hope everyone has a wonderful and productive New Year.

Foggy Forest

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Alan Meader) — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 20:48:00 +0000

Nothing quite like a misty, foggy Sunday afternoon out in the 6000' elevation forest around my house. Certainly no worries about anyone popping into my shots accidentally (well, maybe a deer, but rare to see them during the day).