Focal Points Magazine March 2020 Issue by John Nilsson

Focal Points Sierra Club Camera Committee Magazine March, 2020

Focal Points Magazine

Contents 3.

Meetings and Outings

10. This month's Member Photos

An Announcement: It is with great pleasure that I can announce the Camera Committee has a new home for its meetings beginning with the February 2020 meeting.

56. Black and White Pages 64. Announcements 68. Photo of the Month 69. Parting shot

Our new meeting place will be the Garden Room of the Culver City Memorial Complex, 4117 Overland Ave. Culver City, CA 90230 During 2020 we will be sharing this facility with the West LA Chapter of the Sierra Club on a rotating basis - West LA will have the space on odd months, the Camera Committee will have the space on even months of the year. Our new meeting night will be on the 2nd Thursday of even months.

Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures, kill nothing but time.

Cover Photo Credit:

ÂŠ John Clement, 2020 All Rights Reserv "Venus Decending" 22

Notes from the Chairman As you will see from this page on, Focal Points Newsletter has undergone a huge transformation. Focal Points is now more than a newsletter. It has transformed into a full-fledged Magazine incorporating a totally new format, new type face, and a new page look featuring more and larger photographs and amped- up photographer credits. To get to this point I consulted my daughter and son-in-law, a national publication design consultant and major studio video game editor,respectively (these people should know). Their advice was:

Soâ&#x20AC;Ś Here you go.

"less print and more pictures"

I hope you enjoy this issue as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

Meetings and Outings

Sierra Club Camera Commit April 9, 2020 Meeting Where:

Culver City Vetern's Memorial Au Garden Room, 4117 Overland Ave

When:

7:00 PM

What:

A Journey Through Morocco with

ttee

uditorium e., Culver City

h John Fisinotti

Long-time member John Fisinotti will treat us to a slide presentation of his recent trip to Morocco. The color and culture of the region make this the go-to spot on your bucket list! John's spectacular photos have appeared often in Focal Points. He has been a winner of the Focal Points Photo of the Month Contest multiple times. Please Note:

Please join us for a Meet and Greet Dinner honoring our speaker, John Fisinotti before the April 9, Meeting

See you at the Overland Cafe

3601 Overland Ave, Culver City

Starting at 5:30 Sharp! 7

Outings O: Iva Bell Hot Springs Backpack Date and Time:

Wed, Jul 8, 2020 7:00 AM (Local Time) - Sun, Jul 12, 2020 9:00 PM (Local Time) Organized By: Angeles Chp Backpacking Comm Event Organizers: Mark Jacobs guitarpack@aol.com (818) 783-4882 Jeremy Evans jceevans@me.com (818) 749-4998 Moderate 22 mile, 1000' gain backpack to Iva Bell Hot Springs, one of the few undeveloped, natural hot springs in the Sierras. We'll head out from Reds Meadow for a two day backpack to the hot springs, layover one day and then take two days hiking out; camping on Fish Creek along the way. A beautiful canyon with several hot springs to soak in should make this trip a relaxing and memorable trip. Send check for $50 (refundable at trailhead) payable to the Sierra Club Backpack Section, 2 SASE, H & W phones and recent backpacking experience/ conditioning and carpool info to Leader: MARK JACOBS, 15300 Ventura Blvd Ste 502Sherman OaksCA91403-5836 Level: Moderate(O-2) Signup Instructions: Send check for $50 (refundable at trailhead) payable to the Sierra Club Backpack Section, 2 SASE, H & W phones and recent backpacking experience/ conditioning and carpool info to Leader: MARK JACOBS, 15300 Ventura Blvd Ste 502Sherman OaksCA91403-5836 Cancellation Policy: Participants who fail to show up at the trailhead, lose their deposit

Photos courtesy Jeremy Evans

O: Mineral King Backpack Date and Time: Sat, Aug 8, 2020 6:00 AM (Local Time) - Sun, Aug 16, 2020 8:30 PM (Local Time) Organized By: Angeles Chp Backpacking Comm Event Organizers: Mark Jacobs

guitarpack@aol.com

Jeremy Evans jceevans@me.com

(818) 783-4882 (818) 749-4998

Moderate 41 mile, 4200 gain backpack through the extraordinary Mineral King area of Sequoia National Park. With one layover day, well start this loop trip heading through the Franklin Lakes, Little Claire Lake, Moraine Lake, Big Five Lakes and Columbine Lakes with a spectacular finish crossing Sawtooth Pass for an exciting glissade back to our trailhead. This beautiful foray into the Great Western Divide area should prove both invigorating and refreshing with high snow peaked ranges and pristine alpine lakes. The trip also coincides with the famous Perseid Meteor Shower. Signup Instructions: Send check for $50 (refundable at trailhead) payable to the Sierra Club Backpacking Section, 2 SASE, H & W phones and recent backpacking experience/ conditioning and carpool info to Leader: MARK JACOBS, 15300 Ventura Blvd Ste 502 Sherman OaksCA91403-5836 Cancellation Policy: Participants who do not show up at the trailhead will lose their deposit

This Month's Member Photos

Steve worked primarily in the conventional medium of Black and White silver-based photography for many years as he explored the natural landscape of the local San Gabriel Mountains and his beloved High Sierra in California. In the last 20 years he has engaged in digital photography as it has opened up new avenues and excitement about making images of the natural scene. His interest in photography began in junior high school when he developed his first roll of film from a Kodak Brownie camera. He became very interested in combining photography and traveling adventures as a member of the Highlanders, a mountaineering club at Pasadena City College. His work turned more serious during military service as the landscape became his focus of attention. Steve’s interest in the environmental movement, starting in his college days, led him to actively seek ways of using his photography to help in a personally significant way. He joined the Mono Lake Committee 40 years ago and has been an active leader in the Sierra Club since 1981. He served as the chairperson of the Camera Committee of the Angeles Chapter for 5 years. Steve’s images have appeared in Sierra, the Southern Sierran, Images of the West, A Portrait of Bodie, and the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Schedule of Activities. Some of his monochrome images were significant contributions to help save Mono Lake. He has had work shown in a number of local galleries. Steve was the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Artist in Residence in 2015. Steve has published four photography books that are available through Blurb.com. “My images sum up my feelings about the grandeur of nature. It is never just one thing that touches me when I try to capture a moment, but always a vast array of emotional and photographic textures. Most of my images are therefore complex and detailed.” Email: sandersonimagery@outlook.com Viewing website: www.pbase.com/spanderson

Snow on Buickwheat

As a youth, John’s interest in photography stemmed from an interest in astronomy. His first photos were attempts to photograph the night sky using a folding Kodak camera, that once belonged to an uncle. Later, John used a 35mm rangefinder camera to photograph nature, particularly the San Gabriel Mountains above his home in La Crescenta. After high school, John sold his telescope to purchase a 35mm SLR camera outfit. John was a photography major in his first three years of college. He has used 35mm, 2-1/4 medium format and 4x5 view cameras. John expected to be a commercial photographer. His personal work leaned heavily to shooting landscapes and outdoors. In 1977 John changed majors. After graduating from California State University Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Urban Studies in 1979, John’s first post job college was in a commercial photo laboratory. In 1980, he pivoted from photography and began his 32year career in public service. John worked for four Southern California cities in city planning, community development and redevelopment, and concluded his career as a Project Manager for the Culver City Redevelopment Agency. During these decades, he continued to shoot outdoor scenic images whenever possible. After retiring from public service in 2012, John has pursued his astronomical and photographic interests. Beginning in 2013, John has been a telescope operator for the 60" reflector telescope at Mt. Wilson Observatory. And John has increased his photographic portfolio - concentrating on outdoors, landscape, travel and astronomical images. Beginning in 2018, he has expanded his repertoire to include architectural and real estate photography. Occasionally, John has been fortunate to have photographs selected for various exhibitions or publications. He currently shoots with Nikon DSLR cameras. John’s photographic websites: the landscape, travel and astronomical images are at http://www. johnfisanottiphotography.com; and the architectural and real estate photography are at http://www.architecturalphotosbyfisanotti.com. Contact John at either jfisanotti@sbcglobal.net or fisanottifotos@gmail.com. 14

A few more photos from last month's Valley of Fire Trip

Snowy Egret

Wood Duck

Susan Manley has more than 35 years experience as a photographer. Her career consisted mainly working in a Communications Department writing and shooting a wide variety of public relations and photojournalism photos. Since she retired approximately ten years ago, she switched her focus onto nature photography including landscapes and wildlife in America. 19

Heron

Cormorants

Curlew

Cormorant Nest

Clarks Grebes Mating Ritual

Grebs Exchange Feather in Escondido

Western Grebs in sync durring mating ritural

Joe Doherty grew up in Los Angeles and developed his first roll of film in 1972. He has been a visual communicator ever since. He spent his teens and twenties working in photography, most of it behind a camera as a freelance editorial shooter. He switched careers when his son was born, earning a PhD in political science from UCLA specializing in American politics and research methods. This led to an opportunity to run a research center and teach at UCLA Law, where he became best known as an empirical bankruptcy scholar. After retiring from UCLA in 2016 he continued to consult, but now he and his wife Velda Ruddock spend much of their time in the field, across the West, capturing the landscape.

New Mexicans follow a Catholic tradition of pl the roadside to mark the places where loved ones d rate, including solar lights and terraced cement pla protected, and road crews cannot clear them excep they proliferate. This descanso is along US 84, nea people who lost their lives in a traffic accident. 24

lacing memorials (descansos) along died. Descansos can be very elaboanters. In New Mexico they are pt under certain circumstances, so ar Abiquiu, and memorializes three

A clearing storm in Yosem Valley. We we up at dawn in rain, hoping to capture the ma that is Yosemit when the weat is unstable. Th sky to the east was socked-in we concentrate on shapes and details, like wa flowing throug the Merced Riv and downed tr Suddenly a sha of light broke through, and illuminated th granite walls f brief moments

Plaza Blanca (the White Place) near Abiquiu, New Mexico. This was one of Georgia OíKeeffeís favorite places, and very near her home in Abiquiu.

The Virgin River and The Watchman of Zion, with Velda in the middle.

mite ere the o agic te ther he t n so ed d ater gh ver rees. aft

he for s.

Walking through CookĂs Meadow as the sun comes up is a special experience. The light illuminates the oak trees but leaves the groves behind them in shadow.

We were standing by our truck near Yosemite Falls when a passerby excitedly told us that there was a bobcat in the bush nearby. We hustled to get the long lenses on our cameras and began the hunt. She was also hunting, and caught (and ate) a pocket gopher while we watched. After her meal she stood and walked into a small clearing, where she licked her lips.

Creativity has always been important to me. I received my first Brownie camera for my twelfth birthday and I can’t remember a time I’ve been without a camera close at hand. I studied the social sciences and art, and later earned a Masters degree in Information and Library Science degree. All of my jobs allowed me to be creative, entrepreneurial, and innovative. For the last 22 years of my research career I was Director of Intelligence for a global advertising and marketing agency. TBWA\Chiat\Day helped clients such as Apple, Nissan, Pepsi, Gatorade, Energizer, and many more, and I was considered a leader in my field. During our time off, my husband, Joe Doherty and I would travel, photographing family, events and locations. However, in 2011 we traveled to the Eastern Sierra for the fall colors, and although we didn’t realize it at the time, when the sun came up over Lake Sabrina, it was the start of change in our careers. By 2016 we had both left our “day jobs,” and we started traveling – and shooting nature – big and small – extensively. Our four-wheel drive popup camper allowed us to go to areas a regular car can’t go and we were – and are – always looking for our next adventure.

Yosemite – February 2020 Joe and I spent a week in Yosemite late in February. It has been a dry Although many people came to the park to photograph Horsetail Falls 32

winter and the river was low and the volume of water in the falls was lower than it usually is at this time. s â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the famous Firefall often occurs this time of year â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that fall was not running. 33

We were ther for the Yosem Renaissance a opening to ce with friends that show did disappoint.

It was overca most of our s and while ma complained a the lack of su were happy w the softbox ef One of the da especially go colors were ri and the grou glittered dam The sun filter through the c softly painted granite walls the mist swir unexpectedly the end of the we were rewa with a splend sunset. Most photos in this are from that

The last phot the water cas around rocks Tenaya Creek shot a couple later near Mi Lake, shortly I lost my lens that same rus water.

re mite art elebrate and d not

ast stay any about un, we with ffect. ays was ood: the ich, und mply. red clouds d the s, and rled y. At e day arded did t of the s set t day.

to of scading s in k was e of days irror y before s cap in shing

Folks waiting to photograph the Firefall....... (There was no Firefall)

A Study of Magnolias.....

A day at the San Diego Zoo

mals. It first opened in 1916 and the from areas for animals of the same k world with animals, plants, and terr Safari Park in Escondido with over 3

The "Eyes

o. https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/ It is 100 acres, with over 3,700 ani-

ey have been improving the facilities ever since. They are moving away kind [e.g. bears] and building habitats representing specific parts of the rain of those areas [e.g. Ethiopian Highlands]. Next time: the 1,800 acre 3,000 animals. https://www.sdzsafaripark.org/

s" Have It 47

John Nilsson

Valley of Fire State Park January 2020

I have a fond memory of my early

years of my father dragging me to the Denver Museum of Natural History on a winter Sunday afternoon. He had just purchased a Bosely 35mm camera and had decided he wanted desperately to photograph one of the dioramas. I distinctly remember the display was of several Seal Lions in a beautiful blue half-light of the Arctic winter that required a tricky long exposure. The transparency he showed me several weeks later was spectacular and mysterious to my young eyes. Although the demands of Medical School made this photo one of the first and last he shot, at 5 years old I was hooked. The arrival of the digital age brought photography back to me as a conscious endeavor - first as a pastime enjoyed with friends who were also afflicted, and then as a practitioner of real estate and architectural photography during my 40 years as a real estate broker. Since retiring and moving to Los Angeles, I have continued my hobby as a nature and landscape photographer through active membership in the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Camera Committee and my vocation as a real estate photographer through my company Oz Images LA. The camera is now a tool for adventure! www.OzImagesLA.com dtlanow@gmail.com 50

Valley of Fire State Park - 2020

Jonathan Katz

Jonathan Katz is a professional p

I walk the streets and alleys of my resid call myself a street photographer. But photographic explorations. Instead, I www.StreetPhotosWithaTwist.com with other forms of street photograp subject matter is usually inanimate I took this photo at a metal find and seek the "critical momen recycling scrap yard. This what works in an image. image was taken inside a rusty metal container that was My hope is that viewers will partially filled with water. The the random, intention-less f original colors relationships metallic dumpsters, fading were great but appeared unnoticed objects and su rather pale and ugly but, as I hoped, they spruced up nicely My website portfolio o with some color filtration and ranging from bold to amplified vibrance. available as prints i

photographer based in Denver, Colorado.

dential Denver neighborhood looking for photographic subjects, so I I don't often take photos of people or street scenes in my day-to-day use everyday surfaces and mundane objects as my visual palette. As phy I often get but one chance to capture an image well. Although my e and stationary, I still approach any scene from the best angle I can nt," because changing light values and reflections often contribute to

appreciate and take pleasure in the complexity and beauty caused by forces which affect everyday objects as they age in the world. Rusting g wood fences, stained concrete, stone tiles, and other ubiquitous and urfaces are the basis for the images on display.

of prints-for-sale features a large selection of diverse abstract art o subdued images in a wide range of color palettes. These images are in a variety of sizes, treatments, and price options.

The Black and White Pages

A Winter Morning in The Alabama Hills John Nilsson

March of 2014. The view is of the Brooks Range and Dietrich River, north of the Artic Circle in Alaska. The famed Alaska Pipeline is out of the picture just beyond the right edge of the frame. John Fisinotti

The bones of a fallen tree in Tenaya Creek, above Mirror Lake. Yosemite NP. J W Doherty

Announcements

The Member’s Choice Photo Contest What’s your favorite photo in this Focal Points? Continuing with this issue I am asking all members to vote for their favorite photo. Here’s how: 1. Please e-mail me at dtlanow@gmail.com (Heading: Member’s Choice) and let me know your choice for the best photo by the 20th of the month in which the issue is published. 2.

In your e-mail, give me the page and the name of the photographer and a brief descrip- tion so I can identify your choice.

I will tally up the votes and announce the winner in the next issue and republish the photo with a paragraph from the photographer about how it was captured, where, when, and even the dreaded mire of camera, settings and lens. This should be a fun feature!

Wanna Go on a Hike? Just in case you didn’t realize it........... The Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club has litterally 100’s of outdoor activities that Sierra Club Camera Committee members can attend.

You can find these activities at http://angeles.sierraclub.org/activities If you have an idea for a trip that the Camera Committee might like to plan for, tell a leader. They are always open to ideas of new places to go, new places to shoot. See the end of the newsletter for a list of contact information for the leaders.

CST 2087766-40. Registration as a seller of travel does not constitute approval by the State of California. All participants on Sierra Club outings are required to sign a standard liability waiver. To read the liability waiver before you participate on an outing, go to: http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/chapter/forms

Focal Points

SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CAMERA COMMITTEE

MAY 2015

Sierra Club Camera Committee Newsletter

Focal Points Sierra Club Camera Committee Newsletter December, 2019

Focal Points Sierra Club Camera Committee Newsletter

January 2020

November 2019

Do you enjoy receiving your monthly copy of Focal Points? If your answer is "Yes" and you want to continue receiving Focal Points, please send us your check for $15.00 and your full name and email address for a yearly subscription to: Sierra Club Camera Committee c/o Wesley Peck 3615 Gondar Ave. Long Beach, CA 90808-2814

As a bonus, you will enjoy: An invitation to contribute your photographs to Focal Points for publication Full membership in The Sierra Club Camera Committee and access to our extensive programming and trips 65

Valley of Fire State Park

Get out there and get involved! Our natural world is under attack and we all need to fight to preserve the things that we hold dear.

CONTRIBUTE

YOUR TIME, YOUR DOLLARS.... OR BOTH! Do you know anyone who would like to become a member of the Sierra Club Camera Committee? We are seeking new members to share their outdoor experiences and photographs. If you have a friend or acquaintance whom you feel would benefit from and add to our membership, please ask them to join us at our next meeting.

Membership costs only $15.00 per year - a tremendous value! To join or renew, please mail a check for $15 (payable to SCCC): Wesley Peck, SCCC Membership 3615 Gondar Ave. Long Beach, CA 90808-2814

More members - More to share 67

From Last Month's Issue: Voted Photo of the Month

Jeremy Evans Castle Geyser - Yellowstone

The Photo was taken on Sept 11th, 2017. I pretty much forgot about the photo until I was updating my Dark Skies program for Death Valley. For this image I was with Allan Der, we both scouted the geyser that afternoon, the eruption window prediction was between 9:45pm and 11:15pm. We retuned to our scouted location spot and Allan setup his Lume Cube while I did the test shots. We then discovered some other night photographers across from us. They were also trying to light paint. We showed them what we had and they agreed to just let our light illuminate the geyser and we both agreed to keep our red headlamps off to avoid flashing each others shots. Finally the geyser erupted at 10:12pm and put on a great show for a little over an hour! It was a fun night and a good example of photo etiquette with other photographers. Canon 5D mkII, Sigma Art 14mm F1.8 Prime Lens, 20 Second exposure, ISO 2500, Really Right Stuff Ball Head, 68 Lume Cube.

The Parting Shot

"Good Night Mono Lake"

Leader Contacts John Nilsson, Chairman

213-266-2224

Steve Anderson, Leader

714-962-2054

dtlanow@gmail.com

sandersonimagery@outlook.com

John Boyle, Leader jboyle6300@gmail.com

Peter Mason, Leader peter@petermason.com

Allan Der, Leader, Instructor

714-892-4857

ader@sprynet.com

Ed Ogawa - Treasurer

ed5ogawa@angeles.sierraclub.org

310-994-1019

Wesley Peck, Membership

562-420-8543 wesdpeck@gmail.com NOTE: Send Membeship Checks to Wesley at 3615 Gondar Ave., Long Beach, CA 90808-2814

310-828-6300

Joan Schipper, Leader, Co-Chair: Outings joanschipper@ix.netcom.com

626-794-5207

cscurlock@charter.net

Alison Boyle, Leader, Co-Chair: Outings alisoniboyle@icloud.com

Carole Scurlock, Leader

323-828-8334

John Nilsson, Leader,Focal Points Editor dtlanow@gmail.com

530-265-2528

213-266-2224