11 minute read
Member Photos
Larry Miller
©2021 Larry Miller, All Rights Reserved
The unusual coloration of these shoreline rocks at Sacred Cove in Rancho Palos Verdes is a result of staining by chemical solutions that bubbled up to the surface through cracks in cooling lava during rock formation.
© 2021, Larry Miller, All Rights Reserved
© 2021, Larry Miller, All Rights Reserved
John Fisanotti
© 2014, John Fisanotti, All Rights Reserved
SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CAMERA COMMITTEE MAY 2015 The color images were taken in south eastern France in 2014.
© 2014, John Fisanotti, All Rights Reserved
Paul Rienstien
© 2021,Paul Rienstien, all rights reserved
Tule Elk, up at Pt Reyes Lighthouse.
This round of submissions, i’m gonna go a little off the bird routine, adding some landscapes, although i’m still including lots of birds too, of course.
The town of bodie. We got there late in the day and had about 25 minutes to shoot the place, so this was the result of speed shooting the place. I need to go back.
I was out shooting birds in a shallow pond, when i noticed a lot of the birds screaming. They do tend to squabble frequently, so it took me a minute to figure out that a coyote was out looking for breakfast, and there were lots of duckings swimming about. She did get quite a few, but this one was lucky enough to get away. I like the shot because the mother was there screaming, the ducking is still visible before it ducked into the water (no pun intended) and because the coyote, running after the duckling is licking its chops. I have to say, the mama mallard was quite brave (heroic), but lost most of her brood that morning.
This just showcases what beautiful animals coyotes are. They are magnificent predators, part of the cycle of life. I’ve seen coyotes in the wild before, but this was the first time i’ve sat there with my long lens on a tripod, all set up and got to photograph one hunting. It was both brutal and upsetting, and simultaneously thrilling to witness. She was there for about 40 minutes. There were about 10 photographers and birders there. No one left while it was unfolding.
This is Trona Pinnacles out near California City. as soon as the sun started setting, and i was all set up to shoot at my favorite scouted site, a guy car camping, lit a campfire. at first, i was kind of upset, but frankly, it looked pretty good in my photos. the yellow lights in the background is Lancaster/Palmdale.
Unfortunately, by the time the Milky Way was where i wanted it, the campfire had gone out. Something to consider if there’s ever a next time.
Beverly Houwing
©2021, Beverly Houwing, All Rights Reserved
Well… my trip to Namibia at the end of the month is canceled. Such a bummer since I have rebooked it three other times already. Now it’s pushed off until next March, but I haven’t given up on going to one of my favorite African countries. I bought a new camera recently (for this trip), but since I’m home until October, my next planned adventure, I still keep busy and have spent time photographing my cats. I have two recent “cat family” additions which is very motivating for taking pictures. They are all very photogenic, but equally difficult to capture. Here are some photos from this week…
Chloe is my outdoor feral cat whom I trapped and had fixed in 2011! She lives in my garden and has become so friendly over the years she enjoys being petted and poses for an occasional picture.
Marula is my Ruddy Abyssinian who is almost 3 years old now. Her rich red/black fur makes her look like a small puma.
In January I got a Blue Abyssinian, Kiwi. He is the same breed as Marula, but a recessive gene gives hims that beautiful gray/apricot fur color and amber eyes.
Aiko is the world’s smallest breed of cat - a Singapura. He is also a very small Singapura and is about 5 pounds and pretty much fully grown. He’s a maniac and plays with Kiwi all the time. They are only 3 weeks apart in age and got along immediately when I introduced them. Aiko arrived in May.
So here is my cat household!
Kiwi
Marula
Chloe
Aiko
Susan Manley
© 2021,Susan Manley, All Righs Reserved
GREBES
PIGGYBACK RiDE - Clark’s Grebe gives two grebettes a ride on her back. Female Grebes usually have shorter bills than males.
FEATHER -A Clark’s Grebe feeds her grebette a feather. Some say it helps to aid digestion.
NEST - A Western Grebe sits on a nest waiting for its eggs to hatch. Western Grebes have a black patch of feathers over its eyes
These are photographs from late June during our trip to the California and Oregon Coasts
© 2020 JW Doherty, All Rights Reserved
Rhododendrons and redwoods in the fog along the Del Norte Coast, near Crescent City, CA.
JW Doherty
The mixture of fog, direct sunlight, and redwood snags create a lot of drama along the Del Norte Coast.
A very low tide at Moonstone Beach near Trinidad, CA.
© 2021 JW Doherty, All Rights Reserved
Himalayan dogwoods at the Shore Acres Botanical Garden, near Coos Bay, OR.
John Nilsson
© 2021 John Nilsson All Rights Reserved
SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CAMERA COMMITTEE MAY 2015 Wildflowers and Mushrooms at 10,000 feet
I just completed a trip to northwestern Colorado’s Flat Tops Wilderness with close friend and SCCC Member Basil Katsaros. We were looking for high mountain wildflowers - and we found them! As a bonus, we hit the peak of the mushroom season.
Allen Johnson
©2021 Allen Johnson, All Rights Reserved
I can’t say I believe in reincarnation. I’m happy with the life I’ve lived. But if—at a heavenly registrar’s desk—I was invited to make my next choice in life, and if being the next Maharaja of Macatorious was already booked, I might choose to be an American white pelican.
They seem to have such an idyllic existence and not so terribly different from my current life.
First, they court in circling flights on thermal drafts or in strutting, bowing displays at a chosen nesting site. Admittedly, I never did my courting twirling in midair, although there was that girl in college who had me spinning out of control—but that’s another story. Still, I have strutted and bowed and leaned with arms folded and ankles crossed against my 1968 lime-frosted Mercury Cougar with its optional landau vinyl top—which, comparatively speaking, has to be as sexy as a two-foot-wide nest set in the sand for a pelican mistress.
The big birds are a gregarious lot, often traveling and foraging in large flocks. And, get this, pelicans sometimes form a phalanx on the water, dip their bills, and flap their wings to drive fish toward shore. It’s a way of corralling their prey for dinner. People have used a similar technique with the added benefit of a net since the beginning of recorded time. And I’ve certainly shared a small boat with a friend or two with a fishing pole in hand. Unlike pelicans, I have not eaten tadpoles or crayfish or salamanders, but I have eaten snails, oysters, sea anemones, and sushi of unknown ancestry, so I don’t see a great leap should I be pelicanized in my next life.
But mostly, I’m captivated by the bird’s nine-foot wingspan and aeronautical prowess. Pelicans can fly 40 mph at heights of 25,000 feet and water-ski onto a water’s surface by virtue of their webbed feet. In comparison, I can jump one foot off the ground and maybe walk a twenty-minute mile—recalculations required after the first lap.
So, yes, the possibility of being a strutting, sushi-eating, soaring flyboy does appeal to me, which may account for my penchant for photographing the three-gallon scoopedbeaked wonders.
These two images were taken on the Yakima Delta Habitat near Richland, Washington. The image of five birds in flight was actually a timelapse image of a single pelican who was peeved by my proximity. I like to think he and I could become feathered friends in my next life, soaring over Mount Rainier and back again!
John Clement
Here in Eastern Washington summer continues to cook with temperatures consistantly topping 100-117 degrees the past three weeks. Keeping things alive has been the goal the past month. I spent 2 years clearing and preping a 50x100’ section of our pasture for a wildflower garden and finally spread about 100,000 seeds this past April. The garden has exceeded my expectations in floral displays. The ground was incerdibly fertile being a dumping ground for organic material from our yard for 30 years. The tallest flowers were supposed to be 24-30”s but many have exceeded that and hit five feet. So as you might expect my photos visions come from the garden this issue. Each morning thousands of flowers are swarmed by bees and other pollens gathers. In the silence of early morning the humming is a beautiful music to enjoy. Enjoy His beautiful creations and colors...PS 2nd garden-25x100’ is under construction now requiring a retaining wall.
The Landing- Pollen laden bee come for more.
Dancing Poppie- in the morning light.
Sunrise over the Garden- as stormy weather moved in but not a drop of rain just gusty winds that knocked several sections of the garden over.
Jewel on the Sun-
ladybugs seem to like the sunflowers to hide in during the night. Some of the floweres have dozens tucked in here and there
The Gathering-each morning thousands of new flowers open and many thousands of bees swarm the flowers to gather the bounty they harbour. I have done slow motion video of single floweres with as many 15 various types of pollen gathers swarming a single flow
The Shadow- I took hundreds of shots before I finally captured what I was envisioning.
Monet’s Palette- with a little soft focus and some photoshop work to get the effect I envisioned
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