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Photographing in the California Foothills at Night

Wolfgang invited us to his ranch outside of Mariposa, CA. The elevation was around 4000 feet, the night was clear but there was light pollution from the dwellings and there was smog from a fire in the air. We tried different photographic techniques to get some interesting images. like the rising Milky Way.

This is a single ten minute exposure image created with a full frame camera and a 14mm lens.

I set the intervalometer of my c-sensor camera to creating 200 images in 90 minutes. Unfortunately I bumped into the tripod at around 120 images. I still got a decent star trail image. Notice that several air planes were flying through the area.

In this images I experimented with the light pollution and star trails. I wanted to try if the camera is able to create some decent star trails despite the poor light condition.

Enjoy and keep on photographing!

Hiking in the Eastern Sierra Nevada

Our daughter invited us to camp and hike in the Eastern Sierra Nevada. We boondocked at about 7,200 feet and drove up to a trailhead at about 10,000 feet. There we started our hike.

Pretty soon we saw the “John Muir Wilderness” sign.

Beside other hikers we saw a few fly fisher along the way.

Above 10,000 feet the wildflowers were blooming in abundance during the month of July.

And the vistas of the High Sierra mountains were stunning! Enjoy!

California Hotel

The California Hotel in Oakland, CA opened its door during the Great Depression. When it opened on May 18th, 1930 it was a “Whites-only” hotel. Later it became one of the few hotels where “Blacks” could perform. So it became a cultural center for Blues and Jazz.

Over time the hotel declined and was forced to close in 1971. In 2011 a renovation project started and the hotel was converted into a low income housing project.