Alpenglow on Banner Peak

Located in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, Banner Peak is reflected in 1000 Island Lake at sunrise. After a good nights rest follwing a 10 mile hike to this location, I woke an hour before sunrise and waited for the best light. However, what I remember most was being breakfast for about 10,000 mosquitos.
 

Lone Pine Peak and Alabama Hills

A spring  snow storm lingered over the Eastern Sierra Crest at sunrise. This made for the beautiful pastel light with just a hint of sunlight on the foreground rocks.
 

North Peak Reflection

This photo of North Peak was taken as the morning sun lit up the east face. I especially liked how the snow patch helped divide the two sunlit areas. Nine Lakes Basin which sits along the Eastern Sierra Crest is located north east of Tioga Pass, near Yosemite.

Weathered Stone

I had been shooting distant mountain peaks from the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine. Just as I was packing up my camera gear, I glanced this pattern of sunlit rock from the corner of my eye. I took out a long telephoto lens to compress the scene, using the small plant to help give the image a unique quality.
 

Autumn Cascade

I saw this very small cascade of water out of the corner of my eye while driving about 50mph along one of the Eastren Sierra's back roads. When I set this photo up, one tripod leg was actually sticking into the road, and  just below the bottom of the frame was an ugly metal storm drain where the water headed under the road.
 

Storm Cloud at Sunset

This is why the Sierra Nevada is known as "The Range of Light".
 

Mist and Creek at Sunrise

This photo represented a very tough choice. I had driven all night long from the Bay Area. When I got to this location, the full moon was setting over the Sierras at the exact same time I was taking this photo. I didn't have enough time to shoot both, so I decided on this shot since I had spent my childhood fishing with my dad.
 

North Peak and Cascade

Since I had previously shot this location (photo above) I decided on my next trip to find something new. While hiking around one of the alpine lakes, I noticed this cascade, which I photographed just as the morning sun was lighting up the mountain.
 

Morning Light on Mt.Gibbs

The Eastern Sierra is a great place to photograph alpenglow, the red light  at sunrise or sunset. Here I used the shadowed foreground hills to balance the warm light, knowing that the snow in the shadows would turn a beautiful pastel blue.

Rush Creek

Rush  Creek drains from the high peaks of the Eastern Sierra near Lee Vining and flows into Mono Lake. This photo was taken on an overcast morning allowing the fall colors of the sagebrush to stand out.
 

Ellery Lake Reflection

Looking towards Tioga Pass and the Kuna Crest, this morning photograph has a peacefull feeling of alpine solitude, even though it sits along the main highway into the Yosemite high country. Still, even early in the morning, I was quite alone, with only the howls of nearby coyotes to keep me company.
 

Hiker on Mountain Pass

A friend and I had climbed to the top of an 11,000 ft. mountain pass to photograph the sunset. I asked him to step into the photo just as the best light was starting to happen.  A very talented photographer himself, he tore himself away from his camera just long enough for me to snap three frames. A quick shout of "That's enough" was followed by him running back to his camera. I couldn't blame him, and was suprised he agreed to do it at all.
 

Dirt Road Sunrise

I owe this photo to my wife. We scouted this location just as we could first see detail in the early morning darkness. However, I didn't think the clouds would let any sun through, so I drove to another location about three miles away. Just as I was setting up my tripod, my wife called my attention to a slight bit of color on the clouds. I immediately knew the whole sky would soon turn red, so I drove back to my original location in a manner not recommended by my truck's manufacturer. Well worth it, I think.
 

Pastel Fall Colors

I had been shooting along a lake near Mammoth, trying to get another nice mountain peak reflection. As I was hiking back to my truck, I noticed this patch of foliage. I chose to do a tight crop, as the sunlight was creeping down the mountain side. At the time I took this image, the light was just nearing the top of the frame. Had there been any bright sun in this picture, it would have totally overpowered the soft colors that I was trying to capture.
 

Sunrise Light on Mt. Tom

This photo clearly shows the steep and dramatic rise that the Eastern Sierra makes out of the lower valleys. Here a slightly overcast sky helped to soften the morning light and still keep detail in the foreground ridge.
 

Evening Camp at Waugh Lake

My wife and I were on the last night of a five day backpacking trip when we set up camp at Waugh Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. After dinner I asked my wife to go sit on the edge of the rocks and look out over the lake towards the Sierra Crest near Mount Lyell. As a side note, this evening was so clear, and lit by a full moon, I could see our orange stuff sack bear hung in a tree 200 yards away at midnight.
 

Mono Lake

The often photographed tufa formations of Mono Lake are in the process of being reclaimed by the rising waters as efforts to save the lake from the demands of water users in Los Angeles take effect. Here I caught the first sunlight of morning striking a sage which now overhangs the rising waters.
 

Sierra Nevada from the White Mts.

I love this location which is on the road to the Ancient Bristlecone forest in the White Mountains. From the highest point in the White Mountains, looking across the Owens Valley to 13 and 14,000 ft. peaks of the Sierra, there is an elevation difference almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon.
 

Cattle Graze in Round Valley

I like this photo because it not only feels like a painting, but it also seems to portray a scene exactly like it might have been over a hundred years ago, when areas around Bishop were first settled.