My Top Ten Shots of 2009

As a response to Jim M. Goldstein’s challenge, I’ve assembled what I believe are my 10 best images of 2009. Things definitely took a turn with the purchase of my first new SLR in years. Yeah, yeah, I know you’re all sick of hearing about it, so plug your ears.  An early trip in the year turned out to be very fruitful and an adventure filled year made for some great shooting.

School is to blame for not getting to more remote locations for landscapes, a scenario which will not repeat next year. We’ve got some really big projects in the works (some invovling NASA’s final shuttle launch) and we are looking forward to some eary weddings in 2010, so look out, its gonna be a great year.

So I want to say thanks to all of my readers. You’ve stuck with me as things struggled to get off the ground and I can’t thank you enough for all of the time and eencouragement you’ve invested in me, I can only hope to give you more next year than I did in 2009. Thanks again to all those great friends and families that let us in to record their lives.  We look forward to creating memories of 2010….

Saddleback Butte 9.20.09

We have been very, very slack in our hiking lately. Its really shameful. Last Sunday, we tried to find our way back. We normally scoff at 10 and 12 mile hikes as with thousands of feet of elevation change; last weekend, we barely topped 2 miles.

This isn’t for lack of trying. The Station Fire, according to the media has laid waste to 160,000 acres of our playground, the Angeles National Forest which is essentially the San Gabriel Mountains. From where we are, the burn doesn’t look so dramatic, so we are anxious to get up there to survey the damage. We decided to grab our favorite hiking guides and our maps and head as far in as we could get before we were stopped. We didn’t get very far. We did see some burned out post-apoctalyptic landscapes in the distance, but nothing that anyone living in Southern California for a while hasn’t seen before. Fires are a part of life here just like earthquakes and avocados.

We didn’t expect the roads to be closed here. We continued around the northernmost range of the San Gabriels in hopes to find our way up a fire road for a peak. All roads into the forest were blocked and it looked serious. We continued to drive East to the Devil’s Punchbowl, a natural sincline that we have hiked more often than any other local site. The fire was one entire range away, so we figured we would at least head out to the Devil’s Chair, one of our favorite spots. The geology around these rock formations is dramatic and exiting. Everywhere you look there is evidence of fault activity. The San Andreas runs directly underfoot here and makes for some lovely desert terrain.

When we arrive at our home trail, so to speak, we throw on our packs and walk to the nature center as we always do, only to be greeted with a sign that informed us that, ” ALL TRAILS CLOSED.” Damn. We walk inside and inquire as to when our playground, the Mojave Desert’s backyard oasis, my church will re-open and the 5d Mark II wielding attendant stated that it was up to the U.S. Forest Service and there was no possible way to know when they’d open it again. “It could be a day,  it could be months.”  We started to speculate hopefully that it could’nt have burned everything. The trails here must be closed because they don’t have the personnel for a search and rescue operation, right? The map of the burn read like a laundry list of our favorite mountains and hiking trails. They always have a rattlesnake, an owl or a tarantula along with other flora and fauna for the public. There was a Boy Scout group there, taunting the rattler who sound like  he couldn’t possibly rattle any faster or louder to get his point across. Ruth, the barn owl, was there as she was last time so we said hello.

We retreated to the valley floor and away from the San Gabriels, leaving the USFS to its work.

Mt. Waterman 8.16.09

We usually don’t repeat trails since there are so many around here, but we love Mt. Waterman. It has the feel of the Sierras on the summit plateau, its a nice and easy 6 miles or so and its not too far from home. The visibility wasn’t what we had hoped and we couldn’t even see the Antelope Valley through the smoke from a wildfire; however, towards the end of the day, we did see all the way to Catalina. We’ve been flaking on our hiking lately so this short day made for a great return to the trail.

Arbor Lofts

Artist lofts in Lancaster? Your stimulus dollars at work. A few weeks ago, my wife Heather went to downtown Lancaster, where once a month they shut down the street and have a small street fair. Heather went to image the fire dancers. They happened to perform right in front of this great building. Curious, she went in for more info. It turns out that this a low-income artist housing project that is part of the federal stimulus package.

After some inquiry, yesterday I went for a walkthrough. It is now my mission to move into this building. Complete with a well put together art gallery on the first floor facing Lancaster Blvd. , this place seems more contemporary than the town it sits in. Balconies, natural light, reasonable rent. I’ve actually never been in such a well designed building in Lancaster. It was inspiring. I should have rubber banded my jaw shut. I only hope my art is good enough to get me in there. Cross your fingers for us.

Yosemite Backpacking

Heaven is on Earth and needs no magic to be a miracle.

At the end of our week in the first place ever set aside for preservation of beauty we had seen bears, pheasants and our lives flash before our eyes. Animals, danger, peace, vertical miles, food and digital images. What else could one ask for?

Eli, Russ and Heather waiting for the free hybrid shuttle bus, anticipating a long day of hiking.

Vernal Falls. While climbing down to this view, I slipped on a moss covered rock and landed right on my ass. Any closer to the Merced River and I may have been a goner. Two weeks to the day before this shot was taken, a woman fell into this river and has not been found since. Signs asking the public for help could be seen all over the park.

The Mist Trail is the most popular trail in the park and the one that turned Heather and I into hikers. The weather on this day left much to be desired and the trail was packed. The light for photography was very low, but we had a great time taking it all in.