365/26 – Ice Towers, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Seems like it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve seen the sun here but I don’t mind. The snow pack looks nice and we still have winter enough left for more snow.
Tonight we got a cool call. It was the local art league calling to let my wife know that she should be at the awards ceremony on Friday for the National Juried Art Show as she is an award winner. That is just too cool. I will have a photo in Enjoy Magazine in March for being one of the finalists in their Cover Contest. We are both starting off 2010 well.

365/21 – Fresh Snow, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Another in the series and because it was easy. Thursdays are another day that is usually quite busy and when the stormy weather is here and the days are short then the view from my office window is kind of nice at times.

Tamarac Reflection, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

As I get ready to try to do a year of blog posts and daily photos I realize I should also put a little more thought in the writing. At least some info on the shots and shoots. One thing I learned (or relearned) on the Tamarac shoot was be careful when trying new equipment or techniques. I tried using my friends Expodisc and most of my shots have bad WB. Of course shooting in RAW doesn’t prevent these from being easily fixed but getting it right in camera is so much better.

Dog Creek Bokeh, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Saw the Dog Creek bridge for the first time earlier this year and have been waiting for the chance to get back with the camera. It turned out that we went in the afternoon right after the sun disappeared from the area. The light was pretty cool but no good sky to go with it. At the end of our time I pulled out the 50 and got this cool shot.

Mossbrae Falls, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Well I finally made it to Mossbrae Falls. Tried to make once in the winter and it turned out I was dressed way too warm and had no water with me and the snow on the tracks was way too thick. (I will go back in winter some day) It was nice to finally make it there and such a sight to see and photograph. I know I will be back someday.

Afternoon Light, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Coming down from the top of the world we stopped at Brandy Creek. The sun was getting low the light was right. Wish I would have had my new tripod at this point but I didn’t. Still I like the light and composition of this.

Top of the World, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Had a chance last week to catch a ride up Shasta Bally. I was on the top of the mountain about 15 years ago but then we had to walk up from Sheep Camp. It was a 4 hour hike up the road. With a four-wheel drive it was closer to 30 minutes.
It is such a great view from the top. You’re able to see Whiskeytown Lake, Redding, the Sacramento River and Lake Shasta among other points of interest. Since our drive up to the top it has snowed and I would imagine the road will be closed the rest of the winter.

So Smokey, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Here is my entry from July 8th the day I took this photo:

Today was the 3rd day in a row that the readings for Redding air were over 250 in the “Very Unhealthy” to “Dangerous” range. The fires have been burning over a month now and even though most are “contained” it is still very bad. Contained just means that there is a perimeter around the fire and that they should spread any further but there are still burning and filling the air with smoke. I just hope that we don’t have to wait till the winter rains before we see clear blue skies again.

It has been a nasty fire season so far. The past week alone it seemed there was one or two fires every day in the local area. We’ve been lucky so far that no fires have happened in our canyon. About 4 or 5 years ago there was a summer that saw about 4 fires down our ridge. The worst thing is that the fire season is really about to start and fires have been raging for over 2 months already.

Table Mountain

Originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Here we go again. This is another one of those subconscious (almost) photos that I don’t really remember taking at the time but “found” it later when going through the images from this day. It seems to happen once in a while. I guess it comes from working on “seeing” things worth photographing and it’s always a pleasant surprise when it happens.

Misty Crags

Originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Back when I was playing golf all the time (at least twice a week) I didn’t want it raining all the time or rather not on the weekends. Now I don’t mind much but I still like to get a little time in for some photography. At least the same amount of time is NOT required to at least get a few shots.
I went up near the Crags with Brian on this day and got a decent shot here. By the time we drove in the park and went to the lookout area the fog had taken over. Still, there are a lot of dramatic spots in NorCal.