by Ron on November 11, 2009
Thomas Vetsch stops near the top of a route in Joshua Tree.
I had to do one more climbing post because I hadn’t included a photo of Thomas, and didn’t want to leave him out. Thomas was the least experienced of the three guys I hung out with, but every bit as motivated and passionate. Actually, this was the first time Thomas had lead up a route or placed protection, it was cool to have photographed this milestone in his progression as a climber. The pride he took in his accomplishment was evident when I saw him looking back at the wall after the climb was done – it was cool to see the satisfaction in his expression.
by Ron on November 10, 2009
Matt Van Biene getting ready to climb, Joshua Tree National Park, California.
It was treat to be able to photograph this quite, contemplative moment as Matt prepared his gear and his mind. Matt was a great guy and excellent climber – I really enjoyed watching and photographing all three of these guys.
Matt Van Biene climbing in Joshua Tree.
Matt has an interesting blog where he shares his climbing experiences – be sure to check it out: Matt Van Biene’s blog – This Journey.
Matt tossing a rope off the top.
Matt suggested this shot – great suggestion, kind of a classic climbing image of the rope being tossed over the edge.
by Ron on November 9, 2009
Ernest Sierras at sunset climbing in Joshua Tree National Park, California.
It was amazing watching Ernest work his way up an almost vertical wall with the help from just a tiny little crack in the rock. I had a great time working with Ernest and two other great climbers in Joshua Tree on Friday – more to come.
by Ron on November 7, 2009
Joshua Tree at sunset, Joshua Tree National Park, California.
I think the unique, graphical shapes of these trees just cries out to be used as a silhouette. Having a colorful sky was a bonus!
by Ron on November 6, 2009
Coyote, Joshua Tree National Park, California.
It was a treat watching this coyote as he passed by my location on a nice evening earlier this week. Being outdoors in a place like Joshua Tree is always a treat, but having the opportunity to observe wildlife in it’s natural environment, substantially enhances the experience.
Right after the coyote pasted by this spot, a chipmunk ran out from under the rock you see above the coyote’s head – I suppose the chipmunk didn’t enjoying the coyote’s presence as much as I did.
by Ron on November 5, 2009
The Palm Springs area in the Coachella Valley, California.
I was excited to share some more sunset images from Joshua Tree National Park, that was until last night’s sunset – without a doubt, one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen in the desert! I photographed like mad in every direction, the light was absolutely fantastic. This is pretty much straight out of the camera with a 3 stop graduated neutral density filter.
Now I must confess, I tend to be an easy going person who doesn’t handle confrontation well. Truthfully, I usually do what I can to avoid confrontation, probably to a fault.
I say that to help set the stage for what happened next. As I photographed from this amazing location, a women with a small child pulled up in her large, black SUV and began changing her child’s diaper. Somehow I knew what was going to happen next. I watched her walk across the parking lot with her child and diaper – by the way, the LCD screen on the back of the camera makes a great rear view mirror, I use it all the time. Anyway, she appears to look for a trash can, and then tosses the diaper over the decorative wall that surrounded the parking area!
I think she may have known I saw her because she stalled for a long time before returning to her vehicle, at which time I asked if she intended to leave that diaper behind. She said, “what diaper?”, I said “the one you dropped over the wall”. She claimed to not know what I was talking about. I then as nicely as possible told her that I couldn’t believe anyone could do such a thing in such a beautiful place, that I found it very disappointing. She looked at me but didn’t respond, so I turned back to the sunset, all the while watching her in my “rear view mirror”.
Well, she put her child in the vehicle, walked across the parking lot, climbed over the wall and picked up the trash and put it in her vehicle. I thanked her, and told her I really appreciated it – and sure felt a lot better about speaking up.
by Ron on November 4, 2009
Joshua trees at sunset at the appropriately named Joshua Tree National Park, California.
Since we have been up since 3:30, I’m going to keep this short because I need a nap. We had a great time there – saw my first bobcat this morning!
by Ron on September 1, 2009
We have been fortunate enough to stay at some of the fanciest hotels in North America in places like Palm Springs, San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles and Vancouver, and have almost always paid less then $100 per night, sometimes much less. So how do we do it? Easy, by naming our own price on Priceline.com [click to continue…]
Balboa Pier, Newport Beach, California.
Thanks to the month or so that we spent in the area, we now have an entirely updated section of Orange County photos on our website!
Since we had extra coverage of two of the communities, Janine also added completly new sections of Newport Beach photos, along with Huntington Beach photos.
Catalina Island, California.
We have an entirely new section on our website of Catalina Island photos.
We really enjoyed our trip to Catalina Island and the town of Avalon last winter. It has Southern California weather without the crowds or traffic – in fact most people who have vehicles use electric golf carts.
Long Beach, California.
Here is another brand new section to our website: Long Beach California photos.
I gotta admit, Long Beach was a pleasant surprise. It had been many many years since I had last visited Long Beach. I remembered it as a somewhat dirty industrial port. Either my memory was off, or they have made some wonderful changes to the area – probably a bit of both. We only spent one evening there, I had hoped to return for more, but that will have to wait for a future trip.
Entrance to Slab City, an abandoned military base that is now home to a large number of squatters, Imperial Valley, California.
We have a new section on our website of photos of the Imperial Valley, California. This section includes photos of the Salton Sea, Salvation Mountain, Slab City and the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area – all places that I think many people might find a little unique to put it kindly.
Indian Wells Golf Resort, Indian Wells, California.
Janine has now updated our website with our new photos of the Palm Springs area.
Palm Springs was one of the first communities developed in this portion of desert. In addition, Palm Springs is also where the airport is located, so the whole area is often referred to as Palm Springs, although today it is made up of a series of smaller towns like Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells, La Quinta and Palm Desert to name a few. When I’m driving around down there, I never seem to know exactly what town I’m in.
On the local news they refer to the area as the Coachella Valley although locals don’t seem to like that name, and people outside the area probably haven’t heard of it, so for now, we will still call the area Palm Springs. Our page has photos of most the smaller communities in the area.
In the photo above, of the public golf course, I needed to blend a couple different exposures to maintain detail in the building. Despite being a “public” course, I was asked to leave right after taking this photo – evidently they don’t like the “public” taking picture there.
Slot Canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.
Janine has updated our website with new photos of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California from our travels last winter. Anza-Borrego definitely isn’t the most popular of destinations, but we sure enjoy spending time there, especially in the winter!
It is interesting, the three places that I have the most in depth coverage of include Anza-Borrego, Kenai Fjords National Park, and the Chugach National Forest are all fairly unknown, with relatively few visitors. I bet the combined annual visitation numbers of all three parks doesn’t total the number of people who visit a moderately popular Lower 48 Park like Bryce in just an average summer month.
The businessman in me says I should be concentrating on more popular destinations, but we decided long ago that maximizing personal satisfaction was far more important then maximizing profits. I suppose if maximizing profits was the goal, I wouldn’t choose to be an outdoor photographer.
A surfer checking out the early morning waves, Huntington Beach, California.
It feels good to be done with the processing, captioning and key-wording our photos from last winter’s travels. Now we can send them off to agencies and update our website – finished just in time for summer, so we can make room for a new batch of photos!
A ferris wheel at night, Long Beach, California.
Well I hate to post the same photo twice, especially in the same week, but in response to my ”ask Ron” request, this was the most asked question. More specifically, Dennis Barton wanted to know how many tries it took to capture this image, while Sheri Lyons wondered how the photo came to look like this. [click to continue…]
A ferris wheel at night, Long Beach, California.
I thought I would try a new idea with the blog and create an Ask Ron category. My thinking is that every so often I would answer reader submitted questions and publish the question and my response here on the blog. They can be pretty much anything photography related, from travel destinations, gear, techniques, thoughts and opinions – you get the idea. If there is a photo you have always wondered about, maybe the story behind the image, that would be good too.
If you have a web presence; website, blog, Flickr page, I would be happy to link back in my response. If you would prefer to remain anonymous, that’s cool too.
You can post your questions in this thread, or feel free to email them to me at ronn@arctic.net If you could, put “Ask Ron” in the subject so that I will know it is for the blog and not just someone asking a question.
I will do my best to answer all questions as best I can, but I will have editorial control, so I could decide to ignore a question – heck, it is my blog. 
So if I start posting photos of a wolverine den, chances are slim that I will provide the GPS coordinates. Likewise, asking for the name and number of the photo editor at XYZ magazine probably won’t get a response either, but most stuff will be fair game. So hit me with your Q’s!
Hey, speaking of wolverine. Now that we are heading into spring, I figure it might be a good time to remind everyone that my deal from last year is still on!
Palm Trees at sunset, Newport Beach, California.
Let me start by saying, you shouldn’t get your legal advice from friends and fellow photographers. Having said that, let me offer some advice.
The place I turn to when I have questions is the Photographer’s Legal Guide
by Carolyn Wright. The book covers most of the legal issues one might encounter when dealing with photo business and photography issues such as copyrights, model releases, insurance and paperwork. I think most photographers will find it very valuable.
I have known Carolyn for a number of years now and consider her a friend – she is a wonderful person, and as a fellow photographer, she understands the industry and issues photographers face. We have hired her on occasions when we needed large contracts reviewed, and also successfully used her for a copyright infringement suit – who better to hire then the person who wrote the book! [click to continue…]
Dry Lake Bed, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.
I have been a long time user of Singh-Ray filters, particularly their graduated neutral density filters. So I must say I was honored when they approached me recently and asked me to contribute to their blog. In fact, I already had the first post written in my head, as it was a tip I thought I would post here. Instead, I shared my discovery of the usefulness of using live-view in the positioning of graduated neutral density filters. Well I don’t want to spoil the whole post, you can check out the whole story at the Singh-Ray blog.
As far as my own blog goes, I still may do some fine tuning of the header, photo size etc., so if things look a bit funky from time to time, you will understand.
A sunset at the Salton Sea California from this past winter.
I have received numerous emails and comments over the past year asking me to post bigger photos. Really, I haven’t been ignoring those requests, it just wasn’t possible because my old theme was so narrow. It was probably fine in the days of 800 x 600 monitor resolutions, but today, I just ended up with a narrow blog and a bunch of gray space on either side!
So I had enough of my old theme, and there was no way I was going to try to modify it – heck, just adding the photo to the banner took me a day! So this past weekend I went on a search for a new theme. I won’t bore you with the details, but there are thousands and thousands of themes out there – and of course none of them are just right. That is when I found Thesis; About Thesis — Find out more about Thesis and the DIYthemes philosophy
With Thesis, I had total control. To change to three columns instead of my previous two - I just selected the 3 column option in the drop down menu. I wanted an extra wide column for my large photos – all I did was type in the desired width in a little box and bingo, it changes! Not only does it change, but everything lines up perfectly – something that was a constant battle before. Would I prefer the side bars on each side, with the content down the middle? You guessed it, just another click. Rotating photos at the top of the sidebar - painless! Supposedly they have great support, fortunately I didn’t need it, but I did drop by the online forum which has almost six thousand users. [click to continue…]
A park in Borrego Springs, California.
It seems a bit strange to be inside adjusting sunny warm looking desert photos from our last trip – then taking a break to shovel snow out of the driveway. At least the cross-country skiing has been awesome!
Here are more Borrego photos.
by Ron on February 13, 2009
A closeup of a Dune Evening Primrose, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.
When it comes to macro close-ups of flowers, I’m no Michael Brown, but it is still a lot of fun – one could get lost for hours experimenting with the different lines, colors and textures found in just a single flower. Add to that, the different combinations of focal length and depth of field and the composition possibilities are nearly endless. I tend to prefer the broad landscapes, but it is kind of fun to enter the little macro world found at your feet.
by Ron on February 12, 2009
Desert Sand Verbena, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.
This was captured at sunset last night.
To follow up on my Anza-Borrego wildflower forecast post from yesterday – the more I hike around, the more convinced I am that it will be an excellent wildflower year here. I found numerous desert lily plants and big patches of lupine plants both of which should be blooming within the next few weeks.
by Ron on February 11, 2009
Desert Sand Verbena, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.
Well between Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Vancouver – our last month has involved a lot of city photography. The final couple of weeks of this trip will be based in Las Vegas – with all this city time, we had to make a few days and return to our favorite quiet little desert location; Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
This did give us a good chance to see how the wildflowers are progressing, and to share my finding here. In a word, it is shaping up to be a very good year for wildflowers! I guess that is more then a word, but you get the idea. If I had to pick one word, with due respect to Tony the Tiger, I would say they are going to be great!
We spent a month here last year beginning just about now, and it turned out to be a pretty good year. This year, most places are much greener then even last year, and as you can see by the above photo from this morning, there are areas already beginning to bloom. But don’t take my word for it, according to the Borrego Sun, naturalist Paul Johnson is predicting this years bloom to be better then last with the peak hitting around the end of the month of February. In addition, the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park website is predicting a “good to excellent bloom in the near future”.
We arrived here on Sunday just in time for another inch of rain – this most recent storm should help extend the season. We have commitments in Vegas, but I gotta admit, it is going to be really tough to not be here for this years peak. I may have to grab my tent and sneak back over here for a night!
The above photo was captured with a 100 mm macro lens. I added a 25 mm extension tube which allowed me to focus and move even closer to the small flowers. I then parked my truck in such a way to shade the flowers, and used a gold reflector to add a touch of warm light – not unlike what you might find at sunrise, although this was a couple hours after first light.
by Ron on January 30, 2009
Long Beach, California.
They have done a nice job with the waterfront along downtown Long Beach – it was much nicer then I remember.
We have wanted to photograph Vancouver and the Whistler area for some time. Traveling to and from Alaska these days has been very expensive, so we packed a lot of our winter gear on this trip in hopes of finding a killer last minute deal to the Vancouver area. Well guess what, thanks to an Alaska Airlines airfare sale, and some great luck with naming our price on Priceline, we have put together a very inexpensive trip. We spend a couple of nights in Vancouver, and then a couple of nights at Whistler. It is going to be a very busy, whirlwind of a trip, but if possible, I’m going to try to keep up with the blog. If there isn’t much activity, you will know why.
