{"id":1851,"date":"2011-05-13T13:30:50","date_gmt":"2011-05-13T21:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/?p=1851"},"modified":"2018-09-09T20:22:51","modified_gmt":"2018-09-10T04:22:51","slug":"photographing-eastern-sierra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/2011\/05\/13\/photographing-eastern-sierra\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographing the Eastern Sierra"},"content":{"rendered":"
I don\u2019t know where you\u2019ll find a more spectacular range of mountains than the eastern edge of the mighty Sierra Nevada Mountains.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is where the gargantuan slab of granite from which the mountain range is formed plunges precipitously from the peaks along the crest into the Owens Valley below.\u00a0 Driving up the Valley on legendary highway US 395 is likely to give you a crick in your neck.\u00a0 Because you can\u2019t take your eyes off the endless procession of towering summits.<\/div>\n
I\u2019ve camped and backpacked in these mountains since I was a young boy and I always love returning to them.\u00a0 And now that I come back with camera in hand I have an opportunity to capture and share with you the inspiration I receive here.<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"mt_williamson_2010_rrpm_rc50\"<\/a><\/div>\n
Mt Williamson<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Mt Whitney is the tallest peak in the lower 48 and from your vantage point in the valley below it towers more than two vertical miles above your head.\u00a0 It\u2019s nothing short of breathtaking in the morning sun.<\/div>\n
But there\u2019s more to the Eastern Sierra than the grandeur of these mighty peaks.\u00a0 Come with me on a journey as I show you the superlative and the sublime.<\/div>\n
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We\u2019ll\u00a0 begin our tour in the little town of Lone Pine to the south.\u00a0 From the center of town you can clearly see Mt Whitney.\u00a0 But you also plainly see that there is a large range of hills between the town and the main Sierra range.\u00a0 These are the beloved Alabama Hills, home to more surprises and delights than you can imagine.<\/div>\n
Over the decades these hills have been the location of countless movies, commercials, fashion shoots and more.\u00a0 In fact, the main road through the hills is named Movie Road.<\/div>\n
But the hills offer a lot more than Hollywood glamour.\u00a0 There are vistas both magnificent and intimate.<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Lone<\/a><\/p>\n
Lone Pine Peak<\/strong><\/div>\n

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\"eastern_sierra_110507__A1P2181\"<\/a><\/div>\n
Mt Whitney and Skull Rock<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
One of the big surprises in these hills are the arches carved from the granite boulders.<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\"arch_alabama_hills_2010_rrpm_rc50\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Mobius Arch<\/strong><\/div>\n

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\"eastern_sierra_110505_IMG_6073\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Gunga Din Arch<\/strong><\/div>\n

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\"eastern_sierra_110505_IMG_6124\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Unknown Arch<\/strong><\/div>\n

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\"eastern_sierra_110505_IMG_6087\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Whitney Portal Arch<\/strong><\/div>\n

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Why, there\u2019s even an arch with a stream flowing under it.\u00a0 Now how did that happen?<\/div>\n
\"eastern_sierra_110505_IMG_6068\"<\/a><\/div>\n
Natural Bridge<\/strong><\/div>\n
When it gets hot in the valley as it tends to do in summer you can always escape the heat by heading up into the mountains.\u00a0 In the shadow of Mt Whitney is Whitney Portal, the end of the road and the trailhead for the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail.<\/div>\n
Cascading down the mountain side is Lone Pine Creek, a cool refreshing escape from the dry heat below.<\/div>\n
\"lone_pine_creek_1_2010_rrpm_p50\"<\/a><\/div>\n
Lone Pine Creak<\/strong><\/div>\n
When we leave Lone Pine and head north we pass through historic towns like Independence and Big Pine.\u00a0 Each has their own renowned gateway into the Sierra \u2013 Onion Valley and Kearsarge Pass, the Palisades and Bishop Pass and more.<\/div>\n
We continue north and enter Bishop, the \u2018metropolis\u2019 of the Eastern Sierra.\u00a0 To the west is the drainage of Bishop Creek and the lakes from which it flows\u00a0 To the east are the White Mountains, nearly as tall as the Sierra.<\/div>\n
But there are also many sublime scenes around Bishop.<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\"eastern_sierra_110506__A1P2036\"<\/p>\n
Farmer\u2019s Pond and Mt Tom at Dawn<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\"eastern_sierra_110506__A1P2049\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Farmer\u2019s Pond and Mt Tom First Light<\/strong><\/div>\n

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\"eastern_sierra_110508__A1P2400-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Field of Irises<\/strong><\/div>\n

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\"eastern_sierra_110508__A1P2449\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Iris<\/strong><\/div>\n

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One cannot ignore the Owens River that runs the length of the Owens Valley and provides water for the towns, farms and ranches along its banks and for a thirsty Los Angeles 250 miles away.<\/div>\n
\"Owens<\/a><\/div>\n
Owens River<\/strong><\/div>\n
Continuing north past Mammoth Lakes and the June Lake loop we arrive at an inland wonder, the enormous land locked Mono Lake.\u00a0 Before historical times it used to fill the entire valley but now it has shrunk to a small fraction of its former size.\u00a0 It is saltier than the ocean and as a result has given birth to strange formations when they were still underwater \u2013 the mysterious and endlessly fascinating tufa towers.<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"eastern_sierra_110506__A1P2140\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Mono Lake<\/strong><\/div>\n

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\"eastern_sierra_110506__A1P2149\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Mono Lake<\/strong><\/div>\n

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\"eastern_sierra_110506__A1P2156\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

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Mono Lake<\/strong><\/div>\n

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Above Mono Lake to the west is Tioga Pass and the entrance to Yosemite National Park.\u00a0 When the road is open (it\u2019s closed for the winter snows) I like to head up to Tuolumne Meadows and Olmsted Point.\u00a0 If you\u2019re lucky enough to catch a passing storm the photography can be unbelievable.<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"tenaya_lake_yosemite_2010_epl_p50\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Tanaya Lake<\/strong><\/div>\n

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\"sierra_storm_2_yosemite_2010_rrpm_p0\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Sierra Storm<\/strong><\/div>\n

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\"half_dome_storm_2010_rrpm_rc50\"<\/a><\/div>\n
Half Dome<\/strong><\/div>\n
As beautiful as all of this is, my favorite and most inspiring place in the Eastern Sierra is not technically in the Eastern Sierra at all but rather in the White Mountains across the way.\u00a0 Tucked away at high altitudes and in soil that is poisonous to most other trees grow one of the most amazing wonders on the planet \u2013 the ancient bristlecone pine.\u00a0 Some of the trees that we can see and touch today were seedlings long before the Egyptians started building their pyramids.\u00a0 The oldest living tree is measured at more than 4700 years old.\u00a0 No other tree lives as long as these stunning specimens.\u00a0 I am always reduced to humble silence in their presence.<\/div>\n
My thoughts turn to them even when I\u2019m in the lowlands.\u00a0 I think of human emperors and the empires they built that have been brief flashes of light in these trees\u2019 lifetimes.\u00a0 I think of centuries of coyotes that have wandered by oblivious to their abiding presence, maybe even lifting a leg to scent them.\u00a0 I think of how many times the full moon must have risen behind them and how many starry nights they have witnessed, of how many icy storms that have lashed them, blistering summer suns and the periods of drought and plenty.\u00a0 And still, here they stand for us to behold in reverent awe.<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"bristlecone_pine_2006_EMP_RC50\"<\/a><\/td>\n\"bristlecone_moon_2008_emp_rc0\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\"bristlecone_dusk_2010_rrpm_p100\"<\/a><\/div>\n
I hope that from this brief tour you can gain a sense of how exciting this diverse area is and why I\u2019m always so eager to return there.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s more than just the memories of the high mountain passes I\u2019ve climbed or the peaks I\u2019ve stood atop.\u00a0 It\u2019s more than the memory of camping beside alpine meadows bursting with flowers and traversed by trout filled streams.\u00a0 It\u2019s more than memories of a tiny dome of light created by our cooking fire in a fast dark forest at night.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s the exhilaration and challenge of capturing this wondrous place and these priceless moments to share with you.<\/div>\n
Thank you for going on this journey with me.\u00a0 I hope to see you out there sometime soon.<\/div>\n
Join me on an upcoming workshop.\u00a0 Click here for more details.<\/a><\/div>\n
To see more of my photographs click here.<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

(1989)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let me show you some of my favoriate locations for photography in the Eastern Sierra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[222,156,32,44,317,42,316,315,314,13,199,231],"class_list":["post-1851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal","tag-alabama-hills","tag-bristlecone-pine","tag-california","tag-eastern-sierra","tag-land","tag-mono-lake","tag-mt-whitney","tag-owens-river","tag-owens-valley","tag-photography","tag-photography-workshops","tag-sierra-nevada"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Nl7-tR","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1851"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4043,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1851\/revisions\/4043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ralphnordstromphotography.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}