Around Again

Jackson Mountains from Jungo Road

Seems to have become a ritual, to wander out into the wilderness on the shortest day of the year.  Into the big empty.  

Jungo Flats on the Winter Solstace

Maybe this more accurately indicates today's low point.  Barren ground, black horizon, temperature dropping, darkness descending.

Forty Mile Desert

Late June Wildflowers

 

Mule's Ears

 

 

Great Basin Garden

 

 

Lupins and Irisis

 

Some of the images from a June 27, 2010 trip over Hinkey Summit in the Santa Rosa Mountains. Much like the rest of the desert in the Great Basin, there is a beautiful but brief explosion of color each year.

Toiyabe Range

This is the eastern wall of the Toiyabe Range, looking SSW, as seen from Highway 50 about 12 miles east of Austin. On the map below the spot would be very near the intersection of U.S. Highway 50 and Nevada Route 376.


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Big Rocks

Chocolate Mountain, Santa Rosa Range, Humboldt County, Nevada
October 7, 2009


















Hinkey Summit, Santa Rosa Range, Humboldt County, Nevada
October 10, 2009

Took these photos during three trips to the Santa Rosa Range. My friend Stuart invited me to help out with a photography field trip for his class at Great Basin College. We went out on "scout" trips twice to find a good location for a large group. Then we took about 18 people out to one location we'd found in the mountains, and then on the way back to town spent some time in Paradise.

This sounds like much more of a report, than a story....argh...


Try the full screen feature.

Austin Summer of 2009

This is the nearly the longest time I have ever gone between posts. Just too much life and not enough time for creativity.

I spent today judging photos at the county fair, or the Tri-County Fair. This is interesting work. You get to claw your way through a huge pile of mounted photos that range from the sublime to the truly awful.

People tend to enter photographs that they have some sort of emotional connection with, or that evoke a fond memory, no matter what the subject matter or quality of the image.

Our job was to score each one independently, and then write some notes, constructive suggestions, on how the image might be improved, to "offer the entrants encouragement".

It was with this in mind that I chose my own image, above, to post today. This picture, while rather poorly done, represents my current, confused, state of mind. It was captured in Austin Nevada 7/26/2009 when I was on my way to a meeting in Ely.

Which Way Did They Go ?

It must be a sign of the times.
end-of-scenic-route reminded me of this shot.





















One thing you might want with you up on the mountain is a good set of body armor. A little thicker than this sign. A helmet might be a good idea as well.

Happy Mother's Day

These young orphans wish they had their mothers.

They get special love and care, and have their stories told in a color-coded alpha numeric script code.

Sun Down again

The view down the street this afternoon.


















We've been having some strong wind storms. This afternoon, about sundown, the wind was taking the dust northeast. The wind blows huge amounts of soil, very fine dust mostly, into the air, and then carries it away in huge choking clouds.

The lands producing most of this dust are the vast acres burned by wildfire. The oceans of sage and clump grass having been burning away over these lands in what has become a annual ritual. The burned lands may never recover. There are now invasive species of grass weed that are propagating so quickly that the same lands can burn year after year. Mostly cheatgrass. There are a lot of different strategies, and tactics, much discussion, and some execution, on how to best address this problem.

I don't think there is a local solution. It appears to me that a different climate, one that provided more rain and snowfall, might be required. That may not come anytime soon.....

I wonder if 500 years from now this area will be the north reaches of the Mojave Desert?

Jungo Flats

This afternoon we made our way in the sedan, to the beach, but we couldn't ever find the water. We could always see it, just over there, but we couldn't ever sneak up on it.

This image reminds me of a vistor from the far east we saw in NYC, on the south tip of Manhattan Island. He had his cell phone mounted on a 5' tripod, and was taking a photo of the Statue of Liberty The photographer above is using her iPhone.

Wait till you see the video morsa made, you'll be amazed.

The Winter Solstice

Counting Cows - 14

On the shortest day of the year, just before nightfall, I visited this hot spring planning for a great image of the walls of steam rising into the orange sunlight.

What I came away with surprised me.






















Kyle Hot Spring December 21, 2008
















Somehow, when I was passing along here, Boomer came to mind, driving along in the stuffed turkey, counting cows.

I've been sitting on this post now for nearly a month, and so it's either, let it go and delete, or post it as is........

Rare Bear

Here is the working end of the winner of the unlimited class gold at the Reno Air Races today. A 4000 horsepower Grumman F8F Bearcat that in 1989 set the closed course world speed record of 528.3 mph.

It's a great airshow and the only place in the world you can see aircraft racing around pylons on a closed course.

Sailing Along

The most fun I had this summer came to me as a very pleasant surprise. Our office had a little retreat for an afternoon at Lake Tahoe a couple of weeks ago. I thought I was going up there for a sort of picnic or barbecue at the home of one of our advisory board members. Turned out that he had a couple of boats moored in the lake, and offered to let us take a little ride. Eight people opted to take out the big power boat, and six of us went out with our host John and his house guest Isabella on the sailboat, leaving about as many people ashore to prepare the barbecue.














Our host John proved to be a very kind and generous man. As we got underway, with John at the helm and Isabella acting as first mate, they directed us patiently in how to handle the lines, and deploy the sails. As soon as we were squared away, John offered to let someone take the helm. Standing by and offering calm and patient guidance, and an occasional hand on the wheel, he would instruct us each in turn, and then let us have the helm. Three of us got the opportunity, and I was allowed to handle the wheel for nearly an hour. Wow what a treat that was.












This boat, for a few minutes sailing very nearby, was very similar in size and design to the 36 foot vessel we were on.










Standing at the helm, feeling the wind in the sails, the waves, the feel of the vessel underfoot, it was truly a transcendent experience. What an unexpected joy for me! I had no idea. I can still close my eyes and experience that serene feeling. At one with all that is.

Now I really understand what it means to be "sailing along".

When we got back to shore, near dusk, the barbecue had pretty much been cooked and eaten, but I would much rather have still been out on the lake.

What Is It?

So I'm trying a new contest, to see if anyone is listening out there. Do you know where this is? Take a guess, and leave it in the comments. Second question: What state is this?

.................

I found this in the papers the other day, and thought you photographers might find it interesting:

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

July 10, 2007,
By Errol Morris

From the New York Times Opinion Blog

Zoom - A Filmaker Under Covers the Hidden Truth of Photo's

Pictures are supposed to be worth a thousand words. But a picture unaccompanied by words may not mean anything at all. Do pictures provide evidence? And if so, evidence of what? And, of course, the underlying question: do they tell the truth?

I have beliefs about the photographs I see. Often – when they appear in books or newspapers – there are captions below them, or they are embedded in explanatory text. And even where there are no explicit captions on the page, there are captions in my mind. What I think I’m looking at. What I think the photograph is about......... more >

Hungry?

If you get that feeling in your stomach, and make a drive up for a number 2, you might see this. Blue Mountain. Taken from the drive-through at Burger King.

Been absent for some time, but there is news. JA is blogging! Check out the first post at Mind-Over-Matters. Be the second visitor to view his extensive profile. I just added it to the neighborhood. Wheeeeee Isn't this fun!

VCNV



















Went up to Virginia City last Saturday. What we found was a town full of folks that were dressed up, like they were expecting us. This guy here, I call him Red, was absolutely sure that I was a National Geographic photograper, and said he was expecting me today. Said he had met me the last time we shot Virginia City. Red claimed he had gone to great trouble, and with much difficulty, to aquire a DVD that contained the photo shoot I had done on the last trip. Had to get it from the bartender at the Bucket of Blood Saloon, in fact.


First time I was ever in Virginia City.


People that looked like this were strutting up and down the street, and leaning over the bar rails telling each other tall tales.


If you want to dress up, you can just step into one of the dry goods stores and buy the whole outfit. You can even go into the gun shop and get your self a gun belt, and a toy pistol. At least I hope they were toys.

It's an amazing 19th century western mining boomtown. The nation's largest Historic Landmark, tucked away right here.

The streets had been taken over by Harley Davidson motorcycles, which were backed in to the curbs in big buches, dozens and dozens of them, and the black leather crowd was holed up in just two or three of the bars, sipping their beer politely and having a nice afternoon visit with their pals.

Blackie here was a deputy sheriff, I watched as he and three mates were all sworn in for the afternoon. Got a badge and everthing. I think part of the oath included a promise to drink beer till dusk.

He beat me in a stare-down.

Reminded me of Deadwood, in the good old days.

Town of Humboldt, Nevada

It's that time of the year, when the landscape is washed over by the late winter sun.

I had occasion to drive over to the Biggest Little City after work yesterday and stopped off at Humboldt to watch as the sun went down.

















The town of Humboldt lies just off the north tip of the Humboldt Mountain Range in Pershing County.

Humboldt used to be in Humboldt County until someone accidentally burned down the courthouse in Winnemucca.

When the folks over in Lovelock got a glimpse of the plans for the new courthouse, with its columns and marble staircases, they didn't believe they wanted to help pay for such an expensive building over in the county seat, so they seceded, and formed their own county. Then they built their own special courthouse. Folks around here don't seem to have got over that little spat yet.

When the boundary was set to cleave Humboldt County into two parts, the town of Humboldt, a service stop on the transcontinental railroad, found itself in the new Pershing County. Named for WWI hero General of the Armies "John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing.
















This the the entire town. I saw two satellite dishes, so they are probably inside watching FOX News.
















Molten sun on a chilly afternoon.

East Ely Rail Shed
















One of the sheds in the Nevada Northern Railway yards at Ely.

It's number 5 on this map.

There are some more of my images from down that way right here.

New Year's Day on the Flats
















Took a little trip out west this afternoon, to the Jungo Flats, about 35 miles west of town. It was a nice quiet place to spend a bit of the first day of the new year. No people, no birds, no insects, no animals, no sound, no wind, just beautiful space and light. This playa is large enough that you can see the curvature of the earth if you look closely. Its a good place to think about the great wheels at work in the universe.
















I did find this shadow lurking about, watching me over its shoulder.

East Ely Rail Yards















On a recent road trip to Ely I spent a while in the rail yards of the Northern Nevada Railroad. Reminded me of the hours I spent in the rail yards in my home town on the high plains. Living only two blocks from the roundhouse and switching yard provided a great opportunity to a 12 year old kid. We'd go there at night, or on a Sunday afternoon, and climb on and through the railcars and equipment, always on the lookout for the railroad detectives that were known to show no mercy to children.

Interesting picture. Try to find the focal point.