Seeing with new eyes...

I have taken these photos over the past 5 years in Tuolomnie Meadows or Yosemite Valley

One of the pleasures of traveling is gaining new eyes for appreciating the beauties of our own home and garden.  Despite the drought, these days are temperate and the nights cool.  

So what are we doing?  Preparing for another get away…  

Every year or two we feel a need to return to one of the reference points in our lives – upper Yosemite – Tuolomnie Meadows.  I first hiked these trails when I was 19 years old... 

We have our house/dog sitter in place, gear and food packed...Off we go...

We will set up our yellow tent, hide our food from the bears (in the animal proof steel storage bin provided), and then set off on day-trip walking adventures in the many directions from our base camp.  Upper Tuolomnie is a land of Alpine terrain with glacier formed landscapes.  The most common trees here are foxtail and white bark pines.   (Strange to imagine that at these elevations in Peru they are growing crops of corn, quinoa, and potatoes).  Each visit we respond anew to the freshness of the land.  We look to see what the season gives to us. This year we suspect that the snow will new gone but there should still be water flowing.   There are always new surprises – and different wonders  to discover.  

The plants and animals in upper Yosemite are old friends… the marmots and pikas, the ground and tree squirrels, the stellar jay and the Clark’s nuthatch, crane flies,  the mosquitos (well, maybe not ‘friends’…).  The lupines, coneflowers, "elephant flowers", leopard lilies, columbines, wall flowers...and so many others.  This time of year the little pocket-meadows between the fell fields have the sweet smell of green growing things.  The streams of flowing water make music day and night.  Every season I visit "my mountains" I think how fortunate that I just “hit” the perfect time to view wildflowers… But over the years I have come to realize that there is a whole sequence of blooming flowers – and every part of the growing season has its own surprises. 

Tioga pass marks the continental divide and, going East,  begins the steep descent to the Nevada side of the Sierras.  Some of our favorite high altitude wilderness access points are just over the divide.   Working from word of mouth, topographic maps, and blind luck we have stumbled onto a variety of pristine locations with few visitors.  I often like to hike further into the mountains than Judy - but she is quite happy to have an afternoon reading a good book in the shade of a tree ... while I "trec-on" to higher points... I carry an emergency beacon - so if I should trip over my own feet and need help getting out - I just "press the button" ... (then there is no way to call back the helicopter... So I had better be sure that is what I need!)

I love being open to trying to capture photos of my beloved mountains.  I have long since given up on the grand vista photos – they never catch the spirit of the real Sierras.  After years of trying – I seek to see details or juxtaposition of objects that tell a story.  I am often surprised to “see” something familiar in a new way.  

One of the secrets to good mountain  photos – doesn't matter how great the composition is – if the light isn’t “right” the photo will be mediocre at best.   I have come to appreciate shadows and reflected light.  Digital cameras now come with such a variety of settings – it has taken me a long time to learn how to use more of them to good advantage. A lot of photography is cerebral – almost reflex – recognizing “good” images and then making a bunch of quick decisions about composition, lens settings, light… and then sometimes in the process deciding that it isn’t a good photo after all. 

The curious thing is that the photos I choose to take are limited by my own preconception of what a good photo should be.   When I look back at old family photos from earlier generations they almost all involved groups of people standing in rows facing the sun – and many of the people squinting from the bright light.   In the mountains, it is my challenge - to see things beyond my pre-formed ideas of what "I am looking for"... and see that which I have overlooked before...