Focal Points March/April 2025

Focal Points

The Magazine of the Sierra Club Camera Committee

Chair Programs

Treasurer Membership

Editor Communications Meetup

Instagram Outings Outings

SCCC Leadership

Joe Doherty

Susan Manley

Ed Ogawa

Joan Schipper

Joe Doherty

Velda Ruddock

Ed Ogawa

Joan Schipper

Alison Boyle

joedohertyphotography@gmail.com

SSNManley@yahoo.com

Ed5ogawa@angeles.sierraclub.org

JoanSchipper@ix.netcom.com

joedohertyphotography@gmail.com

vruddock.sccc@gmail.com

Ed5ogawa@angeles.sierraclub.org

JoanSchipper@ix.netcom.com

AlisoniBoyle@icloud.com

Focal Points Magazine is a publication of the Sierra Club Camera Committee, Angeles Chapter. The Camera Committee is an activity group within the Angeles Chapter, which we support through the medium of photography. Our membership is not just from Southern California but is increasingly international.

Our goal is to show the natural beauty of our world, as well as areas of conservation concerns and social justice. We do this through sharing and promoting our photography and by helping and inspiring our members through presentations, demonstration, discussion, and outings.

We have members across the United States and overseas. For information about membership and/or to contribute to the magazine, please contact the editors or the membership chair listed above. Membership dues are $15 per year, and checks (payable to SCCC) can be mailed to: SCCC-Joan Schipper, 6100 Cashio Street, Los Angeles, CA 90035, or Venmo @CashioStreet, and be sure to include your name and contact info so Joan can reach you.

The magazine is published every other month. A call for submissions will be made one-month in advance via email, although submissions and proposals are welcome at any time. Member photographs should be resized to 3300 pixels, at a high export quality. They should also be jpg, in the sRGB color space.

Cover articles and features should be between 1000-2500 words, with 4-10 accompanying photographs. Reviews of shows, workshops, books, etc., should be between 500-1500 words.

Copyright: All photographs and writings in this magazine are owned by the photographers and writers who created them. They hold the copyrights and control all rights of reproduction and use. If you desire to license one, or to have a print made, contact the editor at joedohertyphotography@gmail.com, who will pass on your request, or see the author’s contact information in the Contributors section at the back of this issue.

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4 An Excellent Moroccan Adventure. There's hardly a cultural experience as rich and as different from North America as Morocco. I experienced and photographed ancient markets, orange dunes, exotic spices, blue streets, and more during this African adventure.

By Rebecca Wilks

By Peter Bennett

By John Fisanotti

A selfie by Rebecca Wilks in the Moroccan desert

Cover Photo: Erg Chebbi Dunes predawn © Rebecca Wilks

From the Chair

Two issues ago (November/December 2024) I discussed Michael Lewis’ book “The Fifth Risk,” which reported the transition of government from the Obama Administration to the Trump Administration in 2016-17. He wrote that the incoming administration was wholly indifferent to governing, and so the departments and agencies of the Federal government were mostly left to carry on their functions. There were still people in high places at Justice, Treasury, and elsewhere who kept the ship of state running.

I hypothesized that the Trump II regime would be better prepared on the first day than in 2017, and use the tools available to quickly achieve their ends. I was unfortunately underestimating their efforts. I am not an alarmist, but I’m not averse to raising an alarm. We are not living in normal times. Normal expectations about legal constraints on the president are not operational.

This is a coup.

A coup doesn’t require violence, and the coup leaders can be elected. A coup begins with the illegal usurpation of institutions and power, with the goal of destroying all mechanisms of accountability, and spreads outward. That is what is in progress in the United States today.

This is relevant to artists who care about public lands. On the one hand we need to keep creating art in order to survive the psychic overwhelm of everything that is happening, and to help others survive as well. On the other, we need to understand what is at stake in our specific area of interest.

Kevin Phillips wrote decades ago that the modern GOP is a marriage between the

extraction industries and religious fundamentalists. That is still true. I won’t delve into the religious side of this arrangement, and focus on the extraction industries (mining, drilling, etc.).

It is commonplace for authoritarian regimes to pay off supporters by transferring public resources to private hands. Putin consolidated his control of Russia by creating loyal oligarchs whose fortunes were based in oil and mining. Similar payoffs occurred in other countries with natural resources.

As evidenced by actions already taken (some temporarily reversed by the courts), we are beyond the standard arguments about how public lands should be used. Those differences of policy were constrained by the rule of law. Right now we should expect only lawlessness.

What does a lawless Interior Department look like? It looks like sections of Yosemite Valley fenced behind the gates of a private community. It looks like uranium mining on Navajo land over their objections. It looks like oil pipelines through national monuments. It looks like a highway from Visalia to Lone Pine with a gondola to the gift shop atop Mt. Whitney. All schemes are possible if they make money for the regime.

That is what we are up against if things progress as they are. I won’t suggest ways to take action. I will suggest that the one action we all need to take is to continue making art. Continue to express yourself as a human being, as a member of the Sierra Club, as a citizen, as a person who communicates ideas and beauty that help others to see. Everything we do to celebrate public lands is a form of resistance.

Tom Astle

Small is Beautiful: The World of Macrophotography

April 10th at 7pm via Zoom

Join photographer and writer Tom Astle for an evening exploring the art and science of macrophotography — capturing the big world of the very small. Tom will share photos he’s taken in his many travels, and offer tips and techniques for lighting, camera settings, gear, and composition.

But beyond technical details, he’ll talk about storytelling with photography, behavior and biology, scientific discovery, and nature photography ethics. http://tomastlephotography.com/ Register for the presentation here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Fme9T--lQdKuQxxOlqW0Og

An Excellent Moroccan Adventure

There's hardly a cultural experience as rich and as different from North America than Morocco. I experienced and photographed ancient markets, orange dunes, exotic spices, blue streets, and more during this African adventure.

Text

and

Photographs by Rebecca Wilks

I’ve never much liked labeling a trip a “bucket list” item, but if any trip was, it was this one. I’d been researching travel in Morocco for at least a decade. The markets, spices, orangecolored dunes, blue city of Chefchaouen, and even the camels had perpetually intrigued me. As for culture, Morocco is deliciously distinct from my North American home.

Because of the complexity of culture and language, I decided on a tour rather than a self-planned excursion. We traveled with Strabo Photo Tours, which I learned about at the NANPA Summit the year before. I had only one issue with the expedition, but it was not a small one. More on that later.

Fun Facts

Morocco is slightly larger than California and has coasts on the Atlantic and Mediterranean. It’s an Arab country and a constitutional monarchy where it is illegal to promote any religion other than Islam, or to criticize the king. The official languages are Arabic and Berber, though French is also widely spoken in the cities. It is home to the world’s oldest university and has the largest film sets outside of Hollywood.

Marrakech

We began our 2000-kilometer counterclockwise grand tour in Marrakech. I believe

Dromedaries on the Erg Chebbi Dunes

street portraiture is an indispensable part of travel photography, but it’s tough here. Most folks either don’t want their photos taken or they demand cash.I don’t mind paying, but the aggression is intimidating, and the best street portraits are more candid than posed.We had lots of help with this issue from our excellent local guide, Ismael, who acted as a go-between. In the end, with twelve days to shoot, I ended up with a few portraits I’m happy with.

Most of the Marrakech images come from the Souks (markets) in the Medina (old city). If

there’s a classic must-see there, it’s the snake charmers, but I enjoyed other street portraits and detail shots just as much. As a bonus, this is the first international street market I have visited that actually smells good, like spices.

One of the country’s recurring jokes is that Moroccans like some tea with their sugar. The traditional tea, flavored with mint, is delicious and can be ordered to taste.

On the road we passed through Ouarzazate, a surreal desert outpost with movie studios and businesses to support them. "Ouallywood"

Snake Charmer, Marrakech

movie studios have built quite a resume providing convincing backdrops for movies supposedly set in Tibet, ancient Rome, Somalia and Egypt. You might recognize the area from Lawrence of Arabia, The Man Who Would Be King, The Mummy, and Gladiator, as well as the recent Netflix series, Outer Banks. The liquor section in the huge grocery was gargantuan and very western.

Skoura

From the busy city, we transitioned to a quiet countryside location called Skoura, known for a photogenic architectural style called Kasbah. A Kasbah is a fortress, or fortified quarter of a city, and in Skoura ancient ruins and new buildings are constructed from adobe. Our stunning hotel was in this style, and we had a terrific afternoon shooting old and new Our first Tea, Marrakech

Medicinals in the Souk, Marrakech

Skoura’s Kasbahs from our hotel

Hassan, our driver, on the dunes at Erg Chebbi

examples in a palm tree studded area called the Oasis.

The Dunes

Mesouga is an (admittedly touristy) spectacular area nestled among the Erg Chebbi sand dunes at the northern edge of the Sahara Desert. I must admit that I’m a sand dune nut. Deciding moment-to-moment whether to photograph classic camel trains (dromedaries, actually) in the orange dunes or make more traditional landscape shots was tough. Of course I did both. Our glamping tent home for two nights included climate control and running water, and it kept us protected in the sandstorm. As any sand dune aficionado knows, after the wind comes terrific sand ripples and otherworldly light.

Artist building a mosaic upside-down, Naji Pottery Factory, Fes

We hired drivers to take us further into the dunes, hoping to avoid ugly footprints and camel dung in our foregrounds. Sunset light was lovely, and we got to know Hassan, who seems to know he has some star quality and would like to be in the movies. He was a fun model. Just look at those eyelashes!

With long days on the road came road stops, including a stop to shoot macaques in the Cedar Forest of the Middle Atlas Mountains, a visit to see Senegalese Gnaoua dancers in a village near the desert, and a visit with Berber rug-makers in Tinghir. The rugs are spectacular and tough to resist. Fes

Fes (not named for the hat, the locals are quick to point out) was spectacular. It, too,

boasts a Medina. I consider myself to have a better-than-average sense of direction but was glad to have had Ismael (and the assistant he hired to help keep track of us) guiding us. I have no doubt that, on my own, I would still be there, wandering in circles.

One must-see location in Fes is the Chouara Tannery, the largest in the city, dating back to the beginning of the 9th century. Likely the methods of tanning and dying of hides haven’t changed in that time, nor has the smell. Before walking to the rooftop vantage point, merchants hand out mint sprigs to dampen the smell.

The Naji Pottery Factory was a highlight. This man is using the ancient zellij mosaic technique to build a fountain. The design is built face-down. Mosaic is a big part of the culture there and I fell in love with it. I

debated buying a mosaic-topped table and having it shipped home but didn’t do it. As it turns out, there’s a Moroccan Furniture store in North Hollywood. Wish me luck!

We had the honor of staying in traditional lodging in Fes, called a Riad. They are accessed through unassuming doors leading off narrow medina corridors. Just a few steps into the riad your senses are filled by mosaics, light from a huge skylight, and the smells of Fes cuisine.

Food

I can hardly do this subject justice with words or images. Many meals are preceded with “salad,” as many as 25 small dishes to share, and bread. Everything is spiced beautifully. We had many versions of lemon chicken tagine, served directly to the table in the eponymous baking dish, hot enough that an olive pit would burn your mouth. My favorite was pastilla, a dish typical of Fes. This delight is phyllo dough-wrapped meat, generally chicken, seasoned with cinnamon, ginger, and ras-elhanout. The latter is a mixture of up to 35 spices and is typical of North Africa. I was in love.

Chefchaouen

This place is famous and well known, but still worth the trip, especially for photographers. Sometimes called The Blue City, it is lively with merchants during mid-day, but particularly interesting to photograph early in the morning with the souvenir shops shut down and just a few people around. The full RGB histogram is an important tool here; it’s easy to blow out that blue channel. The leading theory about all the blue paint is that Jews, fleeing the Spanish inquisition, sought a connection to God and so painted the walls the color of the sky. Some date the flight to World War II, and others to the 15th century. Other theories include a representation of water, an attempt to keep cool, a mosquito deterrent, or simply to attract tourists. I chose to chase beauty, mostly ignoring the theories.

Riad Myra, Fes. Our room is at upper center

Casablanca

What Moroccan city is more famous than Casablanca? Sadly, though, the film was made at Warner Brothers in Burbank and the Van Nuys Airport. This is the largest city in the country at almost four million. We didn’t have much time there, but did hit a highlight, the Hassan II Mosque. Its minaret is almost 700 feet tall, and 105,000 people can gather for prayer. Perched on the edge of the Atlantic, its art and architecture are well worth the visit.

From there we popped into the old city’s fish market, a meticulously clean and tempting place. Old Casablanca also has an Art Deco

quarter, especially interesting for architecture buffs.

About the tour

We booked our tour through Strabo, a wellrun and reasonably priced outfit, specializing in photography tours. The group size was comfortable at eight, and three of our group were non-photographer spouses. For me, a big trip like this is much more pleasant with my husband. Our local guide and the meticulous planning made the tour easy from beginning to end.

I mentioned at the start that I had one issue with the trip. My expectation of a photo tour

A riot of color, Chefchaouen

is that the photography guide would leverage his experience to maximize guests’ use of time and energy. Our guide had traveled here many times, but none of us were likely to return, and often we had just one shot at good light at a given location.

I wasn’t looking for a teaching experience but found myself frustrated with a leader who was often off doing his own work. He also wanted to leave a location before sunset to crack open his bottle of wine, and he brushed off my requests for help finding the best spot for a shot I had in mind. Once we saw what was happening, Marco and I set our minds on

having the best trip we could on our own and garnered as much information as possible from Ismael.

Had I asked more questions at the beginning of the trip (Lisa Langell’s article in the November/December 2024 issue of Focal Points Magazine is a great guide), I might have avoided the frustration, but knowing what I know now, I would not have changed anything.

I certainly recommend Strabo, and I know they have another guide in Morocco.

If any place belongs on a “bucket,” this is it.

Minaret on Hassan II Mosque with rainbow, Casablanca

Preserving Your Life's Work - Part 2

Text and Photographs by Peter Bennett

Welcome to the second part of Preserving Your Life’sWork. In this article, we’re going to cover the actual archiving process as well as how to ensure its succession. If you missed Part 1, I listed the basic steps I suggest for the process. The purpose of this is to pass on a legacy of your life’s work—one that will live on beyond your time and hopefully hold artistic, educational, or entertainment value for others in the future.

This process shouldn’t be confused with digital asset management (DAM), such as photo organizing and workflow. Those are separate challenges that require solutions tailored to the specific needs of the individual and their current photography goals. This article is about preserving your life’s work—or at least parts of it.

I began writing the first part of this article before the recent fires here in Los Angeles. Legacy preservation has been a subject of

Two books created by the author from his archive.

interest to me for many years, both in relation to my professional photography work and my family photos and history. The fires added an increased sense of urgency. I’m sure we all know people who have lost their homes and all their personal valuables, including artists and photographers who lost their entire life’s work. What an unimaginable tragedy for them.

So, while legacy archiving and preservation, and the steps I outline here, are important, the most immediate concern should be safeguarding what you already have. And while organization is certainly one of the steps I discuss for legacy work, it is not necessary to have everything all organized before safely backing up to a cloud storage platform. Backup what you have now and then begin steps to organize and prepare your legacy files. Local backup is useful, but it offers no protection against natural or man-made

disasters such as wildfires, home fires, floods, and earthquakes. Offsite backup should be the first step and a priority. I recommend Backblaze, Carbonite, and pCloud.

Creating

In Part 1, we left off at the curation step of the process. I suggested creating identifiable bodies of work that best represent your photographic career. Here, I will discuss the actual archiving process for digital files, but I also believe that creating some physical assets, in addition to any others you already have, is a wonderful way to preserve one’s work.

Traditionally, one of the best ways to archive work is by printing it—either as a book or as prints. Books can last 100 years or more and have the advantage of being reprintable, especially if in digital form. Prints can also last a long time if archived properly. I have family photos dating back to the late 1800s that are still in very good condition as they were kept out of albums and other ways that would have exposed them to air and oxidation.

Creating a book can feel daunting, but with digital printing, it’s now possible to print even a single copy. Several book-publishing platforms are available, and you can easily design and print a book in Lightroom directly through Blurb. A cohesive body of work in book form is not only a great way to preserve your work but also a wonderful way to showcase it to others. You can print multiple copies or just a few for archival purposes and to share with friends, colleagues, or institutions. Making prints of some of your favorite photos is also a rewarding experience, and they can easily be placed in archival containers.

When archiving, it’s important to consider who may be looking at your work in the future. Providing information about the

pieces is critical such as where, when, what, and who. In book form, you can include that in captions as well as additional context in your copy. For prints and other items, it’s best to include a finding aid, an archival term for a summary or list of the enclosed items. You want people to understand what they’re looking at, so be sure to include relevant and informative details.

Although creating analog showcases of your work is probably more common, you can create some digital showcases as well. For instance, if you’re feeling ambitious, creating a video about your work is a great way to communicate not only the work itself, but your thoughts, and the history behind the work.

A video can feature your images with audio or video commentary explaining the work and its backstory. You can use the Ken Burns effect to add subtle movement and keep it visually engaging. Videos are effective and entertaining, and video files are easily archived. I have created a few of these for the work I did in the East Village in the 1980s— as you can imagine there are a lot of good stories to tell about some of the pictures I took back then. You can also create a simple slideshow and save it in video format.

Archiving

Archival containers for books, prints, negatives, and slides are available through various suppliers. These containers are designed to preserve physical assets and offer multiple storage options. For example, slides can be stored in polypropylene sheets inside an archival binder, or in bulk containers that hold more but are less accessible for viewing.

Digital archiving presents more challenges, as there are no universally accepted long-term

Different systems of archival storage, for print (top) and film (bottom).

guidelines, and best practices continue to evolve.

A good archival timeline is at least 100 years. Proper archival containers and safe storage conditions ensure that physical assets can meet this benchmark. However, no hard drive lasts anywhere near that long. A typical hard drive’s lifespan is 5 to 10 years—sometimes

less, sometimes more. So how do you archive a hard drive with your digital files?

You may be tempted to invest in high-end digital storage like RAID systems or expensive SSD drives, but your best bet is a simple disk hard drive from a reliable manufacturer. RAID systems are costly and require maintenance, and there’s no evidence that

An example of an institutional image archive. Think about who and what your work might benefit.

SSD drives last any longer than traditional disk drives.

The key is ensuring succession, and I will discuss the importance of a legacy contact. But make sure you keep your hard drive safe in a dry, cool place and store it with the necessary cables and adapters, as ports and connections will inevitably become obsolete. It is imperative that you keep the drive as connectable and compatible for as long as possible, and then transfer all the data to whatever new storage system comes along in the future.

When it comes to digital archiving, we make our best educated guess and always give ourselves opportunity to adapt in the future. These steps offer the best chance of preserving your work long-term. But what about archiving your work elsewhere?

One of the reasons I suggest curating your work into identifiable and cohesive subjects is that it makes it more presentable to historical archives, museums, or institutions that might benefit from it. When I was younger and photographing my old neighborhood in New York, or began documenting the LA River almost 20 years ago, I had no idea the historical significance those images would have. I was recording places and people that are now lost to history. Now, they hold cultural and historical value for institutions and libraries dedicated to preserving such records.

In the past, these institutions traditionally wanted physical assets, but with digital, they tend to, at least in most cases, just want the digital assets, and this allows them to accept more submissions. Look at your work and think about who and what might benefit from

its value. Historical archives are always looking for new and relevant material for whatever subject they specialize in. Museums look for additions to their permanent collections, although they will be far more selective than a historical archive. I’ve submitted the two bodies of work I mentioned in the first article to historical archives and now have a great satisfaction knowing that my work will be available to be viewed and useful to others beyond my lifetime.

But what about work that may not fit into these categories or can’t find a home elsewhere?

I have been placing my work on a platform that I would best describe as a personal

historical archive. It is a non-profit organization called Permanent.org, which pretty much sums up its mission: “To preserve and provide perpetual access to the digital legacy of all people for the historical and educational benefit of future generations.” It is designed to store and preserve files beyond the original account holder’s lifetime.

You open an account and can then create multiple archives within your account. I have archives set up for my different family members as well as collections of work I’ve done during my career. Each archive can be made public and searchable if you choose it to be. It is reasonably priced and easy to set up. The future is always uncertain, and who knows what will happen, but Permanent.org

is dedicated to achieving its mission, and I have come to believe it to be one of the best ways to archive and preserve my personal and professional work, family history, and legacy.

Succession

The final and most crucial step in archiving is ensuring succession. A legacy contact is the person or persons entrusted with managing your archival materials once you have passed or become infirmed. In many cases, this will be a family member, preferably a younger one, especially if you have family photos and other personal items that you are passing on as well.

You’ll need to provide detailed instructions, including locations of physical and digital assets, website logins, and passwords.

Consider whether your images should remain private, be available for licensing, or be shared under a Creative Commons license. If you use Permanent.org, they offer a mechanism for designating a legacy contact and an archive steward.

While thinking about these matters may feel unsettling, it’s also reassuring, at least I have found it so. Many people never plan for this, leaving their life's work to chance—or worse, gone without a trace and into the fourth dimension of history. Though archiving requires effort, it’s worth it if you want to control your legacy and contribute to our shared cultural history.

I hope this was helpful. Good luck and enjoy the journey!

Rafting the Colorado River: Part IV

Article and Photographs

by John Fisanotti

This is the fourth installment describing my trip down the Colorado River in May of 2022. Let’s continue the story of what a typical day on the river is like.

By lunchtime, we would put into shore. Usually, the field kitchen would be set up, and the staff prepared lunch for everyone. The rest of us would look for a sunny spot to dry off from the drenching we received when going through the morning’s rapids. On some days, when time constraints made setting up the kitchen impractical, lunch items were set out after breakfast while still in camp, and each of us made a sack lunch to go.

As the afternoon progressed, our guides thoughts turned to where to camp for the night. Campsites are located on sandy beaches. Historically, the Colorado River was known for the large amount of sediment it carried downstream and deposited on the shore. But since the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam, sand replenishment on the beaches has been reduced because the reservoir behind the dam traps so much sediment. This is not unlike the situation along the Southern California coast, where urban development and flood control measures have reduced the sediment washing to the sea. As a result, camping choices have become more limited, especially for larger groups, which require a larger beach.

Often our guides would engage guides from other companies, as we encountered them, to ask which beach they expected to occupy that evening. There seemed to be an informal coordination among the river guides. When passing a potential beach campsite, one thing to keep in mind is there is no reverse gear on

the boats. The guides can’t go back upstream, so passing a campsite means one is committed to using another one farther downstream. There were times when we found the planned camp site for the night already occupied. When that happens, there is nothing to do but keep going. Somehow, it always seemed to work out. Having said that, one interesting thing to observe was the manner in which the guides used the river current to their advantage. Many of the sandy beaches were located where an eddy rotated clockwise. So, when approaching a beach, rather than make a bee-line for the beach, the guides would keep the boats in the current; this resulted in us passing the beach only to be brought back around by the eddy.

Upon arriving in camp for the evening, a bag line was formed and the boats were unloaded. Some assisted the guides to set up the field kitchen, while others left in search of a site to bed down for the night. The company provided tents for everyone, however, the majority preferred to bed down on a tarp under the stars. My wife wanted the security of a tent each night, so it was up to me to set it up daily. Some nights I slept out but most of the time, I joined her in the tent. Over the 15 nights we were camped on the river, I counted two rattlesnakes and one scorpion, in or around camp, which explains my wife’s preference for the tent. Ah wilderness!

One might be curious how personal hygiene is attended to. Given the large volume of water passing by camp, which would dilute anything we could add, we were advised to use the Colorado River for bathing, brushing teeth and peeing. We were to avoid all tributary streams. As for number two, the

Mile 115. The view downstream from Garnet Canyon camp

Mile 117: Elves Chasm Waterfall

company provided latrines in the form of large ammo cans with a toilet seat affixed to it. Each night, when a new camp was established, one of the first things the staff would do is determine the location of the latrine in a secluded location at the end of a short trail. Sometimes, the latrine location had the best view of the river! I guess myths die hard on the river. One may have heard of this referred to as “The Groover.” The story is told that on a river trip long ago, the toilet seat was lost and the users had to sit on the rim of the ammo can, resulting in two grooves on one’s derriere, hence the name, Groover. It now seems to be the term used universally by the all of the river guides to this day. The protocol for use of the “Groover” was that at the trailhead to the latrine, there would be a

hand washing station and a smaller ammo can inside with fresh toilet paper. One would take the ammo can with the toilet paper and walk to the latrine, and then return the can after use. A missing ammo can at the hand washing station was the signal that the latrine was occupied.

Before dinner, is another active time in camp. One could use the time to either set up their personal camp, enjoy the happy hour snacks, play games, or explore the area around camp. The company supplied horseshoes and bocce balls for impromptu games as dinner was being prepared. I usually used this time to explore and photograph the surroundings.

After setting up camp, but before starting on dinner, our trip leader and the rest of the

Mile 125: Approaching Fossil Canyon

Mile 121: The beach at Blacktail Canyon

guides, had a daily “staff meeting’ down at the boats. For more than two weeks, our enjoyment, comfort and safety were in their hands and we all appreciated the knowledge, professionalism and pleasant personalities of the crew.

The food provided was excellent. Dinner was preceded by happy hour snacks and drinks. Every night we were served a delicious dinner prepared by the guides. Each oar boat was equipped with a 210-liter ice chest with specially prepared ice. These were stocked with all the food for the full trip. And even after 15 days on the river, by our final night we still had cold drinks and ice available.

After dinner, the guides would give us a preview of the next day’s activities and provide recommendations as to what items will be needed in the accessible dry bag.

Descriptions of the hike(s) proposed for the next day was a common topic. It was amusing to watch our leader, Marieke, demonstrate the degree of difficulty expected in the next day’s hike(s) by pantomiming the moves needed to navigate the terrain. She was a very effective leader and at the same time a fun person to hang out with. She had been rafting and guiding on the river for 23 years, and also was on the faculty at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. On the next to the last night, the crew broke out silly costumes and everyone, crew and clients alike dressed up to share a farewell dinner

Finally, after everyone pitched in to wash the dishes, and with the onset of darkness, most of us went to bed between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. As is often the case when living outdoors, we lived by the sun and would need to be up early the next morning.

Mile 125: Morning view at Fossil Canyon camp

Mile 137: Upper Deer Creek Falls

Larry Miller

Tree Ferns at the Torrance Cultural Center

the

Thickleaf Yerba Santa alongside the Rocky Peak Trail in

Santa Susana Mountains

Larry Miller

John Nilsson A

Bluebird morning at Sepulveda Basin

A recent trip to Sepulveda Basin on a beautiful sunlit morning yielded over twenty “keepers”. Here are a few. All photos shot with my Sony a1 and Tamron 50mm400mm lens.

John Nilsson

Mike Caley

Whitney under Moonlit Mobius

Moonset over Lone Pine Peak

Eastside Morning with the Moon

Mike Caley

Whitney Portal Road Rockscape

Whitney Pinnacles and the Moon

Beverly Houwing

A day trip into Thorsmork Nature Reserve in the Highlands of Iceland. Here you need a high clearance 4 x 4 vehicle to traverse many glacial streams.

Sunrise at “Diamond Beach” using a 10-stop ND filter to slow the movement of the waves around the beached chunks of ice.

The next day “Diamond Beach” was completely transformed by heavy snowfall that morning, blanketing the pieces of ice along the shore.

Beverly Houwing

The beach at Vestrahorn, at the southeast tip of Iceland, is totally transformed into a winter wonderland with a thick layer of snow on the black sand beach and dunes.

A beautiful waterfall along the side of the Ring road in southern Iceland.

Beverly Houwing

Wild waves crash into the basalt rock formation at Reynisfjara Beach near Vik in southern Iceland.

Rebecca Wilks

Delfina, a weaver in San Juan Del Lago, Guatemala, with hand-dyed cotton background

Dock intended for function rather than form, Lago de Atitlan, Guatemala

Schoolgirls, Panajachel School, Guatemala

Rebecca

Last light and first light in the Harquahala Foothills, Arizona

Rebecca Wilks

Joe Doherty

Joe Doherty

Velda Ruddock

North of Bakersfield

Velda Ruddock

Contributors

Peter Bennett

Born and raised in New York City, Peter picked up his first camera and took his first darkroom class at the age of twelve.

Peter spent many years working as a travel photographer, and in 2000 started his own photo agency, Ambient Images. In 2015 he formed Citizen of the Planet, LLC, devoted exclusively to the distribution of his stories and photographs that focus on a variety of environmental subjects.

Peter’s editorial work has appeared in many publications including the New York Times, Time, Newsweek, National Geographic, Sunset Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine, and New York Magazine. His prints hang in the California State Capitol, California Science Center’s permanent Ecosystem exhibit, and many other museums, private institutions, and collector’s homes.

He has also worked with a numerous local environmental organizations over the years including FoLAR (Friends of the LA River), The Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Heal the Bay, 5 Gyres Institute, Algalita Marine Research Foundation, Communities for a Better Environment, and the LA Conservation Corps.

Peter has been an instructor for over fifteen years at the Los Angeles Center of Photography, and for years led their Los Angeles River Photo Adventure tour.

Michael Caley

Michael Caley was drawn to photography as a teenager, during backpacking trips to Yosemite, where he was inspired by the work of Ansel Adams. Today Michael’s dramatic landscape and wildlife photography are a natural extension of his long career as an architect and his many trips to the Eastern Sierras, Joshua Tree NP, the western United States and five trips to Africa. His work has been exhibited in several different venues including a 2010 solo exhibit at The G2 Gallery in Venice, CA. He can be reached at mcaleyaia@aol.com

Thomas Cloutier

Thomas Cloutier has been with SCCC since 2001, and he has been contributing to Focal Points Magazine since that time.

Cloutier’s interest in photography coincides with his interest in travel and giving representation to

nature landscapes. His formal education in photography comes from CSU Long Beach. At present Cloutier is a volunteer at CSU, Long Beach where he taught Water Colors and Drawing at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), designed for Seniors over 45. He also is a docent at Kleefield Contemporary Museum CSU Long Beach. He is Liaison for the Art And Design Departments for a scholarship program for students at CSU Long Beach, Fine Arts Affiliates, FineArtsAffiliates.org.

Cloutier at cde45@verizon.net

Joe Doherty

Joe grew up in Los Angeles and developed his first roll of film in 1972. He has been a visual communicator ever since.

He spent his teens and twenties working in photography, most of it behind a camera as a freelance editorial shooter.

Joe switched careers when his son was born, earning a PhD in Political Science from UCLA. This led to an opportunity to run a research center at UCLA Law.

After retiring from UCLA in 2016, Joe did some consulting, but now he and his wife, Velda Ruddock, spend much of their time in the field, across the West, capturing the landscape. www.joedohertyphotography.com

John Fisanotti

John was a photography major in his first three years of college. He has used 35mm, 2-1/4 medium format and 4x5 view cameras. He worked briefly in a commercial photo laboratory.

In 1980, John pivoted from photography and began his 32-year career in public service. He worked for Redevelopment Agencies at four different Southern California cities.

After retiring from public service in 2012, John continued his photographic interests. He concentrates on outdoors, landscape, travel and astronomical images. Since 2018, he expanded his repertoire to include architectural and real estate photography.

John lives in La Crescenta and can be contacted at either: jfisanotti@sbcglobal.net or fisanottifotos@gmail.com

http://www.johnfisanottiphotography.com http://www.architecturalphotosbyfisanotti.com

Beverly Houwing

Beverly Houwing loves traveling and photography, which has taken her to 80 countries and every continent. Most often she visits Africa since she loves spending time in remote wilderness locations where there is lots of wildlife and unique landscapes. Her images have been featured in numerous Africa Geographic articles, as well as in Smithsonian and the Annenberg Space for Photography exhibits. Her photographs have also been used for promoting conservation by many non-profit organizations, including National Wildlife Federation, National Parks Conservation Association, Crane Trust, National Audubon Society and Department of the Interior. Beverly is an Adobe Certified Instructor, so when she’s not out on a photography adventure she conducts training on their software programs and does freelance graphic design and production work.

Larry Miller

Larry used his first SLR camera in 1985 to document hikes in the local mountains. In fact, his first Sierra Club Camera Committee outing was a wildflower photo shoot in the Santa Monica Mountains led by Steve Cohen in 1991. Since then the SCCC has introduced him to many other scenic destinations, including the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, the Gorman Hills, and Saddleback Butte State Park.

Larry’s own photography trips gradually expanded in scope over the years to include most of the western National Parks and National Monuments, with the Colorado Plateau becoming a personal favorite.

Photography took a backseat to Miller’s career during the 32+ years that he worked as a radar systems engineer at Hughes Aircraft/Raytheon Company. Since retiring in 2013, he has been able to devote more time to developing his photographic skills. Experiencing and sharing the beauty of nature continues to be Larry’s primary motivation. lemiller49@gmail.com

John Nilsson

John has a fond memory of his father dragging him to the Denver Museum of Natural History on a winter Sunday afternoon. His father had just purchased a Bosely 35mm camera and he had decided he desperately wanted to photograph one of the dioramas of several Seal Lions in a beautiful blue half-light of the Arctic winter. The photo required a tricky long exposure and the transparency his father showed him several weeks later was spectacular and mysterious to John’s young eyes. Although the demands of Medical School made this photo one of the first and last John’s Dad shot, at five years old the son was hooked.

The arrival of the digital age brought photography back to John as a conscious endeavor - first as a pastime enjoyed with friends who were also afflicted, and then as a practitioner of real estate and architectural photography during his 40 years as a real estate broker.

Since retiring and moving to Los Angeles, John continued his hobby as a nature and landscape photographer through active membership in the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Camera Committee, as well as his vocation as a real estate photographer through his company Oz Images LA. The camera is now a tool for adventure!

www.OzImagesLA.com

Velda Ruddock

Creativity has always been important to Velda. She received her first Brownie camera for her twelfth birthday and can’t remember a time she’s been without a camera close at hand. Velda studied social sciences and art, and later earned a Masters degree in Information and Library Science degree from San Jose State University. All of her jobs allowed her to be creative, entrepreneurial, and innovative. For the last 22 years of her research career she was Director of Intelligence for a global advertising and marketing agency. TBWA\Chiat\Day helped clients such as Apple, Nissan, Pepsi, Gatorade, Energizer, and many more, and she was considered a leader in her field.

During their time off, she and her husband, Joe Doherty, would travel, photographing family,

events and locations. However, in 2011 they traveled to the Eastern Sierra for the fall colors, and although they didn’t realize it at the time, when the sun came up over Lake Sabrina, it was the start of them changing their careers. By 2016 Velda and Joe had both left their “day jobs,” and started traveling and shooting nature – big and small – extensively. Their four-wheeldrive popup camper allows them to go to areas a regular car can’t go and they were – and are –always looking for their next adventure. www.veldaruddock.com

VeldaRuddockPhotography@gmail.com

Rebecca Wilks

Photography has always been some kind of magic for Rebecca, from the alchemy of the darkroom in her teens… to the revelation of her first digital camera (a Sony Mavica, whose maximum file size was about 70KB)… to the new possibilities that come from her “tall tripod” (drone.)

Many years later, the camera still leads Rebecca to unique viewpoints and a meditative way to interact with nature, people, color, and emotion. The magic remains.

The natural world is Rebecca’s favorite subject, but she loves to experiment and to do cultural and portrait photography when she travels. Rebecca volunteers with Through Each Other’s Eyes, a nonprofit which creates cultural exchanges through photography, and enjoys working with other favorite nonprofits, including her local Meals on Wheels program and Cooperative for Education, supporting literacy in Guatemala.

Rebecca’s work has been published in Arizona Highways Magazine, calendars, and books, as well as Budget Travel, Cowboys and Indians, Rotarian Magazines, and even Popular Woodworking.

She’s an MD, retired from the practice of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Medical Acupuncture. She lives in the mountains of central Arizona with my husband and Gypsy, the Wonder Dog.