Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Focal Points Magazine - February 2022

Focal Points

Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Camera Committee Magazine February 2022

Cover Story:

Harsh Conditions

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Focal Points Magazine

Contents

Cover Photo Credit:

18. Meetings and Outings

“Faces on the Merced” - 2010. by: John Clement.

22. Joe's How-To

My photographer friend, Richard Barrington called to see if I wanted to drive down and shoot Yosemite with him. He had been chasing snow storms between Yosemite and the Grand Canyon and there was a big storm forecast for the next few days. We arrived just after the storm went through - with about two-hundred to three hundred other photographers! The weather warmed up and it quickly got messy.

We wandered the park for several days shooting all the locations but couldn’t come up with anything outstanding. Finally, while shooting El Capitan across the Merced River, I noticed some interesting reflections on the opposite shoreline worthy of several three to four image panoramas. Later, in post processing, these faces jumped out - especially in this vertical format.

28. Member Photos 78. Black and White Pages 86. Contributors' Bios 100. Notes and Announcements 106. Photo of the Month 107. Parting Shot

Focal Points Magazine Published monthly by the Angeles Chapter Sierra Club Camera Committee, John Nilsson, Editor.

Questions and comments can be directed to John at 213-266-2224 or FocalPoints.sccc@gmail.com 2

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Notes from the Chairman Thanks Wes! Everyone in the Sierra Club Camera Committee leadership is a volunteer. Without them we wouldn’t have Focal Points Magazine, the outings, the website, programming, or a treasury. Central to all of these responsibilities is membership. The SCCC risks collapse if membership doesn’t run smoothly. For about the last 30 years, the volunteer who kept membership running smoothly is Wesley Peck.

When I say “for about the last 30 years,” I am being intentionally vague. Only a handful of our current members were here when Wes started in the position, and none of them can recall the date he started.

That’s probably a good thing, though. We tend to remember the dates of traumatic events, and membership has never been traumatic during his tenure. Wes kept the planning committee up-to-date on who was a member, maintained the SCCC mailing list, and collected annual dues. I never remember him asking for thanks or even recognition for that work. It was necessary, and he got it done.

Leave nothing but footprints, Take nothing but pictures, Kill nothing but time.

Of course, Wes is involved in SCCC beyond his membership tasks. He has an extensive knowledge of mountain and desert locations, some of which became regular spots for SCCC outings. He has led many outings, including the Alabama Hills, Bristlecone Pines, and backpacking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. One member recalls being unable to keep up with his boulder-hopping at Rainbow Canyon, and another recalls a scouting trip to Anza-Borrego in which they unknowingly camped close to an active railroad track. He is always a hearty companion.

Last month Wes handed the membership baton to Joan Schipper. We all owe him a great deal of thanks for his service, and I look forward to seeing him when we can meet again in-person. Thanks Wes! 3

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Cover Story: Harsh Conditions by: John Clement

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All photos this story © John Clement, All Rights Reserved

In 40 years of photographing winter conditions I like it cold. The harsher it is the more I like it.

The coldest I’ve photographed in is 35° below zero, while dog sledding in the Yukon in the early 80s. We can get a –22° wind chill factor here in the Horse Heaven Hills, and the temperatures in the Palouse are often in the sub-zero single-digits.

Weather conditions always play an important role in my timing. I usually go out on the “back end” of winter storms, just as they are breaking up. During heavy wet snow events you need to react quickly to catch the snow as it coats trees and other objects. During colder snow events, those in the low 20°s with no wind, you have a longer grace period.

Finally, during blizzard events, which are the hardest to move around in because of drifting snow, you need to be prepared with shovels, blankets, food and water, Also, you must be familiar with the areas you are traversing. Understanding the weather and judiciously watching cloud movements help me determine the best time and locations to pursue during the winter.

I have hundreds of locations on my maps, and in my head, for the different conditions that occur here in the North-West. I also have certain compositions and conditions I like for various locations. When I think the conditions will be right it’s not unusual for me to cover several hundred miles in pursuit of a single image.

For this article I have compiled several photographs of my favorite winter images from over the years with their back stories. Enjoy!

Above: Yukon by Dogsled (1982) – We were doing a multi-media show for the outfitter, Bruce Johnson, to take to US conventions to promote his gold prospecting and dogsled adventures in the Yukon Territory. We were on Atlin Lake, the head waters of the Yukon River in northern British Columbia. The ice averaged 40 inches thick and would become so heavy that large cracks would form creating small lakes underneath the snow cover. These were called overflow lakes or ponds. They were very dangerous situations. We found a moose that had run into one and drowned. It became the food for the local wolves. Our group ran into several overflow ponds but fortunately did not break thru. Unfortunately, five years later Bruce hit one and was thrown off his sled. With winter clothing on it is almost impossible to escape, and he drowned.

The dogs were able to pull the sled out and returned to home base with no driver. This alerted his wife and two kids that something had happened. They never found his body. The lake in this area is 1500 feet deep.

Below: Minus 22° in Kitties Valley (1969) – This is one of my first winter pictures.

That year temperatures hit –32° and school was shut down for a week but my car wouldn’t start so there was no venturing out.

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©2022 John Clement, All Rights Reserved

Left: Minus 22° Wind Chill – Several years ago, after a blizzard roared thru our area, I ventured out in very hostile windy conditions with this image in mind. I had to wait several days till the roads were plowed. In early morning light and with 30-40 mph winds at 7° I could only stay outside the car for a few minutes at a time to catch this two-image panorama at sunrise.

Below: Cottontail on Snow (1981) – After a quick snow storm I decided to run my winter route of about twelve miles to see if anything would catch my eye in the Horse Heaven Hill, south of my home. The light was too flat, so I headed home, crawling down a very icy Webber Canyon Road when the bunny caught my eye. To get the best angle I moved into the oncoming traffic lane. I quickly changed to my telephoto lens on my RB-6x7 film camera and lowered the window. I focused on the rabbit. Suddenly there was loud honking!! I looked up and a semi-truck was 50 feet away, crawling up the grade. I quickly moved back to the right lane as he crawled by giving me the thumbs-up sign. I was sure that the horn and loud truck had scared the rabbit away, so I put my car in reverse and slowly backed up. He was still sitting there! I took one shot, looked at my camera back for a second, looked back up, and he had disappeared into the culvert under the road. I sold over a hundred prints of this image over the next several months.

Below Left: Snow Day (2010) – After returning my daughter, Colleen, to college in Seattle, I ran into a very heavy snowstorm coming back over the Cascades while heading home. I knew of several locations that might lend themselves to photo opportunities. I exited I90 on the east side of Snoqualmie pass, and this old school house was my first stop. I shot it from the car window, making a two-image panorama for larger file size. I have sold quite a few prints of this image to people with the last name Nelson!

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Upper Left: Blizzard Bison (2010) – I knew my next stop would be much more difficult.

There is a bison ranch about 20 miles away from the school house, in the very hilly country in the Kitties Valley. I was driving a small Hyundi Accent with only front-wheel drive and about eight inches of clearance. The main roads were alright but side roads were a challenge. As I climbed the hill to the location where the bison might be, I was plowing through ten feet of powdery snow with deep ditches on both sides of the road, not knowing if I would even see them. The bison don’t hang out near the road most of the time. When I got to the location it was snowing at two to three inches an hour. Again, I pulled into the left lane and waited to see if any might show up, and of course a big all-wheel high-rise Dodge Power Wagon approached me, only this time it casually went around me. I thought I saw a dark figure through the heavy snow and sure enough, four bison came plowing their way towards me. They made a right turn parallel from me and I was able to get my image.

Left: Rocklyn Zion Winter, 9° (2017) – It was a 120 mile drive one way. I check road cameras all the time to see weather conditions in various locations that are on my shoot list.

A camera 12-miles from this location showed sharp clear air, so off I went. I spent several hours shooting various angles and locations around the church. This was my favorite.

Above: Seven Cats and a Deere – Once again I was in the Horse Heaven Hills. There is a rancher who buys old equipment and spends his winters restoring it while he is not farming.

With the temperature in the lower teens, and a heavy inversion layer of moisture laden fog, everything was coated with frost. I returned in the spring to start a season series only to find four of the tractors left in the row. ©2022 John Clement, All Rights Reserved

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Above: Fairfield Winter - on the edge of town the soft sunlight was dancing in and out of the inversion layer. So it was a matter of time waiting till it passed by this winter scene to give the light I wanted.

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©2022 John Clement, All Rights Reserved

Above: Grand Rhonde Winter (1986) – Grand Rhonde is a 360-mile round trip from my home. I had sold a spring image of this location to a farmer who lived on the ridge above the river and asked him to give me a call when it snowed all the way to the river. Two years later I got a call at 7am in the morning. It had snowed all the way down. I thanked him for the heads up and packed my 4x5” Linhof View camera, my Leicas, and my RB6x7 and headed out. I had snowy roads all way up in my VW bus. On Rattlesnake Grade you descend almost 1,000 feet to this location. There were no guardrails and the precipitous drop is from 300800’on the right side of the grade. The one-way trip on compact snow and ice took almost five hours. After I captured the image I drove another five hours home.

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Desolation Winter - By 2015 I had captured shots of the other three seasons of this Charles E. Nelson home, built in the late 1800s east of Dufur, Oregon in very hilly country. This home was one of the most photographed old farm houses in North Central Oregon. I knew this winter shot would be the hardest to get due to its remote location and I wanted heavy snow with blizzard conditions. The Pacific storm I was looking for presented itself in November of 2015. This was a large storm with big winds coming right up the Columbia River. I checked into the Dalles, Oregon motel the night before the storm was to arrive and early the next morning found myself inching my way through 6 to 10 inches of drifting wind blown snow. As I had hoped, I was the first one on the remote back road to the house and I was grateful for my all-wheel-drive vehicle to say the least! When I got close to the top of the ridge where the home was located, the winds were gusting 30 to 35 mph, making it difficult to see.

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I arrived at the house and found the angle I wanted, close to the same as my previous three images with the old wagon as the dominant foreground and the house, windmill and trees in the background. I took slightly varying angles and about 50 shots. This three-shot vertical panorama was the best result. I knew I couldn’t spend long there as the main part of the big storm was due around 11am with heavier snow and winds forecasted. I definitely didn’t want to get caught in this remote area and I knew the drive home through the Columbia River Gorge was going to be a 3-4 hour slog in these conditions. Sad note: in 2018 a big wildfire blew up in this area and wiped the farm off the map. All that remains are the steel wagon wheels and a pile of charred bricks that were the chimney of the old victorian place.

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Above: Moose on the Palouse - On the backside of a winter storm I was able to get part way up Steptoe Butte. The overcast sunlight was perfect, not too harsh, not too flat. I wasn’t paying much attention - just taking pictures. This is a 3-image horizontal panorama. Sitting in my SUV I started going thru the images on my view finder and then I noticed the moose had wandered into the picture.

Left: Waiting for Spring (1989) – Years ago I told my kids to put away their outside trikes and bikes because a snowstorm was coming. The next morning the beautiful snow covered the land and they were getting their snowsuits on to go sledding on our hill. When I opened the front door, there it sat covered in snow. I told the kids they couldn’t go out until I got a picture and the trike was put away, in that order. I got my RB-6x7 out and took several pictures very slowly as the kids waited impatiently by the front door to get out and mess up the beautiful untouched snow.

www.johnclementgallery.com

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Meetings and Meetings and Outings Outings

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Sierra Club Camera Committee --

February 10, 2022 Meeting

The Camera Committee welcomes

Gary Crabbe

Zoom Link

Where:

In the comfort of your own home via Zoom

Provided before the presentation.

See you there!

When: 7:00 PM

What:

The Zoom platform has recently been upgraded to provide high security and ease of operation.

Be certain to download or upgrade to the latest vesion before the presentation!

A presentation by Gary Crabbe 18

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TOPICS:

Forever Stamps

Vineyard images from Premier Photo Galleries

California Coast images from Premier Photo Galleries Photo tips

Gary currently resides in Pleasant Hill, California, just outside San Francisco. Gary began taking pictures while attending Humboldt State University, where he received a Bachelors Degree in Social and Adolescent Psychology, and a Masters Degree in Directing, Acting, Writing, and Production for the Theater.

His interest in photography began to grow after taking an elective class in Black & White, but he soon found his passion was the pursuit of color and form in nature.

After graduation, a twist of fate led Gary to the studio of World-Famous photographer Galen Rowell, where he managed the Stock Department of Mountain Light Photography for nine years. Known for his industry expertise and unwavering professionalism, Gary has worked with many of the world’s best-known advertising agencies, magazines, and publishers. He has been happy to offer his knowledge and opinions consulting with other photographers, and has been quoted several times in Photo District News, Wired Magazine, Mother Jones, and numerous other trade publications. He currently has seven published books to his credit.

In 2018, seven of his photographs were selected by the U.S. Postal Service to be featured as USPS Forever Stamps. This is an incredible honor to be among a very select few photographers to have their images become UPSP Stamps. His seven photos are now immortalized as part of a 20-image collection called, O Beautiful, an homage to the song, “America the Beautiful.”

More info on his website: 19

EnlightPhoto.com 19

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Joe’s How-to

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Joe’s How-To Focus Stacking

exposures (e.g., a field of waving grasses and wildflowers). I’ve found the most success with close-up images of relatively stationary objects. For this column I’ll use a recent photograph of oyster mushrooms I found in a forest north of Trinidad, California.

By Joe Doherty

One of the earliest things I learned when I picked up a camera was the relationship between aperture and depth of field. The rule was pretty simple – a smaller aperture meant that more was in focus. So I shot everything at the smallest aperture possible. But that didn’t work out so great, and it took me a while to learn why not. At some point every lens hits a point of diminishing returns for sharpness. Smaller apertures lead to more diffraction, or blurring. A photo could be sharp with shallow depth-of-field at f8, or un-sharp with great depth-of-field at f22. That was the trade-off.

It’s important to know something about your lens before you start shooting. Specifically, you should know at what f-stop diffraction starts to become noticeable. On my lenses that’s typically around f8 or f11, depending on the focal length. Given that, I try to shoot all of the images I intend to focus stack at around f8 or f11. This gives me frames that are as sharp as possible along with depth of field that makes blending easier.

It takes a lot of trial and error to determine how many frames you need to shoot. It boils down to two things: how far apart are the nearest and farthest things you want in focus; and how much does the depth of field overlap across the frames. Before making any exposures I use the manual focus ring on my lens to get a feel for how much I need to turn it in order to get both ends of the stack in focus.

In addition, even with a small aperture not everything was in focus. The lack of infinite depth of field required me to make both technical and artistic choices. When photographing a wildflower it was important to maneuver the camera into a position where all of the important bits of the subject were in the same plane relative to the camera, so that they would be sharp as the foreground with the background blurred away. Creativity is how the we react to such constraints.

From experience I have an idea for how much I can turn the ring and stay within the depth of field of the previous shot. There are probably tables and guidebooks that tell how much that should be, and that’s good background information, but in the field it’s better to have an intuitive feel for it. There is no substitute for experience.

Today that constraint is at least partially gone, relieved by digital imaging and the technique of focus stacking. It is now possible to produce images with an amazing depth of field at the maximum sharpness of a lens. This is accomplished by shooting multiple frames of the same subject, changing the focus between frames, and blending them together using software.

Some cameras (my Nikon D850) can be set to automatically change the focus between shots. Nikon calls it “focus shifting,” and it allows me to choose how many frames to shoot (up to nine) and how much to shift the focus in between exposures. I found this very

Some subjects are difficult to focus stack because parts of them move in-between 22

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useful when I was shooting wild azaleas. It wasn’t possible to use a tripod, so I did a series of “motor drive” exposures while hand holding the camera.

It took 4 or 5 runs of 9 frames each to get it right.

Not all of my lenses are autofocus, however, so that won’t work in every circumstance. For the examples in this column, I used a 1970s era 55mm Micro-Nikkor.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2b

When shooting these oyster mushrooms my experience told me that five frames would be enough to bring together the nearest and farthest points that I wanted in focus (Figure 1).

Having made these exposures and brought them into Lightroom, there is a decision to make. Do I process the photograph before or after blending? I don’t have an opinion on that question. I think that as long as the processing is identical across all of the frames it shouldn’t be a problem. Since this was made in relatively flat light I processed it very little before blending.

The next step is to select all of the images in Lightroom and edit them as layers in Photoshop. This is done through the menu Photo/ Edit In/Open as Layers in Photoshop . . . . The same options can be found by right-clicking the images and selecting the “Edit In” option.

It might take some time to open them, but once finished you should see something like Figure 3. Before proceeding to the next step, be sure to select all layers. I do this by clicking on the top layer, holding down the shift key, and clicking the bottom layer.

Fig. 2a My first exposure was on the closest point (Figure 2a) and the fifth exposure was on the furthest point (Figure 2b).

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You might notice some of the frames are slightly resized during this process. This is because of something called “focus breathing.”

As you change the focus, the size of the image on the sensor changes slightly. Auto Align Layers will resize your image to correct for that.

After aligning the image, use Edit/Auto Blend Layers to put them together (Figure 4b).

Auto Blend Layers creates a set of masks

Fig. 3 Once all of the layers are selected, the process of focus stacking begins. Start with Edit/Auto Align Layers, which will . . . well, align the layers (Figure 4a). (If both Auto Align and Auto Blend are grayed out in the menu, it might be because the layers are not selected.)

Fig. 4b that allow only the sharp parts of each layer to come through. At this point you will want to closely examine the image to see if it has done the job correctly. Small adjustments are possible by making changes to the masks, which is a tedious but sometimes rewarding pastime.

If you are satisfied then save the file. I like to flatten the layers before saving, which reduces the size of the file a lot and makes it easier to open up again in Lightroom. You may want to keep the layers, if you think you’ll want to edit the masks in the future.

Fig. 4a 24

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Fig. 5 The end product should be an image in which the nearest and farthest points are sharp (Figure 5). The transition from close to far should appear seamless, and there should be no weird blurry areas. The effect is to replicate how a person actually sees an object in person, with the eye quickly adjusting focus as it flits from detail to detail.

This how-to uses Lightroom and Photoshop because those two come bundled together in a monthly plan that is commonly used among SCCC members. But another program, Helicon Focus, is reported to be better at focus stacking than Photoshop.

That is probably true, and if you want to do further exploration on the topic I recommend adding Helicon to your collection of processing tools.

www.joedohertyphotography.com 25

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This Month’s Member Photos

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Joyce Harlan

© 2022 Joyce Har All Rights Reserve

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rlan ed

White Sands

This was an amazing Visionary Wild Workshop that was originally going to be the last ever for Jack Dykinga together with John Shaw. Jack contracted Covid and John was still grieving the loss of his wife, so the two of them decided that retirement had come . We were blessed to have Jerry Dodrill and Grant Ordelheid take over and they did an amazing job. I’ve known them both for years and believe they are the heir apparents!

You’ll see that the “stars” of the show were light and texture accentuated by weather - I loved every minute, even getting up at 4:30 every morning!!

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©2022 Joyce Harlan, All Rights Reserved

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SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CAMERA COMMITTEE

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MAY 2015

SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CAMERA COMMITTEE

MAY 2015

©2022 Joyce Harlan, All Rights Reserved

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“Sorry About That” Blackbirds and the nearly-full Moon in the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge.

Joe Doherty All photos this story ©2022 Joe Doherty, All Rights Reserved

Our winter 2022 trip began in New Mexico. We camped in the freezing temps of Socorro to photograph the snow geese and sandhill cranes of the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge. There were far fewer cranes this year than two years ago, due (apparently) to the failure of the local corn crop during this drought year. The Refuge was nevertheless an exciting place, with huge flocks of geese flying in at dawn and flying out again as the sun rose. The blackbirds were also interesting subjects, with huge murmurations floating over our heads and roosts in the bare trees. From Bosque we traveled to White Sands National Park, a place that neither of us had visited before. We raced against the clock in the evening and in the morning, trying to find dunes that were not spoiled by ATV tracks or footprints.

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“Blown Away” Blackbirds leave their roost in a burned-out tree in the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge.

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“Flying Above the Rest” A snow goose gets an early start over the rest of its flock as the sun rises at Bosque del Apache.

“The Fly-Out” Hundreds of snow geese fly out of the main pond at Bosque del Apache as the Sun breaks through the clouds.

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“Sunset in the Dunes” A spectacular sunset at White Sands National Park.

“Moonset at White Sands” We hustled up the Dune Loop and into the dunes to find a spot that gave us unspoiled dunes in the foreground and a clear view of the moon settling behind the mountains to the west.

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Sandi Kirwin ©2022 Sandi Kirwin, All Rights Reserved

A Closer Look

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SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CAMERA COMMITTEE

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MAY 2015

©2022 Sandi Kerwin, All Rights Reserved

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©2022 Sandi Kirwin, All Rights Reserved

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SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CAMERA COMMITTEE

John Nilsson

MAY 2015

©2022 John Nilsson, All Rights Reserved

A trip to Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area on the Great Salt Lake I recently returned from a trip with Brent Paull to an incredible Wildlife Management Area in the North Salt Lake City suburbs. There were thousands of acres of beautiful marsh and wetlands that have been wintering grounds for just about anything that flies for thousands of years. This was all pretty new to me. I shot over 1,000 photographs and came up with fewer than 50 “keepers.” Things worked out fine until the birds moved. I’ve got a lot to learn....

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SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CAMERA COMMITTEE

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MAY 2015

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SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CAMERA COMMITTEE

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MAY 2015

SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CAMERA COMMITTEE

MAY 2015

©2022 John Nilsson, All Rights Reserved

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John Fisanotti ©2022 John Fisanotti, All Rights Reserved

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Griffith Observatory Views

John Nilsson’s image of LA from Griffith Park motivated me to go there. I shot the observatory in front of the LA skyline at night, 40 years ago this month. I have wanted to go back and repeat the shot since the skyline has changed so much.

Last month I made three trips either in the evening or at daybreak. Here is a selection of the images.

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©2022 John Fisanotti, All Rights Reserved

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Zion Border

New Mexico Javelinas 52

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Basil Katsaros ©2021 Basil Katsaros, All Rights Reserved

Tonight was the Mile High Wildlife Camera Club meeting. Big night for me. Bryce Sunset (below) took first place. The other two took Honorable Mention!!

All three taken on a Brent Paull Trip.

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...And on another recent trip with Brent Paull

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©2022 Basil Katsaros, All Rights Reserved

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Carole Armstrong ©2022 Carole Armstrong, All Rights Reserved

A Day at the Zoo

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True Love

©2022 Carole Armstrong, All Rights Reserved

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Zebra

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The pond by the Flight Deck, at dawn. This snag is a favorite place for Bald Eagles, although there were none there that morning.

Velda Ruddock January Adventures

Every January finds Joe and me on the road, looking for winter beauty. As of today we are on day nine of our trip and my images are a small selection from two places we heartily recommend: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and White Sands National Park, both in New Mexico.

Bosque is a favorite spot to watch the migration of the sandhill cranes and the snow geese.

In the past we’ve seen thousands of both. This year we saw many gorgeous flocks of geese, although there were relatively few cranes. Regardless it is a beautiful place to visit and we are already looking forward to the next time. ©2022 Velda Ruddock, All Rights Reserved

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Above: A goose couple. One is in front and the other is above. Neither is subordinate and both are flying to the same destination.

Below: Sandhill Crane spectators. There must have been something interesting Stage Left.

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Moonrise over the snag. This image was focus-stacked s [see Joe’s “How-to” for m 62

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so the moon, the snag, the reeds, and the reflections are in focus. more on focus stacking images] 63

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We had never been to White Sands National Park before and although we expected the gypsum (not sand) to be white we were startled at how much it looked like snow. We spent the first night scouting - we only had an hour before the rangers chased the visitors out of the park. The next day we were the first car into the park to not only catch the sun rise but the moon set.

Evening falls on the dunes. We didn’t get far in our quest to find an area without footsteps or other evidence of visitors stumbling on or sledding down the dunes.

I was happy to find these yucca in the violet gloom.

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Moonrises and moonsets happen quickly, so when we got into the park we hustled as quickly to the tops of dunes, one after another, until we ran out of time.

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Steve Anderson

© 2022 Steve Anderson, All Rights Reserved

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Trees....

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Beverly Houwing I went on Brent Paull’s Bobcat Safari a couple weeks ago and had a great time. We weren’t too lucky with bobcats, but had at least one good sighting - plus many other animals and birds. It was a lot of fun. I’ve included photos from that trip for Focal Points, plus an image that is going to tour in a print exhibition by the Smithsonian and Audubon Society.

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01 - Oak in the morning fog 02 - Bobcat out for a hunt 03 - Elk in the fields in Priest Valley 04 - Colorful Tom turkey in Pinnacles National Park 05 - Bald Eagle perched in a tree 06 - A Ferruginous Hawk takes off from a utility pole 07 - An American Badger looks at us curiously 08 - An American Badger peeking through the tall grass at the crest of a hill in Priest Valley ©2022 Beverly Houwing, All Rights Reserved

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©2022 Beverly Houwing, All Rights Reserved

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0808 ©2022 Beverly Houwing, All Rights Reserved

Also, my image of Sandhill Cranes (Left) will be included in an upcoming traveling exhibition, Knowing Nature: Stories of the Boreal Forest, that will travel to museums and science centers in the U.S. and Canada between April 15, 2023 – August 8, 2027. This is a partnership between Audubon and the Smithsonian.

Info about the exhibition: The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service is planning an exhibition to raise awareness about the importance of our global forests to mitigate climate change, by shining a spotlight on the Canadian boreal forest. We are working with colleagues from across the Smithsonian as well as Indigenous community members, researchers, artists and conservationists to create an exhibition that gives voice to an environment and the people that are on the front lines of climate change. While seemingly remote to many, the boreal forest stores more than three times the amount of carbon as tropical forests, and therefore its health is one of the most important factors in determining what our sustainable future looks like.

We believe this exhibition will awaken audiences’ curiosity and empathy and will put a human face on both the challenges we face in terms of climate change and the viable solutions that are possible. It can also serve as a platform for host sites to raise awareness about their local forest and environmental issues.

The story of the boreal forest is an epic tale of humanity and nature. Its history spans millennia, providing stories of science, culture, art and adventure in the North.

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Golden Eyelash Pit Viper: Handheld, taken at a macro set up with an off camera flash and reflector. Olympus M1X, 40-150/2X teleconverter, f/11, 1/250 sec., ISO 200. (Don’t try this at home) 76

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Phil Witt

A few shots from a recent trip to Costa Rica

Palla’s Long-tongued Bat: Taken with five flashes triggered by an infrared trip beam at fruit feeders. Tripod, Olympus M1X, 40-150 lens, f/11, 3.2 sec., ISO 400 ©2022 Phil Witt, All Rights Reserved

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The Black and White Pages

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Mohave National Preserve, CA

John Fisanotti Nikon D850 Nikkor 70/200 @200mm 1/6@f/11 ISO 64

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Early morning temperature inversion over North Salt Lake City

John Nilsson Leica M10-Monochrome 90mm Macro-Elmar 1:4/90 1/500sec@f/11, ISO 250

Several Coal Fired Power Plants and two large Refineries contribute dramatically to Salt Lake’s notoriously bad air.

©2022 John Nilsson, All Rights Reserved

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White Sands Dune

Joe Doherty Nikon D850 Tamaron Sp70-200 @ 200mm ISO 200 F11@ 1/500 sec

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Nestled in the Dunes

Velda Ruddock Nikon D750 Nikkor 28mm f11@ 1/400 sec ISO 200

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Contributor Bios

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Steve Anderson

John Clement

Steve worked primarily in the conventional

John began his career in photography in the early 70’s after graduating from Central Washington University with a double major in Geology and Geography. Since then he has earned a Masters of Photography from the Professional Photographers of America. He has received over 65 regional, national and international awards for his pictorial and commercial work. His photographs grace the walls of many businesses in the Northwest and has been published in numerous calendars and coffee table books.

medium of Black and White silver-based photography for many years as he explored the natural landscape of the local San Gabriel Mountains and his beloved High Sierra in California. In the last 20 years he has engaged in digital photography as it has opened up new avenues and excitement about making images of the natural scene.

His interest in photography began in junior high school when he developed his first roll of film from a Kodak Brownie camera. He became very interested in combining photography and traveling adventures as a member of the Highlanders, a mountaineering club at Pasadena City College. His work turned more serious during military service as the landscape became his focus of attention.

He has provided photographs for Country Music Magazine and for Northwest Travel Magazine. He has supplied murals for the Seattle Seahawks Stadium and images for The Carousel of Dreams in Kennewick, WA. Current projects include 17 – 4x8 foot glass panels featuring his landscapes in Eastern Washington for the Pasco Airport Remodel. Last year he finished a major project for the Othello Medical Clinic where almost 200 images were used to decorate the facilities ranging in size from 24” to 35’ in size.

His work can be viewd at:

Steve’s interest in the environmental movement, starting in his college days, led him to actively seek ways of using his photography to help in a personally significant way. He joined the Mono Lake Committee 40 years ago and has been an active leader in the Sierra Club since 1981. He served as the chairperson of the Camera Committee of the Angeles Chapter for 5 years.

www.johnclementgallery.com John Clement Photography Face Book Professional page The Kiona Winery in Benton City, and at Allied Arts Gallery in Richland, WA.

Steve’s images have appeared in Sierra, the Southern Sierran, Images of the West, A Portrait of Bodie, and the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Schedule of Activities. Some of his monochrome images were significant contributions to help save Mono Lake. He has had work shown in a number of local galleries. Steve was the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Artist in Residence in 2015. Steve has published four photography books that are available through Blurb.com.

“My images sum up my feelings about the grandeur of nature. It is never just one thing that touches me when I try to capture a moment, but always a vast array of emotional and photographic textures. Most of my images are therefore complex and detailed.”

Email: sandersonimagery@outlook.com Viewingwebsite:www.pbase.com/spanderson 90

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JW Doherty

John Fisanotti

Joe Doherty 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.

As a youth, John’s interest in photography stemmed from an interest in astronomy. His first photos were attempts to photograph the night sky using a folding Kodak camera, that once belonged to an uncle. Later, John used a 35mm rangefinder camera to photograph nature, particularly the San Gabriel Mountains above his home in La Crescenta. After high school, John sold his telescope to purchase a 35mm SLR camera outfit.

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. John expected to be a commercial photographer.

His personal work leaned heavily to shooting landscapes and outdoors. In 1977 John changed majors. After graduating from California State University Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Urban Studies in 1979, John’s first post job college was in a commercial photo laboratory.

In 1980, he pivoted from photography and began his 32-year career in public service.

John worked for four Southern California cities in city planning, community development and redevelopment, and concluded his career as a Project Manager for the Culver City Redevelopment Agency. During these decades, he continued to shoot outdoor scenic images whenever possible.

After retiring from public service in 2012, John has pursued his astronomical and photographic interests. Beginning in 2013, John has been a telescope operator for the 60" reflector telescope at Mt. Wilson Observatory.

And John has increased his photographic portfolio concentrating on outdoors, landscape, travel and astronomical images. Beginning in 2018, he has expanded his repertoire to include architectural and real estate photography.

Occasionally, John has been fortunate to have photographs selected for various exhibitions or publications.

He currently shoots with Nikon DSLR cameras.

John’s photographic websites:

He switched careers when his son was born, earning a PhD in political science from UCLA specializing in American politics and research methods.

This led to an opportunity to run a research center and teach at UCLA Law, where he became best known as an empirical bankruptcy scholar.

After retiring from UCLA in 2016 he continued to consult, but now he and his wife Velda Ruddock spend much of their time in the field, across the West, capturing the landscape.

Landscape, Travel and Astronomical images http://www.johnfisanottiphotography.com; Architectural and Real Estate photography are at http://www.architecturalphotosbyfisanotti.com.

Contact John at either jfisanotti@sbcglobal.net or fisanottifotos@gmail.com.

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Phil Witt

Velda Ruddock

Phil Witt has been photographing nature since he got his first SLR camera in the late 70s.

An avid birder, he is a volunteer at the Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary of NJ Audubon in Bernardsville, where he coleads the photography workshop series. He is currently on NJ Audubon’s Board of Directors. He is a past president of the Camera Naturalist Photo Club, and program chair of the Somerset County Camera Club.

He judges photography competitions and presents instructional programs at photography clubs throughout New Jersey. He received the NJ Federation of Camera Club’s 2017 Citation for service to photography in the state.

Creativity has always been important to me. I received my first Brownie camera for my twelfth birthday and I can’t remember a time I’ve been without a camera close at hand.

I studied the social sciences and art, and later earned a Masters degree in Information and Library Science degree. All of my jobs allowed me to be creative, entrepreneurial, and innovative. For the last 22 years of my research career I 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 I was considered a leader in my field.

He and his wife enjoy traveling the world for photography--Antarctica, the Galapagos, Tanzania, Iceland, Costa Rica, among others.

During our time off, my husband, Joe Doherty and I would travel, photographing family, events and locations. However, in 2011 we traveled to the Eastern Sierra for the fall colors, and although we didn’t realize it at the time, when the sun came up over Lake Sabrina, it was the start of change in our careers.

When not birding or photographing, he is a (mostly retired) forensic psychologist, specializing in legal cases and court testimony. https://philwitt.smugmug.com

By 2016 we had both left our “day jobs,” and we started traveling – and shooting nature – big and small – extensively. Our four-wheel drive popup camper allowed us to go to areas a regular car can’t go and we were – and are – always looking for our next adventure.

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Susan Manley

Paul Reinstein

Susan Manley has more than 35 years experience as a photographer.

Her career consisted mainly working in a Communications Department writing and shooting a wide variety of public relations and photojournalism photos.

Since she retired approximately ten years ago, she switched her focus onto nature photography including landscapes and wildlife in America.

I have two lifelong hobbies; photography and fine woodworking. My father fostered both those interests. At 14, right before I went on a 1 week backpacking trip around Yosemite Valley with my friend Joe (16) who could drive, my father taught me the basics of using a camera on an Olympus camera that shot half frames on 35mm film. Can you imagine allowing a 14 year old to do that in today’s world? By 20, I was fully independent. In my 20s, I bought a Minolta SRT101, and I also started dabbling in woodworking as a way to have simple furniture while working my way through college (Biochemistry, UCLA).

I even had a simple B&W darkroom for a while.

I shot mostly landscapes. After getting my degree, I decided I didn’t like working in that field, so I went back to school, and worked my way through a masters degree (Electronics Engineering, CSULB). I spent the majority of my career at The Aerospace Corp, working mostly on electrical power systems for rockets and satellites for the Air Force, NASA and the NRO. During that time, when not working, I began focusing mostly on fine woodworking, shooting occasional snapshots.

By 50, my woodshop was enviable, my wife and I were flipping homes on the side, I was a manager at work, and digital cameras reignited my interest in photography. When the music stopped in real estate, we built our own home in Mar Vista. Then, my boss, and his boss both died unexpectedly (and independently), a huge layoff was announced, and I was retired.

I got my general contractor’s license, and tried that for a couple of years. I retired fully at 60, earlier than I would have imagined.

ssnmanley@Yahoo.com

By 2016, I had amassed a number of bird photos, just by happenstance, so I decided to see what I could get that number up to, just for fun. That turned out to be eminently satisfying, albeit expensive, and now I spend much of my time shooting birds locally or travelling worldwide to do so. My big birding trips so far include the Galapagos and the UK, and my list is presently up to about 350 species, and I have a small presence on Instagram and on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/preinstein54/.

I’ve sold a few images upon request, several of my friends have my images on their walls, and I still dabble in woodworking, including making my own frames.

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Jeff Gottesman

Wiebe Gortmaker

I first became interested in photography back in high school sometime in the last century. My father worked for many years in a professional camera store in Pittsburgh (Kadet Photo Supply) where he did the picture framing.

I am based in Boulder, Colorado and consider myself a full-time hobbyist. After retiring from the airlines, I have devoted a high percentage of my time to travel and learning photography.

I spent a few summers working in that camera store mostly doing shipping and receiving but every chance I got, I would be talking with and learning from the salesmen who knew everything about cameras and photography.

In the past few years I have moved from travel photography to primarily wildlife and landscape photography. Prior to the airlines, I spent considerable time in remote areas of Alaska and Central and South America. I am now able to revisit those places with a focus on photography.

At the end of the summer they gave me a used Pentax Spotmatic 500 and there began my love of photography. I did all the shooting and darkroom work for my high school yearbook and later as a photographer and writer for college newspapers.

At the same time, I developed a love of nature and graduated college with a degree in Geology (with several electives in Photography). That was where all the environmentalists spent their time.

I have lived in Colorado since college and spent a lot of time flying, hiking, and climbing in the wild places in my back yard.

With my new hobby I am looking at these places in a new way, trying to preserve the image and feelings I have of the wildlife and landscape.

This process motivates me to learn and discover.

The love of nature and photography were a perfect match and after retiring from IT a few years ago (there was a career change somewhere in there) I’ve returned to those early loves and am able to spend a lot more time on photography, enjoying workshops and especially the Sierra Club trips :).

Wiebe is concentrating on his photography at this time and is not currently active on social media. He does plan to have a website together in the near future.

My photos can be seen at https://www.jeffgottesmanphotography.com/

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Joyce Harlan

Allen Johnson

I have always loved photography! First to document and save photos of my sons. We had little to no money for film developing in the beginning but I kept shooting. Every year my husband would ask me what I wanted for Christmas/birthday and I would always say “develop my film”!! After several years he finally did, but everything was yellow but the memories were there. From there, when I was coaching downhill skiing for Westside Special Olympics, I took photos of my athletes and created a book for each of them. The pure joy I saw on their and their family’s faces was priceless!

I'm a PhD in psychology with a passion for photography. I'm also the author of several books: a memoir on France entitled "Pardon My French" and two novels: "The Awakening" and "Spike, Benny, and Boone."

Finally, I was at Mammoth skiing with my family (grandkids!!) and we had lunch at Bergers Burgers. They had the most gorgeous landscape photos on they walls. I asked the waitress about them and she said they were by Vern Clevenger and that he often came in for lunch after skiing and she would point him out for me. She did, I asked about workshops and he said “absolutely”.

That was it!! I took one workshop from him and many, many more with Mountain Light in Bishop with Jack Dykinga, John Shaw, Jerry Dodrill, David Meunch and Jeff Foote. One of the most memorable was their ten day inaugural rafting the Grand Canyon trip with Jack & Jerry.

Over the years I have been blessed to travel the world with Muench Workshops (Cuba, Yukon, Mongolia, Alaska) Visionary Wild (Botswana, Kenya, Patagonia, Greenland), Aurora Expenditions (Antarctica), and Nathaniel Smalley (Iceland, Maine fall color).

Photography mixed with travel has been my favorite soul food for a long, long time.

And will continue to be for as long as I am able. Sadly, I am missing a trip to China in April and Uganda in June to see the gorillas.

But I’ll get there as soon as it is safe again.

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Butch Mazzuca

John Nilsson

I was born in Chicago IL and attended the University of Dayton. After graduation I served four and half years as a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps.

I have a fond memory from my early years of my father dragging me to the Denver Museum of Natural History on a winter Sunday afternoon. He had just purchased a Bosely 35mm camera and had decided he wanted desperately to photograph one of the dioramas. I distinctly remember the display was of several Seal Lions in a beautiful blue half-light of the Arctic winter that required a tricky long exposure. The transparency he showed me several weeks later was spectacular and mysterious to my young eyes. Although the demands of Medical School made this photo one of the first and last he shot, at 5 years old I was hooked.

My last official ‘work' position was President & CEO of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co-Denver. I Retired in 1999 and moved to Vail where I taught skiing, a “fundamentals of photography” class at our local community college and wrote (still do) commentary for the Vail Daily Newspaper.

I Started taking pictures in 2008 when my wife Bobbi “talked me” into traveling to Africa (we returned seven more times! ) My images have been published in Shutter Bug Magazine, Sarasota Magazine, Travel Africa Magazine (5 times) and Africa Geographic (6 times including two photo essays) I consider myself a generalist although African wildlife and landscape photography are my favorites.

The arrival of the digital age brought photography back to me 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 my 40 years as a real estate broker. Since retiring and moving to Los Angeles, I have continued my hobby as a nature and landscape photographer through active membership in the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Camera Committee and my vocation as a real estate photographer through my company Oz Images LA. The camera is now a tool for adventure!

www.OzImagesLA.com dtlanow@gmail.com

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David DesRochers

Larry Miller

In the summer of 2000, David traveled from New Jersey to Montana to visit Glacier National Park. With camera in hand, he attempted to capture the amazing wildlife and beautiful landscapes. Although his photos were somewhat disappointing, the experience inspired him to study the art of photography and travel the world to witness and capture the wonders of our natural world.

I bought my first SLR camera in 1985 to document hikes in the local mountains that I did with friends. My 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 me to many other scenic destinations, including the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, the Gorman hills, Saddleback Butte State Park, East Mojave National Preserve, the Eastern and Southern Sierras, Point Reyes, the Big Sur Coast, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, Red Rock Canyon State Park, Tejon Ranch, and Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.

At the same time, my 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.

David is a member of the North American Nature Photography Association and an Associate Naturalist with The New Jersey Audubon Society. Over the past 15 years, David has shared his knowledge teaching workshops, leading tours, and writing articles.

David’s photos have been recognized in several international competitions and have been published in books, magazines and on calendars.

David is an accomplished public speaker and has appeared at events including the New England Camera Club Council Annual Conference (2014 & 2016), the Connecticut Association of Photographers and New Jersey Audubon's Birding Festival.

Photography is an avocation that took a backseat to my career during the 32+ years that I worked as a radar systems engineer at Hughes Aircraft/ Raytheon Company. Since retiring in 2013, I’ve been able to devote more time to developing my photographic skills. Experiencing and sharing the beauty of nature continues to be my primary motivation.

David's experience judging photo competitions has taken him as far as Budoia, Italy to judge the Bio Photo Contest. In 2014, David was awarded the New Jersey Federation of Camera Clubs Citation in recognition for his contributions to the advancement of the art and science of photography in the state.

www.desrochersphography.com

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Thomas Loucks Tom has been a longstanding amateur photographer, but only in recent years has he had more serious time to devote to the hobby.

He garnered first place in National Audubon’s 2004 Nature’s Odyssey contest and has placed well in several contests by Nature’s Best, Denver Audubon’s Share the View, and the Merrimack Valley’s George W. Glennie Nature Contest.

He has two images of “Alumni Adventurers” on permanent display at Dartmouth College.

He is also the incoming President of Mile High Photo Club in Denver (2021-2022) where he currently serves as VP and as a Director.

His photographic interests are landscape, wildlife, and travel photography, though his favorite subjects are alpine landscapes. Recently retired, Tom is looking forward to spending more time on photography and other outdoor activities. He recently signed up as a volunteer with Denver Audubon to assist with field trips and hopes that those will soon resume.

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Basil Katsaros A native of Denver, Colorado, I first attended Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Not understanding humidity or seeing the sun for 30 days, I transferred to the University of Colorado. During my junior year, a roommate needed money and sold me his Pentax 35mm camera. That moment launched my interest in photography. My interests and knowledge were expanded by the Nikon School of Photography.

In the earlier days, subject matter centered around my twin sons with travel photos and Christmas cards. As a real estate appraiser, I used photography in much of my work. I must admit, however, the 70’s primarily utilized a Polaroid as film was too time consuming for client demands. I have since graduated to two Nikon digital cameras and too many lenses.

While attempting to downshift in work, I occasionally use my photography skills to testify as an expert witness in real estate. My interests include travel, landscape, and wildlife photography. I’m not smart enough to have a website, maybe someone can show me how.

Most images are for personal enjoyment and mainly remain in my computer. My goal at this time is too not only become a better photographer, but to conquer Photoshop!!!

Peter Bennett

Karen Schuenemann

My mother’s father was a studio photographer on the Coney Island Boardwalk, my father’s father was an artist in Germany, and my father was a filmmaker and amateur still photographer in New York, so naturally I decided to pursue a career in music. Luckily after hearing the error of my ways, I picked up my father’s old Nikkormat and haven’t looked back since.

Karen Schuenemann is a Nature and Wildlife photographer frequently found exploring the parks and wetlands of Southern California. In 2015, she left her retail management job to pursue her passion for Wildlife Photography. Her work focuses on “Urban Wilderness” and she spent over 100 days photographing the Red Foxes in her neighborhood in 2020 during the COVID 19 pandemic.

She recently was awarded a Highly Commended Award-Bird Behavior in the 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year sponsored by the London Natural History Museum. Her work was exhibited in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Summit in 2019. In 2017 she was the Professional Honorable Mention in the National Audubon Contest.

Her work has hung in the London Natural History Museum and has been included in shows at the San Diego Natural History Museum, The G2 Gallery, Palos Verdes Art Center and Armenia Conservation Show. She has been published in Nature’s Best, Audubon Magazine, USA Today, NANPA, Shadow and Light Magazine, and American Photo Magazine. In addition, she has garnered numerous awards from Best in Show in Los Angeles County Fair to Honorable Mention in the National Park Contest.

She enjoys writing about her photographic adventures and has written articles for NANPA and enjoyed being a judge in several photography contests. She was the 2019 President for the Photography and Digital Artists group of the Palos Verdes Art Center and was the volunteer Faculty Coordinator for the NANPA High School Scholarship Program in Tennessee.

She currently leads workshops to a variety of locations from Bosque Del Apache, to the Grand Tetons to Africa and Central America with her company, Wilderness At Heart Photography, LLC. She enjoys teaching classes at Samy’s Cameras in Los Angeles and Tuttle Cameras in Long Beach.

From 1998 to 2014 I ran my own stock agency, Ambient Images, which specialized in photos of New York and California. In 2015 I formed Citizen of the Planet, LLC, devoted exclusively to the distribution of my stories and work that focus on environmental subjects such as water and air quality issues, fossil fuels, drought, green construction, alternative energies and urban farming.

My editorial work has appeared in numerous publications and books, and I am privileged to have my fine art prints hang in museums, the California State Capitol and many other private institutions and collectors.

I’ve also had to opportunity to have worked with many local environmental organizations including FoLAR (Friends of the LA River), Heal the Bay, Algalita Marine Research Foundation, Communities for a Better Environment, and the LA Conservation Corps.

I have been an instructor for over ten years at the Los Angeles Center of Photography (formerly the Julia Dean Photo Workshops).

I love teaching photography and having the opportunity to pass on what I was given from all the amazing teachers I’ve had the honor to learn from.

Karen currently celebrates life with her husband and two dogs in St. George, Utah.

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Bob Beresh

Bob Cates

Los Angeles is where commercial photographer Bob Beresh will always call home, but having recently relocated to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he is truly a global creative. His commercial photography includes work for clients in automotive, aviation, corporate executive and business portraiture, architecture, and product work. Bob’s photos are influenced by his observations in nature, travel and sports to deliver memorable images.

Bob Cates led his first Camera Committee outing in 1975 as co-leader with Allan Der, so his roots go way back. He has chaired the Angeles Chapter History Committee since the mid-70s, and as such has archived tens of thousands of photographic images, many from his own documentation of Club outings, but also images donated from hundreds of Club members.

Bob served two years as US Forest Service Artist in Residence to interpret and showcase the beauty of the Angeles National Forest and is past Chairman of the Sierra Club Camera Committee, Angeles Chapter.”

He is primarily a nature/landscape photographer, but is also drawn to macrophotography— primarily of botanical subjects. Since 2015 he has lived in Pasadena and frequently may be found haunting the grounds of the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens.

bentriver.com bobbereshstudio.com

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Night Time at Delicate Arch @2022 John Fisanotti, All Rights Reserved

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Causes, Notes, and Announcements

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Notes and Announcements Craig Fucile Writes: John, This is a class I’m teaching for Desert Institute.

Thank you, Craig Photographing Soda Springs and the Mojave National Preserve February This Desert Institute class is based at the California Desert Studies Center, (CSU) inside the Preserve, south of Baker.

The Center—also known as Zzyzx (zy-zix) is a former health spa, with interesting buildings, palms, and ponds plus fine views of Soda Dry Lake and desert mountains.

Instructional topics include: exposure, night photography, HDR, controlling sharpness, making panoramas. One half-day field session to photograph lava beds and a Joshua tree forest. Two nights lodging and five meals included.

Instructor: Craig Fucile February 18 - 20, 2022

Contact:

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www.joshuatree.org/desert-institute

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Susan Manley Writes: From: Susan Manley <ssnmanley@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, January 6, 2022 11:24 AM To: Joan Schipper <joanschipper@ix.netcom.com> Subject: outing; Oregon Bald Eagles Joan, In case any members might be interested there is a major birding event in Oregon for bald eagles and other species of birds in February. https://www.klamathbirdingtrails.com/events/winterwings.shtml https://www.klamathbirdingtrails.com/ Susan

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Get out there and get involved!

Our natural world is under attack and we all need to fight to preserve the things that we hold dear.

CONTRIBUTE

YOUR TIME, YOUR DOLLARS....

OR BOTH! Do you know anyone who would like to become a member of the Sierra Club Camera Committee?

We are seeking new members to share their outdoor experiences and photographs.

If you have a friend or acquaintance whom you feel would benefit from and add to our membership, please ask them to join us at our next meeting.

Membership costs only $15.00 per year - a tremendous value!

To join or renew, please mail a check for $15 (payable to SCCC): Joan Schipper - Membership 6100 Cashio St. Los Angeles, CA 90035 (Be sure to provide your address and email)

More members - More to share 107

The Members’ Choice Photo Contest What’s your favorite photo in this Focal Points Magazine? Continuing with this issue I am asking all members to vote for their favorite photo. Here’s how: 1. Please e-mail me at dtlanow@gmail.com (Heading: Member’s Choice) and let me know your choice for the best photo by the 20th of the month in which the issue is published.

2. In your e-mail, give me the page number, the name of the photographer, and a brief descrip- tion so I can identify your choice.

I will tally up the votes and announce the winner in the next issue and republish the photo with a paragraph from the photographer about how it was captured, where, when, and even the dreaded mire of camera, settings and lens.

This should be a fun feature!

..........John Nilsson, Publisher

Wanna Go on a Hike?

Just in case you didn’t realize it...........

The Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club has literally hundreds of outdoor activities that Sierra Club Camera Committee members can attend.

You can find these activities at http://angeles.sierraclub.org/activities If you have an idea for a trip that the Camera Committee might like to plan for, tell a leader. They are always open to ideas of new places to go, new places to shoot. See the end of the newsletter for a list of contact information for the leaders.

CST 2087766-40. Registration as a seller of travel does not constitute approval by the State of California. All participants on Sierra Club outings are required to sign a standard liability waiver. To read the liability waiver before you participate on an outing, go to: http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/chapter/forms

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Focal Points

Focal Points

Sierra Club Camera Committee Magazine January 2021

Angeles Chapter Camera Committee Magazine November 2020

Do you enjoy receiving your monthly copy of Focal Points Magazine, as well as full membership to the Sierra Club Camera Committtee and access to our extensive programming and trips?

If your answer is "Yes" and you want to continue receiving Focal Points Magazine, please send your check for $15.00 and your full name and email address for a yearly subscription to: Sierra Club Camera Committee Joan Schipper - Membership 6100 Cashio St. Los Angeles, CA 90035 JoanSchipper@ixnetcom.com 323-828-8334 109

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Photo of the Month

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

by Velda Ruddock

Nikon D750 Nikkor 28-300 @200mm f/8, 1/250, ISO 400 110

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The Parting Shot

©2022 John Nilsson, All Rights Res.

This little guy is in control!

Directing Traffic at the Pamona Hot Rod Grand Nationals

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Leader Contacts Chair Joe Doherty 310-500-5696 Information.SCCC@gmail.com

Programs Susan Manley 323-901-7788 SSNManley@yahoo.com Treasurer Ed Ogawa Ed5ogawa@angeles.sierraclub.org Membership Joan Schipper* 323-828-8334 JoanSchipper@ixnetcom.com PublicationsEditor + Liaison

John Nilsson* 213-266-2224 FocalPoints.SCCC@gmail.com

Communications Velda Ruddock 310-500-5995 VRuddock.SCCC@gmail.com Website Velda Ruddock Meetup Ed Ogawa Instagram Joan Schipper Facebook Open Outings co-chairs Joan Schipper* 323-828-8334 joanschipper@ixnetcom.com Alison Boyle* 310-944-1019 AlisoniBoyle@icloud.com Trip Leaders* Above and the following: Steve Anderson 714-892-4857 SAndersonImagery@outlook.com John Boyle 310-828-6300 JBoyle6300@gmail.com Carole Scurlock 626-794-5207 CScurlock@charter.net Allan Der 714-653-8319 ader@sprynet.com

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