Focal Points Magazine March 2022 Final

Focal Points Sierra Club Camera Committee Magazine March 2022

Death Valley Days

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Focal Points Magazine

Contents 18. Meetings and Outings 22. Joe's How-To 28. Member Photos 76. Black and White Pages 88. Contributors' Bios 102. Notes and Announcements

Cover Photo Credit:

108. Photo of the Month

Paul Reinstein

109. Parting Shot

Zabriskie Point is probably the de facto top spot for photography in the valley. It’s an easy hike up couple of hundred yards to get shots like this from the paved viewing area at the top of the point.

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 I want to talk about environmental justice.

I played little league baseball in a park that was surrounded on three sides by Portrero Canyon in Pacific Palisades. When I was about 10 years old the adults started a campaign called “No Oil!” to prevent Occidental Petroleum from drilling near the entrance to Portrero Canyon. I didn’t understand the issues, but I remember that heavy equipment had already been moved into a gated area where I used to hike down to the beach.

We were fortunate that the people in our neighborhood had the resources, the education, and the political clout to keep an oil rig out of a slide zone on PCH. They could fight in the courts and city hall to protect the environment in our little slice of heaven. That was my first experience of environmental justice, though I didn’t know it at the time.

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

Years later I was formally introduced to environmental justice at UCLA Law School, where I headed a research center. The concept is simple.

Everyone, regardless of race, creed, gender, or income, should have a say about the environmental impacts to their neighborhood by development and industry, just like the “No Oil!” people did in my youth. Environmental justice has become one of the organizing principles of the Sierra Club in the last few years. The successful campaign to shut down the Baldwin Hills oil field is a case in point.

What does that have to do with us? I’m not that interested in photographing environmental degradation, and sometimes I avoid places that I assume will be ugly. On closer inspection, though, I often find pockets of beauty amongst the ugliness. As photographers we are unique in our ability to show others what we see. We can show others what we find in those places, and maybe we can help the people who live there to protect it.

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Death Valley Days

In January, I visited Death Valley as part of a workshop with Denise Ippolito.

The first few mornings we had a few clouds, but for the rest of the trip it was mostly the boring blues above, so I made due trying to shoot more abstract shots with no sky. I think it worked out well, I forced myself to work harder on composition and it was a fun and very productive trip. In the blue and golden hours, even on blue sky days, the valley is brilliantly colored. If you’re considering a trip yourself, bring food, as the local provisions are meh, at best.

Zabriskie Point is probably the de facto top spot for photography in the valley. It’s an easy hike up couple of hundred yards to get shots like this from the paved viewing area at the top of the point. Note the valley floor/faux sky. This was my favorite shot from the trip.

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Cover Story:

Paul Reinstein All Photos this Story © 2022 Paul Reinstein, All Rights Reserved

Or, you can hike down into the hills and valleys below. I rushed to grab this shot of the two hikers on the trail below to provide some scale. In general, all the ridges have trails, and photographers and hikers line many of the ridges, so you may have to do some photoshopping to remove them, if you prefer.

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This is another view from Zabriski Point, this being a little more striking with the diagonals.

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Looking north from the observation area, I snapped this abstract of the red rock cliffs in which I see some faces in profile. It’s a little out of focus because the perfect light didn’t last very long, and I was so excited and intent of finding a good composition fast, that I neglected to focus! Oops.

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Even the parking lot at Zabriskie Point had it’s merits. I think I may have been the first to capitalize on this view of the wash, twenty feet south of the parking lot. This was shot is a focus stacked HDR composite. The walls of the canyon are about one foot tall, although it’s hard to tell of those are 6” bushes in the foreground or trees in a much grander scene. If you look carefully, that’s the road on the left, and there’s even a car in the distance.

Another famous area for photography is B water Basin, which normally has white salt crus a vast cracked mudflat of polygonal shapes form jigsaw puzzle to the horizon. Such was not the year, as the rains and ensuing weather have to b thing other than whatever weather we followed.

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Badsted on ming a case this be some.

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Dante’s Point is another famous spot for the view, and it was nice. This shot of the valley floor was probably my most abstract shot of the trip.

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A lesser known spot is Aguereberry Point where the main view is a range of mountains to the south with a white layer running through the middle of it, extending off into the distant peaks and ridges. But looking the other way, I had some fun with this shot, which I title “X marks the spot.” It harkens me back to my youth, watching westerns and road runner cartoons, as I can easily envision a bandit’s chest of gold hidden under the X. I lightened the valley floor above to draw the eye, and lead me to the red mountains just above that, and the textured gray skies above.

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I think some people in the group were disappointed by not getting the white salt crust at Badwater, so Denise and her assistant Michael, kept an eye open for something reminiscent of that. This shot of a dry stream was my favorite, as I was able to snap a bright shot of the cracked mud, with a nice leading line out of the corner. It’s also somewhat reminiscent of the Race Track site, which we did not visit. My Prius was appreciative of that.

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This scene was shot about 1/2 mile from the [nicer] hotel at an unmarked spot along the highway. I just liked the green and the abstract scaleless group of columns. They’re each about 20-30’ tall.

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Manly Point is a prominent feature at Zabriskie Point, but this is the view from th clear blue skies, I had low photographic expectations, but one of the guys in the group B&Ws. Wow! Great idea, so I turned my rig and shot these two shots. Note the hikers

Sony a1, Sigma 24-70@38mm, f/11, ISO 100, 1/200

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he other side of Manly Point, near the upper end of Golden Canyon. With the was shooting away, so I asked what he was seeing, and he said he was shooting s in the 2nd shot.

Sony a1, Sony 100-400@100, f/11, ISO 100, 1/250

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Meetings and Meetings and Outings Outings

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Sierra Club Camera Committee --

Thursday, April 14, 2022 Meeting David Swindler specializes in landscape, wildlife, and night photography. He currently resides in Kanab, UT and runs guided photography tours to some of the most spectacular destinations in the Desert Southwest.

Visit his tour website at http://www.ActionPhotoTours.com for more information.

Always an avid outdoorsman, Mr Swindler has spent countless hours in the field. He first picked up photography as a way to share his outdoor adventures with others. Due to his background as an optics engineer in the semiconductor industry, photography came very easily to him. Since that time he has been passionate in capturing the beauties of the natural world in the best possible light. We hope you enjoy viewing the online gallery. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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 David Swindler 18

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Joe’s How-to

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Joe’s How-To

ley. My 1978 shot was an unmitigated bore. I placed the icon dead center in the top half of a horizontal frame at noon on a cloudless day in May: no leading lines, no balance, no tension, no color, no contrast. I didn’t shoot Half Dome again for more than thirty years.

What is the Subject?

By Joe Doherty

On a recent podcast the host asked his guest where she places the subject of the photograph within her frame. That got me thinking about that word -- subject. What is the subject in my photographs?

Thirty years is how long it took me to think I might have something to say about Half Dome. I wanted to make a photo in which the emotional impact of the icon would be amplified by the decisions I made. It didn’t need to be great, but it needed to be mine. And it needed to be about Half Dome.

I spent years as an academic thinking about this question, but we didn’t use the word “subject.” We called it the “dependent variable.” A big part of our work was defining it, not just to say what it is but also what it isn’t.

We’d start simple, and then build up to something more complicated. And if we got lucky, the subject had legs and became more interesting the longer we looked at it.

I find the same is true in photography.

Simple subjects are the beginning, often something that’s been photographed before. Then we mix things up, by changing the exposure or the time of day or the season, or we choose different but similar subjects. And then we complicate our photography in other ways. Sometimes these complications pay off.

So when the podcast host asked where his guest placed her subject, I thought about my own work. Do all of my photos have a subject? What does it mean if my photo has a whole lot of objects in the frame, but none of them are the subject? In breaking down my own work over time, I think I can distill the subject into three categories: simple, complex, and inferred.

Simple Subject

Fig. 1

So let’s start simple. I first photographed Half Dome in 1978. It is one of the most iconic subjects in all of landscape photography. It’s easy to define as the big granite monolith that dominates the eastern end of Yosemite Val22

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On one February evening, in a snowy field near Curry Camp, at the edge of an intermittent stream, I took a picture. That’s my Half Dome shot. It is clear what the subject is by its placement in the frame, which draws the eye upward, and is supported by leading lines and the reflection in the water.

That’s a fairly straightforward composition. I’ve used it dozens of times on other simple subjects, like a sunrise or a brilliant aspen tree or even a portrait. There is no doubt where I placed the subject within the frame.

But not all scenes lend themselves to a single subject like this one. There may be no specific object in the frame that you want the viewer to see. Instead you want the viewer to see the process that created the scene.

Fig. 2 - “After the Wolsey Fire”

Complex Subject

It’s difficult to make sense of a scarred landscape. Looking at the bank of a creek in Malibu Creek State Park after the Woolsey Fire I saw chaos. It reminded me of photographs from World War I, where artillery and flames twisted the trees and scorched the fields. Although there were no people in those images, their suffering was palpable. That’s what I tried to capture (Figure 2).

A photograph in which the subject is the process falls into the complex category. There are many different processes – erosion, combustion, oxidation, etc. – that create interesting and photogenic landscapes. For these photographs the challenge is not placing the subject in a particular place within the frame, it is arranging all of the objects so that the subject is unmistakable. For example, if a forest is on fire you show trees on fire; the dynamic nature and color of the flames is the subject. If a forest has been burned, though, the subject is the aftermath of the process.

I made some decisions here. The first was to orient the scene around the tree in the center, which leans in the opposite direction from the rest and creates tension in the image.

The second was to stand at a distance from the scene, in order to flatten the perspective. The third was to move around (a lot) to get separation between the burned snags in order to isolate each figure. The fourth was the choice of palette, which adds to the unsettling feeling of it all. The result is not a photograph of burntout snags or charred earth. Those things are within the frame, but they aren’t the subject.

It’s a photograph of victims of devastation pleading for help.

Capturing the aftermath of a process is tricky (for me, at least). I’ve made photographs of details like burned bark and rusted metal, but unlike Half Dome (which stands by itself) these single subjects aren’t enough to hold attention. Their placement within a frame doesn’t by itself make the picture any better.

Photographing a process requires more design, more storytelling, more sensitivity to color and light. It’s more complicated, but it can also be liberating.

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tating the vase and changing the attitude and position of the stems and heads. The flower on the right is leaning in, its bloom facing the one on the left, but at a respectful distance.

The flower on the left has turned its head away, indifferent. If you cover either of these flowers in the second frame, you would have a nice shot of a flower. Together, they can tell a story about what’s between them.

Inferred Subject The third type of subject is an inferred one. You cannot see it, but you can figure out what it is by the attitudes and positions of other objects in the photograph. It is two people making eye contact and leaning towards each other, or one person leaning towards another who expresses indifference. The link between them is the subject. There are three ways we can characterize the link, which can exist alone or in combination. These are the strength of the link, the content of the link, and the direction of the link.

The strength of the link can be signaled by the distance between the objects relative to the entire image. If we see two trees standing together and alone in a field we can infer that they are more strongly linked than two isolated trees at opposite ends of the field. The content of the link can be inferred by the similarity of the trees. Two aspens at a distance will have more in common than an aspen and a lodgepole pine in close proximity. Finally, the direction of the link can be inferred by how the objects relate to each other. It can be one-way or multi-directional, or even linked together in a cascade.

It’s very common that I’ll arrive at a location and look around and say, “What am I shooting here?” In the absence of a simple subject, like Half Dome or El Capitan, I start looking around for something else.

That something else isn’t always obvious, and may not be something that occurs to me immediately. It’s only by spending time with it, by trying to understand the processes that created the scene or the relationships within the scene, that I can begin to photograph the subject.

We can use these in combination to tell a story about the relationships between objects. A murmuration of blackbirds is an extraordinary thing to witness because of the invisible links among the birds. With every turn of the flock we can see the strength, content, and direction of whatever it is that connects them. We can also see links at a distance.

Two identical plants separated by a canyon illustrate the links within the ecosystem without being able to see them directly.

I’ve asked Velda to use two of her photographs to illustrate the concept. These are the same two ranunculus in each photo, on the same tabletop. One is a beauty shot of two simple subjects. It looks like they are sharing a stage but are not linked together. In the second photograph Velda created a link by ro24

www.joedohertyphotography.com

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Uninvolved

Involved 25

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This Month’s Member Photos

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Larry Miller

© 2022 Larry Miller, All Rights Reserved

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One can find flowers to photograph even during winter in Southern California.

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John Clement ©2022, John Clement, All Rights Reserved

Above: Alabama Hills Left: Dinner with the Stars Right: In the Cleft of the Rock

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California Ramblings

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Golden Canyon Pano

Race Track Sunrise 32

Spring Death Valley

All Hail Tufa 33

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Hillside figure

©2022 John Clement, All Rights Reserved

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Winter Mist, Yosemite

Super Bloom, Joshua Tree 35

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Ballona Wetlands and Creek The Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve is one of the last significant coastal wetlands in the Los Angeles basin, and at one time was part of 14,000 acres of wetlands in the watershed. It is home to 1,700 species of wildlife and flora, including threatened and endangered species.

The wetlands is bordered by the Playa Vista residential complex, the subject of many skirmishes between developers and environmental organizations, and the recently constructed Silicon Beach, home to major and smaller tech companies. Ballona Creek, once a natural stream, now a concreted flood channel, carries tons of trash, plastic and other toxins downstream and into the ocean especially after the first big rainstorm of the season.

There is currently a plan to bulldoze the reserve under the premise of restoring it, a nine year plan costing 250 million dollars. If it is carried out it would destroy native plant species and displace untold numbers of animals.

There is also an alternative plan that has been proposed that would upgrade and restore what already exists without the need for permanent and irrevocable destruction.

Governor Newsom will be making a decision shortly on how to proceed.

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Peter Bennett

All photos in this Story © 2022, Peter Bennett, All Rights Reserved

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©2022 Peter Bennett, All Rights Reserved

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©2022 Peter Bennett, All Rights Reserved

www.citizenoftheplanet.com

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Alex Slobin ©2022 Alex Slobin, All Rights Reserved

Half Dome, Yosemite

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

Friends invited us to join them at a favorite spot, 30+ miles down an unpaved road towards the rim of Marble Canyon. It was a rough 4x4 road, and much of the contents of our rig was tossed around, but the result was a campsite a short distance away from this view of the Colorado River.

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We spent three weeks in January and early February touring the Southwest in our Four Wheel Camper. Our rig got us into some places we might not normally go, like Chaco Culture National Historical Park and an undisclosed location on the rim of the Grand Canyon NP. On the way home we spent nights in Zion and Valley of Fire.

“B Sunrise looking down the Colorado River. Wotan’s Throne is visible in the distance.

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“The Fly-Out” Hundres of snow geese fly out of the main pond at Bosque del Apache as the Sun Above: The Atlatl Petroglyphs in Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada are about 20 feet off the ground. Metal stairs lead to a viewing platform that is separated from the petroglyphs by about 3 feet and a wire mesh. And still people find a way to reach out and deface the drawings Above Right: Chaco is an amazing place. The size and complexity of the individual buildings is overwhelming, as is the history of the place. Since it was very cold at sunrise (about 9 degrees F) we were alone and able to walk around the ruins without interference from other visitors.

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

Right: This is part of Pueblo Bonito in Chaco. It is the largest intact Pueblo, and is situated near the northern sandstone cliff of the valley. One part of the cliff collapsed last century, burying a number of rooms that had already been excavated.

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A Trip to the Central Coast

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Sandi Kirwin ©2022 Sandi Kirwin, All Rights Reserved

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SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CAMERA COMMITTEE

MAY 2015

©2022 Sandi Kerwin, All

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l Rights Reserved

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John Nilsson

SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CAMERA COMMITTEE

©2022 John Nilsson, All Rights Reserved

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MAY 2015

SIERRA CLUB ANGELES CHAPTER CAMERA COMMITTEE

MAY 2015

A Trip to the Southern Arizona Outback

A quick trip to the Tucson area yielded some nice photo opportunities from the Saguaro National Park to the Chiricahua National Monument and a surprise....literally thousands of wintering Sandhill Cranes in the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area near McNeil.

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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

©2022 John Nilsson, All Rights Reserved

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©2022 John Nilsson, All Rights Reserved ©2022 John Nilsson, All Rights Reserved

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John Fisanotti ©2022 John Fisanotti, All Rights Reserved

All taken during my participation in a landscape photography workshop with Arizona Highways Photoscapes this past October in Sedona, Arizona.

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Sedona, Arizona

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©2022 John Fisanotti, All Rights Reserved

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©2022 John Fisanotti, All Rights Reserved

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Steve Cohen ©2022 Steve Cohen, All Rights Reserved

Bryce Canyon

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Glen Canyon

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Yucca Plant

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©2022 Steve Cohen, All Rights Reserved

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Nikon Lens For Sale

I have a Zeiss Macro Planar 2/100ZF.2 macro lens that I am selling.

The lens is in like new condition and I asking 900.00 and I will consider any offer. This is a Nikon mount lens.

Contact Steve Cohen - deandadin@aol.com

F.2 Support all-important operations such as the automatic exposure for shutter priority, aperture priority and program modes The CPU also supports manual exposure settings, including those for camera casings that are not Al-compatible.

The lens now transmits the EXIF data such as manufacturer, date, metering system and exposure settings Offers high speed, extraordinary resolving power and next to zero distortion Precise mechanism enables exact manual focusing.

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Velda Ruddock ©2022 Velda Ruddock, All Rights Reserved

Storm building over the canyon, Marble Canyon, Arizona

January Adventures January found us on the road in some beautiful places. Amazing places. I found myself shooting landscape paintings.

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Chaco Canyon Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico

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Roughing it, Airstream style, New Mexico

©2022 Velda Ruddock, All Rights Reserved

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Bosque woodlands in the evening gloom, New Mexico

And then we came home.

I cleared a space to work in the studio.

I’ve missed seeing flowers quietly reveal themselves.

Well, perhaps not so quietly!

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Beverly Houwing © 2022 Beverly Houwing All Rights Reserved

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I’m going on another trip soon! For now my only news is Wetla issue. Here is a link to their site in case people are not familiar with Here is the image they are publishing of a Whooping Crane am 72

ands America magazine licensed one of my images for their next h it: https://www.wetlandsamerica.org mong lots of Sandhill Cranes.

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The Black and White Pages

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Near Sedona, AZ

John Fisanotti Nikon D850 Nikkor 24-70, f/2.78@27mm 1/10@f/11 ISO 64

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Snow Geese arriving back from Breakfast in the Cornfields near Whitewater Draw

John Nilsson

Sony 7RIII FE 100-400 F4.5-5.6@560mm GM OSS+1.4 Teleconverter 1/6400@f/8 ISO 1,250

©2022 John Nilsson, All Rights Reserved

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Butch Mazzuca

Balanced Rock Nikon D850 Tamaron Sp70-200 @ 200mm ISO 200 F11@ 1/500 sec 80

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Aspen in Winter Canon EOS R5 RF 24-70mm @ 37mm f/2.8@ 1/640, IS 81

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Redwoods in the Morning

Canon EOS-1D X EF24-105mm f/4L @ 32mm f/16@ 1/5, ISO 100

©2022 Butch Mazz

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North Rim Storm Ve

Canon EOS 1D X EF24-105 @ 28mm f/8 @ 1/8 ISO 50

zuca, All Rights Reserved

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“Great Egret in the Reeds”, Bolinas Lagoon, Marin County, California

Jeff Gottesman

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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 88

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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.

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.

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.”

bentriver.com bobbereshstudio.com

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@2022 John Nilsson, All Rights Reserved

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Causes, Notes, and Announcements

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Notes and Announcements Craig Fucile Writes: Here are classes I’ll be teaching in Joshua Tree National Park.

Please list in Focal Points.

Thank you!

Craig Joshua Tree Through The Lens This daylong class begins with a “photographers only” session at the historic Keys Ranch homestead. Throughout the day, field sessions and instructional sessions to are planned to photograph boulder formations, plant life and expansive desert views.

Class ends at sunset in Lost Horse Valley.

Instructor: Craig Fucile March 12, 2022 Photographing Joshua Tree By Moonlight During this evening class you’ll learn useful techniques for photographing Keys Ranch and a spectacular rock climbing area under full moonlight.

Instructor: Craig Fucile March 18, 2022

Contact:

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www.joshuatree.org/desert-institute

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Steve Anderson Writes: Problem With Printing from Photoshop Recently I had a unique problem while attempting to make prints from Adobe Photoshop (PS). I have been printing my own photographs for many years and tend to use PS more than any other software for ease of work flow and custom profiles. Of course, these days to acquire PS requires a monthly subscription unless you want to use older “non-CC” versions. Adobe strives to control all their software by making sure everyone that subscribes has the latest and greatest (whether you like it or not). This can present a dilemma for lots of us who get used to a particular version of PS. Changes from year to year are usually subtle, but the latest version 23.2.0. made some changes that affected my ability to print. I was shocked that day when I had selected something to print and hit the File>Print. Instead of the opening of the PS Print Settings page, nothing happened. Even worse PS completely crashed!

After trying to solve the problem myself I finally resorted to doing an online chat with Adobe. They asked the usual questions which are sometimes silly to me, like “is the printer turned on?” or “does the printer work with other programs?” Well, yes, all that I checked plus I made sure the latest drivers were installed. After about two hours of “chatting” and trying different suggestions, the problem still persisted. I even resorted to uninstalling PS at least twice with good uninstall software. I finally gave up and decided to call Adobe tech support the next day.

After explaining the problem to the tech support person, we mutually decided to allow him to log into my PC and take control in order to investigate where ‘bugs’ might be in the system. It seems that there were some residual conflicts with Windows 10 and programs I have, plus some settings I wasn’t aware of. The main reason for writing this story is to help anyone else that may have encountered the same printing glitch. The most important settings in case you are curious is the following: Open PS Go to Edit>Preferences>General>Performance Set Memory Usage to 13390 MB if it isn’t there already Make sure the “use Graphic Processor” box is checked Steve Anderson

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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 105

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 107

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Photo of the Month

Phil Witt

Golden Eyelash Pit Viper: Handheld, taken at a macro set up with an off camera flash and reflector. Olympus M1X, 40150/2X teleconverter, f/11, 1/250 sec., ISO 200.

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The Parting Shot

Desert Sunset ©2022 John Nilsson, All Rights Reserved

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Leader Contacts Chair Joe Doherty Information.SCCC@gmail.com

Programs Susan Manley SSNManley@yahoo.com

310-500-5696 323-901-7788

Treasurer Ed Ogawa Ed5ogawa@angeles.sierraclub.org Membership Joan Schipper* JoanSchipper@ixnetcom.com

323-828-8334

PublicationsEditor + Liaison

John Nilsson* FocalPoints.SCCC@gmail.com

213-266-2224

Communications Velda Ruddock VRuddock.SCCC@gmail.com Website Velda Ruddock Meetup Ed Ogawa Instagram Joan Schipper Facebook Open

310-500-5995

Outings co-chairs Joan Schipper* joanschipper@ixnetcom.com

323-828-8334

Alison Boyle* AlisoniBoyle@icloud.com

310-944-1019

Trip Leaders* Above and the following:

Steve Anderson SAndersonImagery@outlook.com

714-614-7808

John Boyle

JBoyle6300@gmail.com

310-828-6300

Carole Scurlock

CScurlock@charter.net

626-794-5207

Allan Der ader@sprynet.com

714-653-8319

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