Leon Turnbull Photography

Well, I didn’t feel like going on a big hike this weekend, so instead I thought that I would go somewhere close where I could try out my new 100-400L lens and shoot some birds. I almost did not get up. I did not sleep well the previous night, and I turned off my alarm around 1AM in order to sleep in. But I woke up at 5:30AM anyway, despite no alarm, and decided to just get up and go.

Folsom Lake was my choice, by the old Salmon Falls bridge. I like this location for one main reason: you don’t have to pay. Most areas around Folsom Lake you need to pay to get into. I don’t mind doing that every once in awhile, but certainly not all the time. In my opinion, state parks should be free to get into, like provincial parks are in Canada. End rant. Anyway, it is a nice area here along the American River. And as I found out, pretty darn good for bird watching too. There were, as expected, lots of Canadian geese around and also plenty of ducks. I did take a couple photos of the ducks but none of the geese. I was looking for more interesting birds than geese. I did find more interesting birds along the river, including this GBH. I was trying to not disturb the heron and still get close enough for a picture. I was not really very close to the bird at all, and he still flew off. But I was able to get this shot of him before he left. This was taken at 400mm from a long distance away, and is cropped quite a bit.

After a very enjoyable morning of shooting birds, I think I realize that I need an even bigger lens than 400mm. No, I am not going to buy another lens. But I think if I put the 100-400mm on the 20D instead of the 5D, and also put on the 1.4x extender, I would get an effective focal length of 1200mm. I’m sure it won’t be as sharp as this image though. But I think I may try that next time. Those birds don’t let you get very close to them at all, that’s for sure.

In other news, the level of the lake is extremely low already this year. It is much lower than at the same time of year last year. I remember that the Salmon Falls bridge was not visible until the end of August last year, but it is already completely showing in July this year. Pretty scary. We really really need a big winter of rain and snow this year.

You know I never take flower shots like this! What is going on here? I like flowers and all that, but I just don’t do flower shots.

Well …

You see I just had to try out my brand new lens that I just got: the Canon 100-400L IS lens. It is sweet! I have a big project coming up and got some money from that (though I don’t actually have the money quite yet, but it is coming soon). So I was able to buy this new monster lens. And it is a monster. But such a nice monster! I hope to really put it to the test next weekend when we go to the coast.

I was just playing around with it in my yard after work yesterday. These are black eyed susans from our garden. I shot this handheld at 400mm. Not a great flower shot, but not too bad for a non-flower guy, eh?

With all the forest fires burning in California this summer, be sure to check conditions before you head out hiking into the wilderness. As of now, there are 96 active fires burning in the state, but that is down from over 1000 fires burning just about a month ago. And I suspect we’ll be having fires throughout the summer since it will continue to be hot with no rain.

There are currently many trail and road closures throughout the state, and this affects quite a few waterfalls in California. These are the closures in northern California that I currently know about. This list is subject to change at any time. As I become aware of any changes, I will post it in the comments to this blog entry. (and feel free to add any comments yourself that you know about).

McWay Falls, Canyon Falls (Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP)
Pfeiffer Falls (Pfeiffer Big Sur SP)
Limekiln Falls (Limekiln SP)
Feather Falls
Pacific Crest Trail (Plumas Natl Forest)
Foresthill Rd from China Wall to Sailor Flat – Euchre Bar, Italian Bar, Mumford, Beacroft and American River trails are closed (affecting waterfalls in the NF American River area)
North Fork Falls (Emigrant Gap)
Bowman Lake Falls, Faucherie Lake Falls
Killer Fang Falls (Washington)
Canyon Creek Falls (Trinity Alps)
Whiskeytown Falls, Crystal Creek Falls, Boulder Creek Falls, Brandy Creek Falls (Whiskeytown NRA)
Mill Creek Falls (Lassen NP, due to construction, not fire)
Hidden Falls (Auburn, due to construction, not fire)

This photo shows the middle section of Horsetail Falls. It is an incredibly spectacular 500 ft. waterfall along Pyramid Creek, coming down from huge Lake Aloha in the Desolation Wilderness. The waterfall flows fairly well year-round, but it really is spectacular in the spring when the snow is melting. It is not even close to being at full force here, though there lots of water in the falls. It is pretty much impossible to photograph or view the entire waterfall in one setting. Little sections is the only way to photograph it. This little section is probably 100 ft. high or more.

Once again, I was on very dicey granite rock close to the edge, trying to photograph this section of the falls. Don’t worry. I was safe enough. I am always very careful around waterfalls. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t have wanted to get any closer to the edge.

I came up here after work last Friday, trying to escape the smoke and heat from the city. It is about an hour drive from Folsom. My idea was to arrive at the trailhead about 5:30pm. It is about an hour hike into the falls, photograph there for about an hour, hike back to the car by about 8:30pm (still light out), and be home by 9:30pm. All that worked out pretty much according to plan. There was still a lot of smoke and haze in their air, but the smoke didn’t bother me hiking. I met only a few people on the trail, coming back from the falls. There was no one around once I arrived at the waterfall. It was just really nice to spend time at Horsetail Falls all by myself. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the beauty of the Creation. This is usually a very popular location on weekends. But on a Friday evening, there was no one else up at the falls and I had it all to myself. Sweet.

Photographically speaking, Horsetail Falls near Lake Tahoe has been my long-time nemesis. I had been here to this waterfall plenty of times before, but had yet to come away with any decent photo of it. Does every photographer have a similar nemesis, or is it just me? I’ve been here in spring, summer, fall, sunrise, sunset, you name it. It is a difficult waterfall to photograph, and I think it has a lot to do with all the non-colorful granite rock that the falls tumble over as well as the lighting.

I wanted to try coming back to Horsetail Falls again, at sunset. I thought the light would be better on the falls at that time of day. But with all the fires in California this year, there is just a huge band of smoke and haze, which makes for a light overcastness over the entire sky. So although the light wasn’t what I was looking for on this day, overcastness is indeed good for photographing waterfalls. I thought I came away (finally) with some very decent photos of Horsetail Falls. But even so, I’ll probably be back again next year to try to do better.

I especially liked my composition of this shot. I was as close to the edge as I dared possibly go, trying to get that lower waterfall section in my photo. The granite rocks in this area are extremely smooth and slippery, even if not wet. And it is a big drop-off into a raging creek if you slip and fall. That would not be too fun.