Yesterday was my co-workers birthday, so I painted him a birthday card. The painting is a view of Half Dome across the Ahwahnee Meadow in Yosemite and is actually based on a photo that my co-worker took, which he found very touching. It was a fun card to give 🙂
Media: Gouache paints on watercolor paper.
There’s a wildfire burning in Yosemite National Park, and on September 7th, I had the chance to do another time lapse of it. This was taken from the Ahwahnee Meadow in Yosemite Valley, from right near Sentinel Dome, and from Glacier Point. The fire is called the Meadow Fire.
I tried my hand at night photography and discovered something I already knew–that I LOVE night photography. I ended up getting these amazing photos of stars, and sure there is some noise from the high ISO and they’re a little bit fuzzy, but I am incredibly pleased with them as a start.
I can’t wait to learn more and get good at taking pictures of the stars!
I made another video at work. This one features video that both I and my colleague Theresa shot.
It’s been quite a while since I shared something, but I’m very excited to share a video I made for work. It’s a short video with visuals of Yosemite and water flowing within the park.
Note: if you’re interested in visiting Yosemite, check out YosemitePark.com for info about lodging and activities.
A few weeks ago, we drove over to Mono Lake, a massive salty lake on the eastern border of Yosemite. I had seen the lake from afar before, and I knew it would be pretty, but I was still surprised by the beauty of this place. Around sunset, the sky was a bright hazy glow and the water had become a milky white. It was a stunning sight paired with the distant mountains and the dramatic tufa towers on the shores of the lake.
According to the Mono Lake Committee website:
Tufa is essentially common limestone. What is uncommon about this limestone is the way it forms. Typically, underwater springs rich in calcium (the stuff in your bones) mix with lakewater rich in carbonates (the stuff in baking soda). As the calcium comes in contact with carbonates in the lake, a chemical reaction occurs resulting in calcium carbonate–limestone. The calcium carbonate precipitates (settles out of solution as a solid) around the spring, and over the course of decades to centuries, a tufa tower will grow. Tufa towers grow exclusively underwater, and some grow to heights of over 30 feet. The reason visitors see so much tufa around Mono Lake today is because the lake level fell dramatically after water diversions began in 1941.
Interesting!
On the Friday after we got back from Yosemite, I guess I was still feeling inspired by the park’s beauty, so I made this chalk drawing of Half Dome on an old paper bag. I rather like it!
These are just a few our photos from our last morning in the Yosemite back country. We started to run low on pictures on the disposable camera, so all except the last one were taken on our disposable camera. The rest were taken with my crappy cell phone camera.
Note that the last photo is Jim and I right after we finished our long hike down from Yosemite Falls. It was a glorious moment.
On our third day out in Yosemite, Jim and I did a long hike from the top of Snow Creek to Yosemite Falls, 11 miles or so. It was a long day, mostly made of walking uphill through misty pine forest, but with occasional views of Yosemite’s beautiful valley.
These pictures are from our hike that day and were taken with our disposable camera. I’m including the one of me even though Jim took it, I guess because I like it.
Making Made 