Buttermilks

Another one from the Eastern Sierra…this one taken at sunset in the “Buttermilks” west of Bishop.

 

Purple Sunrise

Here’s a couple more from the Eastern Sierra……the lupine fields were amazing, especially along Division Creek. These look a little pixellated (and the first one over-sharpened) because I only have the small emailed files on this computer. I’m in the process now of migrating four days worth of photos from my laptop onto my working pc, so more to come soon.

Enjoy!

Bush Lupines at Sunrise, Division Creek

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What a Trip…..

Howdy Folks!

I just returned from four days of photographing and exploring the landscapes now exploding with wildflowers in the Owens Valley and Eastern Sierra. The 5 a.m. mornings were brutal on this night owl, but bearing witness to the sweet morning light as it pushed back the night was worth every second of lost sleep.  I was lucky enough to photograph truly amazing displays of wild iris, lupine, paintbrush, fiery red mariposa lilies, and many many more.

Jenn was shooting a wedding this weekend and didn’t get to go, but after seeing my pictures, she’s putting in for some well earned vacation days and we’re heading back a week from Friday! I can never get enough of that place….obviously she had to twist my arm….not!

Stay wild,

Heather

(Only one photo for now, as the rest are still on the laptop. More to come shortly.)

Wild Iris, Brockman Meadow, Bishop Ca

 

Eastern Sierra Wildflowers

Howdy!

In anticipation of our Eastern Sierra wildflower excursion next week, here’s a taste from a couple years past. Two very different interpretations of the same subject (the out of focus blobs of orange in the first photo are paintbrush too).

Stay Wild,

The Pixel Chix

Mountain Daisies, near Bishop Creek, Eastern Sierra’s

Indian Paintbrush, with a little help from Photoshop (same locale as above)

 

Joshua Tree National Park

Okay, okay. So we’re waaaay late in getting anything posted. But better late than never, though, eh?!

Never having been there, our recent trip to JT was a delight. Having Dog-Man with us made hiking to remote areas impossible (no pets allowed on trails cuz supposedly they could have diseases that would virtually wipe out all animal life in the desert.) However, the roads allowed for some spectacular views and we were actually able to get out and about a little bit here and there. (Oops, don’t tell the rangers!) Three weeks ago when we were there the flowers were amazing at the southern end of the park with dozens of different wildflowers, brush and cactii blanketing the sandy floor. We can only imagine what it must be like now–there was a tremendous amount of plant life elsewhere in the park just on the verge of exploding.

Neither one of us got what we were hoping for in the way of spectacular photos. We both had the usual excuses like “the lighting was terrible, the sunsets were anti-climactic, the wind was howling (but it was!) and blah, blah, blah. It didn’t help that we were both too into sleeping in (it was a vacation, after all) to snag the sunrises, either. But it was an inspiring trip nonetheless. We scouted out a number of great locations and it’s definitely a place we both are itching to get back to with camping gear, no dog (sorry, T!) and good hiking boots. (Oh, and a totally bitchin’ hybrid 4×4 would be nice, too.)

Here’s just a small random sampling of some snappies we shot. Stay tuned for more…

Sunset

Wildlife

Skull Rock

Southern End

On our way home, we detoured through the Salton Sea area and were fascinated by it’s vulgar beauty. Years ago a posh recreation area for the likes of Hollywood royalty, it is now in a state of decay and devastation. On the other hand, it is now home to about a gazillion birds and the Sonny Bono Bird Sanctuary is beyond words–absolutely incredible. The Sea and surrounding “towns” have been utterly destroyed by flooding and human neglect with dead fish lying on shore by the thousands. However, it is also undeniably beautiful in its vast loneliness, the water a blue unlike any other and the remnants of a bygone era are in evidence virtually everywhere you look. More on this later as well…

Here’s a look at the some of the “junk”…

Dead Fish

Flooded

Abandoned Trailer

Just More Trash

 

Surf’s Up!

Well, it ain’t the Mavericks Competition whose waves were supposed to have reached nearly 30 today (dude!) However, we did manage to catch a few local riders close to home having a good time. Hopefully, next time it will be us catching a ride or two. Here’s a few fun shots…

Sponge Bob

Sunset Wipout

It’s all about Style

 

Happy Holidays….

With love from the Pixel Chix.

—-Heather and Jenn.

Bodie Angel, Bodie Ghost Town Cemetery

 

Eastern Sierra Weekend

We’re still catching up with post processing photos from several shoots for clients (wedding and product shots), so we haven’t had much time to work on our recent Eastern Sierra stuff. Needless to say it was awesome, as it always is there…like coming home. I’m tired this morning, or maybe just lazy, so instead of writing a bunch, I’ll cheat and include an excerpt from an email I wrote from the road:

today was amazing….we headed for the high country this morning on whitney portal road, but soon discovered we forgot our snow chains…(doh!) it didn’t take long to realize today would be spent looking up at the sierra’s, not down at the valley! no worries, it’s all good here.

we meandered the dirt roads of the owens valley between the mighty sierra and the white mtns….. laying witness to the amazing rebirth of the owens river….before us it flowed like it hasn’t in nearly a century. some battles CAN be won….even against a powerful, life-sucking city like los angeles.

i could feel this valley breathe today, much like i could feel my own self do the same. there is something about the wildness here, it feeds me like few other places ever have. i took (relatively!) few pictures today—capturing more with my heart than my nikon.

and tenaya…what a joy….he loves it here too…fetching sticks, running between us, fetching sticks, bounding in the streams, and did i mention fetching sticks? god that boy enjoys it here! i think he could feel himself breathe too. and he smiles not stop, really really big toothy dog smiles. he’s exhausted now, sprawled out on his own queen bed here at the lone pine comfort inn….life is good.

really.

life is good.

Hope you all had a most wonderful holiday weekend! Jenn will be posting more photos soon too.

Peace, Heather

The Owens River and the Eastern Sierra

Big Horn Sheep, Silver Canyon, White Mountains. What an amazing treat seeing these creatures so closely. A HUGE thanks to our friend Joe who graciously took us four wheeling into this canyon, and on to some very cool dirt roads around Mono Lake. More pictures from that adventure for sure!

Mono Lake

Tenaya, What a handsome, happy dog! Did someone say “stick?”

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

With love from the Pixel Chix, Heather and Jenn….

 

Fern Springs, Yosemite National Park

Life has kept us away from the blog-o-sphere lately, but we’ll try to get some new stuff up here soon. For now, a photo from a year ago this weekend…..

(Mom, this one’s for you…..Love, Heather)
Fern Spring, Yosemite National Park, CA