California

Groundhog Day

drought, desert, mud cracks, Arizona, Steve Bruno

Yes, we’re starting to feel like Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day. Mother Nature has succeeded in issuing a stay at home order more potent than any Governor’s. The only time to be comfortable outdoors is first thing in the morning, but the smoke throughout the west has reached unhealthful conditions in many places, defeating the purpose of going out.

In case you missed this week’s news, record setting heat in Death Valley reached 130 degrees, a mark not seen there in over 100 years, or over one pandemic ago. The photo below is from the National Park Service Instagram page. Think of it like a bank thermometer, but the official reading is the third highest ever recorded on Earth. Phoenix has had a record number of 110+ days, as well as a record number of 115+ days. It could snow there this week, and it would still be the hottest summer on record. Las Vegas tried to end rainless streak of 89 days, but could only squeeze out a trace of rain. The people who study these things say we have been in a long term drought which historically last 30 years, and we are about 25 years into it. I hope in 5 years from now Californians are back to complaining about all the rain. It beats the hell out of all these fires.

Perhaps the most important news of the week comes from Greenland. Scientists now say that the ice cap there has reached the point of no return. People weren’t paying attention to Al Gore twenty years ago, so perhaps news like this will get people listening to scientists now. If you want to see how we’ve destroyed the polar ice cap, you can click on the link below.

Polar Ice Caps Melting

August 24, 2020 0

Monochrome Madness: MM4-32

Sierra Nevada, California, mountains, gottatakemorepix

As we approach winter in the northern hemisphere, scenes like this should be common. Instead, the nightly news talks about fires in California, and how the firefighters will be on the job until Christmas, and now perhaps until New Year’s Day. Here’s hoping for rain and snow soon for our neighbors in California.

This image is from the Mammoth region of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and is my contribution to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week. To see what other photographers have contributed, or instructions to join in, please visit Leanne’s website.

December 13, 2017 2

Monochrome Madness: MM4-24

waterfalls, yosemite, national park, california, merced river

Last winter/spring was one of the wettest that California has ever seen, and was declared a drought-buster by several accounts. Now, about a half year later, we have seen the most devastating fires to ever hit that state. What happened to all that water? Did the drought really go away?

Intense, out-of-control fires have occurred in places that you would not normally expect these to take place. Oregon, Montana, western Canada, and now Portugal have all been in the news for their fires this year. A reasonable person would have to look at this situation and wonder if there is something we can do for long-term fire prevention. The White House says global warming and climate change is a hoax. More FAKE NEWS!

My photo is from several years ago, and is one of my favorites from a springtime trip in what used to be a normal weather year. I know fires have threatened Yosemite National Park in recent years, and I can’t help but wonder if the next one is the one that leaves the park in ashes.

This is my contribution to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week. To see what other photographers have contributed, or instructions to join in, please visit her website.

October 21, 2017 6

Monochrome Madness: MM3-51

As spring transitions towards summer, cold fronts still pass through the desert, but they rarely contain significant moisture. They always bring a little breeze, and sometimes, a lot. A couple weeks ago we had wind gusts in the 70-80 mph range, and there’s never enough moisture to hold down the sand and dust when those fronts come through. Usually this is landscape photography hell, but if you happen to be in the right spot, you can turn it into opportunity.

My photo was taken in the desert of southern California during one of these spring fronts, and is my contribution to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness. Instructions on how to participate, and the contributions of others can be found on her site.

April 15, 2017 8

WPC: New Horizon

Sand dunes, California, Mojave Desert, Steve Bruno

Nature’s

Evolving

Windswept

Horizon

Occasionally

Reveals

Infinite

Zigzags

Organized

Nightly

December 12, 2016 9

WPC: Edge

waterfall, Hawaii - Steve Bruno - gottatakemorepix

The Daily Post Challenge this week is Edge, and the first thing that came to mind was waterfalls going over the edge, but I haven’t come across too many that allow getting to this angle safely.

Lake Powell in southern Utah has more shoreline than the Pacific Ocean along the continental US. In this early morning photo you can see the shoreline’s sinuous edges.

Sand dunes sometimes have well defined edges, such as this one shown here from Death Valley National Park, California.

These massive boulders are hanging over the edge of a cliff along the drive up Mount Lemmon, just outside of Tucson, Arizona.

There are few canyons in the desert southwest as impressive as Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly. Spider Rock, shown here at the edge of darkness, can only be seen by walking to the edge of the canyon.

September 11, 2016 15

WPC: Half-Light

The Daily Post Challenge of Half-Light seemed like an easy one to find an image for. The time between sunset and darkness (and darkness to sunrise) offers some of the best opportunity for great photographs. But a poem, verse, song lyric to go along with that photograph?

Fortunately I had the album “Machine Head” by the group Deep Purple as one of my favorite albums growing up. The band’s most well-known song is on that album, but one song which always stuck with me probably never got any airplay. I’m sure I had the cassette tape/CD playing on some trips to mountainous regions, and it still makes me think of places like this. ^

The song is called “Pictures of Home” and the lyrics go like this:

March 25, 2016 10

Window Seat IV – Storm Front Sierra Nevada

Approaching storm front, Sierra Nevada range, California, aerial photography

The territory covered on the flight from Las Vegas to Seattle can be quite spectacular, and my recent trip along this route coincided with the arrival of a storm front that allowed me to capture some of my favorite images ever from the air. We had passed Death Valley and still hadn’t reached full altitude when we came across this scene. I probably would have been thrilled to be on the ground for this one, especially if I were close to one of the snow-capped ridges in the distant range. Stepping back and seeing the whole picture can be good once in a while, and in this case, seeing below the clouds and the top of the approaching front made for a unique perspective I was glad I was able to photograph.

November 30, 2015 5

WPC: Afloat – Yosemite

Merced River, Yosemite National Park, California

We were in Yosemite in springtime, when a cold front passed through. The next morning there were chunks of ice floating down the river that hadn’t been there the previous mornings. We traced it back to the source – Yosemite Falls. The spray from the falls had built up a layer of ice close to a foot thick during the night and was now melting. This probably happens on a regular basis there, but I have never seen photos of it.

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: Afloat

The source for all the ice:

April 14, 2015 3

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