Aspen trees changing to their Fall wardrobe in Hope Valley, California

 

A bit of fall color in Hope Valley, California.  These are the changing leaves of aspen trees near the junction of Highways 88 and 89 south of Lake Tahoe.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, chunks of calcium carbonate sticking out

 Mammoth Hot Springs is sometimes called a mountain turning itself inside out. Hot water deep underground dissolves calcium where it combines with carbon dioxide to make calcium carbonate. Once that solution comes to the surface, the water evaporates and the remaining water cools, resulting in the mineral being deposited into flowing shapes. Calcium carbonate is also the mineral that cave features like stalagmites and stalactites are made of and the white powdery substance you can see in your kitchen sink.

In this photo, you can see some of the flowing shapes have broken off and are lying across the terraces at odd angles. One of the chunks at the upper left appears to be almost completely upside down, with "fingers" of calcium carbonate sticking up. The colors in the white calcium carbonate come from bacteria and algae growing in the warm water. A reddish tinge can also be a sign that iron is mixed in. We were on a boardwalk that leads down from the top of a hill to get in position for this shot. f/8, 1/800 sec, 55 mm, Canon Powershot SX530 HS.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Illilouette Fall as seen from Sierra Point in Yosemite National Park

 

This is a view of Illilouette Fall from the Sierra Point viewpoint in Yosemite National Park.  See our YouTube video about Sierra Point and how to get there.  You can also get a similar view of this waterfall from the Mist Trail hiking from the Happy Isles Nature Center to Vernal Falls.

The canyon that this waterfall falls into runs roughly south to north and is a relatively short boulder-strewn gorge before Illilouette Creek flows into the Merced River after that river flows over Nevada and Vernal Falls.  This photo was taken in June 2016 when snowmelt had swollen the creek's flow.

Remember, it's a story, not just a picture.

"Corridor of Color" Fall Colors in Hope Valley, Alpine County, California

Fall colors are starting in Hope Valley in Alpine County, California, south of Lake Tahoe.  This "corridor of color" is along Highway 88 near the Wylder (Sorenson's) Resort.

The fall colors in Hope Valley are from aspen trees and cottonwoods losing chlorophyll and allowing xanthophylls and other pigments to show through as the temperature drops and the sun's intensity and day length diminish as the Autumn season progresses.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Water ouzel (dipper) in Silver Creek, Alpine County, California

 

Over the Labor Day weekend, we went to Alpine County, California, an area where Rick worked in the Toiyabe National Forest on the trail crew. There was a fire south of us in Slinkard Valley, so we couldn't stay overnight, but we did get a chance to look at the east fork Carson River where Silver Creek joins it. We found this water ouzel (dipper) bird that lives along river rapids and eats insects that live in the rapids. I happened to catch this image of the bird with an insect in its mouth. This species of bird walks around in the rapids with no apparent concern for its safety. It can even dip underwater when looking for its food and walk on the river bottom. We've even seen these birds dipping into the Merced River in Yosemite, during the winter. It doesn't get cold because it has so much oil in its feathers, it doesn't get wet. 

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Upper end of Yosemite Valley from the Four Mile Trail, July 22, 2020

 

Here's a photo taken in Yosemite National Park showing Tenaya Canyon to the left and the Merced River Canyon to the right with Half Dome in the center. On the right, you can see Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall. Rick took this photo from the Four Mile Trail during what he calls his "Overnight Day Trip." He was able to get to Yosemite from Fresno by taking the YARTS bus. He didn't have the chance to get a day-use permit or an overnight permit, but you can still get into Yosemite if you arrive on the YARTS bus. The Four Mile Trail to Glacier Point is actually about 4 and a half miles long. The view opens up to the east after 3 to 4 miles up what is a relentlessly uphill climb. This was Rick's first time on this trail despite all the times he's been to Yosemite over the years (more than 180 visits). He expects to hike this trail again soon. He accidentally got his shadow in the picture at the lower right. It was after 6 pm and the sun was getting low enough in the sky to make that happen.

This image is the result of two images being merged together. Each image was taken with a Motorola z4 smartphone, merged, and then processed for brightness and contrast in Digikam on a Linux computer. 

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Comet NEOWISE over Old Sacramento, California

It might be hard to make out in the first photo, but Comet NEOWISE is in the right upper center of this image between the building and the flag pole on the bow of the riverboat. This image is from Old Sacramento State Historic Park in Sacramento, California. The riverboat in the foreground is the Delta King, which acts as a floating hotel and is permanently moored at its dock. The building in this image is on the other side of the Sacramento River in West Sacramento.

Bob took these photos on the evening of July 17, 2020.  In the first photo the lights on the riverboat were so bright that it produced a sharp contrast with the night sky where the comet was.  To reduce the contrast he used a graduated neutral density filter to tone down the riverboat lights.

The second photo is a zoom-in showing the comet and its position relative to the building in the first photo.

Comet NeEOWISE and the Big Dipper over Yosemite Valley

Here's a photo showing a slowly fading Comet NEOWISE C/2020 f3 below the Big Dipper. I was in Yosemite on the south rim next to Sentinel Creek with a clear view of the sky. I was hoping to get a view of the comet floating above El Capitan, but the moon was just past new and was setting so there was no light for the landscape. So I turned my attention to getting pictures of the comet with the Big Dipper so it would have recognizable stars around it. It's above two stars in the constellation Leo Minor. It's closest to the earth on this night, but farther from the sun so it's not as brighter as before.

ISO 6400, 30-second exposure, f4, focal length 20mm. This image was cropped to high light the constellation and comet below. 

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Comet NEOWISE over Sacramento, California

These photos are of Comet NEOWISE, aka C/2020 F3, taken at about 4:39 AM Sacramento time on July 12, 2020. I, Bob, had driven to the west end of the Yolo Bypass, which is between the cities of West Sacramento and Davis, California. I was looking northeasterly when I took this shot.  Other photographers were out in these predawn hours to get photos of it, like I was. The horizon is the Sierra foothills.

At this point Comet NEOWISE is on the outbound part of its orbit after already whipping past the sun. The tails of comets are created by and directed by solar radiation, which means they always point away from the sun. The sun is below the horizon in this view and the tail is pointing away from it.

While I was getting shots of the comet, a freight train passed by me on the nearby tracks.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Great Fountain Geyser and forest fire smoke, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

This is a photo of the Great Fountain Geyser along the Firehole Lake Drive in Yellowstone National Park. This was taken on August 15, 2016 while a forest fire was raging on the horizon.  The smoke extends from the setting sun to the upper right corner.

Great Fountain Geyser is one of the geysers that the rangers can predict when it will erupt, but the window of time that it might erupt is plus or minus two hours. When it's building toward an eruption, the vent and surrounding terraces will fill with water to overflowing and the column of water will shoot up out of the pooling water, as opposed to geysers like Old Faithful Geyser that erupt out of a cone.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Female common mergansers resting on a log, American River Parkway, Sacramento, California

We were out paddling around the American River Parkway in Sacramento, California when we encountered these female common mergansers resting on this log that had fallen across this channel.  This is just downstream from the Watt Avenue Bridge.

The merganser in the middle had its mouth open, while the merganser on the right was giving us the eye while trying to get some sleep.  Mergansers are also known as fish ducks, since they feed on small fish by diving underwater and swimming after their prey.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Grotto Geyser erupting, Yellowstone National Park

Grotto Geyser always makes me think of a sea turtle.  If you imagine the rounded feature in the middle as the turtle's head, then the other two rounded features on either side look like flippers. Grotto Geyser is in the Upper Geyser Basin, which includes Old Faithful Geyser, in Yellowstone National Park.

Grotto may actually be a unique example of natural arch formation.  Scientists believe that the two "flippers" may have been formed by geyser mineral deposits over tree trunks which created two arches, since each flipper is an arc of rock over openings.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Half Dome at sunset with a bright moon in front of its face

Here's a full moon rising next to Half Dome, Yosemite National Park. I, Rick, was actually leaving Yosemite after a day visit and decided to stop at the Tunnel View for one last look at the valley. Some people off to the left were pointing somewhat excitedly, but I couldn't figure out why, at first. Then I saw the moon rising, so I rushed to a spot where I could get the best angle. The red light of the setting sun contrasted well with the bright moon.

I did some adjusting of brightness and contrast and worked specifically on the area within the moon to bring out the details, but nothing was repositioned or added to the image.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!