THE SIERRA NEVADA

Caples Moon (2014)

Captured August of 2014, a full moon rises high in the Sierra Nevada. This Sierra Juniper has been sculpted from extreme weather and wind that rips over the crest of the Sierra's. I was heading back to Reno when I saw the full moon illuminating the distant mountains, trees, and shoreline, so I HAD to pull over and do some shooting. It’s like I did not have a choice in this at all!? This is an exposure blend of four captures; the initial exposure, then subsequent exposures stopped down to capture highlight detail in the moons reflection, and to not clip the highlights in the 'glow' of the moon. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com

Rainbows From Tunnel View (2010)

Tunnel View has been photographed a billion plus times, and who can resist getting a shot (or hundreds) for themselves? We just rolled into Yosemite and this was the first stop before heading into Yosemite Valley. I got out of the car to go take it all in, and just grabbed my camera with no tripod. Right when I got about half way across the parking lot, the rainbows popped out so I quickly made my way to the rock wall and propped down my camera to stabilize it, and captured around ten photographs before the rainbows disappeared. They were only visible for around 4 minutes, and the upper rainbow was beaming when I was across the parking lot, but by the time I got to the rock wall with the other 50 buzzing photogs, the upper rainbow had pretty much fizzled out. I searched for this particular Tunnel View double rainbow via specific capture date around 2013-ish, and I only saw one other image, but I KNOW others are out there of this very same atmospheric scene. Out of the 50 or so photogs that were witness to this that day, I wonder how many actually “got the shot”? The interesting thing about this Tunnel View double rainbow, is that Bridal Veil is directly in-between them, perfectly, and its centered in the frame. Most double rainbow Tunnel View scenes I have seen, the rainbows are stemming from high up on El Cap down into the valley or over Bridal Veil, which makes for a dynamic scene, but a very common atmospheric Yosemite scene also. Who knows, after ten years, maybe this atmospheric Tunnel View scene is common too ;-)… I reprocessed this image back in 2015 and tried to get the best detail and quality out of it as possible considering it was shot with a Canon Rebel T1i and its accompanying 18-55mm EF lens back in May of 2010.

The Edge Spirit (2015)

Captured July of 2015, during one of the best summer storm systems to roll over the Sierra Nevada that I have been able to witness. What you see here was captured on the sloping portion of a steep cliff right off the road. Dare not venture out on the saturated slope too far at all, it would surely be death if one slipped and fell. The cool thing about this storm was, nobody else was up there with a camera, or out in the storm, anywhere! It was wet, it was drizzling rain the whole time, so towels and lens cloths were a must have, along with some very technical rain gear for the camera; a shower cap and a Ziploc bag. This tree seemed to be at one with the storm, a part of it, or conducting it, with it’s branch arms reaching out to the side, and head of branches lowered in the storms direction. This is a single handheld exposure… © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com

Jurassic Garden (2015)

This is a single exposure captured last July on a Western Sierra Nevada slope. The West Coast of the US and the Sierra’s had a LOT of rainfall during spring and summer of 2015, and also, the Sierra’s had relatively NO snow during winter. The consistent amount of rainfall provided for some unique opportunities for photography; to capture the Sierra’s under conditions that normally just would not be there. During this capture sequence, there was a constant drizzle coming down, and the fog and low lying clouds just kept moving throughout the area diffusing the sunlight nicely, and creating a moody scene. With my lens tilted upwards at about a 35-degree angle, I had to shield the camera with a shower cap (they work great), and also held a Ziploc bag extended out and over the lens to keep the drizzle from falling on the glass. I recently found a rain shield that mounts on the hot shoe and extends out over the lens, hopefully this will serve its purpose fairly well. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com

Creature on the Crest (2014)

A friend of mine and I found this magical tree one day when hiking up in the Sierra Nevada in an area I like to call “Hobbit Land” due to the VERY old Sierra Juniper’s that are standing watch on the crest of the Sierra's. Sculpted by wind and weather, this Sierra Juniper has a base diameter of roughly 12 feet, maybe more (I am guessing), and appears to be reaching out for something in a twisted stance. It is very old, and was truly something to witness. The branch in the middle foreground with a flat end, was cut by some careless person long ago, and that is not the only area of this tree that has had portions of it’s limbs cut off. Who would want to desecrate this ancient spirit of the Sierra's? The tree is so old, who knows when the cuts were made… I initially captured this scene for focus stacking and exposure blending, but a single exposure with a deep depth of field at f/13 worked out. This is not an HDR image… I did not have any wiggle room in this composition for cropping, I was completely zoomed all the way out at 16mm, sitting down with my back against a granite wall, to capture what you see here. Captured August 2014 © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com

Autumn Aspen Sunlight (2013)

The Sierra Nevada is one of the most spectacular mountain ranges to witness fall color. I used a higher f-stop to increase depth of field and to create a “sun star”. The ISO was increased for a faster shutter speed to stop the motion of the trees, leaves, and grass from the High Sierra afternoon winds. A polarizer was used to bring out more fall color in the Aspen leaves and to reduce glare. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com

Stone Grove (2014)

This image was captured August 2014, I am finally getting around to sorting through, and processing images captured over the past five years. Old Sierra Juniper’s stand strong anchored in granite of the Sierra Nevada. There is a face in this image, and I was not sure if a better name would suit it, such as ‘Monster’, or ‘Gremlin’. ‘Gremlin of the Stone Grove’, ‘Faces in nature’? Oh well… It is better that the viewer sees with their own eyes, and not have their perception influenced by a title. If the face appears, even better. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com

Over and Under (2016)

Captured early February 2016 on the North Fork of the Yuba River in the Sierra Nevada. Connie and I took a drive over Donner Pass, then headed towards Sierra Ville and up to the North Fork. For this particular capture, I had my tripod propped in the water a couple feet above the surface, and had my feet balanced on exposed rocks, probably not the smartest thing when spring runoff is at its full potential which it wasn’t, also this area was on an inside bend of the river. When the Yuba is out of control, it’s a done deal if you get caught in it, unless you are fast thinking and a skilled swimmer. The Yuba River is one of the most beautiful river systems in the Sierra Nevada. This is a single exposure. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY http://www.mikeclasenphotography.com

Transition (2011)

While this image displays signs of sunset and seasonal transition, it also signifies a point in time where my growth as a photographer started to take off, and I began to take my photography seriously and educate myself with the visual art of photography as a whole. This image was captured in autumn of 2011, shortly after I started to dive into using manual mode on my DSLR at the time, which was a Canon Rebel T2i. I did not know anything about post processing really, or the camera settings required for shooting in various scenarios to obtain some of the end results I desired. I did not know what 75% of the controls and settings on the DSLR camera actually did. I have not processed this image until now, and have some more images to sort through from 2011.... This scene was captured in the Eastern Sierra Nevada foothills above Bishop California. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com

Peaks of Lundy (2016)

Not sure about this title, it’s kinda cheesy, as with ANY title… But really, these are some Sierra Nevada peaks captured during a storm that was rolling through. So, Peaks of Lundy, kinda stood out - literally. This is a handheld single exposure captured in early April of 2016. Nothing technically fancy here. This was processed as a black and white, then a little color was reintroduced back into the peaks. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com

The Gathering (2015)

This is a single exposure captured in July of 2015 during a series of very wet storms that passed over the Sierra Nevada. What started to seem easy after the first couple hours of processing, turned into a royal PITA. I hit pixel burnout, and just wanted to get this thing over with. This is the end result… I had to deal with a few boo boo’s, issues, and challenges along the way, etc. etc. etc. But, it was time to move on, and maybe revisit this one later. Overall, I am ok with how it turned out. The composition; I was not totally jiving with at first, it was a difficult one to frame to get what I wanted. No perspective warping was done here. Anyway, this image was captured at my favorite high alpine ‘small’ lake in the Sierra Nevada. I have captured a few variations of this scene over the years, with sunny skies, cloudy skies, and then this one with totally diffused light from very stormy weather, drizzling rain, and mist floating over the lake; this was definitely the best of the bunch. Prior to ever capturing this scene years ago, I was eating a freshly barbecued hamburger and then looking at this potential photo op. Yes, there is a barbecue and picnic table directly to the left of where I captured this image back in 2015. Since then, some members of this little gathering have left to never return, the forest service marked and cut half of the tree's down you see in this photograph - I guess they have their reasons, so this scene no longer exists - it is history.... Thanks, for checking it out. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com

Flowing Through Winter White (2011)

*Published in the February 2017 Winter Wonderland Gallery of Landscape Photography Magazine. This image of the North Fork of the Yuba River in California, is a B&W conversion. Processing for this single handheld exposure, involved using CRAW/Photoshop, with Tony Kypers TK4 Panel, and NIK software's Viveza and ColorFX Pro filters. This was the third time I have re-processed this image since 2011. I am pretty satisfied with the image overall, considering the conditions in which I took the photograph (no water droplets on the lens), and the quality limitations of the camera I had at the time, which was a Canon Rebel T1i with a Canon EF 18-55mm lens. The timing was perfect for this capture, heavy snow fall had temporarily turned into light snow flurries when I stopped the car to photograph this scene, and there was a fresh clean white coat of snow covering the underlying dirty layers of snow along, and atop rocks on the Yuba river. After capturing this scene, we turned around and headed up the Golden Chain Highway to head over the mountain back down to Sierra Ville, and on home to Reno, Nevada. I had just let go of my 2005 Nissan XTerra due to financial woes after the recession, and I had recently purchased a new, better gas mileage, front wheel drive, Kia Forte. We hit a steeper section right at the top of the mountain, and started to slide backwards and sideways. I tried a couple more times to make it over the top, and had to turn around and head back down towards Sacramento to find some chains, and give Donner Summit a try. At this point, the snow was building up and really coming down. We made it to Sacramento, found some snow chains, and then drove the new Kia over Donner Summit in one of the worst white out blizzards of the year. We made it back to Reno safely, and had a few pictures to remember the more peaceful and serene parts of this journey. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY http://www.mikeclasenphotography.com

Sierra Storm Fade Reflection (2015)

The weather in the Reno/Tahoe area and in the Sierra Nevada has been out of the ordinary during the summer of 2015. We have had a LOT of storms roll through and a LOT of rainfall. A great time to go get some of those photo-ops waiting up in the Sierra’s and surrounding areas. The reflections on this hidden Sierra gem, are a site to behold. This is one of the prettiest alpine lakes in the Sierra Nevada I have had the privilege of visiting. It takes little work to frame a shot and alleviate any signs of human involvement. So, I hit pixel burnout on this image. There is a lot of shade, if not total shade in this image, it took a lot tweaking to get this image as close to how it looked when I was there. It was dark when I captured this image (total shade), so when I was adjusting levels selectively and globally while viewing the histogram, it became very monotonous, a lot of dodging and burning. This is an exposure blend of two images (for the sky), from a stand and shoot capture in July 2015. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com

Storming on the Crest (2015)

Captured in the Sierra Nevada in July of 2015. This is a single hand held exposure, captured from the side of the road. We had a series of storms during the spring and summer of 2015 that rolled over the Sierra Nevada bringing a LOT of rain, while creating moody atmosphere, and very dramatic skies. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com

Passing through Lundy (2016)

This scene was captured early April 2016 while a storm was rolling over the Sierra Nevada. We were headed to Mono Lake, and decided to head up a canyon nearby. The atmospherics in the canyon were great, and the rain had let up enough to where many low lying clouds were moving through the area, providing for some great photo ops. This is one exposure, a quick snap, no tripod. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY www.mikeclasenphotography.com

Resting Place (2015)

This image was captured in the Sierra Nevada in a thick aspen Grove during May 2015 storms that moved over the region. There were fresh bear tracks, and some deer tracks in the wet earth from the recent storms. I was not sure how fresh the bear tracks were, but my eyes were more aware after that ;-). This aspen grove was very thick and it was hard to get an open shot that was not just, a bunch of Aspen. I was lucky to find a clearing in time to capture the 'last light' show, and get a more open view of the peaks in the distance, and some interesting foreground elements. The light gets pretty radiant on the Sierra's when the sun goes down. The alpenglow in the distance was a bonus as clouds were blocking the sun shortly prior, like a show about to start with the curtains down, and all of a sudden the curtains opened up and the show began. This is a focus stack consisting of 5 captures at different focus points. © MIKE CLASEN PHOTOGRAPHY http://www.mikeclasenphotography.com