photography by wasim.

Tag: far meadow

I Spy With Eye-Fi Lots Of Things That Are NOW IN FOCUS!

Spoiler Alert: Super fan boy mode is about to be engaged. Reader discretion is advised.

Eye-Fi Mobi.

In a word: frickin’ brilliant!

Ok, that was two words. Well, one real word and one, eh…you get the point.

It was a common frustration for DSLR shooters such as myself that the only means of checking for focus and composition is on the LCD screen on the back of the camera, at least until you get home and look at them on your computer and then want to shoot your computer in the face because that critical point was actually in soft focus! (more…)

July 23, 2013
Far Meadow – Yup. A Photo Trip. (Part 2)

And tonight…I write by candlelight…

So yeah, the power on the trailer went out so I’m left with a few candles and just enough charge to offload today’s photos and jot down today’s haps, so, again, I’ll try to keep it as short and sweet as I can and hopefully let some of the images do the talking…

I must say, waking up to a symphony of birds singing, mist evaporating, and the soft golden sunlight beaming through decades old redwoods, bouncing poetically across wildflowers outside your window…does. not. suck.

I’m not an early riser…at ALL, but when I peeked out the trailer window at first light, I fought the urge to stay in bed and jumped outside to spend a few minutes snapping a bit of the magic. Yeah, I hadn’t had my coffee just yet, so they eyes pressed up against that viewfinder were still a bit foggy…but, hey, what better way to capture the essence of first light than through the eyes of a coffee addicted someone that…well…rolled out of bed directly into first light, walking across the meadows as the grasshoppers scattered and the bumblebees paid no mind, too busy feasting on the flora.

Anyhow, so it was time to walk over to the A-frame and see if I might snap a few shots. After all, that’s what I was here for right? The light was almost directly overhead, but the clouds more than made up for it. Crazy puffy spotted clouds on a perfect blue sky just above the cabin, so we moved all the tools out of the way and I kinda went trigger happy.

When I looked out in the meadow and saw something I had to run out for…I won’t even say anything, but nature has a funny way of displaying an eerie synchronicity in ways you could never imagine. I mean…those rocks…that cloud…really!!??

Yosemite National Forest, California. Wasim Muklashy Photography

Towards the end of the day, as last light began to fall, we had all just decided to head down to Jones’ Store for hamburgers to ring in Independence Day, so after sweating our way through several hours of shooting the home, we jumped in our respective showers to wash down and head down. My particular shower just happened to be an outdoor solar shower that, well, wasn’t connected to the solar panels yet, so…well…cold…but hot damn, just went with it…all part of the experience and all parts I’ll remember. It’s been a while since having a chance to let go like this, so figured I had to savor it. As I was pulling up my jeans, the horn honked outside, so I ran to the truck with belt and shoes in hand, jumped in, and not until about 90 seconds later did I realize that I forgot the camera…at last golden hour…in the Sierras. I forgot the camera. Golden hour. Sierras.

Forgot.

Camera.

Sierras.

Less than 4 seconds passed before I accepted it, embraced it, and said, oh well (after a few ‘I’m an idiot I’m an idiot’s escaped while the crew laughed at me)…

Anyhow, that was one thing that seemed to be indicative of something I couldn’t help but notice as the day progressed, the pressures and worries and thoughts and stresses of everyday life just kind of drifted away, and for the first time perhaps ever, I really haven’t fought it. I just kinda accepted it, embraced it, and let it go. Normally it would eat away at me for hours, perhaps days. The creature comforts that we’re so used to that can just be suddenly taken away from you…it can often feel like intense withdrawal from addiction, but perhaps that really is only attitude. Oh, powers out? That’s ok. I have candles. Oh, forgot my camera? Oh, ok, screw it, enjoy the moment, not everything has to be captured. After all, the fact remains, you’re eating a burger – on the 4th of July – as the sun sets – in the high Sierras. I mean…c’mon!

So yeah, those creature comforts really seem to be nothing but luxuries and addictions. Perhaps even vices. And it’s quite remarkable how easy it is to truly let go of something that just days before you figured you’d die if were taken away.

Anyhow, I’ll leave you with a few photos from interestingly charming Jones Store compound by iPhone…

And then a gallery of some of that first set of images.

For Part 3, the final installment of the Far Meadow series, click here.
And in case you missed Part 1 of this Far Meadow Photo Adventure, click here!

Jones Store. Yosemite National Forest, California. Wasim Muklashy Photography

Jones Store. Beasore Meadows. Yosemite National Forest, California. Wasim Muklashy Photography

Jones Store. Yosemite National Forest. Wasim Muklashy Photography

July 16, 2013
Far Meadow Yosemite – A photo trip? (Part 1)

The stillness is a tad unnerving at first…but then the fact that there is absolutely no noise coming from anything other than the keyboard and an occasional distant howl, the source of which I’ve yet to determine, begins to quickly become soothing. Once your brain gets past the fact that you’ve decided, on your own will, to drive through the central valley during one of the most scorching heat waves we’ve seen in these parts (I watched my car thermometer climb from 103 and end up at 109 before finally beginning to gain elevation after passing through Oakhurst and winding my way up to the Far Meadow on tires that should have been changed 5000 miles ago), and you catch sight of the foothills of the High Sierras, and you start heading in their direction…everything begins to fall into place.

Sort of…

The truth is, I had no idea what to expect. All I was told was my bosses had built a new rental cabin on their property just outside Yosemite, and they needed photos taken of it for the site, marketing materials, whatever. They’d have it ready by Thursday, and I can stay in it if I snapped some images they can use. How the hell can I say no? How the hell can anyone say no? So I grabbed my camera, packed the car, picked up an Eye-Fi Mobi (that I’m ridiculously excited to play with), and, well, let’s do this thing!

After finagling with trying to find the directions (long story…basically, bad reception, spotty internet, had to track down a pdf from Mexico…the sort that tells you to turn at the stake at about 1.5 miles, watch for the store, turn at the wooden sign on the dirt road…etc etc etc…), I pulled into a grocery store in Oakhurst to grab some supplies/foods/stuffs just in case, and the store was busier than anything I’d ever seen. If you were in the middle of an aisle grabbing a bag of pretzels, forget about it…you’re trapped by at least 5 or 6 other carts until they’ve finished their business. It was beyond ‘excuse me’ at that point. Ohhh…riiighhht…4th of July is tomorrow…thank GOD I wasn’t heading into Yosemite Valley on this trip…

Instead…pass through pure unadulterated Americana as you meander along the 41 to the 222 to the 274 to the Country Store to the sign at the dirt road…and…wow. I mean…wow. Tall pine trees and redwoods surrounded my every move, and once I got off the main road, I had 14 miles of the most spectacularly gorgeous winding Yosemite mountain roads all to myself. Literally, there was one other car I saw the entire way. Saw plenty of meadows, cows, meadows, trees, more cows, more meadows…it’s incredible. Car commercial incredible! Yeah, I said it.

I pull onto the property and track down the bosses/owners of this madness. After being carted into an insanely charming solar powered vintage Silver Stream trailer that I get to call home for the night, they walk me to the newest addition to their property, an A-frame cabin that they’re currently putting the final touches on. I fell in love with it immediately. Nothing spectacular, nothing fancy, nothing gaudy at all. It’s simplicity at its absolute finest. And just off to the right of it, a gorgeous unspoiled open meadow caught my eye…I happened upon it just as the sun was beginning to set behind the hills there for the night. I ran out there, the dog followed. Below is a gallery of those first few glorious hours.

Yup, this oughtta be a pretty neato few days.

I made my way back to the cabin where the boss couple were cooking up T-bones and potatoes over an open fire, we sat down and feasted, had a few glasses of wine, rubbed olive oil all over the table (don’t ask…but believe you me, I will steal that trick one day…), and now here I sit. Retired to my trailer for the evening. Trying not to get too caught up and just be with it as it happens. Anywho…can’t wait to see what the days ahead bring…

For Part 2 of this Far Meadow photo adventure, click here! And for Part 3, the final installment of the Far Meadow series, click here.

July 9, 2013