photography by wasim.

Tag: sierras

I’ve Finally Assembled My Perfect Hiking And Backpacking Camera Kit

If you’ve ever gone on an extended hike or backpacking trip, you know that every single ounce of weight counts. An extra strip of beef jerky may not seem like a lot sitting in your pocket at home, but you WILL notice and feel every single gram of it as the sun-scorched miles move beneath your boots. So when you’re packing for such a trip, weight and consideration and bare essentials are a constantly compromised necessity, and, obviously, for photographers, food and clean socks come in a distant second to camera gear. Lucky for us photographers, the new breed of mirrorless systems has changed EVERYTHING. Gone are the days of having to trudge 10-15 pounds of DSLR gear and lenses to get solid professional high-quality images. Now you can make top-shelf images AND pack an entire bag of beef jerky.
As I prepared to pack for a 5-day, 45-mile backpacking excursion into the Sierras, I was absolutely thrilled at how much lighter my pack already was since last year’s adventures through 3 National Parks, and especially the year before that, when I lugged around that same full Nikon D7000 kit through 22, 104-degree Grand Canyon miles on the way into Havasupai, Arizona. Ouch. Ouch. OUCH! While, unfortunately, this month’s Sierra backpacking trip got cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances in the group, I still thought it’d be valuable to share what I had already packed and was prepared to take.

First, here’s the bulk of the Nikon D7000 kit that I had with me both for the Havasupai trip and for the National Park trip. Basically, the kit I’ve been used to traveling with:

Nikon D7000 Body (APSC CMOS Sensor): 1 lb, 8 oz.

Nikkor 18-200 Lens: 1 lb, 4 oz.

Nikkor 35mm Lens: 7 oz.

Tokina 11-16mm Lens: 1.2 lbs

Manfrotto 190xb Tripod with Manfrotto 486RC2 Ballhead: 5 pounds

Filters, Filter Holders, Extra batteries, USB charging brick: 1 pound

TOTAL: 10.5 LBS.

Now, for comparison’s sakes, here’s what I had packed this time:

Samsung NX30 Body (APSC CMOS Sensor): .8 pound

Samsung NX3000 Body (APSC CMOS Sensor): .5 pound

Samsung 18-200mm lens: 1.27 pounds

Samsung 12-24mm lens: 7.3 oz

Dolica TX570B150SL Travel Tripod: 2.5 pounds

Filters, filter holders, extra batteries, USB charging brick: 10 oz.

TOTAL: 6.1 LBS.

And here they are side by side, with the respective lenses mirroring each other. Look at the size differences alone in the Samsung kit on the bottom row versus the Nikon kit on the top row, especially in the lenses and the bodies:

So as you can see, that is not only literally a savings of almost half the weight, but it also includes AN EXTRA CAMERA BODY. Heck, both camera bodies together weighed less than the single DSLR. Granted, the tripod alone also saved me 2.5 pounds on it’s own. So yeah, needless to say, between this revelation, and my recent mirrorless-only trip to the Pacific Northwest, my DSLR traveling days are well behind me. Add the benefit of bright OLED displays and Wifi capabilities on the Samsung NX30 and Samsung NX300, allowing me to use my phone as a trigger or high res monitor as well, and there’s really no reason left to go back.

Adapt or die…or, at the very best, adapt or suffer through a bad back…orrrrr better yet…suffer through that bad back by packing an extra 4 pounds of jerky!

Mmmm…jerky…

For more of my madness:
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August 19, 2014
A Surprise Journey Through The Range Of Light – The Eastern Sierra Nevadas – Part 3: Mono Lake

Day 3 of this unplanned impromptu journey into the Eastern Sierras thing was a tough choice. While I was happy with what I got in Yosemite’s Tuolumne Meadows yesterday, now that I knew the lay of the land a bit better, it couldn’t hurt to head back again, which I would have been absolutely HAPPY to do. However, I was also dangerously close to Mono Lake, California, another one on the bucket list, so I had to decide whether to turn this into 2 days of Tuolumne or 1 day of each, Tuolumne and Mono Lake, both of which, in my opinion, would have been WIN! I know, I know, tough decisions… But ultimately, the side of me that loves new things chose Mono Lake, figuring that, since the job got botched, I’d most likely be back up here again soon, so I’ll get another shot (major pun intended).

Once again, I left the motel in Mammoth Lakes around 4. Seeing as how Mono Lake was only about 30 minutes from Mammoth, I figured I’d have a solid 2 hours to get the lay of the land, find my shot, set up, and hang out. I drove through Lee Vining, stopped at the visitor center to find out how to get to the Tufas, the landmark landscape of the lake, made a mini-detour to the ‘Upside Down House,’ (don’t ask…here’s the photo and the sign, which I haven’t even read…kinda don’t want to ruin the desert rat mystique of this one…), and drove the 10 or so miles to the section of the lakeside I was going to call home for the next several hours.

I parked in the lot, and started walking down the path towards the shore, and the closer I got, the weirder everything started to get. There was a moment there where the wooden footpath ended, and the sand began, and it literally seemed like that one step took you from Earth, to Mars. These geological formations were the weirdest fricking things I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. I thought the hoodoos in last years trip to Bryce Canyon were from another planet, but these things just took things to a whole ‘nother galaxy.

Apparently what they are are dried up hot springs. The calcium-rich springs come out of the ground, pushing through the limestone, mixes with calcium carbonate, creating what are essentially, underwater hot spring volcanoes that eventually calcify and leave these…things…behind. While they’re naturally created over millennia, and happen underwater, the water level at Mono Lake has dropped so much since water diversions began in 1941, that it has exposed the wonders of the tufas for the world to see.

And those, my friends are what grace the top of this post and the gallery below. All of those images were also shot on a Samsung NX30 using a Samsung 18-200mm lens.

I hope you enjoyed my posts from this random trip at least a fraction of how much I enjoyed making them.

If you missed the first two parts, here they are:

Part 1: Mammoth Lakes
Part 2: Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park

And for more of my madness: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Twitter: @wasimofnazareth Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WasimOfNazareth

August 12, 2014
A Surprise Journey Through The Range Of Light – Part 2 – Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park

This is just one of those places. You hear about it, you see pictures of it, you read about it, and if you’re a nature-lover or photographer, or better yet, both, you’d be hot damned if you that’s the one you didn’t get to cross off your bucket-list.

Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park.

The mystique around this place runs high. It’s been called a ‘photographers paradise,’ as well as one of ‘the most difficult places to photograph.’ The thing about it is, it’s closed off most of the year. The picture-perfect gentle alpine meadow bordered on all directions by soft granite domes and spires, and blanketed in pines and wildflowers and berries and natural grass, lies in the highest of high countries in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, so Tioga Road, the only one that passes through, is snowed in on average of 7 months a year, and on top of that, the meadows are ‘meadowed’ for only about 3 months of the year (as a local park guide so eloquently put it). Furthermore, those 3 months just so happen to be the absolute busiest months of Yosemite National Park’s schedule, but, as stated in Part 1 – Mammoth Lakes, there was no way I was not going to seize this unexpected and completely spontaneous opportunity to make my way to this alleged garden of Eden.

I pulled onto Tioga Road at about 4pm, with about 4 hours before sunset, which I figured was enough time to at least explore a bit and find a place I was going to call camp for sunset. As I wind my way up and through the Tioga pass from Lee Vining on the Eastern Sierra side, I slowly rolled through the sort of landscape that dreams and fantasies are made of, the kind of place you thought only existed in cartoons and psilocybin – crystal clear sky blue cascading streams and rivers snaking their way through saturated green grasses and tress of various sizes and varieties, flanked by sun soaked rolling hills comprised of rolling granite domes and lodgepole pines.

As I drove through at about 10 miles per hour, I literally found a tear in my eye – I was in absolute awe of some of the most striking, insanely unreal scenes that would trump a psychedelia-soaked dream. I won’t lie. I was overwhelmed. How the hell was I going to only spend 5 hours here?

I figured since I only had this afternoon, I’d stop by the visitor center and ask for a few tips. The nice lady was hesitant at first to give out one of her favorite spots and secrets, but after she found out I was a State Park volunteer, she figured she was in safe territory and loudly ‘whispered’ a tip. I thanked her kindly, and went to follow her tip as I made my way around a particular dome. I hiked in for about 35 minutes before realizing I had no flashlight to get back out, and this was bear country, and I was finding myself in a maze that wouldn’t be ‘fun’ to try to scramble out of after dark. While the landscape was absolutely breathtaking as I followed the river through a forested part of the meadow, I had a scene in my mind and this was taking me away from it. I wasn’t going to be able to get the sunset colors with the snaking stream through the meadow I had envisioned. After a quick glance at the clock, I had to make a decision quick as I was less than an hour from sunset. I hastily decided to hike back out, and head down the road to a more open part of the meadow and just hope I can find something I’d be happy with.

I truly felt so overwhelmed, that I was absolutely certain that I wasn’t going to get a shot because I made the fatal mistake of running around looking for the best one, but made peace with it when I just figured I’d come back the next day now that I have a bit of the lay of the land. And I certainly wasn’t going to cry about that. Plus, I may not get the shot I had envisioned, but, I’m in Tuolumne Meadows at sunset, I’m sure as heck not walking out with nothing!

So I slowed my roll, took a breathe, and decided I was just going to enjoy this one. I hiked into the riverbank, sat on a rock to soak in this paradise, and right at that very moment, is when I found and saw my shots. All within striking distance of where I started walking around like a crazed half-bearded madman. The most surprising was a shot that ended up being one of my favorites, it was well after the sun had set, and I had already packed my gear and was using my phone’s flashlight to find my way back out to the road. That’s when I ran across the purple twilight light reflecting in a small pond and playing with the shadows of the landscape just off the path. I had to do it – I pulled out my gear, set up, and spent about another 30 minutes after dark playing right there in that area.

So here’s a bit of a gallery of my favorite images from that afternoon, all of which were shot on a Samsung NX30 using a Samsung 18-200mm lens.

For Part 3, Mono Lake, click here .

And in case you missed A Surprise Journey Through The Range Of Light – Part 1 – Mammoth Lakes, click here .

And for more of my madness: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Twitter: @wasimofnazareth Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WasimOfNazareth

August 6, 2014
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