BajaNomad - Baja Landscapes 2013

Baja Landscapes 2013

Skipjack Joe - 1-11-2014 at 10:52 PM

This first one is actually at the rest area at camp pendleton. I just like these trees a lot.

Skipjack Joe - 1-11-2014 at 10:53 PM

Dry arroyo near Cocos.

Skipjack Joe - 1-11-2014 at 10:55 PM

Skipjack Joe - 1-11-2014 at 10:57 PM

In the moonlight ...

Skipjack Joe - 1-11-2014 at 10:59 PM

Dry wash ...

Skipjack Joe - 1-11-2014 at 11:01 PM

Near Coco's ...

Skipjack Joe - 1-11-2014 at 11:03 PM

Salt Flats.

Skipjack Joe - 1-11-2014 at 11:04 PM

Salt Flat 2

monoloco - 1-11-2014 at 11:05 PM

That shot with the stars is absolutely spectacular. Could you please post a larger image?

[Edited on 1-12-2014 by monoloco]

Skipjack Joe - 1-12-2014 at 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by monoloco
That shot with the stars is absolutely spectacular. Could you please post a larger image?

[Edited on 1-12-2014 by monoloco]

I'm not sure. How big would like it (in pixels)? I had to blend two different exposures of the same image for that one (my first time) and I don't know which step was saved during the process. I probably should have saved it as a TIF file after the blend.

David K - 1-12-2014 at 12:28 AM

Beautiful work with the camera Igor.

Kgryfon - 1-12-2014 at 12:30 AM

Beautiful! Lovely starry night, as well as the rest!

Russ - 1-12-2014 at 06:46 AM

Very nice! Here's an attempt at enlarging the stars

That's as large as photobucket will let me make it.

[Edited on 1-12-2014 by Russ]

Ken Bondy - 1-12-2014 at 07:13 AM

Magnificent Igor!!!

willyAirstream - 1-12-2014 at 07:43 AM

Wow. Super pics.

Skipjack Joe - 1-14-2014 at 07:10 PM

This one was taken from the highway between Catavina and El Rosario.

Pics

tehag - 1-14-2014 at 07:14 PM

Real nice shots. Thank you for sharing.

tripledigitken - 1-14-2014 at 07:27 PM

You captured some beautiful light in that last image.

Skipjack Joe - 1-14-2014 at 07:36 PM

Thanks, Ken. I'm always looking for images on the way home at this time of day. Usually the light has changed by the time I find a place to pull over safely and get into position. Just need longer vacations or more time devoted to shooting I guess.

bajadogs - 1-14-2014 at 07:37 PM

I love these shots Skipjackjoe! The moonlit mountain however is obviously fake!

Just kidding... Spectacular!

DianaT - 1-14-2014 at 07:42 PM

As usual, your photos are very good. It I was to choose favorites, they would be the salt flats --- the beauty of the open barren land with a beautiful sky, and second one as I just love seeing plants claiming victory over rocks!

Thanks for sharing these. :yes:

Skipjack Joe - 1-14-2014 at 07:59 PM

The night shot was a single exposure. I then made a copy of it and lightened the original foreground and darkened the sky in the copied version and then merged the two.

The camera didn't really capture what was there and I had to make these adjustments. I can show you the original image if you like. Although there is no color at night the camera rendered both the sky and forground in a brown/magenta color. This is normal according to youtube videos I saw and is usually corrected. Some correct the sky to give it a dark blue tinge but that's now how I remembered it.

If you give it a short exposure you get a dark sky with few stars, However, if you give it a long exposure you get lots of stars but the sky is light. I did the long exposure to get the most stars the camera could render and then darkened the sky in post processing.

I went to Calamajue to capture a feeling I had there 12 years ago. I never got that image because, being new at this form of photography, the focus was all wrong in the beginning. I didn't know that until I got home, however. So those images are trash. This image was taken several days later as I started to better understand the problems of night photography. This image also was taken there but the plan were supposed to be of the Cortez in that baylet in the moonlight.

So was this real? To me it was.

Skipjack Joe - 1-14-2014 at 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DianaT
As usual, your photos are very good. It I was to choose favorites, they would be the salt flats --- the beauty of the open barren land with a beautiful sky, and second one as I just love seeing plants claiming victory over rocks!

Thanks for sharing these. :yes:

Diane,

I looked at this image when I came home and came to a curious decision. I felt that small rock on the bottom left was absolutely essential for this image. So I kept it in. It's like that beauty mark on Elizabeth Taylor's face. She just wouldn't look as good without it.

DianaT - 1-14-2014 at 08:12 PM

Igor,
I very much agree--- a beauty mark it is!

BajaLuna - 1-15-2014 at 09:19 AM

Awesome shots! Thanks!

Mexitron - 1-15-2014 at 01:45 PM

Awesome shots! I love the open-zen feeling of the salt flats---I tend to take pics like that too.

Skipjack Joe - 1-16-2014 at 12:30 AM

Mexitron,

I find those salt flats to be very easy on compositions because they are so simple. This was a roadside shot with Alex driving and me yelling periodically "Stop here".

I was lucky with the clouds because how often do you get clouds in that area. But later on I thought of the possibilities. Imagine one of those pink/mauve sunsets reflected in that water. Wouldn't that be interesting? or some sea bleached driftwood in the foreground?

The area is rich in possibilities but most of us drive by in a hurry to catch yellowtail. BTW, there were some spots that smelled so bad. I didn't put in the time needed for a unique composition.

Skipjack Joe - 1-30-2014 at 10:45 PM

One last one from the trip. This time in black and white. This was near Coco's corner.

Barry A. - 1-30-2014 at 11:01 PM

Outstanding, SkipJack--------just wonderful!!!

Barry

David K - 1-31-2014 at 01:20 AM

wowsers!!!

Bob H - 1-31-2014 at 10:53 AM

Holy Cow! These are fabulous!!! Thank you!

Pompano - 1-31-2014 at 11:23 AM

Well, Igor...I cannot compete with the quality of your Salt Flats and other striking photos, but will throw in some taken when I passed the Bonneville Salt Flats. I was on my way to someplace, but now I forget where?? The scene did capture me for an hour or two, though.

I briefly thought about taking my truck out there and going for a personal speed record....

Then I saw this fellow trying to clean all the salt muck off his car and thought better of that 'rusty' idea.

Skipjack Joe - 1-31-2014 at 02:25 PM

Thank you for answering everyone. I really appreciate it.

About the salt, Roger. At one time in my life I went to school in New Hampshire one year. The salt on the roads that winter completely ruined the body. One guy at school told me that he had holes so big that the hammer fell out through his car while driving. There's probably a lot of that in N Dakota.

PS I rented 'Fargo' one weekend after one of your posts. I just don't know how people can live in that kind of weather. It looked dreadful. Just painful to look at that scenery. Antarctic scenery.

Pompano - 1-31-2014 at 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Thank you for answering everyone. I really appreciate it.

About the salt, Roger. At one time in my life I went to school in New Hampshire one year. The salt on the roads that winter completely ruined the body. One guy at school told me that he had holes so big that the hammer fell out through his car while driving. There's probably a lot of that in N Dakota.

PS I rented 'Fargo' one weekend after one of your posts. I just don't know how people can live in that kind of weather. It looked dreadful. Just painful to look at that scenery. Antarctic scenery.

Winter Salt on the pavement.

You have it right, Igor. I would never ever buy a used car from North Dakota, Minnesota or any other road-salt state. The corrosion is rampant, and the hammer story is no exaggeration at all. In college, I drove a second-hand Plymouth wagon that had been used by the truck patrol for way too many winters before being put on the auction block. This is a true story...in the winter the snow would drift in over my feet while driving at speed on the highways ...through the gaping hole in the floorboards. My cardboard cover would only last so long....

Nowadays, I wash the undersides of my vehicles very well when Up North.

"Fargo" - The movie.

Funny as can be...and true regional accents...ya betcha. The movie was based on an actual kidnapping/murder ...but it happened in Minnesota and nothing to do with the ND city of Fargo. But by then Johnny Carson had made Fargo famous with his cold weather jokes and so it went with the title....better than calling the movie 'Minneapolis'.

Soon after the movie came out, I would be driving thru Mulege and lots of folks would yell at me...."Ya, sure ya betcha!"

Winter in Fargo...let's just say I have not spent a winter there in 40-some years...and counting. :rolleyes:

Skipjack Joe - 1-31-2014 at 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano

This is a true story...in the winter the snow would drift in over my feet while driving at speed on the highways ...through the gaping hole in the floorboards.

Too much.

Skipjack Joe - 1-31-2014 at 09:18 PM

Roger,

There's a new film coming out that reminds me a bit of Fargo - "Nebraska". Alex and I were watching the promos the other day and he says, "Let's go see it". I asked him why. He told me because I would like it. So I asked him why did he think I'd like it. He tells me "Because it's boring".

I thought about that for a bit and decided that I really liked that.

Skipjack Joe - 2-23-2014 at 09:11 AM

I saw "Nebraska" last night and do recommend it. It is however a B&W slow moving and "depressing" film if you are after action thrillers that are the rage these days. It's very humorous in it's depiction of those living in the heartland but probably not very truthful. If nothing else appeals to you, it does show the stark beauty of the landscapes and it's small towns.

2 thumbs up.

David K - 2-23-2014 at 09:36 AM

Have Fargo in my DVD collection... great 'dark comedy'! I used to group movies by type (Comedy, SciFi, Drama, Baja) and I had Fargo in comedy... Baja Angel said no way, it's drama...

Now all the movies types are grouped together and arranged by title...

I can't find what I want to watch anymore, lol!

[Edited on 2-23-2014 by David K]

pauldavidmena - 2-23-2014 at 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
This first one is actually at the rest area at camp pendleton. I just like these trees a lot.

My middle son is stationed there. Thanks for posting!

bacquito - 2-23-2014 at 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by monoloco
That shot with the stars is absolutely spectacular. Could you please post a larger image?

[Edited on 1-12-2014 by monoloco]

Yes, most impressive!

Pompano - 2-23-2014 at 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
I saw "Nebraska" last night and do recommend it. It is however a B&W slow moving and "depressing" film if you are after action thrillers that are the rage these days. It's very humorous in it's depiction of those living in the heartland but probably not very truthful. If nothing else appeals to you, it does show the stark beauty of the landscapes and it's small towns.

2 thumbs up.

Hola Igor, I've seen a couple trailers of "Nebraska" and intend to watch it sometime soon. I've been visiting Nebraska since my teens for one reason or another. Some of the very best cornfield duck hunts can be had in that state...and the western sandhill ranges are a sportsman's heaven. Long ago I flew at night over that area with an older brother in a small plane...as we looked below in the coming sandhill region, we saw farm and ranch lights blink out one after another until finally it was just a black inkiness below...no lights at all. Desolate is not a good enough description...more like Nothingness.

On the movie theme, I watched "Beowulf" last night on A&E sat tv. It followed the old epic English poem, circa 700A.D. quite well, and I remembered it from a had-to-read assignment long ago. Thought it was very graphic and satirical description of the characters..the violence of Grendel, the demon...and Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother was, of course, very alluring, although not nude as suggested in the water scenes. She is shown in true centerfold heaven style. But...it's not really her at all.

Beowulf, the original hero figure of all time, kills the demon and claims a kingdom and a queen...but falls prey to the most common of man's fallacies...a seductive and gorgeous woman...Grendels mom, Angelina Jolie. Who wouldn't?

The kingdom of the Olde Vikings is cursed...as Grendel smashes up the king's 'mead hall' whenever there's any merriment going on...which reminds me of certain bars in Mulege long ago.

Special effects were superb and it was the best computer enchanced/animated movie I've seen....but then, it only the second I've seen so far. :rolleyes:

All in all, a good satire and comedy...with a lot of gusto!

And to get back on track...congrats on those beautiful photos of the landscape.

[Edited on 2-23-2014 by Pompano]

Skipjack Joe - 2-23-2014 at 02:19 PM

It's not really about Nebraska at all but a journey from Billings, MT to Lincoln, NB. They even stop in your state to visit Mt Rushmore.

The son wants to cheer dad up by visiting the monument. Dad doesn't want to go. The son drives them there anyway. From the parking lot at the base of the monument dad rebels. He doesn't want to see it. When asked why he says because it's incomplete. "Lincoln doesn't have any ears".

And so it goes.

Pompano - 2-23-2014 at 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
It's not really about Nebraska at all but a journey from Billings, MT to Lincoln, NB. They even stop in your state to visit Mt Rushmore.

The son wants to cheer dad up by visiting the monument. Dad doesn't want to go. The son drives them there anyway. From the parking lot at the base of the monument dad rebels. He doesn't want to see it. When asked why he says because it's incomplete. "Lincoln doesn't have any ears".

And so it goes.

Sounds typical for our parent's attitudes, Igor. They have a definite idea on the way things should be...no monkeying around is accepted.

(By the way, Mt. Rushmore is in South Dakota. I'm a North Dakotan, not to be confused with our tropical neighbors to the south.)