The Golden Hour

The period of one hour before sunrise or sunset is often referred to as "the golden hour." This description is very appropriate for the Big Bear valley in the mountains of southern California. Whether there are clouds in the sky or not, there is invariably a lovely golden glow to the atmosphere.

Hiking in the forest north of Big Bear Lake,
late in the afternoon, that glow is filtered by the trees.

At Captain John's Marina in Fawnskin, the late day sunlight glitters on the water.

At 6,700+ feet above sea level the low clouds roll up the mountain and across the lake.

The tiny island of boulders for which Boulder Bay is named,
is little more than a dark shadow in the late day light.

Pink Knot Marina has a great view as the sun sets on the opposite shore.

The park at the end of Pink Knot in Big Bear village is a perfect place to watch the sun go down.

The view from the south end of Stanfield Cutoff at the east end of the lake.

Walking along the north shore trail, the setting sun faintly
illuminates the fields of tall grass and wildflowers.

A Few Sage Moments

About three weeks ago, on my last day spent in Big Bear, the clouds in the sky were spectacular. I drove to my favorite spot on the east end of the lake and set up my tripod in wait of the hoped for gorgeous sunset. It was a little early still so I put my new macro lens on my D80 and walked around the area snapping pictures of the brush that grew all along the shore in this area. Now I am terribly ignorant when it comes to plant life and I haven't been able to identify this stuff from books or the internet. So if anyone should look at these photos and recognize it for what it is, please let me know. It's like sage brush but has a decidedly rusty red color. What I do know is that this very simple weeds catches the sun beautifully and is a delight to photograph.
This photo was taken at the northeast end of the Big Bear Valley near Baldwin Lake.

I took this shot a couple days after the big snow storm in February.

These are the images I shot while waiting for the sun to go down.
Believe me, this plant is not actually pink. It's just the sun playing it's light tricks.
The blue in the background is snow.

It's the same plants is each of these photos.
Just the background or the direction I'm shooting has changed.

Okay, so once I'd had enough of pink, I decided to play a little with Photoshop.
This tone was an accident but I liked what I saw, so I left it.
Now if only I could remember what I did, in case I want to try it again.

And, of course, I always have to see what it looks like in monochrome.
The soft sepia tint adds a little pizazz...Don't you think?

A Winter to Remember

It's been quite a while since I've posted on this blog. Believe me, my intentions were never to be this neglectful. Computer problems and uncooperative quirks on this blog have kept me from posting as I would have liked. So now, home again in Huntington Beach and typing on my IMac, I'm playing catch up.

On February 14th, the weather prediction for the next day, was to be the "storm of the season." As a native Southern Californian, I never want to miss the chance to enjoy a few days of REAL winter. So my husband and I packed up both our cars, loaded up the dogs, and headed for the mountains...our cabin in Big Bear Lake, to be exact.

During the twenty years we're owned this cabin, such predictions are oftentimes disappointing but this was certainly NOT one of them, as the following images will show. This will be a long post as I am including images from nearly everyday I was up there.

We're here...well almost.
The driveway will need a bit of plowing before we can get the cars in.
I didn't realize the area had gotten so much snow since the last time we were here, in December.
Also, time to take down the Christmas lights.

The next morning, this was the view from the front door.

Driving to town for breakfast. We were so glad our Suburban has 4-wheel drive.

Breakfast at the Lumberjack Cafe.

This is the view of the lake from Stanfield Cutoff. Well, it's there...somewhere.

I had to take these photos through the car window to keep the snow off the camera.

Nothing is more beautiful than
a fresh coat of new snow.

Somebody's not going anywhere for quite a while.

This is what big Bear Lake looks like after a big snow storm.

First thing the next morning, we found these footprints by the front porch. They are much larger than Wiley's, our Bouvier, who weighs 130 pounds. Hmmm...what do you suppose?

Driveway and street are plowed.
It's time to check out the neighborhood.

This is why I love to come to the mountains in the winter...when there's snow.

As the days warm up, the ice on the lake breaks up.

My last evening at the lake was, for a photographer, like being a kid in a candy store.

Time to say so long...until Spring.

Big Bear Snow Day Number 2

The snow we got on Monday seemed like enough to last through Christmas but it snowed again yesterday...all day. I've been coming up here for 20 years and this is the most snow I've even seen. Any local skiers reading this take note...it's going to be a terrific weekend for playing in all this white stuff!

I got my Blazer dug out on Tuesday but along comes the

snow plow again yesterday and now it's buried deeper than ever.

A walk up and down our street reveals lots of icicles, drooping trees and cabins hiding behind massive snow berms.