by Sherri on October 9, 2009
Vicki West cooking Dutch Oven Blackberry Cobbler, Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, CA
Move over summer. Fall is here.
This wraps up my summer series at Utica Reservoir. Our wonderful friend and Professional Chef, Vicki, came all the way out from Colorado to help celebrate my Birthday. What a gal!
She hauled 3 Dutch Ovens with her and all the makings for Beef Brisket and Blackberry Cobbler (minus the Blackberries – we picked those in our neighborhood) for my Birthday dinner Saturday night.
Vicki spent much of the day prepping and cooking. Jeff gladly assisted her during the cooking process. He wants to get into Dutch Oven Cookery too. It was quite amazing to watch and photograph. But, the best part of it all was eating it!
If anyone wants the recipes for the Beef Brisket and/or the Blackberry Cobbler, just leave a comment below. I’m sure I can get them for you, when she returns home to Colorado. She is currently working at a ranch in Wyoming and should be returning home soon!
by Sherri on October 7, 2009
View of Utica Reservoir in Alpine County, CA at sunrise, from inside our tent.
Fall has arrived. That said, I will be wrapping up my summer series on Utica Reservoir soon. Then, my focus will be on Fall images.
This photo was shot from inside our tent at 5:30 in the morning. I didn’t feel like messing with the tripod, so I shot this at ISO 3200. My camera (Nikon D300) does very well at the higher ISO’s. I can also reduce the digital noise using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Even so, I couldn’t reduce the noise enough for my liking.
So, what did I do?
I took this image into Photoshop CS3 and applied “Cutout,” one of my favorite artistic filters. It did exactly what I hoped it would. It covered up all the noise and rendered an image that was pleasing to the eye.
I hope you like it!
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by Sherri on September 22, 2009
Camp Fruit Salad, Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California.
I’m not a Food Photographer. But, I like to pretend to be one once in awhile.
This photo was taken during our recent camping trip with friends to Utica Reservoir. Putting the salad and arrangement together was a collaboration. I had the Gingham tablecloth. Vicki had the blue enamel bowl. Kim supplied the cloth napkin. We all supplied the ingredients.
It was a lot of fun and I’m happy with the results. I think it will work just fine as a “Camping Stock Photo.”
The Makeover
Photo #1 – To develop this image, I used Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Photo Management Software. To improve my original image (see below), I did the following:
- Created a Virtual Copy.
- Used the Nikon D300 Preset and increased the exposure by 1/2 of a stop.
- Set the Clarity to +40.
- Set the Vibrance to + 60.
Photo #2 – This is the way the photo looked straight out of the camera.
Camp Fruit Salad, Utica Reservoir, Alpine County, California.
I hope you enjoyed this photo makeover.
Thank you for visiting. If you would like to leave a comment, simply click on the “comments” link (add your message in the box) at the bottom of this post.
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by Sherri on November 10, 2008
Fallen Leaf Lake (foreground) and Lake Tahoe, California, taken from the Mount Tallac Trail.
After leaving Blue Lake, we drove south on 395 and headed for Fallen Leaf Campground, in South Lake Tahoe.
Some of our friends joined us there for the last leg of our road trip. While we were there, we hiked the spectacular Mount Tallac Trail.
This photo was taken during our hike. There are so many photos of Lake Tahoe that all look pretty much the same. I wanted to capture a more unique shot of this very popular subject.
Here is another post I wrote about our visit to Lake Tahoe.
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by Sherri on November 7, 2008
Likely General Store, Modoc County, California
It’s not too likely that you have been to the Likely General Store before. If you have, you will know how fun it is to browse the variety of merchandise they carry.
One of the things I love about little itty-bitty towns is they often have one of these types of stores. They carry the basic food items in case your camping supplies get low. Then, there is the popular blue camping enamel ware, cast iron cookery, arts & crafts and my favorite greeting cards by Leanin’ Tree.
We ran out of supplies while camping at Blue Lake. We could either drive into Likely, or drive a few miles further to the BIG (population under 3,000) town of Alturas. On this particular day, that was a no brainer. We opted to visit the Likely General Store. I so fondly remember stopping here when I was a kid and it hasn’t changed a bit.
Check out the gas sign. This was just this past August. Granted, the fuel prices in Likely run a little higher, due to their location. But, just 3 months later, our prices here in Auburn have dropped to $2.49 per gallon.
Let’s just hope we don’t see gas prices this high again any time soon!
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by Sherri on November 4, 2008
Blue Lake Sunset, Modoc National Forest, Northeastern California
You never know if and when you will get to return to a place that you have visited. So, if you are passionate about the subject, be sure to take lot’s of photos of it while you are there.
I did return to Blue Lake in California’s Modoc National Forest, but it took me 42 years. Fortunately, there was this spectacular sunset for me to shoot the heck out of.
If I have my way, it won’t be 42 years before my next visit to this Northeastern California jewel!
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by Sherri on October 31, 2008
Blue Lake sunset, Modoc National Forest, Northeastern California
We packed up our camp at McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park and headed for one of my favorite childhood camping spots, Blue Lake. Here is the post I wrote during our road trip.
The first night we were there, we were rewarded with this beautiful sunset. It helped to take our minds off of what we had witnessed driving in a few hours earlier that day; the devastation from the forest fire which had occured 7 years ago.
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by Sherri on October 27, 2008
Horr Pond Camp, Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park, California.
If you are looking for solitude, look no further. This park gets less than 2,000 visitors annually.
Just be sure to BYOB! No, I’m not talking about booze. BYOB stands for “bring your own boat.” That is the only way you will get to experience Ahjumawi.
I’d like to see this photo used on the cover of a Northern California kayaking or camping guidebook.
Note: Be sure to read my other posts on Ahjumawi. I’ve still got a couple more coming too!
by Sherri on October 23, 2008
Jeff and Cocoa preparing for our kayak adventure, at Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park, California. Notice Mount Shasta on the left.
Most people have never heard of California’s Northeastern most State Park, Ahjumawi Lava Springs. I hadn’t heard of it either, until the name jumped out at me while reading over the California State Parks brochure. [click to continue…]
by Sherri on October 6, 2008
McArthur-Burney Falls taken from the observation deck at the top.
This is the view you get when you don’t take the hike down to the base of the falls. In some ways, I think this view is more impressive. You get to see the falls in their entirety. That said, I also highly recommend taking the hike, so you can see it from many different perspectives. This is especially important if you are a photographer. [click to continue…]
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