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Two views of Mammoth Mountain



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Looking through my photo collection and noticed I take a lot of photos of Mammoth Mountain. The top is one of my favorites, shot last winter on the backside of the mountain, coming off chair 14. I never get tired of the view of the Minarets and Mts. Banner and Ritter. 

The bottom photo was taken earlier this month from the east side of Crowley Reservoir, one of the many bathtubs serving the city of Los Angeles. As you can see, it was a breezy day on top of Mammoth, which is not an unusual occurrence. 

Related post: nice closeup of Dave's Run at Mammoth

Prints: here's the link to purchase a print of the top photo from my SmugMug site. And here's the link to purchase a print of the bottom photo. An 8 x 12 on metallic-paper (my favorite) is $11.95. There are also a variety of other sizes and mounting sizes. Photos are a nice, cheap way to spice up an old condo -- such as the ones I stay in when in Mammoth, hint hint. 

Hey, it's almost Friday so not point in working -- peruse my SmugMug site instead! And follow me on Twitter, please. Someone has to. 

--S.H.

These photos are ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere without my advanced written permission. All rights reserved. 


Pioneer Basin



Approaching Mono Pass.

 

 First Lake, Pioneer Basin.

I was too lazy to bring my real camera on a backpack to Pioneer Basin back in 2011 -- so I chanced it and brought the iPhone. 

In hindsight, I should have humped the real camera over 12,000-foot Mono Pass. But I still managed to get a couple of interesting photos with the iPhone. The top was a regular photo that I processed with Snapseed; the bottom photo was taken with the Hipstamatic app. 

Just a couple of offerings on an otherwise slow day. :) If you've never hiked up to Mono Pass, it's an excellent day hike -- six miles roundtrip and 2,000 feet up from the end of Rock Creek Road (about 30 minutes south of Mammoth). Put it on your list of summer hikes. 

--S.H.

These photos are ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere without advanced written permission. All rights reserved. 

Chair 9 and Dave's Run, Mammoth Mountain



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One more from my Mammoth trip earlier this month. Although this looks like an aerial photo, I actually took it from the parking lot of the condo where I stayed, much lower than the mountain. 

That's Chair 9. Above it is Dave's Run. The Dragon's Back is on the far left of the photo. 

Hey, it's Monday -- you could spend hours not working and instead piddling around on my SmugMug site. Or you can follow me on Twitter and wait for me to actual tweet something. 

--S.H.

This photo ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere without my advanced permission. All rights reserved. 

Los Angeles Union Station



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Looks better larger!
I was walking through Union Station the other day and noticed the nice light streaming through the windows of the old ticket room that sadly goes unused these days, although that's likely to change in the future. 

Spend your weekend combing through and purchasing giant prints from my SmugMug site! And follow me on Twitter.

--S.H. 

These photos are ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere or reproduced without advanced written permission. All rights reserved.

Puppets on Olvera Street



It's basically impossible to walk down Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles and not come away with a decent photo of cheesy toys. 

The photo was taken with the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone 3GS using the Libertique lens and D-type black and white film. 

Check out more of my iPhone shots of downtown L.A. And follow me on Twitter; I don't bother my followers with many tweets, which I suppose defeats the purpose. 

 --S.H.

This photo ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere without my advanced written permission. All rights reserved.

Ladybug, version 2



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Took this one with my big boy camera -- Nikon D5100 with 35mm fixed lens.


Here's the one I took with the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. They both kinda work in their own way. I still need to get the ultra-closeup that fills the frame with a ginormous ladybug.


Hey, check out my SmugMug site--hours of entertainment! And follow me on Twitter please; few others do.


--S.H.


This photo ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere without my advanced written permission. All rights reserved.

Ladybug




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Even my crappy iPhone 3GS comes through at times. This was taken in my backyard with the Hipstamatic app using the John lens, Ina's 1969 film and no flash.

More of my iPhoneography is on my SmugMug site. Please follow me on Twitter 'cause no one else will!

--S.H. 

This photo ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere or reproduced without advanced written permission. All rights reserved.

Little Green Church near Mammoth Lakes



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If you've driven to Mammoth, you've probably seen this building at the intersection of U.S. 395 and Benton Crossing Road. It's not super easy to photograph -- the four-lane highway is right out in front and the front of the church faces the Sierra, meaning you have to photograph the church from behind to get the Sierra in frame.

There's also a big propane tank on the side of the church, making it difficult to take photos with the snowy White Mountains in the distant background.

So I settled on this, with the steeple visible through the branches. Not ideal, not bad. I used the graduated filter in Lightroom to darken the top of the photo and an onOne preset to give the photo a more antique feel.

For the ultimate time-killer at work, cruise my SmugMug site! And follow me on Twitter.

--S.H. 

This photo ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere or reproduced without advanced written permission. All rights reserved.

Steller's Jay eating a peanut

Stellar's jay eating a peanut in Mammoth Lakes, California. I didn't give him the nut -- don't know where he found it!

Larger version here for your inspection!

Another photo taken near the place I was staying in Mammoth. I was wandering around with the 70-300mm lens on my camera looking for birds to photograph. And ta-da, this Steller's Jay landed in a nearby aspen with a peanut. I have no idea where he got the nut -- I didn't give it to him and if I had peanuts, I would have hogged them to myself. 

The photo was shot at 1/320 shutter speed and f/13. I wasn't trying to get a nice bokeh -- the out of focus background (detailed explanation of bokeh here). But I was pleasantly surprised at how cool it looked when I downloaded the photos to the iMac. Perhaps it was my subliminal genius at work, although I suspect by subliminal side isn't so smart. 

So here's my big photo tip: if you're shooting something, try a variety of apertures to see what it looks like with both a shallow and big depth-of-field. 

More photos from the Mammoth area on my SmugMug site; license one and put it on a billboard alongside a freeway just for fun. And follow me on Twitter

--S.H.

This photo ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere or reproduced without advanced written permission. All rights reserved. 

Photo of a melting icicle




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I shot this one outside the place we were staying at Mammoth. The icicles formed during a cold spell and storm before we arrived and were melting through much of our stay. 


I had a telephoto lens on my Nikon D5100 and knew I had to shoot a very fast shutter speed to get a drop of water. The settings: 1/4000th and f/8 at ISO 125. It was very sunny out. 

I didn't realize until downloading the photos from the camera that a reflection of the trees in the background and the sun would appear in the droplet. I might have been able to get the trees in the background in focus if shooting at a higher ISO -- allowing for smaller aperture -- so that's something I'll try next time. 

More photos from the Mammoth area on my SmugMug site; be a brown nose and buy a ginormous print for the boss' office wall! And follow me on Twitter

--S.H.

This photo ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere or reproduced without advanced written permission. All rights reserved. 

Mt. Morrison and the Eastern Sierra

Mt. Morrison and the Eastern Sierra as seen looking east from Benton Crossing Road near Mammoth Lakes, CA.

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With a wobbly knee -- ACLs are for wussies -- I dropped the domi partner off at Mammoth Mountain so she could ski by herself and meet a rich guy. With the afternoon to myself, I went looking for something to photograph. Cruising out Benton Crossing Road, I stopped at the intersection with Pit Road and looked back east at the peaks and said to myself 'golly gee cow pies," tossed the 35mm lens on the ol' Nikon D5100 and shot away.

I ended up giving the photo a healthy crop to bring the mountains more to the forefront. The big peak in the middle is Mt. Morrison, which looms over Convict Lake (although not seen in linked photo--that's Laurel Peak). Benton Crossing Road can just be seen cutting across the lefthand side of the frame.

If you haven't been to Convict Lake, drive up there next time you're in Mammoth. Even better, eat at the Convict Lake Inn's restaurant and don't even bother with the menu -- order the beef Wellington. I don't care if you're a vegan. Let your taste buds party hearty for 30 minutes and eat the goddam beef; you can feel like shit about it the rest of your life.

For those who want to hang me high for my photographic sins, the big mistake in the above photo is obvious. I snapped it shortly after noon -- it would probably be much better just after the sun comes up over the White Mountains (behind me in this photo) and hits the Sierra. But I was too lazy to get my ass out there at that hour.

Next time!

Check out more of Mammoth Lakes area photos at my SmugMug site (feel free to spontaneously purchase dozens of prints for family and friends). And follow me on Twitter.

Related: a cool photo I took a few minutes later pointed in the other direction at the White Mountains. 

--S.H.

P.S. Being the manly man that I am, I sucked it up the next three days and went skiing, despite tearing the ACL in my right knee two months earlier playing ice hockey. My PT chieftan said it was ok because I couldn't mess up the knee much worse than I already had. 

This photo ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere or reproduced without advanced written permission. All rights reserved. 

Douglas squirrel



Larger version here

Who doesn't like a squirrel photo? This guy was outside the place I'm staying at Mammoth.  Here's another pic of him/her chowing down on something -- this one might be better.

My SmugMug site. And follow me on Twitter. 

--S.H.

This photo ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere or reproduced without advanced written permission. All rights reserved. 

Benton Crossing Road & the White Mountains




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Benton Crossing Road and the White Mountains near Mammoth Lakes, California. I like compressing distances with my 70-300mm telephoto lens -- even if it's a cheap whoreish photographic trick.

Many more photos on my SmugMug site. And follow me on Twitter.

--S.H.

This photo ©Steve Hymon and may not be used without advanced written permission. All rights reserved.

A serious dog



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My latest portrait of Sammy the dog. I believe he was either pondering the impending sequester when I took this or trying to decide if it would be more satisfying to poop on the north side of the park versus the south side. 

In hindsight, I should have shot from the other side of his noggin -- the side the setting sun was facing. He's hard to get to sit still and doesn't like to look at cameras (the whole soul stealing thing). 

As for the look of the photo, I used the onOne "Grandma's Lemonade" in Lightroom, which has become my go-to preset for making digital look more like film.

Here's my SmugMug site with many more photos (buy large prints of them all please!). You can also follow me in 140 character bites on Twitter.

--S.H.

This photo ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere without my advanced written permission. All rights reserved.

Foosball player



A very old foosball table in a Venice shop. Taken with Hipstamatic app on iPhone 3GS -- thus the lack of sharpness. I converted to black and white in Lightroom; it looks better. 

 --S.H. 

This photo ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere without advance written permission. All rights reserved.

Another bus on Broadway




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One I took on Broadway in downtown L.A. last week for work. I kind of wish the people on the sidewalk could be seen better; on the other hand, they're kind of nice as silhouettes in the night. 

--S.H. 

This photo ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere without advanced written permission. All rights reserved.

Los Angeles River



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I don't know whether to call it a river or a catheter. Beautiful, eh?

I took the photo with my new 70 to 300mm telephoto lens from the 25th floor of a building -- through some very dirty glass. Still turned out nice. 

I also used a preset for Lightroom 4 from onOne. 

Tired of boring beautiful landscape photos of Yosemite and such? Buy this sucker and print it real big for your office wall. Consider a conversation starter -- visitors will immediately want to know what's wrong with you! 

If you're into the nature-y stuff, there's plenty of that for sale (always be selling!) on my SmugMug site. You can also follow me on Twitter where I keep a low-key presence, often forgetting to tweet things such as "Can't find my socks!" and "WTF Starbucks!?" 

--S.H.

This photo is ©Steve Hymon and may not be used elsewhere without my advance written permission. All rights reserved. 

Hipstamatic & downtown Los Angeles, part 2

101 freeway from Gold Line train.

The 101 freeway from the Gold Line train.

Los Angeles City Hall.


Los Angeles City Hall.


LAPD headquarters from Caltrans Building plaza.

LAPD headquarters. 


Gold Line Little Tokyo station.

Gold Line in Little Tokyo. 

Here's the entire gallery for now; it's a work-in-progress. All photos were taken with the Hipstamatic app on an iPhone 3GS. 

My portfolio and SmugMug site. Follow me on Twitter

--S.H.

All photos ©Steve Hymon and may not used elsewhere without advanced written permission from me. All rights reserved.