Bonnie Rannald's Photo-Explorations in focus with nature. : 2009

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Freezing Fog

Pogonip

With the arrival of winter in Northern Nevada when there has been an overnight snow and the sun comes out the next morning, we will probably have a meteorological phenomenon known as freezing fog or Pogonip.

Freezing fog is a some what rare condition that occurs in the mountain valleys when the humidity is around 100%, the temperature is near freezing, and cool air passes over warm, moist land.

During the month of December 2009, we have been experiencing freezing fog or Pogonip quite often.

The word Pogonip came from the Shoshone word Payinappih meaning "cloud" or "white death", as the early English-speaking settlers termed it. Pogonip was called the white death because the fog can get so thick a person could become lost and disoriented in a manner of seconds. Additionally, prolonged breathing of the ice crystals can damage the lungs.

In freezing fog the water vapor is super-cooled, filling the air with small ice crystals similar to very light snow.

The super-cooled water droplets remain in the liquid state until they come in contact with a surface upon which they can freeze.

As the frozen particles collect on a surface, white rime ice forms which is similar to the ice inside a freezer.

Freezing fog creates a beautiful effect of a winter wonderland with the layers of frosty ice all around.

As beautiful as it appears, it can also be very dangerous when driving, walking or during prolonged exposure.

For more information follow this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_fog

www.wrh.noaa.gov/Reno

What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been. I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences.

Photography places me in the moment where I can share that moment in time. It becomes a life story as represented by my interaction with the scene. The happiness and beauty or the sorrow and strife; how I focus leaves a lasting impression that might touch the viewer on a spiritual level.

"Reflecting Nature's Artistry"

Many of these images are available on my website:

http://www.bonnierannald.com/

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download.

All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald. For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Analogous Colors of Autumn

Warm Colors for Cool Days of Autumn

The changing of the seasons begins on September 22nd as summer relinquishes to autumn. Autumn just happens to be my favorite of all the seasons, which seems a paradox because I am definitely a summer person. I love the long hot days and warm summer nights. However, as autumn approaches and nature begins to slow down preparing for winter's slumber, I feel a sense of excitement in the air. Perhaps I’m taken back to my college days when fall’s arrival meant new beginnings and adventures.

Now that my academic years have long since departed, autumn’s transition has taken on a whole different meaning to me. The abundance of color and more subtle lighting in autumn stirs me to spend as much time as possible photographing nature in its splendor.

When I am out looking for scenes in autumn, I go at a leisurely pace and get caught up in the moment. Maybe it’s because the days are cooler but most importantly, I believe it is due to the change of colors in the landscape.

The predominant colors of autumn, the reds, yellows and oranges are next to each other on the color wheel. Unlike the vibrant contrasting colors of summer that are direct opposites but complimentary, the analogous colors of autumn create a soothing, harmonious sensation.

This beautiful array of harmonious colors is often so short in duration and then followed by the dullness of winter. It’s like the finale of a grand performance where you are overcome with emotions, wanting more. And the intensity of that moment remains long after the final curtain is drawn.

What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been. I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences.

"Reflecting Nature's Artistry"

Many of these images are available on my website:

http://www.bonnierannald.com/

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

National Weather Service Weather Balloon

WEATHER BALLOON RELEASE

Weather is one of my favorite subjects, as I have mentioned on previous posts. It defines my style of photography where interesting weather patterns accent the landscape. Furthermore, I rely on accurate forecasts to stay out of danger and be safe on my journeys. On August 14, 2009, I experienced first hand how our weather is observed and predicted. I was invited by Jane Hollingsworth, the Meteorologist in Charge of the National Weather Service in Reno, Nevada to tour the facility.

The highlight of the tour was the weather balloon release that takes place twice a day in the AM and PM hours, every day of the year. Weather balloons are released from around 900 locations worldwide, simultaneously. The time is set to coincide with Greenwich Mean Time or Universal Time, which in Reno would be at 4Am and again at 4PM. This weather balloon was released at 4 PM.

Weather Balloons are made of latex rubber and when filled with hydrogen measure about 6 feet in diameter. Due to the flammability of hydrogen, the weather balloon was filled in a chamber next to the National Weather Service building.

A radiosonde, or instrument package, hangs below the balloon. It is equipped with battery-powered sensors to record measurements of pressure, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction aloft.

Before the balloon is released into the atmosphere, a call must be made to the local airport control tower, requesting permission so that it will not interfere with any approaching aircraft.

The balloon is then taken out to an open area and released where it will ascend at approximately 1,000 feet per minute. The sensors in the radiosonde are linked to a battery powered radio transmitter that sends measurements to a sensitive ground-tracking antenna. The radio signals are converted to meteorological values and then transmitted to the NOAA National Climatic Data Center.

A weather balloon may rise to over 100,000 feet in the atmosphere and drift more than 180 miles. The journey can last for over two hours where it reaches temperatures as low as –130F and air pressure that is a few thousandths of our surface level. If it enters a strong jet stream, it may travel at speeds in excess of 250 mph. As the balloon rises, it also expands. When the diameter reaches over 20 feet, it will burst. An orange parachute attached to the end of the balloon helps to slow the fall and allows the radiosonde to get safely back to Earth. Each radiosonde comes with a mailing bag and directions on how it should be returned when found. When the radiosonde is returned, it will be repaired and reused, which assists our National Weather Service do their job more efficiently.

Weather balloons play a vital role in providing the data for accurate up-dated forecasts and storm predictions that we rely on for work and play. Thanks to our meteorologists from the National Weather Service, who are ever vigilant, and work 365 days a year, around the clock.

For more information visit these links:

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/rev/

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mso/educate/balloon.html

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tae/tour-ua.php

What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been. I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences.

"Reflecting Nature's Artistry"

Many of these images are available on my website:

http://www.bonnierannald.com/

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Playing with Red

Photography Assignment: RED

I subscribe to Darren Rowse's Digital Photography School, and with each new posting he recommends a new subject to photograph as a challenge. This weekend’s challenge is to photograph something "RED". As my Red challenge, I have chosen two photographs:

"Candle with Wine"

"Watchman's Aurora"

The color red brings to me a spirituality that really connects me to nature.

For more information about the challenge follow this link:

http://digital-photography-school.com/red-weekend-photography-challenge

What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been. I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences.

"Reflecting Nature's Artistry"

Many of these images are available on my website:

http://www.bonnierannald.com/

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Western Grand Canyon

Toroweep Point

One of the most beautiful and intriguing places that I’ve photographed is Toroweep Point, located on the north rim of the western Grand Canyon. To reach Toroweep Point, named by John Wesley Powell to describe the fault, formation and point, requires a 2.5 hour, 60 mile drive on a dirt washboard road without any services, facilities or human habitation. However, to endure the hot and dusty trip takes one to the very edge of the Grand Canyon that offers a view that can only be described as a Cathedral in the Sky.

Upon arriving at road’s end, and departing the vehicle, my first impression is of openness so vast it feels as if I am no longer attached to the earth. Next, the landscape comes in to sight: a magnificent scene where sheer cliffs drop 3000 feet to the green Colorado River flowing below.

As I walk toward the unfenced overlook for a closer glimpse, I get an uneasy feeling, almost a vertigo that I am standing on the edge of the world. Once my senses begin to stabilize, I become aware of the profound silence that is interrupted only by the lonely drone of an occasional tour plane, or the faint scurry of tiny feet traveling through the cover of dry Bunch grass.

After locating a rock shelf that is sturdy enough to allow me to set up a shot that will frame the cliff’s wall extending out on the left, nearest to the viewfinder, and also include the Grand Canyon gorge with the Colorado flowing lazily below, I set the aperture at f/11, then expose the AGFA 50 ISO film at 1/60 a second.

I feel that this view of ubiquitous beauty deserves the quality of my Hassleblad camera and Ziess 40mm wide angles lens. No other equipment can portray the sharp detail and graphic design of the canyon in its entirety. From the crème-colored Kaibab limestone rim, to the Redwall limestone cliffs that extend down 600 feet to eventually give way to Bright Angel green shale slopes, ending with the dark brown Sandstone of the Inner Gorge just above the Colorado River.

As pleased as I am with the quality and detail of my photographic reproduction, it still can give only a two dimensional impression of Toroweep point. To fully experience Toroweep Point in its entirety and through all the senses as it deserves, one must make the rough solitary 60 mile drive, dodging cattle, bumping over rocks, and creeping through mud filled washes.

For more information you can follow these links below.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080205100014.htm

http://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/grand_canyon/north_rim.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley_Powell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River

http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_grasses.php

http://www.bobspixels.com/kaibab.org/geology/gc_layer.htm

http://www.hitthetrail.com/geology3.php

http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/coloradoplateau/lexicon/brightangel.htm

http://www.hitthetrail.com/geology5.php

All rights reserved, world-wide and images protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). All photography, graphics, text, design, and content is copyrighted by Bonnie Rannald and should not be copied, down-loaded, transferred and re-created in any way without the express consent, in writing to Bonnie Rannald.
For information on Bonnie Rannald licensed, right-managed images, please submit a written request to the image.

What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been. I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences.

"Reflecting Nature's Artistry"

Many of these images are available on my website:

http://www.bonnierannald.com/

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Weather Tales of an Alpine Lake

THE FACES OF LAKE TAHOE

A photography venture along the 72-mile rim of Lake Tahoe reveals a lake with many faces and varying moods, transitioning from a calm spring morning to the tumultuous fury of a sudden storm and then back to a serene stillness as dusk descends.

On a sunny, placid April morning, the photo shoot begins at the Vista Point on the West Summit of Mt Rose. Standing at 8,900 feet, the high panoramic view showcases Lake Tahoe with the Carson Range to the east and the Sierra Nevada Range on the west.

Vista Point View

To catch the early morning reflections, the next stop is Sand Harbor, on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, off Highway 28. An intimate cove gives a quiet retreat with subtle pastel colors, inviting one to stay a while and commune with nature. Along the beach, the fine sand is composed of feldspar and quartz particles which was created by wave and weathering action against the granodiorite boulders.

Sand Harbor

Looking to the north, quiescence lies over the Lake allowing reflections of the snow capped Sierras to mimic a mirror image in the crystalline waters.

Sand Harbor Reflections

At mid-morning the drive takes me south along Highway 28 to the glacier carved turquoise Emerald Bay. Granite peaks, accented with tall pines and spruce, tell of a by-gone era when the landscape was sculpted by ice reaching the shoreline. Within Emerald Bay, Fannett Island stands 150 feet above the water and is a remnant of the glacier action that created the bay.

Emerald Bay

Across the highway from Emerald Bay a trail ascends one third mile along snow covered banks to the cascading stream at Eagle Falls which flows sixty feet down, emptying into the lower falls.

Eagle Falls

During a break for lunch the winds increase from the south with storm clouds riding their cusp. The Lake’s gentle face has turned malevolent from the storm’s fury. Staying ahead of the storm, I travel to the North Shore where the wind driven waves crest toward the rocky shoreline at King’s Beach State Recreation Area.

Kings Beach

At a higher elevation past Tahoe City the temperature continues to drop turning rain into snow and creating a winter wonderland with the landscape at Sugar Pine State Park.

Sugar Pine

By late afternoon as I return to the Nevada side of the loop, the storm has traversed the Lake, draping the rain-laden sky on the North Shore with battle gray clouds just as a golden ray of sun breaks through, illuminating the lake below.

Lake Tahoe

As evening descends, calmness is restored, bringing me to my final destination, a return to Vista Point. The sun’s final curtain warms the horizon as the stillness of day’s finale settles over the Lake.

Vista Point Sunset

What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been. I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences.

"Reflecting Nature's Artistry"

Many of these images are available on my website:

http://www.bonnierannald.com/

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Roaming Free

WILD BURROS OF NEVADA

A hike in the desert along one of the many natural streams may reveal a group of wild burros quenching their thirst. Burros are curious by nature and most of the time, if they feel unthreatened, will pose for the camera with their heads high and long ears forward. However, on a few rare occasions, I have been warned by the burros not to come any closer. During a hike at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, I came upon a large group of at least 20 wild burros foraging in an ash grove. As I was preparing my camera, I noticed the herd come to attention and stand their ground, while several began to make snorting sounds. I slowly turned around and retreated to a different trail. I believe in allowing wildlife their territory and taking photos only when the animal is unaware or gives consent. When I’m tracking wildlife, I will use a long focal length lens, either a Nikon 80-200mm F/2.8, or a Nikon 500mm f/4.0. Both lenses allow animals to be photographed up close and personal without invading their space.

Wild burros are not indigenous to the southwestern desert, but are descendents of the African Wild Ass, which was introduced to the Americas in the 1500’s by the Spaniards. The present day wild burro has inhabited the area and thrived since the 1800’s when they were either turned loose or escaped from miners who used them as pack animals for gold and silver prospecting. The hardy, sure-footed modern day wild burro adapts well to the desert’s arid conditions where sources of digestible food are limited and water is even scarcer.

The ability to locate food in a barren terrain allows the wild burro to sustain its diet on dry foliage in the winter months. During the hot summers, when temperatures average 110 degrees Fahrenheit, the burros find shade along streambeds where vegetation is plentiful. If available, their preferred food sources include native grass, Mormon tea shrubs and Palo Verde leaves. A wild burro can experience a 30 percent loss of water, and then become rehydrated in as little as five minutes.

A wild female burro can give birth to one foal a year, after an eleven-month gestation period. Although birthing can occur anytime during the year, it happens most often from June to July. On average, a wild burro will grow to approximately 400 pounds, reach about half the size of a horse and have a life span of around 25 years.

Because of the low number of natural enemies, populations of burros in the wild have grown to around 10,000. A mountain lion is the only natural predator to mature wild burros, but coyotes have been known to prey on the immature, sick or those too old to defend themselves. Due to their increasing numbers, some agencies consider wild burros to be a nuisance and destructive to the fragile desert environment. Many wildlife biologists blame the wild burros for the decline in a number of native plants and animals, including the Bighorn Sheep.

Wild burros, along with wild horses, are protected under the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971. This act mandates the protection, management and control of wild, free-roaming burros and horses on public lands at population levels that ensure a thriving ecological balance. To keep the population in check, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) places wild burros up for adoption each year through the National Wild Horse and Burro Program.

For additional information, please visit the following links:
www.wildburrorescue.org/
www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov/
www.digital-desert.com/wildlife/wild-burro.html

What an exciting and interesting photo-adventure this day has been. I love it when I am drawn to an area and not knowing what to expect I get treated to new experiences.

"Reflecting Nature's Artistry"

Many of these images are available on my website:

http://www.bonnierannald.com/

For custom matted and framed images:
Off The Wall

No images on this blog are within Public Domain or are available for free download.

Bonnie Rannald's Photo-Explorations in focus with nature.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Freezing Fog

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Analogous Colors of Autumn

Saturday, October 17, 2009

National Weather Service Weather Balloon

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Playing with Red

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Western Grand Canyon

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Weather Tales of an Alpine Lake

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Roaming Free

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