Solvang area, Morro Bay Area and Pinnacles National Park have also been some of our favorite destinations. Also lots to see on the coast north and south of Fort Bragg if you get north of San Francisco.

If you want to see huge Sequoias in a place removed from the 10,000 others that want to see them, hug them and be in the way of your photo shots, try Trail of 100 Giants in Sequioa National Monument. The key here is Monument, not National Park. We were all alone with the trees when we were there about six years ago. Hope it hasn't changed! Easy trails through the trees and you can get to the area in a car. California Hot Springs Pool is not very far from the Trail......... Google Trail of 100 Giants for specific info and location.

I used to hoard but Mr. Delete has now become my friend! The more you delete, the more you get to like it. Now, when I go back to find that good shot of a favorite bird I got a year ago, I can actually find it!

A favorite bird for me. You can usually hear their single chirp before you see them. Nice shot!

This juvenile sharp-shinned needs some training. You don't sit on the feeder. You hide close by and wait for your meal to come feed at the feeder! Then you take your meal as it flies away from the feeder! Nice catch!

Thanks everyone! BBurns, thanks for the photo from Dante's View! Nice! We are now just south of Death Valley in Ridgecrest and, unfortunately, heard that the storm that past thru here two days ago ended the superbloom in DV. I'm sure the flowers that are still there are magnificent though. The superbloom was more about density but the diversity of flowers in DV is equally amazing. If you hike and have a high clearance vehicle, I would recommend Marble Canyon. No superbloom going on when we hiked it but the diversity of plant life and the canyon itself were wonderful. Here are a few more shots.

An area on Badwater Road where the Brown-eyed Evening Primrose and Phacelia won over the yellow flowers

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This is a Gravel Ghost in DV. There were thousands of them.

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This is Desert Mallow. The only ones we saw were in Marble Canyon.

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We just spent 2 weeks in Death Valley hiking, taking back roads and enjoying a Superbloom of wildflowers that only occurs when the weatherman gets everything correct! The flowers were tremendous both for their density and for the variety we found. It is one of our favorite National Parks a place we recommend seeing - in February/March, not July/August! The main flower creating the sea of yellow is called Desert Gold. We found a few areas where there was a sea of purple and white created mainly by Phacelia and Brown-eyed Evening Primrose. My favorite was the Desert Five Spot and we saw thousands of them. I included one shot of Titus Canyon which way over the top for a beautiful area to travel through.

Desert Gold superbloom along Badwater Road.

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Desert Five Spot

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Titus Canyon with last year's Desert Trumpet.

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ISO was on auto. Since I don't do this type of photography very often and didn't think about what to do when I got there, I was totally unprepared when the lights dimmed and I didn't want to bother those around me.

The performance is recommended by us! I probably wouldn't spend a lot of money to get to it specifically, but, why not when you are in the area! There are amazing little intrigues in our world we don't even know about and a lot of them are quite amazing!

These photos are from the Amargosa Opera House performance we just attended in Death Valley Junction, Ca. This is not someplace you expect to attend a professional dance/ballet performance. I guess it was more like a solo recital since the Jenna McClintock was the only dancer. This place has a fascinating history which I recommend anyone interested Goggle and read about the place and how it got started by Marta Becket in 1967 in the middle of nowhere! I am posting the first photo because I would like to know if anyone knows how to use LR to diminish or get rid of the light spot caused by the lights in the room or the camera flash. I do not normally shoot at night in a dark opera house in the middle of the Mojave Desert! The photo with Jenna dancing was taken without flash during the performance and I didn't think I did too bad as a beginner at this kind of photography.

The murals inside the opera house painted by Marta Becket


Jenna McClintock performing at the Amargosa Opera House

First I included a shot of a very defensive, but not so ugly Hedgehog Cactus. At least, I don't think he is ugly! Second is a crestated growth on an Organ Pipe Cactus. This is a pretty rare mutation which science has not been able to fully explain but I like them! Look for the left side facial profile of a gruff looking person. Third is a Saquaro Cactus. I would like to think he represents an NFL official practicing a signal he will often repeat in Carolina's end zone this Sunday! These were all shot in Organ Pipe National Monument, a wonderful destination if you ever get the chance.

Hedgehog Cactus

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Crested Organ Pipe Cactus

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Saguaro Cactus

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I very much agree with most of this critique. I like the backlight, the dust and the Zebra's on the edge but something about the one in midair doesn't seem real. It is like someone threw a toy Zebra off a cliff and then photographed it. Most animal herds would be stumbling and falling as each animal reached the edge. This one looks like it had forward motion springs for legs and maybe Zebra can really jump out that far. This is obviously an "in the moment" shot and not controllable by the photographer but I wonder what the shots he probably got just prior to this one look like?

Good answer! I can buy that idea for sure and I hadn't thought of it. It does make a good story but a mono winged Hummer may be a handicap this particular bird would a hard time overcoming!

I'm not sure how to explain this shot of a Hummingbird I got who appears to have only one wing. The shot is through the front windshield in our motorhome using a 5DII with a 100-400 Canon lens. I understand Hummingbird wings go fast enough for a close camera shot to miss the movement but why is the other wing, not very much farther away, so visible? I have enhanced this shot in LR but the RAW shot in also wingless. Oddly enough, the second shot I got a second or so later shows both wings!

Mono-winged Hummingbird

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Duo-winged Hummingbird

I just went through the Lightroom introduction the wrong way - without tutorials, UHH, etc. When I finally got on the right track, I found it wasn't nearly as difficult as I was making it with outside help. I think once you get past the basics, you can learn a lot on your own without long tutorials, etc. I'm loving LR now!

I have two ext HDs, one for just photo backup and one for computer backup. Through time machine, I set up the computer ext HD to also backup the ext photo HD. Google backup up one ext HD with another ext HD thru time machine.