A few Pioneer Basin pics

“Hi. Buck Forester here. That's not my real name, but you knew that. I'm finishing packing for my Ansel Adams Wilderness trip tomorrow, but I did manage to scan a few slides real quick from my trip last weekend into Pioneer Basin.




This is the lowest lake in the chain of lakes that live in Pioneer Basin. It's my favorite lake for photography in the basin, and it's filled with extremely easy to catch brook trout. Especially if you toss a little anthrax dust in the lake. I experienced a beautiful sunset there last Saturday evening. This is looking south back over the upper Mono Creek canyon towards Fourth Recess and Third Recess. SchoooOOOools out for summuh. I was surprised because I had this lake to myself the whole time. Maybe it's because I was dressed in camo and carrying an AK-47 and littered the place with No-Trespassing signs. Usually large groups of professional cheerleaders congregate here during the summer, which pisses me the right off. It's a relatively easy place to get to for such beauty... about an 8 mile hike in from the Mosquito Flat trailhead, although you do have to hump it over a 12,000' foot pass. Snow Nymph and some other trail trekker type named person from here was in the area and I didn't even know it. I could've had my first TT real-life experience. Instead I spent the evening swatting mosquitoes, which can get messy when you're going pee.





It twas a very colorful sunset. These clouds are coming from the direction of Mt. Morgan, which Snow Nymph assualted the next day. I took many rolls of film on this adventure, starting with pics from Lake Tahoe, then down Hwy. 395 to Mono Lake where I took many more pics and spent the night, so I'll give a full photo-trip report when I darn well please. I'm in control. Speaking of control, I once had a problem with always having to be in control, but I've got that under control now.





I have officially entitled this photo, "Here's Another Pic". I took this particular photo with my camera. This was post sunset after the yellows and orange and red phases had faded, leaving a lingering purple/magenta situation thing system. The reason I took this shot was that I had just seen a squadron of extremely silent, unmarked black helicopters that swooped overhead, but by the time I quickly set my aperture and chose an f-stop and pointed my camera skyward and then boiled some water for noodles and took a few casts with my fly, they had just disappeared behind the clouds. My timing was off.

That's all for now, a full report to follow whenever I damn well choose to do so. Sorry for the harsh language, you're just pissin me off right now. Okay, you're not. I don't even know you, or if you're even here. It's cool. Bye.”

“That's just unfair.”

“somebody remind me why I live in the South east?”

“The humidity?”

“Buck can you teach me how to take shots like those?”

“Not bad for a righty! As always, awsome pics Buck!”

“LOL Dayhiker!”

“Buck, we went over Mono Pass July 4 weekend, I took 100+ pics & NONE of mine look like yours, must be my no-good, @#$#$@ camera, huh?

Great pics, bro!”

“good pics and love the commentary!”

“I hate you Buck. And I mean that in a very caring way.

;)”

“Great shots Buck!





I'm throwing away my camera now...”

“just dump it overboard on a canoe trip...oh my...did I just say that?

As always Buck...you SUCK!!! Thanks for making us peons feel more lowly than we already do.”

“noyce!! Gotta gets me into those Sierra...”

“Buck, your photography is terrible as usual.”

“What's up Rosey? Where ya been?

Buck...be careful swattin' those skeeters while goin' p

Beautiful pics of a beautiful place!!

Buddur...If Buck's camera was on acid the pix would look like this...

”

“just replaced an Ithaca waterfall screensaver with pic # 2
Tremendous”

“Buck Forester
Offline
Registered: 7/2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2 Review Date: Thu Jul 15, 2004 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $700 | Rating: 5/5

Pros: Well, it, uhhh, seems really sharp and when I point it at pretty landscapes and go click click click it brings back images that I like. That's pretty much why I take pictures. I'm so techy.
Cons: It doesn't taste like chocolate when I lick the lens.


Hi. I just hike and paddle and take photos. Photograhy is just a means and not an end. I'm first an adventurer, then a photographer. I bought this lens for my wilderness adventure schtuff (I wish Canon® would have given it to me for free, but hey). I needed to go wide to get all those big mountains into my scenes, and for something wide enough to fit my nose into self-portraits. This lens is relatively light for backpacking, built tough, and chicks dig it. What else is there in a lens? It will break if you toss it off a 2,000' vertical cliff, so I'd recommend a bungy cord if you throw it off cliffs. If you take a photo of a soft, fuzzy object, this lens will make that object look soft at all apertures. Trust me. If you take photos of tacks and razor blades, this lens will give you sharp looking photos. If you like the 17-40mm perspective, just get the freakin' lens and go point it at pretty stuff and you won't be disappointed, unless you're apt to be disappointed. Then you'll find something to be disappointed over. But if you're hiking and fishing and climbing and kayaking while using this lens, believe me, you won't be disappointed. Even if the fish aren't biting. Just get out there and have fun. This lens is really really really really ridiculously good.


Here's some photos I took with this lens while hiking the John Muir Trail last summer. Well, most of them are with this lens, but not all, some are with my 70-200. But you can tell which is which, if you're good, real good. You know who you are.


http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=334185”

“I switched back to pic #1 for my screensaver, wait, I can't decide, I'm not going to bother to buy a camera now”

“nice pictures, thanks for sharing them. I still hope to make it out to Pioneer Basin soon.”

“

Yet ANOTHER view of Pioneer Basin. I took a lot of pics there, okay? so? So? SO? This one is a wide-angle skyview taken late afternoon, early evening. I getting so good at photography that I didn't even use my camera for this shot. I took this photo with my fishing reel and discarded Mountain House® lasagna packaging. This weekend I'm going to save weight by leaving my camera at home and taking all my pics with an empty Pepsi® can. Damn I'm good®.”

“Buck, that's the best I've seen from you yet, absolutely fantastic.”

“What kind of filters do you use, I only have UV filters, what should I pick up to experiment with before I leave for Wyoming?”

“Yes Buck, how about some tech specs with that.

Aperature
Speed
Film (velvia I guess)
ISO
Filters (if any)”

“Thanks, El Bison-o (I like to say your name is Espanol, it sounds cool). I think the el numero uno landscape filter in existence is a GND filter (Graduated Neutral Density). They come in various stops, usually 2 and 3 stops, both in hard and soft versions. The hard and soft is just the level of graduation of stops. Using these filters is the ONLY way to balance out uneven lighting on landscapes. Take the above shot for example... if I didn't use a GND filter the bright spot on the mountain would have been completely blown-out white. I also use a warming filter since I shoot Fuji Velvia 50 film, which tends to give a bluish cast, especially at high altitudes. During the day I often use a combo polarizer/warming filter.

What kind of camera do you have?”

“I have a Canon Elan II.”

“Buck when are you going to give photography lessons?”

“Specs:

Buck Forester
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 185-220, depending on time of year
Eyes: Blue
Hair: N/A
Nose: XL
Voting For Nader: No
Comments: Refuses to do Tae Bo

-Canon Elan 7 camera
-Fuji Velvia 50 slide film
-Canon 17-40mm L lens
-B+W MRC 82b Warming Filter
-Singh-Ray (Galen Rowell) 2-Stop Hard GND
-Bogen/Manfrotto 3444D Carbon One Tripod
-Aperture & F-Stop... shoot, I didn't take notes, I dunno.”

“Oh, also I have found it critical to always wear your lucky underwear on backpacking trips and NEVER take them off, especially when the lighting gets good. Just be careful to never shart.”

“Buck, do you use a tripod and shutter release?

50 film, with a filter soaking up an additional 2 or 3 stops makes for a pretty long exposure.”

“Buck thanks for the specs.
Guess that also answered the pod Q.

Thanks”

“Bison, if you wanna make photography a big part of your wild adventures (not many do, most just like point-n-shoot documentation, which is cool), then with your Canon Elan II you should be shooting Fuji Velvia 50, have at least 2 GND filters (preferably 4), a polarizer filter (I like the Moose combo polarizer/warming filter made by Hoya), a warming filter (81a or 81b - I like lotsa warmth so I use the b), and lenses that will get you focal points from at least 24mm-200mm (I love going extra-wide so I have a 17mm zoom and even a 15mm fisheye). A shutter release cable is extremely handy, and perhaps most important is a tripod, especially with such a slow speed film.

The problem with all this schtuff is that you gotta haul it around, which is why most folks don't hassle with it and they take digital point-n-shoots, which take very sweet photos but it's more limiting in what you can do, especially when the lighting is uneven such as a sunrise or sunset on peaks with a lake in the foreground.

Then you just always gotta keep in mind that what the eye sees and what film records are not the same thing, so you gotta think like film. I try and match the film speed with my IQ, which is why I shoot 50 speed. :^D”

“Awesome shot Buck-O, es muy good photo-o! I like this wider angle better than the others of the same view.

Thanks for sharing the filter info too.”

“Hey manuka, yes I always lug around a freakin' @#%$@! tripod, and yes I take most of my shots with a cable release, especially the low-light ones. I use a lot of long shutter speeds. One of these days I'm gonna get a harem of beautiful bikini sherpa babes to assist me in my endeavors. Mark my words.”

“One of these days I'm gonna get a harem of beautiful bikini sherpa babes to assist me in my endeavors. Mark my words."
Buck
02:01:34 PM

That may be the end of all the photos. Well at least the ones you can post here.”

“Thanks for the info Buck, I'll try to pick up some new gear before I head to Wyoming.”

“The cheapest and best place I've found to by gear and film is B&H Photo online. If any of this stuff stretches your budget, just move into a garage.”

“I don't know if I posted this one or not?


The previous one was really wide angle, the others I posted was on the lake shore, this one is sorta in between, at about a 50mm perspective. This was taken on the little bench where I camped above the lake. ENOUGH PIONEER BASIN PICS, BUCK! GO AWAY! I tell ya, I can burn through some rolls of film!”

“Hey Bison, I forgot to ask... where in Wyoming are you hiking? I've backpacked quite a bit in that amazing State.”

“Buck - I'm on the Wind-O-Roma trip, heading to the Winds, I love Wyoming ifin' I had millions of dolares I would live in Jackson.”

“

Heidi and Sierra paws on the flower-lined trail for a quick breather. Okay, I paused too. Coming from only around 400' elevation and then cranking up to over 12,000' in less than 12 hours can shirley take your breath away. Between the scenery and the altitude, I had no chance to catch my breath. This is the trail to Ruby Lake and it continues on over Mono Pass, where the skeeterz in Pioneer Basin eagerly await your arrival. The mosquitoes there are avid supporters of your Consitutional right to bare arms.”

“OMG. dogs on the trail with no leashes WTF is the world coming to?

worse yet, I do not even possess a 10mm to defend myself against the (obviously) aggressive owner who is armed with (gasp) a tripod.

Weren't tripods banned under the Geneva convention.”

“

I lied about not posting any more similar looking Pioneer Basin pics. I can't believe you fell for it? This is the same place but in the afternoon. Subtle differences. Hey, if a cloud even moves 3 inches across the sky, that justifies it as a completely different pic.”

“Hey you can never take too many pictures.”