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Say Hi to Fungi, Twain Harte, CA, Twain Harte, CA (2025)

11/12/2024

As most of you know, we were lucky enough to have a once every 80,000 years comet visible during October this year. Known as C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, it was easily visible with the naked eye in the Western sky for a quite a while.

As astrophotography is one of the photographic genres I love to play with, I made plans to get out and shoot it from during this time. Our curator at the got an amazing shot of it a few nights prior, so the bar had been set super high, but I was determined to get myself something awesome too.

The first night I went out to shoot the comet was right after a storm came through the valley, and there were some great clouds and fog all over the place. I started my trip at Inspiration Point for sunset, got some great fog/cloud shots (stay tuned), then right after sunset the moon came out and made for some awesome scenes at Bridalveil fall and Cathedral rocks. After that passed, I headed over near El Capitan meadow, looking for a good composition to capture this once in a lifetime event as best I could. Unfortunately the fog was so thick that the comet was completely hidden from view when I got there, but the conditions and the light from the moon made for some spectacular scenes otherwise. I shot for a few hours and then headed home, determined to get the comet the following evening as the forecast called for clear skies.

I went back the next evening and was able to get some great shots of the comet from the same location I had shot from the day before. As I was driving home that evening, I was brainstorming about how I wanted to edit my shot. On one hand I had this awesome fog scene with no comet, and in the other I had a great shot of the comet but no fog. Then it hit me...why not combine em together? Then I started hearing voice in my ear and thought to myself, "Nobody really does black and white astro stuff, why not try that?"

So this shot is a combination of two shots taken over consecutive evenings, and I absolutely LOVE how it came out!

Hope you dig it too!

Courtney

11/08/2024

Happy Friday Y'all,

This is a watershed moment! I FINALLY found a Lions Mane! I have been keeping my eye out for years, and the closest I've come was a Bears Head (same family...Hericium) in the coastal forests of CA.

This particular one was found during one of my photography tours last week. I dropped the class off in a good area for photos, and decided to walk around a little while they were shooting and see if anything cool was to be found. I noticed a little cluster of something on an old black oak stump, decided to investigate further, and this is what I found!

Unfortunately, this one was only destined for the camera as you want to harvest them when they are fresh and snow white. Lions Mane is absolutely delicious, and tastes like lobster or crab when cooked. It has also been shown in numerous studies to be one of the few things that causes neurogenesis (regrowth of brain cells) and is being researched for traumatic brain injuries and Alzheimer's. I think I was a few weeks late to the party, but it still made for some cool macro shots.

I decided to highlight this specific section of the fruiting body because of how accentuated the "teeth" were with the color changing throughout. It looks like a cool little sea anemone with its tentacles out looking for a tasty meal. I decided to focus stack that section and this is a combination of 16 different pictures to get all the details.

Hope you dig it too!

Courtney

11/07/2024

Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric) is by far the most recognizable mushroom on the planet. Their bright red-orange caps with white warts are akin a beautiful stop light in the middle of the woods. I came across a ton of them last year, but these three (there’s a little one under the back right of the front one) were growing in too perfect of a formation not to capture and share them.

In my area, they like to grow around White Fir and Lodgepole pine trees and tend to prefer the same environments as the delicious King Bolete (Boletus edulis). They have been speculated to be part of the Christmas Santa Claus story as shamans used to travel in snowy climates by reindeer pulled sleds, and would come down the chimney with sacks of them as gifts due to high snowpack blocking the doors. They are used in low amounts by many for their anxiety and general pain reducing qualities, and also for treatment of insomnia. They are hallucinogenic at higher doses, but the experience is reportedly not an enjoyable one.

I aptly named this picture "I Got Your Back." It's an 18 shot focus stack to get the fine detail on the front shroom.

Hope you like it.

Courtney

11/01/2024

Happy Friday Ya'll,

Todays post is this super cool little sneezeweed flower. Up until an hour ago, I had never heard of a sneezeweed flower either (looked it up in a few books), but I love all the cool little details and colors of the Y shaped structures and the tubes they are coming out of on the main flowerhead.

This picture highlights how interesting and fascinating the creative process can be. I originally went to this area of Yosemite National Park to shoot some bright green and yellow multi-leafed plants that were lining the Merced river. My idea was to get those plants against the dark river rocks and possibly play with some reflection stuff if the light was right. After taking 20-30 shots trying to find a composition I liked, nothing was really panning out. The colors and contrast against the background were great, but the shots were just to busy and didn't speak to me. Upon reviewing a few of the pics, I noticed this little flower hiding in the background underneath the leaves of the plant I was originally shooting. The way the light was making the outer edges of the flowerhead glow golden was mesmerizing. Sometimes you just gotta get out of the way and let the muse come in and guide your flow, so I completely shifted my focus to the flower, and built this composition around it with leaves from the intended original subject in the background now.

I LOVE how it came out. Hope you do too..,..

Courtney

10/29/2024

Today's post is of one of the tastiest and
easily identifiable fungi out there...the morel. Prized all
over the world for their delicious flavor, foraging morels
has become one of my favorite things to do in the
springtime. This particular one was found near my old
house in Twain Harte, on a tip from one of my
neighbors. Funny enough, I had told her about morels
and what they looked like for the first time a week
before. She was out walking her dog in the woods and
happened to stumble across a patch. Their
honeycombed outer surface is unmistakable once you
see them for the first time.

Morels come in a bunch of different varieties. This one
is known as a blonde or yellow morel and is common in
recently disturbed or landscaped areas around black
oak. I found it around sunset and the light pouring in
from the side made for some great definition of the
texture and shape of the cap. Every now and then I like
to see what tilting my camera does to shots, and I
happened to dig it in this case.

Hope you enjoy!

Courtney

10/25/2024

Happy Friday Ya'll,

This shot was taken in Bodie, which is a ghost town off highway 395 in California. It was founded in the mid 1800's, and was a hub for cowboys, gamblers, business people, and miners in search of a new life and fortune. It is a historic state park and is preserved in a state of "arrested decay."

A few friends and I were camping in Mammoth Lakes earlier this summer and since none of us had ever been to Bodie, we decided to check it out. My friends are all super into exploring new places also, so it was the perfect opportunity to wander around with my camera while they checked everything out on their own.

We were there in the middle of the day with no clouds so finding compositions that had a variety of light was challenging. I've always been drawn to cars and their shapes, so much so that in another life I might have ended up a car designer. This old beat up truck had all the elements for a great picture, nice curves, plenty of contrasty light, and preserved in time outside one of the houses. I love this scene in antique duotone B/W as it gives it a cool old timey feel.

Hope you enjoy!

Courtney

10/23/2024

Happy Wednesday Ya'll,

Today's picture is back in the wheelhouse of my love for macrophotography. When was the last time you paid attention to a common Dandelion? I mean REALLY paid attention? This perfect subject was found on a trail I frequently walk my dog Foxy on, and initially caught my eye because I rarely find them with all their seed structures still attached. The little "hairs" on the clocks (outer dome) were catching and reflecting the light in all sorts of really cool ways.

After dropping Foxy off back at the house, I grabbed my camera and headed out to take some pictures. My initial idea was to focus stack from the outer dome all the way into the center structure to show the whole flower in all its reproductive glory. I still might do a version of that down the line, but this particular shot in the sequence really captured my eye. The rectangular structures at the base had such a cool texture with the small furrows on their sides. The center parts reminded me of a city scape with buildings around the main sphere like some of the special effects in the movie "Inception."

Beauty is everywhere, sometimes you just have to look a little closer to see it...

Hope you dig it,

Courtney

10/18/2024

For those of you that don't know, these are oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus Ostreatus). This particular formation was on a fallen pined tree that produces year after year if the conditions are right. I have foraged oysters from this spot for years and always stop and check it out when I'm driving by. Oysters can sprout pretty much all year, and the colors can range from grey, to white, to brown. They are delicious and make a great addition to pastas of any kind. One of the main identifiers of them is that the gills are decurrent (run all the way down the "stem") and usually connect directly to what every tree they are growing on.

Like with all mushrooms, the best way to cook them is to dry sauté (no oil or fat) on medium heat, and once they are a little browned and all the water is released then add oil or butter and cook to desired doneness. Cooking your mushrooms this way will conserve the umami and avoid the sliminess that some people dislike about improperly cooked shrooms.

I liked this shot because of the rim lighting on the caps and the subtle reflected light hitting the gills underneath.

Hope you enjoy!

10/15/2024

El Capitan.

I'm fortunate enough to see this immense icon multiple times a day, and it never ceases to captivate me.

Funny enough, I took this shot on a private guide with a client while we were focusing on a different rock feature on the southside of the park. I happened to turn around and see this view, and there was no way I wasn't going to capture and share it. I really liked the golden hue on the tree tops and and El Capitan, and their reflections off the Merced River sealed the deal.

Hope you enjoy!

Courtney

10/11/2024

Happy Tuesday Ya'll!

Since everything is ridiculously dry in the Sierra's and there isn't any rain on the forecast, I wanted to share a picture I took a few years ago that I've always loved.

These are Sulphur Tuft's and are some of my favorite mushrooms to photography. They have a range of color on the caps from orange to yellow, and the gills are an almost neon green sometimes. They respond well to UV light and can make for awesome light painting subjects if the opportunity arises. They are toxic, but beautiful nonetheless.

I found this group hiking through an area that had recently be subject to a prescribed burn. I loved how it signifies the struggle of life from death, and the ashes still on the caps from them pushing through the soil was something I've never seen before.

Hope you enjoy!

Courtney

10/08/2024

Half Dome.

The name alone evokes so many different reactions. Awesome, breathtaking, treacherous, inspiring, and wholly iconic. Revered by countless people worldwide, it's reputation to both the hiking and climbing community makes it easily one of the most recognizable monoliths in the world. I've yet to meet a single person who isn't moved when they are lucky enough to see this massive hunk of rock rising out of the valley with their own eyes.

A few weeks ago we were fortunate enough to get a storm that passed through for a couple days. I just happened to have two private The Ansel Adams Gallery tours during this storm, and it ended up being some of the best shooting conditions of the year in Yosemite National Park .

This is the first time I've seen Half Dome lit this way, and the clouds just covering the top and the surrounding valleys were absolutely mesmerizing. I rarely take out my camera and shoot during tours, as I am always focused on helping my clients get the most out of their visit. Luckily on this specific day, I was guiding two very experienced photographers, and all they needed from me was to show them some good spots, This area, on the East side of the park, was an absolute goldmine for pictures that day, I was able to shoot on my own for a little bit, and would have been a fool not to capture this spectacular scene.

Hope you love it as much as I do!

Courtney

10/04/2024

We were lucky enough to have some awesome weather come through recently, bringing with it some great clouds and even snow at the higher elevations. I happened to be out on a private photo tour during this period and was able to capture some cool shots I really like.

El Capitan is such an iconic hunk of granite. Legendary for its challenge and reputation to the climbing community, and beloved by countless others for its sheer size and shape. I drive past it at least two times a day and it never ceases to captivate me. The light on it is never the same, and when I took this shot the clouds were diffusing it and the haze into a bluish hue. I think it made for a pretty awesome scene!

Hope you enjoy!

Courtney

10/01/2024

Ever since I started working as a photographer at The Ansel Adams Gallery I have been wanting to create a shot that captured my love and admiration for Ansel Adams and his B/W grand vista views of Yosemite National Park .

This piece is a composite of 11 different pictures, taken over a period of 3 hours, is titled "Ode to Ansel," and was by far the most editing work I've put into a creation before. I originally edited it in standard B/W, but when I saw the final result, I decided that it would be better suited for a quad-tone look, which adds some other subtle color into the composition. The shadows and details on the rocks are perfect for the subtle differences a little extra color can add. I took one shot for the bottom tree profiles, one for the falls and front wall, one for the cathedral rocks in the back left, one for the sky, and 7 for the moon time lapse (taken every 4 min).

The day before I shot this sequence, I was driving home from work and just happened to look to the left and saw a cloudier version of this scene with the moon rising in the same gap. I almost crashed my car it was so breathtaking. I wasn't able to safely pull over and stop at that point, and quickly figured out that by the time I was able to drive around the loop and return to this spot, the light would be gone. I planned on returning the following day to make up for it, and I'm super happy I did.

Hope you like it as much as I do!

Courtney

09/27/2024

This is an unknown species that I shot last year in the fall. A friend and I were out looking for Turkey Tail and stumbled across this cluster in a mixed conifer forest. I edited the shot both in color and in B/W and decided that I liked the B/W version much better. The cap has this metallic sheen that really lent itself to the subtle differences in light and texture and made for a pretty cool result.

I hope you love it as much as I do!

Courtney

09/25/2024

It's been quite a while since I posted a pic of some cool fungi. This is mostly due to the fact that the weather in has been super hot and dry recently. I hadn't seen any on a tours until last week when I looked up on a black oak and saw this awesome specimen.

For those of you that don't know, this is Chicken of the Woods, which is an edible (to most) fungi that seems to grow on dead or dying black oak in my area. They have a moist velvety feel to their outer skin and can vary in color from white to yellow to pink to orange. Sometimes they will have a shelf type formation, but this one was much more "lobe-y" and brain like.

I have foraged and eaten them in the past, and they definitely have a chicken flavor. If harvesting for the table, you want to cut the outer inch or two (new growth) and cook WELL. Some people can experience digestive issues with this species, so you should always start with a small amount and see how you feel before you decide to make an entire meal out of them.

As soon as we get some rain, there should be lots of other fungi to shoot. The temperatures are just starting to drop into the fungal sweet spot (50-70°) ... fingers crossed.

Hope you enjoy,

Courtney

09/11/2024

Yosemite Falls was a sight to behold when it was going full force earlier this year. The immense volume of water could be heard over a mile away cascading down into the valley floor.

I took this shot during an The Ansel Adams Gallery photo tour I led earlier this year. We have guests and visitors at our gallery in Yosemite National Park that mistakenly think great shots can't be achieved in the middle of the day in full sun with a clear sky. This shot was purposely taken at 1:30pm, in those exact conditions, to show that amazing landscape photography can be achieved in any weather or light.

Hope you enjoy!

Courtney

09/06/2024

These cool little buds are called Ranger Buttons (I assume since they resemble the ones on park ranger uniforms). When they first bloom they have these super interesting little "tentacles" that grow out of the flower head. This one was found while camping near a stream at high elevation in the Eastern Sierra's. The red blooms in the background are some type of paintbrush. This was the first time I had seen them in this stage and the background colors were too perfect not to capture them and share.

Hope you enjoy!

Courtney

09/03/2024

This shot is a composition of two different pictures. The main sunset was shot at one of my favorite camping spots in the Western Sierra's. Sunsets are one of my favorite things in the world, and the dead arched tree profile perfectly framed the pines in the background. The overlaid mushroom gills in the sky are from a Jack O Lantern I shot a few weeks before. When reviewing my files, I noticed how similar the colors on the mushroom gills were to the sunset and decided to see what the outcome would be if I could find a good way to combine them. Turns out it was pretty awesome!

I named this picture "As Above, So Below," as no matter what I'm doing, I always have my love of fungi operating in the background.

Hope you enjoy!

Courtney

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