California

connecting with California...
The trail winds through colossal trees and blooming rhododendrons. Only 1,000 feet from the parking lot, it draws you into an entirely different world. You feel like an ancient human—or even a dinosaur—someone from another time. Then, a loud rattle from the nearby road echoes through the forest, and for a brief moment, it blends perfectly into the illusion, like the roar of a prehistoric beast. The truth comes quickly—but jarringly. It's just a truck. And suddenly, everything man-made—every achievement of humankind—feels completely out of place here.
“I wonder whether the stars are set alight in heaven so that one day each one of us may find his own again.“<br/>I personally think that every adult should be prescribed The Little Prince and read it once a year. For severe cases of adulthood—twice a year.
“We are only seeking Man. We have no need for other worlds. We need mirrors. We don't know what to do with other worlds. A single world, our own, suffices us; but we can't accept it for what it is. We are searching for an ideal image of our own world, we go in quest of a planet, of a civilization superior of our own but developed on the basis of a prototype of our primeval past.“<br/>- Stanislaw Lem
Even having a remote shutter release doesn’t spare you from running back and forth between the camera and the “selfie” spot at least a few times. But after all, it turns into decent morning exercise.
Contrary to the popular belief that size doesn’t matter, using long, large telephoto lenses allows a photographer to capture some very special moments often invisible to the naked eye.
I met this model during a twilight stroll at Alabama Hills, near the mighty Sierra Nevada. It was an accident, really, but the moment I laid eyes on her, I almost immediately fell in love. Some might say she’s prickly—possibly... But let’s be honest, you can afford a difficult personality when you're as beautiful as she was.<br/>We didn’t exchange many words, but she graciously agreed to pose for me. I made sure to keep my distance, respecting her space as if I were tiptoeing around a delicate masterpiece. There was an undeniable magic in the air that evening, and I’ll always remember our brief, starry romance beneath the California sky. Sadly, it lasted just 30 minutes, but those moments are etched in my memory forever.
The ocean that once covered this place retreated 200 million years ago, but it left behind the daunting silence of the deep. That silence lingers here to this day.
Here should be some sophisticated text about how gorgeously photogenic my wife is, but hey... you can see it yourself!
Warm pre-sunrise colors gave an extra reddish hue to the already colorful badlands of Death Valley.
Some might say it’s just mud and clouds. Others would call it a piece of art created by nature. Neither is more right or wrong than the other.
There were dunes. And there was silence. Daunting silence. Then came the roar from two fighter jets performing their routine exercises in the sky above. Then the planes disappeared and the silence returned. Even louder than before. Then there came the sunset and shadows. And when it got almost dark, there came a cloud of utmost beauty and color I had never seen before… I know those all are totally unrelated. Or maybe...
The dry and hot conditions of Death Valley can sometimes result in a spontaneous combustion effect.
One doesn’t often have a chance to feel like a saint. Unless it’s gliding on a surface of a many-mile wide but just two-inch deep lake. What typically is vast salt flats of the lowest point in the North America, recently turned into ephemeral lake due to the unprecedented rainfall in the park the past 6 months. Previously it happened almost 20 years ago. Nobody knew how long it would last this time. The Death Valley is undoubtedly full of life. The quintessence of its fleeting aspect.
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