The Munchkin's Notebook

View of the Golden Gate Bridge from parking area (Cell Phone) Today was our last day in California, we fly home tomorrow.  We left Visalia around 7:30 AM and got to our hotel outside the San Francisco Airport around 11:00 AM, where our room was ready for us to check into.  After we checked into the hotel we drove down the road to In-N-Out Burger for lunch, then headed into San Francisco for stops at Pier 39 and the Golden Gate Bridge.   We stopped at Pier 39 first, so I could see the seals and Jim could get a view of Alcatraz.  Pier 39 has turned very touristy compared to the last time I was there, which was about 10 years ago. We thought about taking a tour of Alcatraz, however, all the National Park Tours were booked. Yes, Alcatraz is now part of the National Park System.  After seeing the seals, we went to the aquarium, where I got a 50-percent discount on admission for being a National Zoo member. Which was a good thing since the aquarium is rath...

Today we got up around 6:30AM and were on the road to Sequoia NP by 8:00 AM.  The plan was to drive through Tunnel Log, see Moro Rock, and hike in Giant Forest along the Congress Trail, then drive up Generals Highway to Kings Canyon and do some hiking there.  It was a good plan till the weather, made other plans for us.   (See Map) Jim In Front of the Colonel Young Tree (Cell Phone) The drive into Sequoia NP from the Ash Mountain/Foothills entrance was good, we made decent time to the turn off for Tunnel Log and Moro Rock.  We stopped at the Auto Log, which is a fallen tree with a cut out that cars used to park on, to give people an ideal of how massive the trees are. They no longer allow people to park or drive on the log.  We also took a short walk from the Auto Log parking area to see the Colonel Young Tree.  I really want to know why some trees get names and others don’t, what merits a name?  After our short detour to the Auto Log we contin...

We intended to go into Yosemite Valley this morning to catch the early morning light; however there was dense  cloud cover and it started raining on our way to the park.  We were not that far to the park so we decided to turn around and go back to the hotel, catch another hour or so of sleep, then check out so we could make the drive down to Sequoia National Park. Yep, I was being spontaneous, not sure if I really like deviating from the original plan, but I did it.    We checked out of the hotel around 6:30 AM from the hotel, but not until after a pair of wild turkeys strutted through the parking lot.  We noticed the turkeys because they were making loud gobble noises as they strutted, waking several people up.  We declined breakfast at the hotel and instead ate at Happy Burger for breakfast, they open at 6:00 AM. After breakfast we made the two hour drive down to Visalia,  which is about 30 minutes outside of Sequoia National Park.  We got t...

Part of Tenaya Lake, notice the snow (Cell Phone) Today we woke up a bit later than yesterday, we slept in till 6:30 AM.  We had breakfast at the hotel, which was well below the average hotel breakfast buffet and not very appetizing.  After breakfast we drove to the park, and got there around 8:30 AM, and were informed Tioga Road was open, so we made the 2 hour drive up to Tuolumne Meadows.  We made the drive quickly because we were racing weather. A storm was supposed to come in later in the afternoon, which could force them to reclose the road and we did not want to get stuck on the wrong side.  The meadow itself was not very interesting, which I should have expected at this time of year since there was still a fair bit of snow on the ground in some places heading up to the meadows, and the meadows itself was still brown.  It also didn’t help that most areas along that road are only open in the summer, and this is one of the few times this May th...

Today started at 4:30 AM so we could beat the crowds into the park and ensure we had a parking space. We passed through the gate around 6:30 AM (it is an hour drive from the hotel), and took the road into Yosemite Valley.  We stopped a few times along the road to take a few pictures of El Capitan and Bridalveil Falls in the early morning light, but our goal was the parking lot.  We arrived early enough we had our choice of spots, since the lot was empty, so got one close to the exit and main paths.   We started our walking adventure by following signs for the visitor center and Yosemite Falls.  The visitor center did not open till, 9 AM so we continued on to the falls. We brought MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) with us for breakfast, good thing because several of the restaurants didn’t open till 7:00 AM.  The walk to the falls was fairly short, and the lower viewing area had very few people at it, which was good for pictures.  From there were continued around t...

Today was a driving day.  We packed up the Jeep and were on the road by 8:00 AM, for the three hour drive to Mariposa where the hotel is located.  Along the way to Mariposa we stopped at Casa de Fruta , a roadside attraction that sells fruits, nuts, jellies, and pomegranate wine.  The also had very squawky  peacocks walking around. We picked up some pomegranate juice and wine.   We also made a quick stop in Los Banos at a McDonald's/Gas Station/Convenience store to pick up some Gatorade and use the bathroom.  We made it into Mariposa around 11:30 AM so we stopped for lunch at a little dinner then went to up to hotel to see if we could check in.   Sadly there were no rooms ready yet, so we got back into the Jeep and dove another hour to Yosemite NP.   Along the Drive (Cell Phone Camera) The road to Yosemite has several curves and downhills with 7% grades. We ran into one ‘detour’ which routed us across the river briefly due to a ...

Today started with the standard breakfast buffet at the hotel, followed by an hour drive down the Pacific Coast Highway (Route 1).  Our destination was the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park , specifically McWay Falls.  I’m sure everyone has seen photos of McWay Falls, it is the waterfall cascading of the rock cliff onto a sandy beach with the blue ocean waves coming the sandy shore to meet the falls.  It is one of the pictures everyone thinks of when they think of Big Sur.  I wanted to see the falls in person, so we made the hour drive down Route 1.   Along the drive we stopped at a few pull offs,  one of a lovely bridge, named Rocky Creek Bridge, which is just to the north of Bixby Creek Bridge.   We also stopped at the information and ranger station before arriving at McWay Falls.  The trail to McWay Falls was an easy quarter mile walk that provided views of the falls from several different angles.  I will say the falls in person ...

Today we woke up at 3:30 AM so we could catch a cab at 4:30AM to the airport.  We arrived at the airport around 4:45 AM, checked our bags and headed for security, the line was longer than usual, but they did just open it at 4:30AM.  We got through security we found our gate and waited to board our 6:45AM flight.   This was our first time flying SouthWest, and the boarding process went quickly and the open seating was not as crazy as I thought it would be.  We landed in San Francisco at 11:10 AM Pacific Time after a short layover in Chicago.   Getting out of the airport to the rental car area was slightly confusing. When we finally got to the rental car area, the line for budget was extremely long, but thankfully they approached us in line and asked if we had Fastbreak account, which I had, thus moved us on our way quickly.  If I wouldn’t of had a fast break account we probably would have been in line for at least an hour. Once we got out of the ...

I realize I’m not doing well at keeping up with the 52 week photo challenge and am jumping around a lot.  I’m trying my best, but life happens. I finally got the environmental portrait done, which is from a commercial shoot I did last week.  I had the pleasure of photographing my long type reiki therapist, Maricela who owns Your Life Energy .   I think Maricela is a beautiful person inside and out, and it was a pleasure to work with her and capture her gentile and loving spirit.  If you are in the Arlington, VA area, I highly recommend Your Life Energy for reiki, massage therapy, and yoga. For this image I used a Canon 70D with my 18-200mm lens with a 400 ISO, and speed light mounted on a light stand with a shoot through umbrella set to right of the subject.   Since this was an environmental portrait, I placed Maricela in front of a table in her treatment room that had the essential oils, crystals and lotions used during different treatments. ...

I ran a contest a month ago on my Munchkin Photos Facebook page for a free two-hour photoshoot.  The winner was a great cosplayer, Nerdenheim Jen , who decided to do Chun Li from Street Fighter.  I did the photo shoot a few weeks ago, which was a combination of studio and outdoor photos.   Also during this shoot, I addressed two of the 52-week photo challenges.  For this shoot, I used a Cannon 70D with an 18-200 mm lens, 430EX II speed lights (two inside, one outside), light stands, shoot through umbrellas, a white backdrop (inside), floordrop (inside), Yongnu radio triggers, and a Pixel Stick (outside). For the shoots inside the flashes were mounted on light stands with the shoot through umbrellas and placed about 45 degrees off from center adjusted for Chun Li’s height.  During the shoot, the light placement was adjusted for the pose and mood.   For the indoor shoot, I was trying for high-key photos.  For the outdoor photos, the flas...