The Eastern Sierra Collection
©Jennifer Blake Fraser, LLC
The Eastern Sierra Collection
©Jennifer Blake Fraser, LLC
About the Eastern Sierra Expedition
This was a 7 day expedition
In October of 2021 I joined a photo expedition to the Eastern Sierra in the US. Our guide was Noel Casaje of Wide Horizon Photo Adventures who is an amazing, world renown photographer. This trip offered truly gorgeous locations and we had some absolutely amazing light on this trip. We as a group also had time to share our experience, tips and tricks with each other which truly helped grow my skills. Really an incredible experience!
Las Vegas
This was the arrival and departure point for the trip.
Death Valley
The Mesquite Dunes in Death Valley is something to behold in gorgeous light. The color, lines and texture brought out by the rising and setting sun are amazing.
Death Valley
These formations are so unique and offer endles compositions. The sustained winds the morning we shot had to be 60+ MPH! We could barely stand and spent most of the time hunkered behind a wall.
From Wikipedia:
Subsequent widening and sinking of Death Valley and the additional uplift of today's Black Mountains tilted the area. This provided the necessary relief to accomplish the erosion that produced the badlands we see today.
Alabama Hills
Again, this unique landscape with rock formations abound offered endless compositions. We had several shoots here both sunrise and sunset.
From Wikipedia:
The rounded contours of the Alabamas contrast with the sharp ridges of the Sierra Nevada to the west. Though this might suggest that they formed from a different orogeny, the Alabamas are the same age as the Sierra Nevada.[citation needed] The difference in wear can be accounted for by different patterns of erosion.
Mono Lake
Tuftas rise above the lake offering unqiue compositions and beautiful scenes.
From Wikipedia:
Subsurface waters enter the bottom of Mono Lake through small springs. High concentrations of dissolved calcium ions in these subsurface waters cause huge amounts of calcite to precipitate around the spring orifices.[8] The tufa originally formed at the bottom of the lake. It took many decades or even centuries to form the well-recognized tufa towers. When lake levels fell, the tufa towers came to rise above the water surface and stand as the majestic pillars seen today.
Bristlecone Pine
These majestic, wise trees are awe inspiring having lived through millenia. One of the highlights of the trip was to get to meet them.
From Wikipedia:
Bristlecone pines are known for attaining great ages. The oldest bristlecone pine in the White Mountains is Methuselah, which has a verified age of 4,854 years. It is located in the Inyo National Forest in Eastern California.[citation needed] However, the specific location of Methuselah is a closely guarded secret.[14]
Eastern Sierra
We had several shoots in various locations throughout the region. Each one offered unique and breathtaking scenery.
...behind the scenes
Some snapshots while on the expedition. Sometimes it's fun to see the behind the scenes images.
We had so much fun in the sand dunes!
We drove by Area 51 on the way in and the local establishments did not disappoint!
These donkeys just roamed loose everywhere!
We had opportunity to take in some of the unique local color!
A cold early morning shoot in Alabama Hills trying to capture the Alpine Glow on the mountains framed in an arch.
One of the team members on a morning shoot.
Sunrise on the dunes was amazing. We hiked out in the early dark and waited on sunrise.
A very happy team!