Sierra Nevada East Side Photography Outing
Autumn, 2019
Participant Profiles
My name is Dorothea Toma-Sandback. I come from the beautiful land of Transylvania, Romania.
I worked in radio broadcasting from age 15. I started out hosting radio shows for your afternoon drive and totally thought I would be an audio engineer for the rest of my life.
It turns out my eye took priority over my ear, and though I am an still audiophile, and a harsh critic according to my husband, cameras (video and still photography) dominate my every day life.
I am a film and television production graduate and I currently work for KUSI news in San Diego. I also run a small photography business.
I am mostly looking to get out and see something OTHER than San Diego - and counting on experiencing some astounding views of the Eastern Sierra.
Happy shooting!
Hi all,
My name is Judy Johnson and I’m a long time fan of Dave’s photo adventures….for instance in Death Valley for the HaleBopp Comet and that was how many years ago?
Also some in Yosemite [where Dave once stood on the rocks at the base of Yosemite Falls when the mist was so thick you could barely see him] and where I’m a long time volunteer, mostly in Tuolumne Meadows, with the Yosemite Conservancy. I also work on projects with the park service such as getting rid of social trails and non native plants.
I’ve had many cameras over the years, starting with a couple of Pentaxs that were mostly used for black and white film when the local adult school had labs for developing and printing. I love the eastern Sierra and especially Bodie and the fall colors which will hopefully be there soon. Now its iPhone photo time so will see how that goes.
I’ve lived in Redondo Beach for many years and used to be a beach rat, but as John Muir said…..”The mountains are calling and I must go.”
Looking forward to meeting and seeing everyone
Eric Brown: My interest in photography started with my mother, who took photos of us growing up. I have taken photos for many years but did not become a student of photography until the last 10 years.
In 2009, I subscribed to Photoshop User Magazine and started watching Photoshop User TV with Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski and Dave Cross. I learned about Photoshop and later Lightroom. I also took photography and Photoshop classes at adult school.
In 2012, I joined the Berkeley Camera Club and became a more dedicated student of photography. My goal was to try to take photos right in the camera and not to have to try to fix them in Photoshop afterwards. (That said, I am an advocate of post processing.) At the Club’s photo competitions, I had an opportunity to show my photos, get feedback and to see other member’s photos and hear feedback from the judges. This experience was invaluable to improving my photography.
I have served on the Board of the Berkeley Camera Club since 2012 and have served as the BCC President since 2015.
I like travel, nature, creative and documentary photography. When photography is working well for me, I can get into a flow experience of being in the moment, seeing images and taking lots of photos.
Photos: ericbrownphoto.smugmug.com
Leslie Haley: I live in Prescott, Arizona and have been photographing all my life but got serious about it 4 years ago. Started with bird/wildlife then went more towards landscape about 2 years ago.
We get amazing lightning storms here in Arizona, so I have become a dedicated storm chaser when monsoon season is here in the summer. Also really like night sky photography.
Started with Nikon 40 years ago and am still with that system. I shoot with a D850, D750, D500 and an assortment of lenses. You can see some of my photos on my Intagram account under lesliehaley94.
My significant other is not into photography so I am joining up with tours to meet like minded people. Originally from California but have never taken photos up in the eastern Sierra's so I’m looking forward to that.
Carol F. Thomas: Photography, for me, is all about the art of seeing and using my camera to be in the moment and interpret the world as I see it. I was twelve when my parents gave me a small Brownie camera before a family trip to Yosemite National Park. This fueled a lifelong passion for both travel and photography.
I have a Ph.D. from U. C. Berkeley in educational research and development. Before I retired, I was CEO of Education Northwest, a non-profit organization that operated as a federally-funded regional educational laboratory.
I believe in lifelong learning and photography has taught me to look at my world differently even without a camera. It has opened by eyes and heart to the beauty of the world and allowed me to meet new people and hear their stories. I belong to the Berkeley Camera Club, the Berkeley Fine Art Photography Group, the Bay Area Nikon Users Group, and volunteer as an Affiliate for ProBono Photography.
My images have been exhibited at the Abrams Claghorn Gallery, the ACCI Gallery, the Alameda County Fair, the Lightroom, and at the Marin Society of Artists, among other venues. I’ve been influenced and motivated by many photographers whose images compel me to seek adventures, camera in hand.
If you are interested in following my photographic journey, please check out my website: http:// www.carolfthomas10.smugmug.com. I can be contacted at: carolfthomas10@gmail.com.
Don MacQueen: I have been retired about 10 months now, after 39 years at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where I supported the environmental surveillance and remediation programs with data analysis, statistics, and graphics. My time at LLNL, a scientific kind of place, is probably why I like to study and understand the technical underpinnings of digital photography. I now have photography, Scottish country dancing, and music as hobbies.
I got my start in photography many years ago with a Nikon FE film camera. This immediately woke me up to noticing qualities of light and its many and varied qualities. Thanks to my experience with the FE, all of my intuition around what length lens will give me what kind of results is still tuned to what is now called “full frame”. So when somebody finally came out with a full frame camera that was only a little bit larger than my orignal Nikon, I happily went there.
I seem to be happy more often with my flower photography results, especially close ups, than anything else. I also enjoy landscapes and more generally nature photography. I’ve dabbled a bit in portrait photography, which more than any other genre makes me ask myself, “What is the purpose of this photo?” This strikes me as always a valid question.
