Immense, Silent, and Sacred

I have released a beautiful 46-page 8″x8″ softcover book containing eighteen of my photographs exhibited during The National Park Service:100 Years-California Dreaming exhibition at the Viewpoint Photographic Art Center in Sacramento, California. These eighteen images span many years of my work in Death Valley National Park and Joshua Tree National Park.

Books purchased through my website are signed/autographed. Immense, Silent, and Sacred can be fully previewed at MagCloud. Please note than purchases through MagCloud are unsigned/not autographed. Digital downloads are also available.

It has never been easier or less expensive to own my photographs in print form (that’s a little more than $1 per photo). Many thanks in advance for your support and purchases!

You are visiting the blog of fine art landscape photographer Michael E. Gordon. For additional photos and information, please visit his official website. You can also find Michael

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STOP the Proposed Silurian Valley Wind/Solar Project!

©2013 Michael E. Gordon

Dear Readers and friends of the California Desert, I need your help opposing the proposed Silurian Valley Solar/Wind Project which is slated for development southeast of Death Valley National Park. The proposed project would be a 200 megawatt solar facility consisting of multiple arrays of photovoltaic panels, 44 miles of service roads, a project substation, an operation & maintenance facilities including an aerial generation transmission line and will impact 7,219 acres of public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approximately 10 miles north of Baker, San Bernardino County, along State Highway 127. Silurian Valley remains in a nearly pristine state just outside Death Valley National Park, just north of Mojave National Preserve, and is directly adjacent to the Hollow Hills Wilderness and Kingston Range Wilderness areas – this is simply the wrong location for this project. In mid-2013, National Geographic released a special publication entitled ‘The World’s Most Beautiful Places‘ in which the Mojave Desert was named as one of the 100 most remarkable destinations:

“Far from the madding metropolitan crowds of Las Vegas and Los Angeles that surround it, the Mojave Desert offers the balm of silence and solitude. Canyons, giant mesas, mountains, towering dunes, and vast, dust-dry plains make up one of North America’s most elemental landscapes. It is a world little touched by humans, save for the odd crumbling mine or homestead, but one which nature adorns with the beauty of the Joshua tree and spring’s brief-lived wildflowers…”

©2013 Michael E. Gordon

Renewable energy projects should be smart from the start, but the  proposed Silurian Valley Solar/Wind Project is a poster child for inappropriately sited renewable energy projects which threatens scenic view-sheds and critical wildlife habitat in a presently undisturbed valley. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service recommends that BLM reject the proposal “because of its potential for substantial adverse effects on trust resources including desert tortoises, migratory birds, and golden eagles. The proposed project would introduce a substantial amount of human impact into an area that is currently undisturbed”. Solar panels belong in urban areas, on roof tops, canopies over parking lots, public parks, along freeways, train tracks, and other suitable locations within the areas where it is consumed – NOT on our public wildlands and NOT in Silurian Valley.

With your help we can help the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to understand the full range of impacts this project proposes for wildlife, viewshed, Death Valley National Park, and adjacent Wilderness Study Areas. Together we can ensure that the BLM does not blindly approve this harmful project (what’s wrong with “green” energy?).

©2013 Michael E. Gordon

I urge you to please submit your written comments by the May 28, 2014 deadline to:

Katrina Symons

BLM Barstow Field Manager
2601 Barstow Road

Barstow, CA 92311

or by email at Silurian_Valley_Solar@blm.gov

Please share this post widely with others who care about our National Parks, protecting public lands and open space from industrialized corporate development, preserving desert wildlife and views, and with those who care about holding subsidized developers responsible for not harming our world-famous deserts (tourists travel from around the world to take in our vast and timeless desert views). PLEASE HELP STOP the Silurian Valley Solar/Wind Project!

Additional reading:

* Basin and Range Watch Silurian Valley page (comprehensive details, maps, photos)

* USDA Fish & Wildlife Service comments AGAINST the Proposal

* Silurian Valley Solar: Beautiful Bureaucracy at Work

* Mojave Desert Blog: Ode to Silurian Valley

* The Wilderness Society: California’s Silurian Valley

* L.A. Times article: The Wrong Sites for Solar

* Sacrificial Land: Will renewable energy devour the Mojave Desert? (High Country News)

You are visiting the blog of fine art landscape photographer Michael E. Gordon. For additional photos and information, please visit his official website. You can also find Michael on Facebook, Google+, and  Twitter.

STOP the Proposed Soda Mountain Solar Project!

Proposal zone from the tip of the proposed North Array. This entire view would be covered by PVT panels. In the background is the Mojave National Preserve.

Dear Readers and Friends of the California Desert, I urge your action against the proposed Soda Mountain Solar Project, south of Death Valley National Park and proposed for development immediately adjacent to the Mojave National Preserve. Renewable energy projects should be smart from the start, but the proposed Soda Mountain Solar Project is THE poster child for inappropriately sited renewable energy projects which threatens the Mojave National Preserve, bighorn sheep migration corridors, desert tortoise habitat, the endangered tui chub pup fish, and world-renowned scenic view-sheds. With your help we can help the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to understand the full range of impacts this project proposes for wildlife, viewshed, the Mojave National Preserve and adjacent Wilderness Study Areas. Together we will ensure that the BLM does not blindly approve this harmful project (what’s wrong with “green” energy?).

The Soda Mountain Solar Project is a proposed 350-megawatt photo-voltaic electric power generating plant proposed on 4,397 acres of public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) some six miles southwest of Baker, California and immediately adjacent to the Mojave National Preserve  (yes, immediately adjacent to a

Proposal zone from the southwestern tip of the proposed South Array. This entire view would be covered by PVT panels. In the background is the Mojave National Preserve.

National Park unit). The application by Soda Mountain Solar, LLC requests a right-of-way authorization to construct a solar field on 2,691 acres, a project substation, an access road, operations and maintenance buildings, and to realign approximately 3.3 miles of Rasor Road. The Sierra Club’s Desert Report recently featured a piece on this proposal which outlines this tragedy in the making. Author Sid Silliman explains that “[t]he consequences for the Mojave National Preserve are of special concern because the project threatens not only the particular resources and landscape that Congress mandated to be protected by the California Desert Protection Act of 1994, but the very integrity of this treasured unit of the National Park System.”

Overview at sunset of the proposed Soda Mountain Solar Project.

I urge you to please submit your comments by March 3, 2014 to:

Jeffrey Childers, Project Manager

BLM California Desert District Office

22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos

Moreno Valley, CA 92553

jchilders@blm.gov

Please share this post freely with others who care about our National Parks, protecting desert wildlife and views, and with those who care about holding renewable energy developers responsible for not harming our world-famous deserts (tourists travel from around the world to take in our vast and timeless desert views). PLEASE HELP STOP the Soda Mountain Solar Project!

ADDITIONAL READING:

Soda Mountain Solar Energy Project (comprehensive overview) Basin and Range Watch

Soda Mountain Solar Project Facts National Parks Conservation Association

Don’t Let Clean Energy Projects Stain National Parks The Sacramento Bee

Will A Proposed Solar Power Plant Near Mojave National Preserve Defeat Good Planning?National Parks Traveler

Mojave Desert not ideal for massive solar project The Press Enterprise

Public troubled with 4K-acre solar project near Mojave Preserve The Civic Bee

Relocate the Mojave National Preserve’s planned Soda Mountain Solar Project: Guest Commentary San Bernardino Sun

Retired National Park Leaders Oppose Soda Mountain SolarKCET.ORG

Overwhelming Opposition to Soda Mountain Solar Project The Desert News Post

Here we go again: Soda Mountain Solar ProjectHi-Desert Star

Saving the Mojave from the solar threatLos Angeles Times

BLM advances solar project that will harm bighorn sheepHigh Country News

L.A. won’t buy power from Mojave Desert solar plant, after all Los Angeles Times

MOJAVE IS A MAGICAL PLACE. LET’S PROTECT MY FORMER HOME Park Advocate

You are visiting the blog of fine art landscape photographer Michael E. Gordon. For additional photos and information, please visit his official website. You can also find Michael on Facebook, Google+, and  Twitter.

Workshop Announcement: Introduction to Large Format Photography: April 14-15, 2012

Large Format Photographer in the Alabama Hills

This workshop will take place in California’s renowned Alabama Hills (featured in scores of movies and television commercials), just outside Lone Pine, California, in the rainshadow of Mt. Whitney and the High Sierra). Limited to 5 photographers only.

NO PREVIOUS LARGE FORMAT EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED! The large format camera offers the ultimate in control over the entire creative image-making process and large format negatives and transparencies that offer extraordinary resolution. The market is flooded with plenty of used and value-priced large format gear, and new high quality yet inexpensive field cameras have made this an excellent time to move up to the format with only a moderate amount of expense. This course is designed for experienced photographers who are ready to take their photography to the next level, and for those who have previously worked with large format but have struggled with it. At the completion of this intensive two-day workshop, you will be able to efficiently and confidently compose, focus, meter, and expose your own large format photographs. Please click here for more information and to register.

I hope you can join us!

You are visiting the blog of fine art landscape photographer Michael E. Gordon. For additional photos and information, please visit his official website.

On Assignment: Technology in Desert Photography

Even though I enjoy and greatly appreciate technology, a number of friends and others over the years have often referred to me as a Luddite. I resisted the change from analog to digital audio (I bought into CD’s years after everyone else and still prefer the warmth and quality of good analog audio); I resisted the change from analog to digital photography (I still prefer film and a view camera); and I resisted iPhones until their 3rd version, when owning one became a very obvious way to increase my productivity on many fronts (Status Updates from the field are not relevant to productivity ;)). The iPhone and other bits of technology became very relevant and important recently when about three weeks ago I went on assignment into the California Desert for The Wilderness Society (TWS).

Unless you live in the western United States, you’re likely unaware that the U.S. Department of Energy has fast-tracked twenty-four solar energy development projects on desert public lands throughout six southwestern states. Here in California, four Solar Energy Zones (SEZ) have been proposed, with the majority of the acreage occupying pristine California desert landscapes. It goes without saying that these are controversial and contentious proposals, and the conservation community has recommended that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) not designate two of the proposed solar zones in California (Pisgah and Iron Mountain) because of conflicts with wildlife habitat and nearby National Parks. Accordingly, TWS hired me to illustrate the diverse and undisturbed plant communities, wildlife habitat, and overall beauty found in these proposed SEZ’s. Because these SEZ’s are only in the proposal stage, no ground has been broken; there are no boundary lines or stakes on the ground; and no fences or other guides to indicate the exact boundaries of these huge proposed SEZ’s (the proposed Pisgah SEZ is 23,950 acres; the proposed Iron Mountain SEZ is 106,522 acres). So how does a photographer determine where to stand and point the camera when working with such a large and remote “job-site”?

I used all of the following technologies to research, scout, and photograph for this assignment: Google Earth (using provided KMZ files to indicate the SEZ’s); Ephemeris (I use an old desktop application; many prefer The Photographer’s Ephemeris); satellite images with SEZ overlays (provided by the U.S. D.O.E.); my iPhone; the iPhone compass app; the SunSeeker iPhone app; a paper San Bernardino County Map (provided by Automobile Club of Southern California; they make the best county maps and show roads that other maps do not); the WWW for various research and imagery while in the field; and finally, good old visual reckoning while in the field (does not break; does not require signal; requires no batteries). There is some overlap in these tools and I could have done away with one or two, but I used what was fastest and most convenient to me.

I had a one-week deadline. I did my research the afternoon and evening I received the assignment, and left the very next morning. In three days in the field, I covered nearly 600 miles of driving, a number of miles of hiking, and netted thirty-nine photographs for The Wilderness Society’s campaign. They’re soon to publish an extensive Solar Energy report which will use my photographs to hopefully to eliminate the Pisgah and Iron Mountain SEZ proposals.

I spent three days wandering alone these vast and primordial Mojave Desert landscapes. I was often overcome with grief and sadness when I could see before me the acreage that DOE proposes for these SEZ’s. These are huge and undisturbed landscapes where even during the most bearable season (Oct-Mar) you are more likely to see coyote, tortoise, or raven than a human.

No DOE employee nor Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has ever had encounters with tortoise, bighorn sheep, and coyote like I have. No DOE employee nor Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has ever scaled the Mojave Desert’s steep mountains to watch the new sun throw its blaze across these majestic and untarnished landscapes. And No DOE employee nor Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has ever had a physical or emotional investment in this desert or in California’s heritage. What right have they to designate these zones as wastelands fit only for thousands of square acres of solar panels?

You are visiting the blog of fine art landscape photographer Michael E. Gordon. For additional photos and information, please visit his official website.

Mojave Mound Cactus (photo)

Mojave Mound Cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus)

I found the granddaddy of all Mojave Mound cacti (Echinocereus triglochidiatus) this weekend in California’s Mojave National Preserve. This was the largest, healthiest, and happiest Mojave mound I’ve ever seen (sure, I’m anthropomorphizing, but it’s my blog :)), and it had no less than approximately 100 buds and flowers on it. The plant was at least 36″ across and about 30″ or more inches tall. Chances are that I’ll be heading back to it in about a week to catch it at its fullest bloom.

It’s not what most would consider a “great year” for wildflowers in California’s Mojave Desert, but if one gets out there with open eyes and willing legs and feet, one will find an incredibly lush, vibrant, and yeah, happy desert! So get out there before it gets hot!

Info for photographers: I made this photograph during the middle of the day under hard light. Why then does the light look so appealing? A 32″ Adorama-brand 5-in-1 (now branded “Flashpoint”) lives in my truck and allows me to shoot small scenes like this under any light. I typically use the diffuser most during middle-of-the-day light such as this. No nature photographer should be without this useful tool!

You are visiting the blog of fine art photographer Michael E. Gordon. For additional photos and information, please visit his official website.

La Jolla Festival of the Arts, June 26-27, 2010

I’d love to meet you and share my work with you at The La Jolla Festival of the Arts on June 26-27, 2010. This Festival is among the top rated art shows in California and hosts over 190 award-winning local and national artists displaying fine art photography, watercolors, oils, sculpture, serigraphs, fine jewelry, and more. Event attendees can also enjoy a variety of cuisines in the festival food area, listen to live entertainment, and participate in special events.

Produced annually by the Torrey Pines Kiwanis Foundation, proceeds from the Festival support recreational and educational programs for San Diegans with disabilities. More recently, funds from this Festival are providing recreational and rehabilitative services to injured veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Festival is located in the La Jolla/UCSD district of San Diego at the corner of Genesee Ave and Regents Rd. It is easily accessible from I-5, I-805, I-15 and CA-52 and offers plenty of free parking. Much more information can be found on the LJFoA website. You can find me in booth number 423 at the Festival. Please stop by and say hello!

You are visiting the blog of fine art photographer Michael E. Gordon. For additional photos and information, please visit his official website.

It’s All About the Light…

Wherever there is light, one can photograph. Alfred Stieglitz

Striped Butte. Death Valley National Park.

Last night I gave a presentation to the Santa Clarita Valley Photographers Association (SCVPA) (a great group of people, and a more organized and attended-to camera club than I would have ever imagined). The most ironic thing about teaching and presenting is that I always learn as much as the audience. No matter how often I may speak about my work and my philosophies, I learn something about my photographs and beliefs every time.

As I moved through and talked about the 96 photographs I shared with the SCVPA, I was alerted to my use of any and all light. It’s not a new discovery, and other photographers often comment on my use of whatever light. The fact is, I have a photograph(s) in my collection to represent virtually every hour of daylight. The notions that there are only “golden hours” or “sweet light” under which to practice photography have been perpetuated for far too long amongst the nature and landscape photography community. It’s enforced by books, workshops, online photo forums, and far too many photo instructors. It’s time to change this line of thinking, for believing that photography can only be practiced for a few sweet hours of each day and then setting out to capture only specific images that capitalize on that sweet light is akin to photographing with dark blinders on. Any light is available light, and how you choose to see it and whether you choose to photograph under it determines the diversity of your abilities, your vision, and your work. I’d venture that photographers are missing a lot of beautiful photographic opportunities when they’re locked into a singular and exclusive method of photographing.

All light is available light. Sweet light is any light you choose to photograph under. The Golden Hours extend from sunrise to sunset. With few exceptions, failure to create photographs under any light is not a failing of the light; it’s a failure of vision. Take off the blinders and be free.

You are visiting the blog of fine art photographer Michael E. Gordon. For additional photos and information, please visit his official website.

My 2010 Workshops and Tours

Large Format Photographer in the Alabama Hills

My first private workshop of 2010 took place last weekend (January 9-10) in the remarkable Alabama Hills and Owens Valley, California. David, Sue, and Erik Haake (David is the Program Director for the West Los Angeles Group of the Sierra Club) hired me for a day of Large Format photography instruction with Erik on Saturday in the Alabama Hills (Erik is seen in the photo at left shooting sunrise in the Alabama Hills), and on Sunday we toured a few special locations in and around the Owens Valley (concluding our tour at an incredible and hidden petroglyph panel in the Volcanic Tablelands). David and Sue are avid birders, and although I can’t currently call myself an avid birder, it is something I have spent a fair amount of time doing in the past and I do have a fair number of species on my life list (even though I don’t keep a life list!). Incidentally, the scope of my guiding was altered last weekend, and according to Sue: “you were a wonderful birding guide to top it off.” Thanks, David, Sue, and Erik, for being wonderful clients!

I am currently have one scheduled 2010 group workshop and three more in the planning stages for this year:

Introduction to Large Format Photography Workshop. February 13-14, 2010, Alabama Hills, Eastern Sierra (just outside Lone Pine, California). Limited to only 5 photographers; $349 per person. My teaching methods and techniques are direct and easy to comprehend, and I will successfully put you in full control of your camera. At the completion of this intensive two-day workshop, you will be able to efficiently and confidently compose, focus, and expose your own photographs. Click here for more information and to register for this workshop.

March 6-7, 2010 California Desert Wildflower tour: Our “wet season” started wet (despite the name, it doesn’t always work this way!) and although we had a recent dry and warm spell, things are slated to turn again next week and the state of California should again get quite wet. This may bode well for spring wildflowers in the desert. But my intention is to only lead a tour (likely a one day driving tour) if I can *guarantee* good blooms at the best locations (desert wildflowers are wildly unpredictable). Only time will tell, and I’ll be updating this blog as things develop.

October 2010 Eastern Sierra Autumn Color Tour: Fall color varies from year to year, but it’s always predictable enough to guarantee great photographs under incredible settings. I’m tentatively planning a three-day tour during the first week of October. The tour will range from Mono Lake in the north to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the south.

Nov-Dec 2010 Death Valley National Park Backcountry 4WD Workshop/Tour: We will spend about a week driving, hiking, and photographing locations that most photographers have no idea even exist! I have personally driven most of Death Valley National Park backcountry roads (including the most difficult and challenging) and have hiked and photographed locations well off the beaten track. Had enough of Zabriskie Point, Badwater, and the Mesquite Flat dunes? Come tour with me. Logistically speaking, unless I can locate and work with an authorized 4WD outfitter for Death Valley NP (I am currently at work on this), each client will need to provide their own 4WD and advanced driving experience. I’ll continue to update my blog as details develop.

If you have interest in any of these workshops/tours, please leave me a reply or shoot me an email.

You are visiting the blog of fine art photographer Michael E. Gordon. For additional photos and information, please visit his official website.

Desert Tortoises, Under Siege

Despite their dwindling numbers and imperiled status, I’ve been fortunate to encounter quite a few wild desert tortoises over the years, including this cooperative and patient fellow found in the Chuckwalla Mountains (photographed with my 4×5″ view camera; view cameras can be slow, but tortoises are slower!).

As if the tortoises haven’t had it hard enough, Fort Irwin is expanding its operations and is displacing and relocating many desert tortoises (760 so far). If only the relocation was successful. L.A Times story.

You’d think that we’d have learned by now that tinkering with nature generally produces unexpected and unfortunate consequences, yet “In an effort to prevent further losses, the Army has requested that the predators, described by one military spokesman as a “rogue clan of coyotes,” be eradicated by animal control sharpshooters.” Someone please help me with this one; how can the most powerful (and presumably smartest) military in the world not realize the stupidity of such a statement? They’re not going to target a “rogue clan”; they’re likely to kill every coyote they can find, “innocent” or otherwise. Further, when coyotes come under fire, they don’t vanish – they reproduce and expand their territory. Shooting random coyotes will accomplish nothing, as generations of ranchers have already learned. Why are innocent coyotes and tortoises going to have to pay the ultimate price for the U.S. Army’s blunder?

The Center for Biological Diversity will “file suit later this month against the Army, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management for allegedly violating the federal Endangered Species Act in their management of desert tortoises.”

They have my fullest support.

“Tug on anything at all and you’ll find it connected to everything else in the universe.”
John Muir

“The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only those who know the most about it can appreciate how little we know about it. The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: “What good is it?” If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.”
Aldo Leopold

You are visiting the blog of fine art photographer Michael E. Gordon. For additional photos and information, please visit his official website.