2022 Wilson PAC Art Exhibit

The Last Aurora Stamp (A Composition)

In the early 1860’s, during the gold rush, my husband Jim’s great grandfather Richard Barlow came to the booming town of Aurora, Nevada to open a butcher shop. Jim’s great grandmother Emma Holman, in her youth and at the fresh age of 14 or 15, dated a young Samuel Clemens (later known as Mark Twain) who also lived in Aurora. Emma’s father did not like his daughter dating Mr. Clemens who shared a dirt floored shack with several other bachelor miners and forced her too stop seeing him stating that Samuel Clemens was a “N’er do well” Mark Twain would later describe his Aurora mining camp experiences in the book “Roughing It” Once the seat of Mineral County and home to 10,000 citizens, including Richard and Emma Barlow and their 9 children, this fast growing mining town had 17 mills and 175 stamps at its peak. This stamp is one of only a handful of structures remaining in the Ghost Town of Aurora This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio and as with all my Milky Way images, I would suggest that you print it on metallic paper. Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Hawthorne, NV Yacht Club

I had heard that there was an abandoned carp boat in the desert where a lake shore once existed. The lake, being over 20 miles long, gave me little hope of finding the boat but we jumped in the ATV and set out to find it. Shortly before the sun set behind the mountains we saw a shadow of the boat in the distance and I quickly set up the cameras and waited for Galactic Center to take position. After being interrupted by a cauldron of bats and the howl of coyotes we finally settled into the photo shoot and were rewarded with incredibly clear skies. I later found out that the nearly empty lake where the boat resides was once full of carp, which were caught and sent to San Francisco for the Asian population. Sadly, years of irrigation upstream have depleted the levels of the lake and the water has become alkaline. As a result, fish and wildlife can no longer exist here and therefore the boat was abandoned. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio and as with all my Milky Way images, I would suggest that you print it on metallic paper. Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Bonsai Rock Milky Way Lake Tahoe

On its own, Lake Tahoe is a beautiful and breathtaking place with it’s granite shorelines and clear blue waters but there is nothing like experiencing this lake at 3:00am with Galactic Center rising over the horizon. The depth and color of this photo was captured by stacking 30 individual digital images of the Milky Way one-by-one and merging them together to create this one image. FOR FUN Bonsai Rock, named for the small trees that grow out of the granite stone, is a popular spot for boaters. Individuals leave their boats, climb the rock and jump off into the water yelling, “Banzai!” Even though the rock is actually named for the trees, I find it interesting to know that “Bonzai” is a Japanese exclamation that means, “Ten Thousand Years of Long Life” This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio and as with all my Milky Way images, I would suggest that you print it on metallic paper. Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Scent of a Lupine

Lupine is a fragrant wildflower that grows abundantly at elevation in the Sierra Nevada. While on a kayaking trip in South Lake Tahoe on the Blue Lakes I ventured to do a little photography. With wild fires in the area, the sky and landscapes were blocked by smoke so my camera pointed to the ground. These tiny Brewer’s Lupine were begging to be photographed so I took photos from every angle including this one which I call, “Looking into the face of the flower” Having hundreds of photos of Lupine I decided to use Photoshop to “Visualize” the scent of the Lupine and this photo is the result. This image is edited in a 1x1 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap.

If I Told You…

“If I told you that I took a picture of a Sand Spider consuming a Miner Bee in a Gooseberry Globe Mallow while a Long-Nosed Weevil watched would you want photographic proof?” While exploring Ghost Towns in an area of Nevada called Dixie Valley I found myself waiting, camera in hand, while my husband Jim ventured up a ravine looking for a place on his map called “King Solomon’s Mine” While I sat there, surrounded by wild flowers, a flash of yellow appeared on a very tiny Globe Mallow which was only 1/2” in diameter. I stood and walked over to the tiny flower trying to confirm that this was not a trick of the eye. As I walked stealthily around the flower, the yellow object evaded me by staying on the opposite side of the flower. I put the camera to my eye and patiently waited for movement. Within a few minutes a tiny dark object was flung from the flower by a yellow sand spider. Accustomed to my presence by now, the tiny spider went about his business. Another few minutes later a black Miner Bee landed on the flower and I sat with my finger on the shutter taking 9 frames a second. 671 images and 75 seconds later the spider flicked the consumed bee out of the flower. It wasn’t until I loaded the images on my computer that I was aware that a long-nosed Weevil had landed for a split second, only appearing in 3 of the 671 images. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Comet Neowise as Seen From Broken Hills, NV

In the summer of 2020 the photography world was abuzz with the discovery of Comet Neowise on March 27, 2020 by astronomers during the NEOWISE mission of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope. Comet Neowise was visible all night to the naked eye beginning mid-month in July of 2020 and by July 30, binoculars were required to locate the comet in most areas. Comet Neowise is only visible once every 6,800 to 7,000 years and at the time it was visible, the comet was about 64 million miles from Earth. A benefit of living in the state of Nevada is that this is Dark Sky Country. A few hours drive and you can find yourself in an area where the sky is nearly white with stars and there is very little light pollution. I decided I wanted a simple foreground for the comet so I chose the volcanic rocks of the Broken Hills, a historic mining area in Nevada. I’d never taken a photograph of a comet before so it was a particular challenge to get both tails of the comet. One tail is a plasma tail composed of ionized gas and the other is a dust tail composed of small solid particles. Regardless of direction of travel or position, the tails will always point away from the sun since they are caused by solar heat and winds. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio and as with all my Milky Way images, I would suggest that you print it on metallic paper. Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Moho Mountain Ore Chute

When a town is still populated but more than 30% of the dwellings have been abandoned it is considered a “Living Ghost Town” or a “Semi-Ghost Town” The tiny town of Mina located in the middle of Nevada is one such town. Surrounded by miles and miles of mountain ranges and sagebrush, Mina is a treasure trove of abandoned mines and buildings. While out exploring in our ATV my husband Jim and I had traveled over 26 miles into the backcountry looking for old abandoned mining operations. We could see Moho Mountain in the distance and it was apparent by the tailings piles that there had been substantial prospecting on the face of the mountain. Taking over an hour to reach the top on roads that had not been used in nearly a century we came across this well preserved ore chute. The ore would be dumped into the chute by the miners who would then load it into wagons to be taken to the mill where the precious metals were separated from the primary rock, also known as the “mother rock”. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Quartz Mountain Headframe Milky Way

What is a headframe? A headframe is the structure used to raise and lower miners, ore and equipment in and out of the mine shafts. In the high desert where you are surrounded by little more than sagebrush and igneous rock; resources such as wood, nails and bricks are scarce so they were reused. When a mine stops producing valuable minerals the miners tear down buildings and mining structures and rebuild where new ore deposits have been discovered. This is why finding a headframe is so exciting. Considering the number of mines that once existed in Nevada, there are relatively few structures remaining. There are only a few days a month between March and October when the moon is gone and you can capture a pure Galactic image. On those few days you have to cross your fingers and toes and hope that you will also have clear skies. I had decided long ago that I wanted to capture the Quartz Mountain headframe. I planned the shot to make it look as though the Milky Way was leaning against the head frame with Jupiter shining between the beams of the structure. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio and as with all my Milky Way images, I would suggest that you print it on metallic paper. Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Candelaria Milky Way

My husband Jim’s grandmother Bessie Barlow was adopted by her sister and brother-in-law after the death of their father and later moved from Aurora, NV to Candelaria, NV. Bessie’s brother-in-law Ben Edwards owned the bank and general store that occupied this building which is why the windows had large steel shutters. In 1902 while young Bessie was working in this building, a young man named Edward Scott came to town and was immediately smitten with Bessie. Edward had just hit it big on a gold mine prospect and had $40,000 which was a massive sum. The young couple were immediately married and Edward took Bessie on a year long honeymoon around the world. Unfortunately, that was the last good investment Edward would enjoy and he spent the better part of his life looking for his next fortune. When I first visited this site in 2018, I wasn’t doing astro-photography yet and much more of the building and its walls were standing. Shortly before I took this photo in 2020, an earthquake nearly destroyed what remains of the structure, leaving only the front wall standing and completely destroying the building across the road. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio and as with all my Milky Way images, I would suggest that you print it on metallic paper. Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

castilleja angustifloria var. flavescens

While exploring ghost towns and searching for abandoned mines we found ourselves at 8,400’ in the East Brawley Peaks near the border of California and Nevada. I saw a tiny flash of pale orange at the base of a patch of sage brush and yelled for my husband to stop the ATV. I had never seen this color before. It was apparent that this was some form of Paintbrush, a flower that grows abundantly in and around the area but is primarily red in color. I asked all my botany friends and no one knew exactly what this flower was including the ones who had written books about the flowers of the Sierra Nevada. It wasn’t until I reached out to iNaturalist that I was given a name to this flower and found out that it is way out of it’s normal habitat. The botanist who helped me asked if I could take him to the location to verify the find but heavy snows in the area since have blocked access and we were unable to confirm the flowers in 2019 and 2020. This image is edited in a 4x5 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x5 8x10 16x20 Etc

Pincushion Daisy Twirl Effect

This Pincushion Daisy was found in late fall around the gardens of Rancho San Rafael in Reno NV. Being so late in the season its colors were faded and its pedals were exhausted. When I got the image home I performed a Photoshop technique called the Twirl Effect where I gave the flower movement and depth. This once exhausted bloom will now live forever in this image. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Sweet Gum Balls

Sweet Gum Balls are the seed of the Sweet Gum tree. In the fall around Reno you can find the ground covered with these odd looking golf ball sized seeds. Locals use them in mulch to keep animals from eating from their gardens since the seeds are uncomfortable on their feet. I have used these seed balls for everything from photography and ornaments to creating miniature people for macro photography. This is the first image for which I won a ribbon. It was a first place blue for best Color Image in the (amateur) A Division of the Reno Photo Club. This image is edited in a 4x5 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x5 8x10 16x20 Etc

Berlin, NV Used Car Lot

Winner of the 2019 Laura B. Mills "Best Nevada Image" Captured on a cold stormy day, April 2019 in the Ghost Town of * Berlin near Ichthyosaur State Park while on the way to Death Valley “The wind was howling and the air a bitter cold. I jumped out of our ATV, snapped the one photo and jumped back in.” - Lizzie Flower * Berlin, NV is a ghost town in “Arrested Decay” and is part of the Berlin - Ichthyosaur State Park. The town never developed like other Gold Rush towns in the area and collapsed during the Panic of 1907 when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from it’s peak This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Ancient Bristlecone - Methuselah Forest

A photography friend and I had heard of a forest in the White Mountains of California that had a tree that had been dated to be 4,789 years old in 1957. The forest where the tree exists is called the Methuselah Forest, named for the ancient Bristlecone Pine that stands within its boundaries. The actual location of the Methuselah Tree is kept very secret because in 1964 a man got his corer stuck in a tree near the Methuselah Tree and an unwitting forest ranger helped by cutting the tree down to retrieve the instrument. It wasn’t until he got the core home and began counting rings that he realized that they had actually cut down the oldest living tree in the world. Located at an elevation of 10,200’, the hike to this tree was terribly cold and the skies incredibly clear. I placed the north star on the tip of a branch and took a series of 124 photos to create these star trails. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio and as with all my Milky Way images, I would suggest that you print it on metallic paper. Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Sage Hen Marsh Milky Way

Sage Hen Marsh, a large wet grassland created where Sage Hen Creek flows into Stampede Reservoir is one of my favorite areas. Covered in wildflowers from spring to fall this area has become a favorite place to photograph wildflowers. Some of them fragrant and some of them… not so much. In the foreground of this photo you will see that the marsh is filled with a white round flower. This particular alpine wildflower is called Bistort or as the early settlers of the gold rush days called it, “Miner’s Socks” These blooms don’t look like miner’s socks but they most certainly smell like them and for good reason. There are very few bees at higher elevations so many of the flowers rely on flies for pollination. Since flies are attracted to the smell of things like rotting flesh, the bistort’s foul smell attracts flies and the flower is pollinated and thrives. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio and as with all my Milky Way images, I would suggest that you print it on metallic paper. Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Sunrise over Sage Hen Marsh

Quamash Camas Lillies are not a rare flower but they only bloom for a brief time in a few wet marshes. Sage Hen Marsh, a large wet grassland created where Sage Hen Creek flows into Stampede Reservoir is one of these areas. Located in the Tahoe National Forest north of Truckee California, this remote area requires a 5 mile round trip hike to reach it. Determined to capture these elusive wildflowers, I made weekly hikes back to the marsh to scout for the super bloom. When it arrived I made my plans to hike back to the marsh in the middle of the night for a Milky Way shot. Leaving at 1:00 am with camera gear in tow I was only half way to my destination when I heard a rustle and grunt in the pitch black forest. Realizing I was not alone and deep in the heart of bear country I began to belt out my rendition of Rocketman to scare any creatures away. With equal measure of joy and dismay, my singing did scare off all manner of creatures and I had the rest of the night to myself. After capturing the Milky Way I rested under a large pine preparing myself for the hour long hike back to my car. With the skies beginning to brighten in the east I grabbed my camera to capture this image of the morning dew on the lilies. This image is edited in a 4x5 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x5 8x10 16x20 Etc

Fort Churchill Star Trails

One late afternoon I stood staring out the window of our home when my husband Jim asked, “What’s on your mind Flower?” I replied, “I want to take a night image of the Fort Churchill ruins.” Within minutes the camera was loaded and we were headed to Fort Churchill State Park. Fort Churchill was built in 1861 as an army outpost to protect the early settlers traveling to the west and to also provide support and protection for the Pony Express riders. My plan was to set a timer on my camera that would take 700 long exposure shots to get the movement of the earth around the north star. I estimated the camera would run for three hours so we planned to sleep in our car for three hours, wake up and retrieve the camera. We were swarmed by mosquitos while setting up the shots and lighting and then no sooner had we gotten the camera set up, a helicopter started buzzing the area doing who knows what. We woke up three hours later to find that the camera had failed and instead of 700 images, I’d only captured 48. The camera had shut itself off. This photo is not the image I had planned but I am certainly not disappointed in the result. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio and as with all my Milky Way images, I would suggest that you print it on metallic paper. Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Point Arena Lighthouse

During a visit from my daughter and young granddaughter I decided to drive them to the Pacific Coast and take them down Highway 1 to see the Golden Gate Bridge. After a beautiful two day stay in Fort Bragg we continued down the coast and saw a sign reading, “National Lighthouse Day, Free Admission”. I quickly performed an illegal u-turn and we headed down the road to Point Arena. After a beautiful tour of the lighthouse we stopped to see the sea lions on the rocks below where I captured this image of the lighthouse in the distance. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Carp Boat on Walker Lake

I had heard that there was an abandoned carp boat in the desert where a lake shore once existed. The lake, being over 20 miles long, gave me little hope of finding the boat but we jumped in the ATV and set out to find it. Shortly before the sun set behind the mountains we saw a shadow of the boat in the distance and I quickly set up the cameras and waited for Galactic Center to take position. After being interrupted by a cauldron of bats and the howl of coyotes we finally settled into the photo shoot and were rewarded with incredibly clear skies. I later found out that the nearly empty lake where the boat resides was once full of carp, which were caught and sent to San Francisco for the Asian population. Sadly, years of irrigation upstream have depleted the levels of the lake and the water has become alkaline. As a result, fish and wildlife can no longer exist here and therefore the boat was abandoned. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio and as with all my Milky Way images, I would suggest that you print it on metallic paper. Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Alcatraz from the Docks

One weekend in October of 2019 we decided to catch the Amtrak “California Zephyr” and ride through the Sierra Nevada to Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. No matter where you are along the wharf you are well aware of the prison island of Alcatraz in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. Closed in 1963 and nearly destroyed in 1969 and 1970 during protests the Island stands majestically in spite of its past. This image was captured as the sun set while I was strolling on the dock. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Snow Plant

Snow Plants are a beautiful sight to see. Often they emerge when there is still snow on the ground and the contrast of bright red with the white snow is striking. Snow Plants don’t last for long. They don’t receive their energy through photosynthesis like other plants but instead absorb nutrients from the ground or a host plant similar to how a mushroom grows. My 4 year old grandson was visiting from Hastings, NE when we found this plant on our hike in the Sierra Nevada. He was completely unimpressed with the plant but I was impressed enough to share it with you here. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Asters and Aphids

On Highway 89 North of Truckee California is a spot in the road with a sign that reads: Donner Camp Picnic Ground Historical Site If you are wondering if this is the Donner Party famous for being thwarted by snow while attempting to cross the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846-47 where nearly half of the 89 individuals who made up the Donner party met their demise, you are correct. In the middle of the meadow is a large stump 15 or more feet tall and several feet in circumference. It is rumored that this stump was cut to the level of the snow by the Donner Party indicating the depth of the snow they were trapped in. This Aster with Aphids was found in the shadow of that tree stump. This image is edited in a 4x5 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x5 8x10 16x20 Etc

Donner Train Tunnels

Completed in 1867 by Chinese workers for the transcontinental railroad to link lines from Omaha, NE to Oakland, CA, the Donner Train Tunnels were located in the most treacherous areas of the route. Tunnels and sheds were built to keep the snow off the tracks so the trains didn’t derail. Used for 125 years, the tracks were abandoned in 1993 when the railroad was rerouted. Although the tunnels are now on private property, locals and tourists explore the tunnels for their unusual artwork and history. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Dardanelles Aspens in Fall

The aspens of the Sierra Nevada put on a golden spectacle every fall and the entire area fills with locals and tourists trying to capture the color and texture of the experience. I am no exception. The Dardanelles is a spectacular, spired ridge south of South Lake Tahoe that requires a long and somewhat arduous hike back into the wilderness, but, once there, you are rewarded with a solitary nature experience. When I posted this photo on a Lake Tahoe site I received over 100 requests for it’s exact location from individuals who wanted to replicate it. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc

Fall Aspens and Sunbeams

A snag is a standing, dead or dying tree. Snags are important for many reasons. They provide nutrients to the forest and homes for animals and insects but most importantly, snags provide photo opportunities. Every time I pass this snag in South Lake Tahoe I ask one of my hike buddies to try to stick their face through the hole of this tree so I can take a picture. This task isn’t easy since the hole is 6-7’ above the ground but I almost always get someone willing to try. On this day I was hiking solo so I had a few minutes to spend with the tree. I noticed the way the sun was dancing through the pines so I dialed down my aperture and set out to create visual sunbeams through the trees. This image is edited in a 2x3 aspect ratio Remember, if you choose to purchase a canvas print you will lose some of the edges to the wrap unless you chose the thin canvas for which you will still lose some of the image in the wrap. Your size choices would be 4x6 8x12 16x24 Etc