Reissued: A Vagabond World

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Thomas Bachand

A Vagabond World: Essays From A Solo Journey Around The Globe

I am pleased to announce that my travel book, A Vagabond World, is now available as an e-book on both iTunes and Amazon (the book is also available in paperback).

Many years ago, I spent two years circumnavigating the globe primarily by sea, bus, and train. This around-the-world travel odyssey indelibly shaped the years to follow. As our world has become increasingly interdependent and Americans more aware of our connections to peoples the world over, the journey has taken on a greater significance.

A Vagabond World speaks to the universal themes surrounding travel and the personal transformations that greet one on the road each day. As an exploration of the poignance, import, and changing dynamic of the long-term travel experience, this solo journey around the globe is a rite of passage that turns the outward experience inward so as to examine ourselves and our place in the world. The journey becomes a guidepost to a greater world. Once we buy the ticket, all of our life is transformed.

The e-book contains 110 photographs. A web gallery is provided for the print edition.

For more information, visit: http://www.thomasbachand.com/travel/ .

The Temporal Emerald

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Thomas Bachand

Three Seconds on the Fourth of July, Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, California

Inhabiting the center of my book Lake Tahoe: A Fragile Beauty, both literally and figuratively, is a series of images on Emerald Bay. As Tahoe’s most recognizable landmark, this is only fitting. The first half of the book deals with open landscapes and the details within. The second half features, what I term, intersecting landscapes, those views that give us insight into our own experience vis-a-vie the land.

Emerald Bay has always been central to the Tahoe experience. For newcomers, the striking relief of Emerald Bay, overshadowed by glacier-carved granite peaks, is a mandatory stop. Many hike to the Vikingsholm at the base of the bay, and imagine a romantic past. The avalanche scar reminds of us of the unintended consequences of our own actions. To me, Emerald seemed the perfect location to illustrate our transient relationship with the landscape.

The idea of a series came to me at the local market while I was observing another photographer, one I’d never met, discussing his own book of photography on Lake Tahoe. “Another picture of Emerald Bay,” the shopkeeper said with a hint of dismay as she flipped through his book. “Ouch,” I said to myself. It was a familiar photographer’s trap: shoot first ask questions later. What did I want to say about Emerald? What does Emerald have to say about Tahoe? I knew if I could capture the power of Emerald Bay, it would translate to the whole of Tahoe. In the series, the frame stays the same while it is the lake that changes, transformed by weather, light, and time.

Why Aren’t Tahoe’s Boaters Paying Their Way?

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Thomas Bachand

Boats illegally moored to beach. Sugar Pine Point State Park. July 2, 2011

It’s become common knowledge that invasive species are a significant threat to Lake Tahoe’s ecosystem and water quality. The Tahoe Environmental Research Center offers an overview on the lake’s invasive species and history on their website. Given that invasive species are most commonly introduced into the lake by boaters and occur in greater concentrations near marinas, it is perplexing that the boating community is not making a greater effort to protect Lake Tahoe.

While the boating community is to be commended for getting on board with invasive species boat inspections in a single year, there is ample opportunity for boaters to be proactive and to mitigate their effects on Tahoe. Lakefront property owners obstruct views and access with their piers and buoys. Boat noise is a constant din during summer. Once a boat is launched into the lake, it enjoys free use of the entire lake. Even where boating restrictions exist, short staffing at parks and sheriff departments hinders enforcement.

The photograph above shows a typical summer day at Sugar Pine Point State Park where boaters illegally beach their boats, effectively prohibiting paying park users from swimming or walking along the shore. The park claims that they do not have the staffing to patrol the beach. In effect, the non-paying park users prevent legitimate park patrons from using the beach. If the park is unable to properly monitor a given activity, it should be banned altogether instead of allowed to persist unabated.

It is perplexing as to why boaters are not paying the annual state parks use pass fee (plus additional camping fees when applicable) for water access to California’s parks. In addition, it only seems appropriate that boaters should pay additional fees to fund ongoing invasive species eradication programs. These fees could easily be assessed when boat owners register their boats and submit to inspections.

By paying their way, boaters would strengthen stewardship of Lake Tahoe instead of weakening it by overtaxing already strained resources. The funds would go a long way towards keeping parks adequately staffed and increasing the protection of this national treasure.

If you agree with these sentiments, send an email Susan Grove (sgrove@parks.ca.gov), Superintendent at the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Lake Tahoe Sector, Sierra District. Please CC the League to Save Lake Tahoe (info@keeptahoeblue.org).

Upper Truckee Meadow Restoration

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Thomas Bachand

Truckee Meadow. South Lake Tahoe, California

More than that of leaves changing colors, Fall in the Sierra is a time of golden grasses. Above, the Upper Truckee River meanders toward the shore of Lake Tahoe.

This meadow is part of the largest wetland in the Tahoe basin, stretching back several miles along Highway 50 towards Echo Summit. In the last half century this area has seen dramatic changes. Christopher Soulard and Christian Raumann of the United States Geological Survey have compiled historic orthoimagery data on South Lake Tahoe, of which this meadow, being adjacent to Tahoe Keys, is of particular note. In fact, Google Earth used the USGS Tahoe data for its first historical imagery sample (read about it in the New York Times). The dredging of Tahoe Keys has created some of the most dramatic environmental damage to the Tahoe ecosystem.

Riverbank. Upper Truckee Meadow. South Lake Tahoe, California.

Today, the Upper Truckee is the focus of major environmental restoration. Of primary concern is a golf course that restricts and narrows the river’s flow and is a significant source of sedimentation into the lake. Over the last twenty years the realignment of the river through the golf course has, in some parts, eroded 50 feet of the embankment. The current plan calls for moving the golf course into undisturbed neighboring lands in Washoe Meadows State Park so as to restore the river’s natural flow and its adjoining riparian habitat. This plan has upset both golfers, who are concerned about increased course fees, and environmentalists, who wish to protect surrounding forest lands. The park enjoys the golf revenue and says that the forest land to be offset by the golf course is not endangered habitat and is scarcely used (by humans). Now that I know the park is there, I’ll go visit it. Just sayin’.

Read about the Upper Truckee restoration in the Sacramento Bee here. The Upper Truckee Restoration EIR and other project information can be found here.

The Buried Lead. 2011 State of the Lake.

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Thomas Bachand

Lake Tahoe from edge of pier. Sugar Pine Point State Park. California.

A couple of years ago on a warm, mid-summer day, we launched our kayak onto Rubicon Bay’s clear and smooth waters – so clear, it felt as if we were flying over the rippled sands 20 to 30 feet beneath Tahoe’s surface. Paddling toward deeper water, the sandbar suddenly ended and the lake bottom plunged into the darkened depths. As if suspended, we felt a sense of vertigo.

This year, after Labor Day, we returned once again to “fly” above Rubicon’s sandy bottom. To our dismay, the waters were clouded, the lake bottom detail indistinguishable and, as we paddled into deeper water, the green of the shallows simply faded to the black of the depths. To quote Marlin from Finding Nemo, “Good feeling gone.”

Following the publication of the 2011 State of the Lake Report by the Tahoe Environmental Research Center and its finding that lake clarity dropped by four feet in 2010 (to 64 feet), there were a number of articles on current conditions at Tahoe (UC Davis, Los Angeles Times, KQED). In recent decades Tahoe research has become increasingly sophisticated and comprehensive. While the Secchi disk depth-visibility measurement continues to be the benchmark on clarity, today, a more broad set of factors are being examined, including stream runoff, road dust, lake temperature and mixing, invasive species, forest conditions, and remote sensing data. It is clearly understood that Tahoe’s problems circulate with the waters and are not confined by borders. My summer Rubicon excursion leads me to believe that next year’s State of the Lake report will detail a steeper decline in clarity.

The buried lead in the report is that, just as the lake knows no borders, our political approach must not either. The authors underscore the need for continued cooperation between California and Nevada (i.e. support for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency – TRPA). Meanwhile, the media has given little attention to Nevada’s intent to pull out of TRPA. The state feels the bi-state agency hinders development. Many of us find this odd as TRPA exhibits a pro-developer bias and has yet to turn down a major project. Regardless, California’s politicians are scrambling to negotiate with Nevada. Nevada’s tactics are familiar: invent a crisis whose resolution serves your special interest.

Lake Tahoe now finds itself the latest target of the deregulators and science deniers.

Oakland Firestorm: Twenty Years

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Thomas Bachand

Rebirth. Mountain Blvd. Aftermath Oakland Firestorm 1991.

On this twentieth anniversary of the Oakland Firestorm I am revisiting my photography and writing created around the time of the catastrophe.

I have put together a web page that contains 36 images shot during and after the fire, an essay on the events of that day, and the introduction to Lake Tahoe: A Fragile Beauty, where I discuss our relationship with fire.

http://www.thomasbachand.com/oakland_firestorm/

Feel free to pass it along.

Lenticulars – Autumn Sierra Skies

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Thomas Bachand

Dusk upon pier, Sugar Pine Point State Park, Lake Tahoe, California

With Fall comes shifting weather patterns and, for the high Sierra, high altitude winds, thunderstorms, and spectacular cloud shows. The cover photo for my book “Lake Tahoe: A Fragile Beauty” was an afternoon in the making, as large lenticular cloud formations took shape over the lake. I kept an eye on this one throughout the afternoon and, was surprised that it was still holding shape as the afternoon waned. Along the west shore I found a good vantage for the southern end of the cloud, the remainder of which stretched nearly to North Shore (below).

Lenticular Clouds Over Lake Tahoe

These exposures came well after sunset as the last of sun’s glow was reaching the clouds and skylight was bathing all in blue. The exposures are approximately one minute at f64 on a 4″x5″ large-format view camera.

Steve Jobs – Unleashing Creativity

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Thomas Bachand

I wanted to add my voice to those offering condolences to the Jobs’ family and the Apple community.

There is much being said about how Jobs developed many great products and improved the consumer experience. Of more importance to me and many other creatives, though, has been the tools unleashed by Apple products and how they have allowed us to do what we do. The Macintosh and OS X, along with software by such companies as Adobe, has completely transformed what I do and how I do it. Every step of my workflow, from creating a photograph, to correcting, printing and distributing it, whether by print or web, has Steve Jobs’ fingerprints on it.

Multiply this by a couple billion and you begin to see the impact of Steve Jobs.

God’s speed, Steve.

The Author’s and Artist’s Guide To The Book Contract

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Thomas Bachand

My new white paper, “The Author’s and Artist’s Guide To The Book Contract: Demystifying the publisher’s agreement and the economics of book publishing” is now available for sale.

By demystifying the book publishing process, the economics of publishing (including royalties and advances and how they are derived), and the key sections of the typical book contract, I hope to empower authors and artists to be more successful. This paper should help authors and artists to better understand the business of publishing; refine their book proposals to be more market-focused; conduct more substantive discussions with their agent, attorney, and editor; and enable effective and successful negotiations with publishers.

While this paper is not a substitute for legal advice, it will help you better understand it when you get it.

Click here to learn more.

Managed Landscapes – Selections Made

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Thomas Bachand

Buffalo on Road in Lamar Valley by Janet Pritchard. From the series Views from Wonderland

As the sole juror for the Managed Landscapes exhibit as Vermont Photo Space, I recently made my final selections and selected Janet Pritchard’s “Buffalo on Road in Lamar Valley” as the Juror’s Choice. The exhibit is now open.

My juror statement:

The submissions were inspiring and insightful. After careful consideration, I first selected those images that struck me on an emotional level, and then culled further based on technical execution and the photographer’s intent. The strongest photographs spoke to the subject on many levels. The Juror’s Choice, “Buffalo on Road in Lamar Valley”, took my breath away. The power of this photograph lies as much with that which is unseen as seen. The bison are unaware that the land has been “saved” and placed on display. We look out from behind glass at a pristine landscape detached from its history.

Visit the Vermont Photo Space website to view the final sections online.

THOMAS BACHAND

PHOTOGRAPHY

Author Archives: Thomas Bachand