Sesepe Wilderness, 2003
While reading through Backpacker Magazine, Ryan happened upon a description of the Sesepe Wilderness. This wilderness area is part of the Los Padres national forest and is about 40 miles outside of Ojai. It's well known for its California condor sancturay, but is also a breathtaking portion of unspoiled land in the middle of nowhere. This area is like a mixture of a Southern California climate with the granite/sandstone formations of Southern Utah and the coloration of Northern Arizona. I'd driven through this area once before, but never stopped off. Backpacking in the Sesepe is something every nature lover should do. In our entire time we saw only two people and five cars, if that many. The land is breathtaking, and the solitude is immense.
The Photographs
This was my first major backpacking expedition with my Minolta system. All pictures were taken with an SRT 101. The lenses used varied widely and included: 45/2, 58/1.4, 28/3.5, 35/2.8, 21/2.8, 85 Varisoft, and a 125/2.8. I will annotate them as I recall in time, but I was particularly taken with the Varisoft lens. I also let a tripod tag along and tried to take some sunset photos, all in natural lighting. It easily produced some of the sharpest photos besides its soft focus abilities. Film was Kodachrome 64 PKR. Click "Next" in the upper right hand corner to begin.
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