Driving in Arizona today. Had a Black and White artsy fartsy rush.
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Mar 112013
Feb 272013
Drove to Twinn Falls today. Carried the D800 with me.
Whenever I carry this camera I slip into Artsy Fartsy mode. The resolution is over the top incredible. Blown away every-time I bring up the images on my Macbook Pro with retina display. WOW!!!!!
Even after shrinking the file size to put on the web the resolution kick’s butt.
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I love the black to white range of light in this photograph.
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At Shoshone Falls while driving down the side of the gorge a particular rock formation caught my eye. Look close at this lava rock formation and see if you can see a mans face in the rock……
Can you see it???????
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This color photograph is a 6′ water fall just up the road from the man’s face in the rock. It must run year round because of the incredible moss and moss related colors. If I had not told you it was a 6′ high falls wouldn’t you think it looked bigger? When I brought up the shot tonight my first reaction is that it could on screen or print pass for much larger falls.
Nov 062012
It’s been a very long day.
Toughest store opening thus far in 14 years. Stress to the max.
And now as I watch TV and see that our current President is re-elected my day has ended at an all time low. I have no religious or moral argument as to my feelings as to why he should not be President. I have done my own homework. I think I know the facts as to the condition of the country. I have self determined a failing grade for this President. My honest opinion is that the country is in big trouble. I hope that people like myself will look ahead and do everything to make the best of what we will face as a result of this election. And that people who feel like I do will keep calm and support the office of the president. Support the Constitution and work hard to keep our values as they are!
Late tonight I was at the Spokane Falls with hopeful thoughts as to the outcome of the election. A cool night. A beautiful view. I was by myself. It definitely was a few minutes of peace. May go back…..
Nov 022012
I am getting old.
OK 57 isn’t that old.
On my overnight trips I have been cutting back on the QUANTITY of camera gear I carry. One body, a lens or two, and a couple filters. And a tripod. Except yesterday to my trip to Spokane Washington. I forgot my tripod. Guys like Moose Peterson are constantly bragging about their handholding prowess. Not me. I especially need the tripod when shooting a little longer exposures like when I am shooting water.
Here’s the test. The next few shots I hand held. Next week when I go back I will shoot again with a tripod. Obviously the leaves and color may be gone. We’ll see what happens.
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Oct 312012
In Nevada near Carson are wild horses. Not sure if they are generations of horses left from the cowboys and miners of old. One thing is sure. They are not easy to find. And they are shy. For the most part just don’t like two legged fat guys carrying a camera I guess.
Not being an expert I wonder about their condition. Look at the mare. I think the lady horse is called a mare. She is the all black horse with what looks like sway back and her ribs are showing.
Look close at what I am pretty sure is her offspring. Not sure what baby horses are called. It may be more than a baby. But I bet not more than a year old.
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The younger ones of this group of four wild horses stay close together. And close to the Mare (Mom).
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Then there is DAD!
Stud?
Stallion?
Father Horse?
All I know is that he was not happy with me. Was I really a challenge for him? He was all over the place. Often to stop and see if I was impressed. Little did he know I am scared to death of horses. All he had to do was take one step towards me and I would have ran to the car screaming like a little girl!
I think he’s awesome looking. Grundgy yet strong. ((Did man get the idea for dreadlocks from horses?)
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Oct 242012
Every year I see this big beautiful edifice on the mountainside in Bountiful and say I will photograph it with fall colors.
Never did it.
Tonight at 5:45 I finally found a spot unobstructed by houses, power-lines, street lights and the like. I was at least a mile away. Had to use the longest lens I have. Nikons 600mm f/4 lens. Standing on the soccer fields at the Bountiful Recreation Center I captured this shot. A little contrasty. But OK
Oct 172012
A long drive from Baker City, Oregon to Milton Freewater, Oregon.
I needed a break!
The drive up a canyon imposed a ton of photo opportunities. An approaching exit sign described “Perry’s Pond”. With the fall colors all around it had to be good. It was great. My time at Perry’s Pond was wonderful, relaxing, and energizing. All shots were taken with the D4, 28-300 lens and used a Polarizer to take glare off the water. Where is Perry’s Pond?
45 degrees, 20′, 41″ N
118 Degrees, 9′, 18″ W
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Sep 292012
I couldn’t leave today without one more short trip into Yellowstone.
For only being in there for a few hours I was blessed. I walked back to the upper madison and followed a bugling bull elk. It didn’t take time to find him and his “girls”. A magnificent animal. I shot some video today and hope to figure out how to post it. All in all this week was incredible. Though I am anxious to get home I will miss this place.
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Sep 282012
It just goes way too FAST!!!!!!!
I have really enjoyed my time in Yellowstone these past few days. Like I mentioned before I found my self wanting to improve a photographic weak point of mine. Many times I found myself at places where I have never been in Yellowstone or maybe only once before.
Everything took on a different look. I traveled less looking for wild life and planned my shots by location and time of day. All the shots have a story behind them. This one I paid a messy price to get it. It was at Mammoth. Climbing to the site I fell in a very soft area to my thighs. The worst part was the incredibly strong smell that was in the “Muck” I was stuck in. Chocking the rest of the way up I eventually took the shots. Stayed up very, very late washing my clothes, shoes and photography vest.
Up on Mnt. Washburn just past Dunraven Pass is an area that was decimated by the fires in the 80’s. A huge number of dead trees still stand as a reminder.
Today I took my own challenge. It’s been years since I took the climb down Uncle Tom’s Trail. At the trail head there is a sign talking about the very steep grades, three hundred plus steps, and is VERY STRENUOUS! The sign said take a lot of rests coming back up. I saved this effort for the last day. Knowing my legs would turn to rubber I wanted to make this trek last. Boy was it worth it. At the bottom I met a very nice gentlemen from Germany that shared a great passion for photography. Soon I was helping him with the exposure of the scene to cover the wide dynamic range. He brought down a 24-70 zoom and was disappointed that he couldn’t get the whole falls in one frame. I offered to let him shoot with his camera and use my 16-35mm lens. You’d think I just gave him my life savings. We worked together and made sure he left with a fun and accurate capture. He was very grateful. I was honored to meet him. Look very, very close at the top of the falls. You can see people standing at the brim of the falls. Gives you an idea of the size of the falls From the bottom of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
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I ended up in Hayden Valley before heading back towards West Yellowstone. It brings it all together with what we in photography call “God Beams”. And off course my daily Black and White capture.
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Sep 282012
I have been to Yellowstone to0 many times to count.
Been to Artist Paint-Pots once and have never seen a Yellowstone Grouse.
There’s a first and second time for everything.
I remembered why I had only been once to the Paint-pots before as soon as I walked the 1/3 mile back. Seen it once. Second time not a thriller. Unlike all the beautiful features around Old Faithful, Artist Paint-pots is mostly hot air and bubbling mud. Very little color. The most colorful feature was this…..(kinda reminds me of Dad’s watered down powdered milk when I was growing up)
There was an interesting phenomenon around this area. A lot of fallen trees had fallen with the root ball still intact. I wondered if these are trees that burned and fell or died then blew over in high winds?
Another first for me were these very strange colored pine needles. They were on one tree and only at the end of one branch. It was a very small pine tree. Maybe 3-5 years old? It reminded me of the dramatic color changes that oak trees and cottonwood trees make in the fall season. But this was weird! The color is not enhanced. The exposure is compensated only -1/3 ev. If you look you can see that I burned in around the pine needles to add contrast only.
Here is the crazy part! I was hiking up to photograph paint-pots. No need for a normal, medium or long lens. In fact I took my D800 and my 16-35mm lens. Pretty dang wide zoom. One of my favorites. I can use my polarizing filter, ND filter and my neutral grad filter on it. Great for Yellowstone Artist Paint-Pots photography. My 12-24mm is more expensive and highly rated. But with the very large domed front glass on the 12-24 that does not accept filters I find myself using the 16-35mm more. Definitely not a wildlife lens. Until I met grace the Grouse. Typically very shy the grouse is difficult to photograph. Most likely the best chance to photograph a Grouse is from a great distance with a monster lens like my 600mm. And usually with a teleconverter pushing it out to 1200mm.
Today my pheromones and cologne was dead on! I saw Grace and immediately laid down. Yes other hikers thought I was crazy. And some even yelled out to see if I was OK. With a very slow thumbs up I was left alone with Grace. She was mostly interested in feeding. She was not sure what the motionless big blob was ahead so she foraged on. Eventually she got about 15-20 feet away. With cat like hunting skills I slowing raised my camera and fired a few shots. Not interested in love I guess because she flew off like a bat out of ……….
Hey! My first Grouse photograph in Yellowstone. Moose Peterson this ones for you! I cropped the heck out of it to look like a PANO!!!!! Some rules are meant to be broken.
