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Black day at the track

Only one ticket cashed Saturday at Fan Appreciation Day at Turf Paradise near Phoenix. Free T shirts and $2 beer and hot dogs eased the pain somewhat. The worst day at the race track is better than the best day sitting in front of the TV, though. :-)

Apr 22, 2012

Photos: 6

Hearst Castle

This over-the-top castle is located on the top of a high hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean at San Simeon, California. For information on this wonder, here's the web link: http://www.hearstcastle.org/ The castle is now a California state park and there are three tours available, each costing $25 a head. The main building, called Casa Grande, has 38 bedrooms, 42 bathrooms, 30 fireplaces and 14 sitting rooms. There are several additional rooms in Casa Grande including the Refectory, the Billiard Room, the Theater, Library, Gothic Study, Beauty Salon, Butler’s Pantry, Kitchen, Staff Dining Room for a total of 115 rooms in Casa Grande.

Mar 17, 2012

Photos: 41

On The Beach

Mar 14, 2012

Photos: 4

Elephant seals

It's mating season and the Elephant Seals were....er, sunning and dozing along the coast of California not far from San Simeon and the Hearst Castle.

Mar 10, 2012

Photos: 6

Birds and more birds

The ducks and geese were photographd in the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge. The Acorn Woodpecker was spotted, along with many others, in a park not far from Mount Shasta, CA., which is home to a forest of oak trees.

Mar 10, 2012

Photos: 16

Joshua Tree NP

California's 794,000-acre Joshua Tree National Park is in a transition zone between the Colorado and Mojave Deserts. Joshua Trees grow only in the western (Mojave) portion of the park, which also contains most of the unusual erosion features such as huge sandstone peaks, spires and boulders. It's cold at night in the Fall, Winter and Spring, but quite moderate during the day. Park visitors tend to stay away in droves during the summer.

Mar 10, 2012

Photos: 19

The Static Electricity Kid

My best friend's grand-daughter.

Mar 10, 2012

Photos: 1

Return to VOF

We stopped overnight at Nevada's Valley of Fire not long ago and were so impressed with a park we'd never visited nor even heard about that we went back for a four-day visit. There's a description of the park in the album following this one.

Dec 10, 2011

Photos: 38

Valley of Fire

We got trapped by a huge snowstorm in Utah and during our two-day layover read about the Valley of Fire in Nevada, a state park we'd never visited. It's Nevada's oldest and largest park, and contains evidence of early native American inhabitants dating from 1000 BC. Prehistoric users of the Valley of Fire included the Basket Maker people and later the Anasazi Pueblo farmers from the nearby fertile Moapa Valley. The span of approximate occupation has been dated from 300 B.C. to 1150 A.D. The park's name refers to the mountains, bluffs, odd shapes and sand which changes color from dark red to orange-yellow as the sun crosses from horizon to horizon. The highway on which the park is located skirts Las Vegas and connects to the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge over the Colorado River.

Oct 10, 2011

Photos: 38

Glacier NP: 2011

Bowman Lake is at the extreme north of Glacier, not far from the Canadian border.

Oct 6, 2011

Photos: 21

Yellowstone: 2011

Oct 6, 2011

Photos: 17

Lightning in the night

The last day of an exceptionally serene August ended, not with a whimper, but a bang. A fierce lightning storm raged through the area heading first north, then east, across the lake and right over the cabin. Only managed a few shots as the west-to-east storm cell was on me in minutes. I did get one shot from the deck but the rain and hail won out and I retreated indoors.

Sep 1, 2011

Photos: 5

"Rich Little's" back

The Steller's Jay I've nicknamed Rich Little is back at our cabin for the 4th year consecutive year. I picked the name because he mimics other birds, and even my whistle, when I let him know food is out. Last year he brought his mate and what looked like a juvenile Steller's with him, but he's solo this year. He stuffs his gullet with broken-up shelled peanuts and flies off into the forest to cache them for the winter. If I kept serving up the food, he'd haul it away all day BTW, Rich has his own album further down this page.

Aug 19, 2011

Photos: 14

Hanging around trains

Cheney, Washington, is a town we'd never heard of, but decided to stop there for two days while waiting to pick up friends at the Spokane airport. The RV park we hunkered down in was neat and cozy and we couldn't believe our luck. Then we noticed the trains which passed by every 15 minutes, day and night. Oh well...may as well make the best of it.

Aug 2, 2011

Photos: 12

Hammered again

The weather here at Priest Lake, Idaho, gets more weird by the day. July 25th was one of the strangest as storm cell after storm cell ripped through the area. These photos were taken as the worst one hit late in the day.

Jul 26, 2011

Photos: 6

Idyll Time at the lake

Jul 23, 2011

Photos: 10

Microburst

Two days ago the cabin here at Priest Lake, Idaho, was in the middle of a microburst which felled trees and tore up the landscape. It hit so fast that I had no time to take photos...I was busy getting all the windows and doors in the cabin closed. I have a number of photos of the storm's aftermath, which I'm going to upload now that we have power and internet back. I've written a blog about the event here: http://the-flute-player.blogspot.com/

Jul 9, 2011

Photos: 15

The world of the tiny

This album will be comprised of most general photos taken at Priest Lake, Idaho, from today's Solstice to the Autumnal Equinox, Sept, 21.

Jun 21, 2011

Photos: 63

On the road

Making the annual trek to Idaho for the summer. ETA June 11.

Jun 9, 2011

Photos: 16

Meet the Fractal Family

Every fractal in this album was created with a single Fractal Explorer formula, or "spot", as they're called. The formula was sent to me by a friend named Arend some time ago and I never had time to work with it. With the record-breaking rain and cold here at the cabin, I now have the time.

May 27, 2011

Photos: 11

Jo's Fractal Parameters

A talented photographer and fractal creator I met in Picasa sent me some fractal parameters to explore. This album will showcase what I discover.

May 26, 2011

Photos: 13

Another Batch of Fractals

Hunter Thompson, one of the best writers of his generation, had this to say (in part) about drugs: "... but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can." That's how it is with fractals. Since no two can be identical and the permutations and combinations are infinite, fractals can be as addictive as drugs, but without the hallucinations.

May 25, 2011

Photos: 11

Fractals fresh from the oven

I used to create fractals before getting into photography. I've been away from the scene for a while, but there have been some amazing advances in fractal creation programs. Some of these were made with a free one called Fractalbulber and represent some mundane pieces at about pre-kindergarten level when compared to some of the work done by the pros. But you have to start somewhere. BTW, I have an album of what once were traditional fractals way down below...in the next 100 albums.

May 24, 2011

Photos: 98

Exotic Creatures

The Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium near Phoenix is one of the best-run we've seen. The animals all appear in prime health, the living areas are clean and the compact 300-acre site has a variety of seldom seen fish, birds and animals. But it's a VERY expensive place to visit...adults $27.50, children (3-12) $14.25, and every one of the water slides and rides cost $4 or $5 a head. Think of it as a large cash register operated by penguins, lions and piranas. The large animals are all in caged-in areas, as are hundreds of rare birds you'd not see elsewhere. The zoo's brochure is somewhat misleading as it features sharks on the front and back, but we didn't see any. The zoo visit did clear up one mystery. Two years ago a Red Crested Pochard duck spent the winter in a large pond near here. Pochards are European ducks and I couldn't figure out how it came to be in North America. The Wildlife Zoo has a number of them, and the duck would have had had a flight of only 10 minutes to get here.

May 19, 2011

Photos: 49

Harassing Harris's Hawks

Well, it started out harassing....birds chasing and bothering Harris's Hawks...but many other interesting photo opportunities presented themselves.

May 19, 2011

Photos: 24

Frames

Some photographs beg to be in frames. Here are a few, old and new, that seemed better boxed in. Just my opinion.

May 11, 2011

Photos: 9

Desert Feathered Friends (2)

Apr 26, 2011

Photos: 57

Cedar Breaks

Apr 23, 2011

Photos: 4

Patches: A travel diary

Apr 9, 2011

Photos: 7

Water blaster wars

Apr 5, 2011

Photos: 1

Canadians are restless

Actually, these birds are properly called Canada Geese. There are a few mated pairs in this area and they don't take kindly to company, even kinfolk. When one starts fussing and hissing, it's best to back off.

Apr 1, 2011

Photos: 19

Living dead at Cabela's

As a non-hunter, I'm amazed at the passion for the kill by those who are hunters. Camouflage underwear and watches, hunting blinds and compound bows, duck stamps and skinning-out knives, all of which are available at Cabela's, located in a U.S.city near you. Most outlets, if not all, have a display of stuffed animals which were shot dead by hunters a mile or more away only because they had large racks or unusual antlers. The store in Glendale, Arizona, is no exception, and I honor the dead on display in this album. Might one suggest that would-be hunters are obliged to shoot 10 prize specimens with a camera before being given a license to hunt?

Mar 11, 2011

Photos: 9

Spring Training '11 and '12

These are photos taken during Cactus League spring training in Surprise, AZ in 2011 and 2012. The ball park here is likely the best in Arizona although I've only been in three.

Feb 27, 2011

Photos: 111

Happy Trails parade

Sadly, the resort where we hang our Stetsons is called Happy Trails. :-( Snake Gulch or Bronco Buster sound much more macho, but Happy Trails it is. Back in the 1960s, when the resort was conceived, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans lent their names to the project, and apparently appeared here more than once. A large picture of the two icons is proudly displayed at the Town Center and there are streets in the resort called Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Trigger, Buttermilk, Pat Brady, Bullet (the dog) and Nelly Belle the jeep (unfortunately, the one we ended up on). Not Branding Iron, Rustler or Sagebrush...Nelly Belle. We don't send many letters! Every year the residents of Happy Trails (some of you will recall, that's the song Roy and Dale made famous) hold a parade and this year was no exception. Some of our friends and neighbors (I'm not telling which ones) appear in this album after I was coerced into taking pictures. Happy Trails to all.-- Brian

Feb 21, 2011

Photos: 58

Discoveries

We stopped at a bridge over a small stream in the middle of nowhere in Arizona this week because there were some photo possibilities. Within 15 minutes I came upon some petroglyphs and corn grinding holes that probably few have ever seen. There apparently are thousands of petroglyphs throughout this part of Arizona.

Feb 17, 2011

Photos: 9

Aboard the Iron Horse

One of Arizona's really neat trips is into the Verde Valley Canyon by train. The "first class" lunch is Spartan at best, and the "champagne" comes in tiny plastic cups about the size of contact lenses, but food is soon forgotten (or in my case, ignored) because I wanted the best seat on the outdoor car for the trip. Idlers and professional tourists soon caught on and I was summarily elbowed out of the way. Not to worry...the platform area between the cars has open windows on both sides and is perfect for photography. The canyon train operates out of Clarkdale, Az.

Feb 17, 2011

Photos: 28

The Tuzigoot Ruins

The Sinagua (="without water" in Spanish) tribe couldn't have selected a better site for their pueblo. On the crest of a steep hill with a perfect 360 degree view in all directions, the Tuzigoot National Monument preserves what is left of some 120 rooms which housed 250 residents from 1000 to 1400 AD. No one knows why the pueblo builders left, and there is no tribe today which can claim the Sinaugans as ancestors. Tuzigoot is near Clarkdale, Arizona, and overlooks the small Verde River, which enabled the early inhabitants to grow crops.

Feb 16, 2011

Photos: 12

Something for all

There's a huge "antique emporium" in Cottonwood, Arizona, which has as much junk as antiques, but is still well worth a wander. It's called Larry's Antiques & Things: Acres of History. My favorite item, which is actually stored outdoors in the elements, is a rusted motorcycle sidecar full of bullet holes. It would be rather drafty riding in it now, but the sidecar would make an excellent colander for a family of 18 or so.

Feb 16, 2011

Photos: 13

Dog day afternoon

A man was exercising his dog today at the park. The dog got a good workout....so did my camera. :-) If I might suggest it, please try this series as a slideshow.

Feb 3, 2011

Photos: 14

The garden center

We made our annual pilgrimage to the nearby outdoor garden center to buy hanging flower baskets. A fool and his money are soon parted.

Jan 31, 2011

Photos: 17

Alamo Lake

Alamo Lake in west central Arizona, is a man-made lake thanks to a large dam. It's famous for wild burros, and although there was evidence everywhere of their presence in the campground (apparently left at night) and the fact that water faucets in two empty camp sites were turned on, which is a trick that the burros have learned, we saw nary a one. Our planned four-day trip was reduced to two days, unfortunately, but it's on the list for a return visit.

Dec 5, 2010

Photos: 23

Fall & winter birds

Nov 26, 2010

Photos: 81

Arion ater

Oct 18, 2010

Photos: 3

Wood Ducks

Oct 17, 2010

Photos: 3

Images from the trip

We were four weeks returning from Idaho to Arizona this fall, much of the time spent exploring areas we've never visited. These are random photos taken from here and there.

Oct 16, 2010

Photos: 21

Surfer Dudes 2010

We made a side trip to Westport, Washington State, on the run from Idaho to Arizona, just to watch the surfers. They're getting better and there are a lot more of them since we were at the beach in 2009.

Oct 16, 2010

Photos: 5

The Pacific coast

The Pacific Ocean was anything but pacific during the three weeks we camped along the coast in Washington State, Oregon and California in September and October.

Oct 15, 2010

Photos: 17

Camp robbers

We stopped at a small park recently while driving through the North Cascade Mountains in Washington State and immediately attracted a band of Camp Robbers, which also go by the name of Gray Jays. They immediately demanded we hand over every scrap of food, and when we didn't comply, attacked from above and left calling cards on the top of our Pleasure Way van.

Oct 9, 2010

Photos: 9

Pollen poachers

There were hundreds of bees buzzing around the few patches of flowers in a park on the Pacific Ocean. It was a perfect time to gve the macro lens a work-out. Here's a blog about our bee photography adventures: http://the-flute-player.blogspot.com/2010/10/from-seen-in-passing-like-most-people.html

Oct 9, 2010

Photos: 28

Summer Nights

Jul 31, 2010

Photos: 17

Moose on the loose

Yesterday (July 20, 2010) we went to check the huckleberry situation at Hughes Meadows in Idaho. The crop is small this year, but moose seemed to be everywhere. I couldn't get anywhere near one wading in a small river because of a wide band of swamp. I worked my way to a small clearing and hoped the moose would come my way. He (or she) did.

Jul 21, 2010

Photos: 6

Fire in the sky

The July 4th weekend at Priest Lake, Id., is always fun for the kids. From our vantage point on the rugged and remote west side, we can see dozens of individual fireworks displays, and the great show put on by Grandview Lodge. This year Andy brought up bags of fireworks too, and we were able to show folks across the lake our display.

Jul 7, 2010

Photos: 10

Red Rock Park

Located in Gallup, N.M., Red Rock Park is a neat place for hiking amidst sandstone bluffs on three sides. We've camped overnight there twice, used the hookups and showers, and neither time were visited by anyone wanting us to pay. :-) We tried...the campground host said someone would be along but no one ever showed up.

Jun 8, 2010

Photos: 12

Carved names at El Morro

El Morro ("the headland" in Spanish) has a small pool of water at its base, and for centuries it was this that brought people to the site. While there, many visitors carved their names in the smooth sandstone face, including one by a Spanish explorer dated 1605. There are more than 2000 names and petroglyphs carved in the bluff by Spanish, Ancestral Puebloans and American travelers (and some by idiots, as you'd expect). A fairly easy hike gets you to the top of the bluff, where ruins of pueblos are located.

Jun 5, 2010

Photos: 29

The Chaco Ruins

The Chaco Culture National Historical Park In New Mexico has some of the best-preserved ruins from the Puebloan people in the United States. Chaco Canyon was the center of a thriving culture 1000 years ago and it lasted 300 years. Pueblo descendants say that Chaco was a special gathering place where many peoples and clans converged to share their ceremonies, traditions, and knowledge. In the 1100s and 1200s, change came to Chaco as new construction slowed and Chaco's role as a regional center shifted. Chaco's influence continued at Aztec, Mesa Verde, the Chuska Mountains, and other centers to the north, south, and west. In time, the people shifted away from Chacoan ways, migrated to new areas, reorganized their world, and eventually interacted with foreign cultures. Their descendants are the modern Southwest Indians.

Jun 4, 2010

Photos: 38

Birds of Green River

These photos were taken in the Weeping Rock Campground on the Green River, Wyoming. There are thousands of swallow mud nests on the cliff face but photographing the birds as they flit about the river's surface is quite another matter.

May 27, 2010

Photos: 12

The Newlyweds in Unit 17

The newlywed Swallows seem to be getting off to a rocky start. "Where are the bugs??? You said you were going to bring home some bugs for dinner." "What did you do all day? Sit on your tail feathers?" "Why don't you clean up the nest? It's a mess, as usual." Nest box 17 is located in Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado.

May 25, 2010

Photos: 10

Animals and birds of Yellowstone

The weather was lousy but the sun melted the new snow several times during our recent (May, 2010) three-day visit to Yellowstone National Park. We finally got to see black bears, but the wolves were in their dens most of the time.

May 25, 2010

Photos: 24

The Tetons revisited

Although the snow is supposed to be gone by now, there certainly was still a lot on the mountains of Wyoming's Grand Tetons. There's also an album of Teton photos from earlier visits below.

May 24, 2010

Photos: 13

Rocky Mountain NP

Spring comes late to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. During a brief visit to the park this week (early May, 2010) it had just snowed (14 inches) and snowed all three days we were there. There was one brief period at sunrise the first morning when the sky was clear for a few hours.

May 15, 2010

Photos: 38

Birds of the Rockies

May 14, 2010

Photos: 21

The Petrified Forest

The Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona consists of the petrified remains of the trees of the Late Triassic period, which occurred 225 million years ago. Surrounding the petrified wood are millions of years of deposition, erosion, and uplift. This has created the Chinle Formation, which is spread across northern Arizona, Nevada, Utah, western New Mexico, and western Colorado. The Petrified Forest is situated near the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau with elevations ranging from 5300 feet to 6235 feet. It was the uplift of the Colorado Plateau, starting about 60 million years ago, and the erosion that followed and continues today, which carved the present landscape.

May 2, 2010

Photos: 8

Sighting in a new lens

I bought a new Nikkor 60mm f2.8 micro lens recently, and had a chance to take some photos today. It's a two-birds-with-one-stone lens...I sold my 28-85 and had nothing between 12-24 and 70-200, and it's also a 1:1 macro lens. We went to an orchid show today and I shot some flowers with available light. Later I did a few around-the-house shots with a 20-year-old Cokin ring flash which, surprisingly, didn't blow up my Nikon D300, and even more surprising, worked fine.

Apr 10, 2010

Photos: 39

Buried Treasures

These are photos from the past, many taken with a Minolta film camera, which I've re-edited or have not up to now uploaded. When I get time I'll go through my albums and remove duplicates.

Jan 29, 2010

Photos: 96

They're at the post

There's nothing like a cold beer and hot dog on a sunny day at the race track. It's even better if you can cash a few tickets. We did both at a recent visit to Turf Paradise in Phoenix. Nothing too significant, mind you, but enough to offset some of the box and wheel bets. The lighting is brutal for photography at this time of year.

Jan 12, 2010

Photos: 18

Grand Canyon in Winter

The Grand Canyon is spectacular in spring, summer and fall, and downright dangerous in winter. Many of the paved paths in busy areas are kept free of snow, but there are long, icy sections to navigate, some of which pass close enough to the edge of the abyss for concern.. By the way, the views are even more breath-taking in winter...snow breaks up the rust-red-tan canyon. At one overlook, the snow was so deep the protective railing reached only knee-high. Despite the elevation (7,000 feet on the south rim) cold (it gets really cold overnight, even when it's 45F during the day) and snow, thousands visit the park in December and January. For more sordid details of our weekend in the Grand Canyon, check my blog site: http://the-flute-player.blogspot.com/

Dec 22, 2009

Photos: 22

Eerie lights in the night

And where can you expect to see strange lights? Right next door to Area 51 in Nevada. We were in Death Valley, west of Nellis Air Force Base and Area 51, and just north of China Lake Naval Weapons Testing range. Most of the lights I could identify, but one I couldn't. It shows up in the first photo. I discussed the light to the south with a volunteer campground guy. His eyes lit up when I mentioned what I'd seen but he claimed not to know what it was. He did say you can see strange lights often over Death Valley. I noticed him push back his coat cuff and jab at a few buttons on what looked like a wrist watch but much larger. Suddenly I was engulfed in a blinding white light and seemed to be rising slowly into the sky...

Nov 26, 2009

Photos: 8

Oregon & California Coasts

Nov 14, 2009

Photos: 15

Sacramento Bird Refuge

The Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex includes six sanctuaries totaling 35,000 acres. We arrived there Nov.8, one day after the arrival of thousands of Snow Geese, en route from Alaska and the Yukon to their summer quarters. More than a million birds of many different species stop in the Sacramento refuge each year. Birdwatchers and photographers are not allowed out of their vehicles except at two designated viewing areas, which the birds cleverly avoid, so pictures are mostly at long range and through car windows.

Nov 9, 2009

Photos: 17

The Pacific Coast

The trip down the Pacific Coast, from Washington State to southern California, Part 1. Please check back periodically...there are lots of pictures to edit and motel internet service is so lousy. :-(

Oct 24, 2009

Photos: 49

The Hoh Rain Forest

Olympic National Park's Hoh Rain Forest in Washington State gets up to 200 inches of rain each year, and we were there for about four of that during our three-day visit this week. The park claims it has the world's largest herd of unmanaged Roosevelt Elk within its boundaries. Camera and lenses made it through the various downpours without incident. :-)

Oct 23, 2009

Photos: 11

Surfer Dudes 2009

Wet suits are mandatory when surfers skim the waves in Westport, Washington. A huge storm somewhere in the Pacific Ocean created ideal conditions this week to "hang 10", as we inlanders used to call surfing. We were content to watch through a 300mm lens. The brave and foolhardy souls who were surfing have to look for good waves to ride toward a huge rock breakwater which guards the shore and between two others which jut out far into the ocean. According to surf groupies watching from atop the breakwater on shore, injuries are frequent and most often serious.

Oct 23, 2009

Photos: 16

Perseid Meteors

Aug 12, 2009

Photos: 4

Bolts in the Night

Never tried photographing lightning, but the new Nikon has bulb mode so I gave it a try last night. Fortunately the wind and rain stayed away for about 20 minutes and I managed to get two shots of lightning on the mountain behind Elkins resort across the lake. Here are the settings I used: Lens 12-24mm (@19mm), f11, ISO 320, aperature priority, shutter held open by wireless trigger for no more than 40 seconds at a time. The camera has to be set for manual focus. And if you zoom, DON'T FORGET TO CHANGE THE FOCUS. I learned that the hard way.

Jul 28, 2009

Photos: 5

City of Rocks, Idaho

We were driving through the extreme south of Idaho, in the middle of nowhere, when we saw a weathered sign announcing the City of Rocks, which was said to be a national monument. So, with lots of time on our hands, we set out to find it. Which, even with an up-to-date navigation system aboard, was not easy to do. All roads seem to lead nowhere, none are marked, and even Viki, the talking computer hidden in our navigation system, gave up. But we persevered, and finally found it. Locals say it's a world class rock climbing park, and there were people there from all over the world, climbing. Even six and seven-year-olds. Here's the monument's web site. http://www.nps.gov/CIRO

Jul 27, 2009

Photos: 12

Boaters & Bouncers of Priest Lake

Disclaimer: I know none of the people in these photos. But they were all kind enough to pass through my camera's field of view. The lake is called Priest Lake, and it's located in Idaho.

Jul 26, 2009

Photos: 72

Eternity

We were driving around the east end of the Grand Canyon in Arizona when we spotted a roadside sign announcing Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Although travelling regularly around Arizona, we'd not heard of it. For four hundred years, this area supported thousands of Native Americans, but by 1250, volcanism and drought had forced them all to leave. There are some excellent examples of their pueblo style accommodations in many areas of the park. It's worth an extended visit. It was raining and cloudy when we toured the site...the gray skies added nothing to the photos, but we added some of NASA's better space shots as backdrops to the ruins, hoping to give the pueblo ruins a suggestion of timelessness.

Jul 15, 2009

Photos: 3

Birds of Bear Creek

Bear Creek is a mile and a half hike from the cabin, which is located at Priest Lake, Idaho.

Jul 10, 2009

Photos: 10

The 4th At The Lake

The resort, Grandview, located on the west shore of Priest Lake, Idaho, has an annual fireworks display on the 4th of July, and it's very spectacular. Interestingly, the fireworks start a week before the 4th, with a few more each night until the grand finale.

Jul 5, 2009

Photos: 14

High Dynamic Range pics

I discovered HDR photos quite by accident. What happens is you take three or five images of, say, a sunset from a tripod mounted camera. You take them at exposures of +2, 0 and -2, or +2, +1, 0, -1, -2, as these shots were taken. You pull the images into a computer program such as Photomatrix, which merges them, but retains the shadows and the highlights normally lost in a single image. Then the three or five-image merged photo produced by Photomatrix has to be tone mapped. And that's how many of those spectacular pictures are produced by the pros.

Jul 5, 2009

Photos: 13

The Osprey, The Fish & The Moon

There were three Osprey fishing at the mouth of a small stream, where it flowed into Priest Lake. One caught a fish during the hour I watched them, and luckily, flew almost directly overhead with its catch. The second sequence was "Moon shots".

Jun 25, 2009

Photos: 11

The Cactus League

Spring Training in Surprise, Arizona.

Mar 20, 2009

Photos: 123

Game Faces

Mar 18, 2009

Photos: 44

Weekend Break-away

Mar 15, 2009

Photos: 16

Sedona

Mar 2, 2009

Photos: 20

Desert Botanical Garden

Our second visit to the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix Feb. 23, 2009, coincided with an amazing exhibit of blown glass sculptures called Chihuly: The Nature of Glass. Some of the photos reflect Dale Chihuly's works on display. But the stars of the gardens still are the large variety of desert specimens and wildlife you can see up close and personal.

Feb 23, 2009

Photos: 33

Howls in the Desert

Friends Tony and Donna, from Burlington, Ontario, wanted to see a National Hockey League game while visiting Surprise, Az. Tony's a Vancouver Canucks fan (although being born and raised near Toronto) so our friend Ciara (who has connections at the Jobing.com arena, where the Phoenix Coyotes play) got us five tickets just four rows up from the ice. The Canucks won 4-3, and I was fortunate enough to photograph two of the team's three goals at our end of the arena. I'm using my brand new Nikon D300 camera, so some of the colors are a little "off", but once I figure things out, hopefully I'll correct these problems.

Feb 13, 2009

Photos: 33

Desert Feathered Friends

Feb 12, 2009

Photos: 129

Down at the Pond

Feb 12, 2009

Photos: 101

Hummingbirds

Feb 12, 2009

Photos: 40

Rich's First Album

We were delighted to obtain the acquaintance of a Steller's Jay this summer. After determining he mimics the calls of other birds, and even imitates my whistle to tell him food is available, I named him Rich Little.

Feb 11, 2009

Photos: 15

A New Camera

The old Sony 828 has been put out to pasture. It's been replaced with a Nikon D300. I've had old Nikkor lenses for a long time, but never used them. (Bought them from the estate of a Toronto Star photographer.) The fleet contains a 400mm f3.5, a 500mm mirror lens, and a 70-200mm f2.8. All I can say is for the first time in my life, the images hardly even need touching up in Photoshop...the camera is superb.

Feb 11, 2009

Photos: 64

Fine Feathered Friends

Feb 10, 2009

Photos: 116

Gulls, Ducks & Geese

Feb 9, 2009

Photos: 60

Painted Wings, Stinging Things

Feb 8, 2009

Photos: 70

Creatures

Feb 8, 2009

Photos: 72

Kokopeli's Ports o' Call

We call our Pleasureway van Kokopeli after the south-west icon of the same name, an native American legend (pictured above, in red) who apparently played the flute and traveled from village to village bringing good luck, fertility and abundant crops. We do none of those things except travel from village to village, and many places in between.. The Idaho license plate is Kokopli, and there's an image of the guy on the rear tire cover. So why would a grown man take dozens of pictures of the van in various settings? Good question.

Dec 29, 2008

Photos: 41

Redfish Lake

This pretty lake is in Idaho's Sawtooth National Recreation Area, not far from tiny town of Stanley. The lake is bordered along one side and one end by a large park with lots of camping available. Redfish refers to the huge numbers of Sockeye Salmon which used to come into the lake from the Pacific Ocean to spawn. The fish are reduced to the level of an endangered species now.