“Taking pictures is like tiptoeing into the kitchen late at night and stealing Oreo cookies.” — Diane Arbus
Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.
This is a repost of animals that I have photographed in the past.
Sunday, 09/22/2024: Posted photo — Prairie Dog.
One of the campsites we were camped, was a remote campground in Badlands National Park. In this campground and the surrounding area, there USGA was doing a study on Prairie Dogs. These were some that were near my tent.
Monday, 09/23/2024: Posted photo — Camping Bison.
In the same campground, there was a bison that used the site markers as scratching posts. This bison also showed up in the morning. The remote campground had only 10 sites. All eyes were on the bison. People did come out of these tents as the bison moved away.
Tuesday, 09/24/2024: Posted photo — Ducks.
These ducks were in one of the rivers at Yellowstone National Park. I did look up the type of ducks these are but did not write it down.
Wednesday, 09/25/2024: Posted photo — Elk.
This elk came to visit us at the first campground we had in Yellowstone.
Thursday, 09/26/2024: Posted photo — Bison by River.
At the second campground in Yellowstone, we took a walk in the morning and saw this bison by the river. There was a plaque at this location that stated that this was the exact location that the idea to make Yellowstone a national park was born.
Friday, 09/27/2024: Post photo — Mini Cow.
One of my sister-in-law’s animals.
Saturday, 09/28/2024: Post photo — Feasting Bald Eagle.
This Bald Eagle just caught a fish, brought it to the top of this tree, and had its dinner.
“You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at a picture for a second and think of it all your life.” — Joan Miro
A photo is worth a thousand words. Do not feel creative this week, so I am posting just pictures. You can make up your own story.
Sunday, 09/15/2024: Posted photo — Acorn House.
The things you see when you hike. During today’s hike I came across this fenced in area for some acorns. Looks like some kids had fun corralling them. Looks like a good spot for wildlife to have a free meal.
Monday, 09/16/2024: Posted photo — Mt Monadnock.
A wonderful site, Mt Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, at sunset. The colors were wonderful tonight. If I remembered, I would have stayed on the summit to capture the Aurora. Forgot about it since this hike was more of a warm-down hike from the flags. Just wanted to ascend and descent quickly.
Tuesday, 09/17/2024: Posted photo — Sunset.
The clouds were starting to clear and the sun appeared. Not the best sunset I have seen, but the colors were wonderful.
Wednesday, 09/18/2024: Posted photo — Sundog.
A sundog. I was watching this sundog brighten and dull for over an hour tonight. One of the wonders of nature.
Doing a photo editing technique that I have not done in a while. This technique is called the Hockney style after David Hockney. This is the first time that I have doned this technique using GIMP. I create a script using Paint Shop Pro. I did remove Paint Shop Pro from my computer after using it for almost 30 years since it was not working well on my computer.
Friday, 09/20/2024: Post photo — Morning View.
The view this morning as I arrived at work. The mornings are getting darker. I wanted to capture the moon next to the flag. I attempted to lighten the flag, with no luck.
Saturday, 09/21/2024: Post photo — Levitate.
Needed a photo for a photo project that I am working on. This week’s topic is levitation. I made this pokeweed levitate.
“A good photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective.” — Irving Penn
This week ended with a special memorial hike.
Sunday, 09/08/2024: Posted photo — Mount Rainier.
Ascending to 14,410 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier stands as an icon in the Washington landscape. An active volcano, Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous U.S.A., spawning five major rivers. Subalpine wildflower meadows ring the icy volcano while ancient forest cloaks Mount Rainier’s lower slopes. Wildlife abounds in the park’s ecosystems. A lifetime of discovery awaits.
I have been to this mountain many times. We camped out in an area where we saw signs about being in a lava flow area.
Monday, 09/09/2024: Posted photo — Mount St. Helens.
At 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, shaken by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, the north face of this tall symmetrical mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche. In a few moments this slab of rock and ice slammed into Spirit Lake, crossed a ridge 1,300 feet high, and roared 14 miles down the Toutle River.
I have been to Mount St. Helens over the years since the eruption and have seen the trees grow back, trees leave Spirit Lake, and the dome inside the crater growing. When I first saw the blast zone, I had a loss for words. You go through lush and dense forests, turn the corner, and then nothing. Trees look like pickup sticks in the direction of the blast. You need to see it.
Tuesday, 09/10/2024: Posted photo — Mesa Arch.
Perched at the edge of the mesa top, this 27-foot-long (8.3 m) arch frames views of the canyon far below and the La Sal Mountains in the distance.
I took this photo before I knew Masa Arch was famous. I took this during my first year to Canyon Lands National Park in the Island in the Sky area. Since then, I have been to the Needles section, and looking forward to going to the Maze section someday.
Visible from the parking loop at The Windows, Double Arch is an impressive feature—the tallest (112 ft/34 m) and second-longest (144 ft/44 m) arch in the park.
This is a composite photo. I took the sky from a photo of Balance Rock. If you look closely at the photo, you can see some people.
Mount Wachusett is a mountain in Massachusetts. It straddles towns of Princeton and Westminster, in Worcester County. It is the highest point in Massachusetts east of the Connecticut River. The mountain is named after a Native American term meaning “near the mountain” or “mountain place”.
This is an HDR photo from Round Meadow Pond.
Friday, 09/13/2024: Post photo — Sunset.
During my hike this week, I captured this sunset from the summit of Wachusett Mountain. This week was the last week that we will be returning from the summit without headlamps. We made it down just as astronomical twilight was ending and Nighttime was beginning.
Saturday, 09/14/2024: Post photo — Mount Flume.
This year, I co-lead a hike to the summit of Mt. Flume for the Flags on the 48 event. This was an Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) hike.
Flag raised on the of Mt Flume
From the official website: “We in the hiking community continue to honor the deceased with a tribute: flying the American flag atop all 48 four-thousand foot and higher mountains in New Hampshire”. This event happens on the closest Saturday to September 11. If September 11 falls on a Sunday, the hike is that Sunday.
Mt Flume from Mt Liberty
This is my 11th time doing this hike. The hike started on the Saturday after September 11, 2001 with one peak, Mt Liberty, and it quickly took off. Just a few peaks the next year, and then all the 48 4000 footers were covered. This event is now in Maine, Massachusetts and other locations.
“I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.” — Diane Arbus
Some thought and event for the week.
Sunday, 08/25/2024: Posted photo — Moon.
Bright blue sky today. The moon was looking impressive against the blue sky. The moon is my main photograph subject and I feel that I still need practice taking photos of it. Some people say my moon photos are boring since that is not much in the foreground. Sometimes I believe them and attempt to take photo of the moon with a foreground. I do not want to “Photoshop” the moon into a photo, so I just keep doing what I do best—practice my moon photography.
Monday, 08/26/2024: Posted photo — New Hat.
OK, this is what I look like during a hike. I am not very good at taking selfies. I had a hat for over 25 years. It traveled the country and the world with me. It has been in all 50 states with me, and in the 10 countries I have visited. Just for your information, the 10 countries include: The United States, Canada, Mexico, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, France, and the Bahamas. I almost lost it a few years ago riding the roller coaster in Legoland in Bulland Denmark. My hat and I have put in thousands of miles hiking.
The brim of that hat stated to fray and needs repair. I attempted to get the same type of hat as a replacement, but the company is out of business. This hat is similar and a different color than my previous one. I may repair it since we have been together for so long.
Let us see if they make them like they used to. If I last 25 more years, I hope to have this hat with me.
Tuesday, 08/27/2024: Posted photo — Robert Goddard.
Robert Hutchings Goddard was an American engineer, professor, physicist, and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket, which was successfully launched on March 16, 1926. This is a photo of a scale model of that rocket.
The Goddard family lived near where I grew up in Worcester, MA and I have passed his family home many times in my youth. I was always proud to know that such an important person and his family once lived not far from the house I grew up in.
He did some of his research at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), the school that I attended for my post graduate work in Mechanical Engineering. I have been to his lab a few times when on campus.
This park is in Auburn MA not to far from the location that he fired off the fist liquid-fueled rocket.
I wanted to do something a little different for today’s photo. I took a photo of a bouquet of flowers and colorized the rose. Hope you like it. I have mixed feelings about how it turned out.
Setaria pumila, or Yellow Foxtail, is a summer annual grass that is quite weedy. Its natural habits include gravelly areas along rivers, vacant lots, lawns, grassy areas along roads and railroad tracks, fields, pastures. It is seldom found in natural areas, it prefers full sun with moist to slightly dry conditions.
I was out breaking in a new pair of hiking boots, and I walk by this grass. I just purchase my boots last Saturday and am going on a long hike in a few weeks. Do not want to go on a long hike in the White Mountains with boots that are not broken in. I pass by this type of grass many times during hikes. Today the sun was hitting just right for it to call to me to take its photo.
Friday, 08/30/2024: Post photo — Sunrise.
What a beautiful sunrise this morning. Captured this as I walked into work this morning.
As always, photo do not do sunrises or sunsets justice.
Saturday, 08/31/2024: Post photo — Composite.
I would like to start off by saying happy 32nd birthday to our little angel. Miss you and love you.
It has been a while since I did a composite photo. This is a photo of Round Meadow Pond looking at the dam. This is a composite of 16 photos stitched together using the Brenizer method. The Brenizer method combines multiple files to achieve a shallow depth of field effect in a wide-angle image.
I shot this with my cell phone since I was out walking so I do not know if it technically fall under this method. Always trying out new things with my phone camera. Still not as good as a DSLR, but cellphone cameras are getting better.
Photo by Joseph Ciras 