22 Aug 12 Our 2007 visit to the Grand Tetons had us arriving about 5 - 7 days too late for the peak color, and in the grips of a rather nasty storm. As I've come to learn, autumnal color and nasty weather seem to be bed fellows in the Grand Tetons. Our first two days were nothing but rain, and so much so that the parking lot in front of our cabin was more of a lake than a parking area. But we made the best of it anyway and did what we could between the major downpours. On our last day there the storm abated and I had hopes of some wonderful images of Grand Teton from Ox Bow Bend, THE location from which everyone shoots. In fact, you can almost pick out the set of tripod holes you want to use. Of course that just makes it all the more challenging to get the shot that no one prior has already claimed. I waited in vain for the better part of three hours on that last day for the clouds to lift off the mountain, but that never happened, so my "special" shot never occurred. I did get some images that were not totally disappointing and this is one of them with a bit of autumn color. A week earlier arrival would have made a significant difference, but even so we did get to enjoy a fair amount of color. Enough to make certain I'll be returning to the park until I get that "special" shot. D200; Aperture priority; 18 - 200; ISO 125; 1/350 sec @ f / 8.
23 Aug 12. My intent for today was to provide something new and different, but after having laid almost 850 sq ft of sod that arrived 4 hours late, I found myself just too tired to create anything, so we'll fall back on an image from early February taken on the same trip we did for the Snowy Owls. A very short distance from where we found the owls is found the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, a large chunk of land (I can't find out just how large) that is located on the outskirts of the Village of Ladner, in Delta, British Columbia, Canada. It is a lovely area to visit with one of the fun things there being your success, or lack thereof , of avoiding the attention of a literally huge flock, about a gazillion according to Jan, of Mallards. They are quite the show and can be very consuming of your time and wallet (they sell bird food to feed them as well as anything else wearing feathers). Here also reside a group of Sand Hill Cranes, a few of which are year round residents, but many, many more are migratory and come to raise their broods annually. Since people are all around them constantly, you can get real close, shall we say right up against them, and they are apparently not bothered. That is a mixed blessing as that is just too close for good photography, but fun nonetheless. Scattered about the entire sanctuary are literally dozens of migratory birds, mostly waterfowl, whose presence there depends on the time of year. We saw several different species and among them were some very handsome Mergansers and Wood Ducks. The shot I'm sharing is of one of the Mergansers who was cruising along one of the small streams in the park. Late afternoon light provided for some nice coloration as well as for some needed increased "film" speed. Nikon D300s; Aperture Priority; 18 - 200; ISO 400; 1/160 sec @ f / 5.6.
24 Aug 12. Thursday evening saw us reach a milestone in the new home project; we all but completed the front approach to the house with the front porch being completed, the ground leveled, sod laid, and the area landscaped. It has been a long time in coming, but now the place is beginning to look like a home vice a construction site. Next week we get our garage approach poured, our lower level patio poured, and an adjoining slab for a wood shed poured, as well as seeing the upper wrap around deck floor finished, weather permitting. At which point the exterior of the house will be complete. Then all that will remain will be a complete painting of the exterior in order to meet the county's requirements to have the house thoroughly sealed; an expensive problem resultant to the poor craftsmanship of a sub contractor. But it is all coming together. With luck we'll be through by Thanksgiving! I'm sharing for today's image a dual image, an image in the image sort of thing. The big picture is how the front of the house, well most of it, looked this evening when we quit; the inset in the lower left hand corner is how it looked on Tuesday evening. You should see a bit of difference.We elected to plant lavender, cone flowers, jasmine, and gardenias for both aroma and insect attraction. If nothing else it will smell goooood! It's not a fancy image by any means, just a look see of what we've been up to for the past almost 3 years. Nikon D300s; Aperture Priority; 18 - 200; ISO 200; 1/80 sec @ f /5.
