Daily Image - Apr 2019 Archive

03 Apr 19 Virginia City, MT is an open air museum about 5 blocks long on either side of Hwy-287 in Alder Gulch roughly 90 miles west of Yellowstone. It is a gold rush town and in the first three years of its existence about $30 million worth of gold was extracted. You get to see it at it's zenith and you can do it all for free if you like but there are opportunities for separating you from your wallet if you desire. The town sits on a hill at the bottom of which is a pond that is generally alive with water foul, at least we have found it so on all our visits. The pond however is not visible from the street and you have to walk a little to see it. If you visit the railway station it sits behind one side of it and it can be seen from the front porch of the station. This is a shot I took of the pond on the return leg last October and along with lot of beautiful color and skim ice on its surface there were a number of ducks making their way around the surface. Twelve to be exact, 11 Mallards and one Pintail. You'll need either a hunter's eye or birdwatcher zeal to find them all, but they are there. You might also notice the tracks of a few crossing the ice. Other than a little dodging and burning, this is what the camera captured. A Dozen Ducks Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 320; 1/1000 sec @ f / 9.

02 Apr 19 I realized as I was working up a couple images today that I had forgotten about an area I wanted to share called Silver Star. You could drive right through it and not even realize that you had being such a small community that they don't have enough real estate for both a welcome to and thanks for visiting signs. Just one small sign identifies the town. But it is worth a stop if you like photography and I find it a nice first stop after leaving I-90. In the spring the river is quite full from the winter melt but in the fall it is considerably smaller and a bit more lazy. Although I'm sharing it as B&W, I believe you can use your imaginations to add in the needed colors; blue skies with white clouds, yellow trees and grasses, white snow, and light tan hillsides. I've cropped this a wee bit but otherwise it is straight from the camera. Silvered Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1600 sec @ f /11.

01 Apr 19 We pick back up with the first day of the return from the fall condo trip. As the afternoon pressed on the storm was breaking up big time and the sun was now more prevalent than the clouds. It seemed like every turn brought another onslaught of color and contrasts. Whenever I could safely stop I pulled to the edge of the roadway and grabbed a few snaps. By the time I got this one the afternoon was rapidly slipping away and little did I know but I was to soon catch up with the storm and once again have a wonderful opportunity to shoot the color in falling snow. That would prove to be the perfect ending to a perfect day - assuming you appreciate challenging weather conditions - and set up the last day of the trip for some of the most spectacular views I've ever seen. This was a visit I shan't soon forget! Other than some cropping and a bit of dodge and burning, this is what the camera recorded. Breaking Up Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/320 sec @ f /11.

15 April 19 This week we'll finish off the remaining fall Yellowstone images. Next week - 22 to 26 - I'll be away dog sitting and likely may not be able to send. The 30th I leave for Yellowstone returning on the 8th of May so this week's images will quite possibly be the last I send until the 2nd full week of May. During that lapse feel encouraged to visit the blog archives and enjoy the photos you want for each day. Today's submission is just another of the views that was with me mile after mile driving west along highway I-90. On this particular day, perhaps in part due to the weather, traffic was very light and I was able to stop pretty much at will and not really be bothered by the passing vehicles. I enjoy that kind of a day when I'm traveling as my less than break neck speed doesn't really hinder the traffic at all and I have lots of freedom to stop. I get to see this little tiny fall on every trip and each time it is different and each time a delight. All it's missing is a jumping trout! I've cropped the original a bit and done a little dodging and burning but that's it. Watering Stop Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/125 sec @ f /11.

16 Apr 19 This is a shot looking upstream on the St Regis river. At this point it isn't very large and in most places you can walk across it without getting your high tops wet, at least in the fall. During spring run off it's a bit of a different story, but I've never seen this river more than 3 feet deep. Nor have I ever seen a fish or a fisherman wading it. But in the autumn of its years it is truly lovely as you may ascertain from today's submission. This was taken around 1730 and sunset was quickly setting in and with it some nice powdery snow that was to make the next morning's shoot spectacular. This little bend in the river is walking distance from the motel we use but as it it heavily trafficked with 18 wheelers who seem to think I-90 is a racetrack I don't recommend it unless of course you own a camera and . . . . . . I'm standing on a small bridge as the river flows across to the other side of the highway at this point. About a half mile west it does the same thing but in the opposite direction. One thing I've noticed about a lot of MT rivers is that they like to cross back and forth a lot. I like that fact as it provides for far more photographic opportunities. Starting in Haugen, and for the next 80+ miles or so traveling east, you get to enjoy the pleasure of a lot of river scenes. It is an area where slowing down and enjoying the landscape really has meaning! By rights this should have been a B&W so any of you who want that version let me know and I'll forward separately. Other than a small bit of cropping and a little dodging and burning, this is straight from the camera. St Regis Color Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 1000; 1/250 sec @ f / 9.

17 Apr 19 Leaving that last day for home, I played a bit in Haugen waiting for the fog to lift so as to ascertain what I might be able to capture as I started back to the lower altitudes of WA. There is an area across the road from the motel that on occasion provides for some nice images. I tried working with the tamaracks but didn't really get anything I want to share from this location, but there was some other stuff that looked worth playing with and one fence line in particular. Today's submission is one of those shots. My idea behind the shot was playing both with color and trees. The color part is obvious, but perhaps the tree part not so. My thinking was that I could put together in close proximity the raw material and the finished product and that the color could be use as an accessory. You can decide if it worked. It was cold enough that I should have been using a tripod which I wasn't and zooming in will make my point. However, by zooming in you will also be able to see the remains of the overnight snowfall and some nice texture in the post. I've cropped this some and removed a number of wires that took away from the scene. As Cold as it Looks Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 640; 1.250 sec @ f / 7.1

04 Apr 19 Today's submission for Theatrical Thursday is going to be straight up, but provided as a documentary shot only. I've left in an I-90 road sign to give its exact location, 5 miles west of Haugen, MT where we always stay both directions on our Yellowstone trips. You are looking south with I-90 East at the bottom of the image along with a snippet of the St Regis River. My reason for sharing such is that if you've never heard of or seen the evergreen tree known as either Tamarack or Larch, you likely would think I've created a hillside of yellow evergreens, but I haven't. The green of the road sign and some evergreens, as well as some of the other colored autumn foliage, should also help to assure you I haven't concocted this image. All my life I've wanted to capture a decent photo of this unusual tree and while this shows off the trees to advantage, this isn't the shot for which I was hoping, but it does show them for what they are. I do have a couple to share that do represent the shot(s) I want(ed) but I'll share them next week. I still haven't gotten a shot of these trees high up in the Cascades, maybe now I never will, but this at least gives you an idea as to how these lovely trees look in the fall. The white area is the morning cloud layer which when I arose was at street level. I don't consider this a keeper in any fashion, it's just a documentary, and nothing more! I've cropped a little off the top, bottom, and left side for composition. Follow the Yellow Treed Road Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 640; 1/250 sec @ f / 7.1.

10 Apr 19 One last shot of the tamaracks turning a green hillside yellow. It's hard to convey the majesty of these hills when they are simply one ridgeline after another of yellows. Seeing it in the early morning as the fog enshrouding the forest lifts off is just an amazing sight and I wish all of you could someday have the experience. For those of you who can't I can always send you a few more. This is straight from the camera. Hillside of Yellow Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 640; 1/250 sec @ f / 9.

11 Apr 19 For Theatrical Thursday we'll go with the third panel of the triptych. This pane is in the mold of the famous English painter J.M.W. Turner. Turner is one of those painters that I think you either really like or can't stand. Obviously I'm in the former group. Now that you have three panels it's up to you how to arrange them. Obviously I've adjusted this from the original. A Turner Approach Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/800 sec @ f / 9.

08 Apr 19 Having yet to do a triptych this year I thought I'd do one this week, so today a straight color shot, tomorrow a B&W, and Thursday the creative version. I think the B&W will be the strongest of the three but you will make your own decisions. So what do you get at the peak of fall with color fully deployed against a rising morning fog with the sun burning it off in places, a fully blue sky in the background, and a powered sugar frosting from the night before? Today's submission of course. The last day of the trip I awoke to a fully fogged in motel, so it was off to breakfast to see what might be hiding behind the fog. By the time I finished eating and checked out of the room I was beginning to get a hint of what was in store for me. So I started working the area directly across the highway from the motel, then began my drive home. With each mile the view in the windscreen was changing like a radio tune and it just got better and better for the next 90 minutes while the fog proceeded to make itself scarce. This is what I was seeing during that time and you are looking south directly across I-90. The lighting was extremely contrasty so I exposed for the for colored trees and use software to lighten the deep shadowed foreground. I also could have made an HDR series but chose not to. I also removed a few very tiny distractions. Otherwise this is straight from the camera. Breaking Out Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/800 sec @ f / 9.

09 Apr 19 Today we have the second frame of the triptych set I mentioned yesterday and this one is in black and white. Of the 6 versions I made of this image, I think this one is the strongest. Nothing more to say about it other than it is obviously been converted to monochrome. From Black to White Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/800 sec @ f / 9.

18 Apr 19 The last leg of the trip seemed like it was never going to end in part because I spent so much time shooting the tamaracks during the morning part of the drive, and then later due to the horrible traffic management around the Lake Keechelus area where WA State is carrying on a 50 year highway disruption program that involves 5 years of actual road construction and 45 years job security. When traffic suddenly went from 70 mph over 3 lanes to 15 mph over 4 lanes on I-90 I decided to take an alternate route and spend the night with friends in Wenatchee but they didn't answer their phone so I decided to just scoot over to Hwy - 2 and travel over Steven's Pass instead of Snoqualmie Pass. But when the GPS suddenly added an additional 2 hours to the trip, which shouldn't extend the drive at all, I retraced my steps back to I-90 and slowly made my way to the pass. Once there traffic returned to normal and I got to the Edmonds ferry only to be greeted by a 90 minute wait! But the sights throughout the entire drive home were delightful and I ended the 11 day trip watching a beautiful sunset. Now you get to see it also. This is what the camera recorded. Day's End Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 320; 1 / 800 sec @ f / 9.

05 Apr 19 Keeping with the same theme (yellow) but switching venues some for Friday's macro / close-up. My bride, having brought me two large bouquets of daffodils this week plus pointing out that she has them blooming in the yard I got the message that I was to take some photos of them. So up into the studio did I go and shot about 150 frames but made her pick the one to send which is what I'm sharing. I have a large skylight over the area where I shoot so by waiting for ol' Sol I get to use sunlight albeit it filtered through the glass to illuminate my subjects and with a drape of black velvet to provide a decent backdrop I can get some nice still images with a controlled background. I can also add soft (blurred) color matched backgrounds whenever desired which also works well whenever needed. But today's submission is using just the black background and natural light. I've cropped the original a small amount and painted out a few distractions at the bottom left, otherwise this is straight from the camera. A Bouquet of Daffodils Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority;ISO 200; 1/125 sec @ f / 9.

12 Apr 19 About a week back we made our first trip to the local nursery just to take a few shots and of course came home with a tuck full of plants. I think the nursery knows what it is doing by encouraging photographers to frequent the premises. Among the plants that made their way home with us were a couple of Icelandic Poppies, one of those plants in my top 10 list. Didn't plant them but had them set out to shoot when we had a nice drizzle, so I took the opportunity to shoot them wet. Good thing I did because they didn't last even another two days before some critter cropped off each blossom leaving me with nothing but stems. Whoever it was also thought the Gerber Daisies were equally tantalizing but ignored all the Pasque Flowers. So now I guess all future Icelandic Poppies will need to be planted inside some form of caging. For today's macro / close-up we'll take a look at those poppies after their shower and before they became a menu item. This shot was taken with a macro lens so you notice a very shallow depth of field with the very top of the red poppy and the center of the white poppy being in the same plane. Other than some small cropping to remove a few small distractions this is straight from the camera. After the Rains Returned Nikon D500; 105mm macro; Aperture Priority; ISO 400; 1/125 sec @ f / 8.

19 Apr 19 We end this week with something entirely different, a texture piece. Now this is supposed to be macro/close-up Friday so how am I going to make this work. Some background. While sitting in the van while Jan was doing some shopping it began to rain - I know, surprise surprise - but the drops were beading up on the windscreen rather than just running off as you might expect. As I watched, the windscreen began looking more and more like bubble wrap and suddenly, every now and then, one of the bubbles would start growing and then running down the glass gaining in size and speed much like an avalanche.Thinking it might be fun to try and capture this behavior, I grabbed the camera from the rear seat and started shooting, even got a few frames I liked. So the macro part of today's submission is greater than life sized raindrops and the texture part is a full frame of them that you can manipulate as you desire to create the texture anyway you want. Two birds with one stone, as it is said. A glorious Easter to you all! This is straight from the camera. Silvered Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f / 8.