Daily Image - Nov 2019 Archive

12 Nov 19 During the 6 years that we lived in Ballard we frequently made the mile+ walk from our home to Sunset Hill Park where we had a delightful view of the Olympics, a nice grassy area for the dog, and a relief map of the mountains so you could identify which peak was which. The view overlooked Shilshole Marina and a large expanse of Puget Sound. It was a great place to just relax and enjoy the view, be it of the mountains, the Sound, the barking seals in holding pens, the stars, the storms, the marine traffic, or any combination of the set. Today's offering is from an evening when the weather was the major player and one of those scenes it is hard to forget. It was almost as though the Heavens had opened and the Second Coming was at hand. When you think about it that might have been the perfect ending to that day, and maybe more!! This is one of those captures that renders itself to more than one presentation so I'm thinking I'll share a couple others, the original color version tomorrow and a creative one for Theatrical Thursday. Other than some cropping and the obvious conversion to B & W, this is straight from the camera. Approaching Ansel Nikon D300; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/400 sec @ f /8.

14 Nov 19 Today we have the last of the images (3) for making your own triptych. With a total of 5 you can come up with several different versions. For those of you who do decide to try your hand at it, I'd love to hear about your choices. If my memory serves me correctly, the number of unique combinations available with these 5 images would be 10 based on the equation of n!/r!(n-r)! with n = 5 and r = 3. So even if you're not a fan of triptychs you just might have fun coming up with the combinations. Same info applies as it did to the previous 2 images except for the obvious creative aspects. An Old Fresco; Painted; and Possible Acrylic Nikon D300; 18 - 2--; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/400 sec @ f /8.

04 Nov 19 Thinking back to last Monday's image, this was taken a little later in the evening in the same location about 2 blocks distant, if that far away. We were being treated to a beautiful sunset with a winning combination of clouds and color. We just sat for several minutes enjoying the lovely end of a busy day. I'm not certain of everything you are seeing but for sure it is a farmer's field with the irrigation equipment forefront; it's the mountains of which I'm unsure but I'm thinking it is the backside of the Tobacco Roots. I'm thinking about providing this one as a triptych. We'll know tomorrow. This is straight from the camera. Close of Day Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1000 sec @ f / 9.

25 Nov 19 O.K, in keeping with the idiocy currently rampant on our college campuses, I'm giving you a trigger warning. You need to be seated in a chair and preferably with your seat belt firmly secured. I'll not be held responsible for any injuries you incur if you aren't. What I'm about to write is true, only none of the names have been changed to protect the stupid. IF you haven't already looked at the image, do so now. I'll wait while you do . . . . . . . . . . . . . What you observed was obviously a small number of bison - the main herd was a maybe 100 yards distant - grazing in a meadow near Lamar Valley in the NE section of Yellowstone National Park. It was that same stormy day about which I've written before. It is also the location where the bison hang out in the thousands. Visit the Lamar Valley and you'll see bison. On Friday, after attending the annual Christmas Fair where we go to drop off a few bags of toys for the U.S Marines Toys 4 Tots program and get a few Christmas items for ourselves as well, we stopped off at NFCU to do a little banking. While standing in line I was blown away by a short story on the screen above the tellers that left me almost speechless. When we got back home Jan found the same thing in the paper from the Associated Press. The story was about bison in Yellowstone National Park and the report about them published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Apparently a group of Yellowstone "scientists" have determined, under a federal grant, that bison in Yellowstone, and I quote ". . . . essentially mow and fertilize their own food." Simply AMAZING, these "scientists" have discovered that bison eat grass and poop. On your tax dollar of course!! I need to tell the local farmers where I live that they too should go for a grant to see if the cattle and horses around here are capable of this same astonishing feat!!! We now return to our regular programming and more Yellowstone stuff tomorrow. This one is straight from the camera with the exception of a little dodging and burning and a wee bit of contrast enhancement; had to make sure the bison were doing what they were claimed to be doing. Lunch Time Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1000 sec @ f / 9.

06 Nov 19 From the left coast fall yesterday to Rocky Mountains fall today. There is a section of the Grand Loop Road between Udine Falls and Phantom Lake at the top of the park where we always find the bison grazing among some truly delightful and colorful ponds and a set of aspen that I always shoot. This time around a few of the aspens were in full fall yellow under a seriously blue-gray thunder storm. It was one of those settings where you really had to have been there to believe. We got to enjoy the storm and its accompanying light for the better part of 200 minutes and I did my best to try and make the most of it. You'll be able to decide for yourselves if I did after you've seen a few of the shots, with this being the first of several. As you can see we were a good week or more too early for the best color but I took what was there and told myself to be happy enjoying all the park had to offer, even if it wasn't exactly what I had ordered. Some of you may recall a few of the other images I've shared of this particular stand of aspen. This is straight from the camera. A Fair Warning Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/800 sec @ f / 9.

18 Nov 19 Back to my favorite place in the U.S. Drive along the west entrance road to Madison Junction, take a left and drive past Gibbon Falls, Beryl Spring, and Gibbon Flats. At that point on your right you may or may not see a sign that says Artists Paintpots. It's not a huge sign so it is possible to drive right past it. You turn right and drive a few hundred feet to the parking lot and then walk about a half mile along a wheelchair accessible path to the location of the paint pots, all orange in color. There is a nice boardwalk that encompasses more than 2/3 of the thermal area and the remainder is a climb up and down of probably 80 feet to see the paintpots from above as well and some bubbling ponds of mud. The mud appears to be drying up in it's current location while apparently opening another pond a bit further up the hillside. The thermal activity in Yellowstone is constantly on the move and this is one of the most interesting aspects of this marvelous park! For perspective I've left in a small group of humans in the upper left hand corner. This is straight from the camera save for a small amount of burning and dogging and a tiny bit of contrast enhancement for the steam. Pots of Paint Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/160 sec @ f /11.

21 Nov 19 Today we'll pay a visit to Jan's favorite spot in Yellowstone, the bubbling mud pots at the top of the overlook for Artist's Paint Pots. I mentioned earlier that there used to be two very active pots of mud, but now the first pot is drying up and a new one is building further up the trail. The thermal area underneath is seemingly constantly on the move. Similar movement can be seen at Mammoth Hot Springs, the location of yesterday's image. Since the bubbling isn't violent, to really get an appreciation of the activity if you are not actually present, you either need to video it or combine several stills into a single image and that's what I'm sharing for today. This is a set of six contiguous frames in which I've added subsequent activity from five frames to the first one. The mud either builds to a bubble which then bursts or it just pops up into the air like the squirt from a fleeing clam. That analogy will likely fall flat with those of you who have never gone clamming. At the top of the image you can see the newly developing "pot." As the mud splashes up onto the sides it builds a wall surrounding the puddle of mud. Eventually - over some extended period of time - you get a steep walled pond, or pot if you will, with the oozy muck at the bottom bubbling up and bursting to form what you are seeing. Spend a few moments looking at the image, there is likely more activity going on than initially meets the eye. This is a composite set of 6 images layered atop one another. I've allowed just the bubbles to be viewed masking out all the rest of the image. Other than that and a wee bit of dodging and burning to let you more clearly visualize how these mud ponds appear, this is straight from the camera. Bubbling Mud Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/800 sec f / 9.

27 Nov 19 A very short narrative for today as the material is exactly the same as that for yesterday except that the image is the original capture. A couple of comments that will be obvious to you once you've read them but might not have been as obvious had I not said it. The blue colors in the water are partially the result of the sky. The hues of blue vary both with the time of day and what is overhead. Likewise, the glowing shoulders of the stepped layers of calcium carbonate are due to the time of day and the angle of the sun. The chances of you seeing this when you visit are next to zero, likewise for my next visit. This is a location where you could stand for the entire daylight hours of your visit and get a different photo every few minutes. It's part of what makes photography both fun and frustrating. But do go see it; you won't regret the time you spend there!! Same info as yesterday save for the B&W conversion part. Not Quite Your Turkish Bath Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/400 sec @ f /11.

26 Nov 19 We return to Yellowstone as promised and will remain here for the next few images. B & W today as I not only like this version best but it is B & W Tuesday. We return to Mammoth Hot Springs and to the same boardwalk from which I took that other photo with the dead trees. This is a view just a few feet, perhaps 6, to the west of that spot. The hot springs at Mammoth are supposed to have been created over a period of thousands of years. They constitute a large complex of hot springs sitting atop a hill - likely a mountain on the right coast - of travertine. As the water cooled it left behind the calcium carbonate previously dissolved in it creating the deposits you see in the image. Don't quite understand how it forms the stair stepping appearance but whatever the cause it makes for a lovely terrace. Hang onto this one for at least one day as we'll look at the same image in color tomorrow. I think you may appreciate both. This is almost straight from the camera. Altered to B & W obviously but also added a tiny amount of dodging and burning and a small amount of contrast enhancement to help delineate the texture of the calcium carbonate. Printed on Metal Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/400 sec @ f /11.

20 Nov 19 When one travels the interior of YNP it is on the Grand Loop Road, a two lane roadway in the shape of a figure 8. To reach it there are 5 spurs, one in the NW corner and another in the NE corner of the upper half of the 8, one at the 3 o'clock position of the bottom half of the 8, another at roughly the 6 o'clock position of the bottom of the 8, and one at the 10 o'clock position on the bottom half of the 8. This latter one is the west entrance road that connects with West Yellowstone. Most all of the thermal areas of the park are located on the western 1/3 of the Grand Loop starting at roughly the 8 o'clock position of the bottom half of the 8 and extending to the 11 0'clock position of the upper half of the 8. You can easily drive the entirety of the Grand Loop in a single day, but you won't see anything. A couple DVDs from one of the many stores both in the park and West Yellowstone would show you more. But given a full week you might say you could at least be familiar with the place. Among my favorite locations in the park is found at the NW corner of the upper half of the 8. The area is known as Mammoth Hot Springs and you can easily spend a full day in this small area. Today we are looking at a small area of the Upper Terrace and a spot on a boardwalk knows as Grassy Spring. In the time that we have been visiting this location it has undergone tremendous change. It would take several pages of text to fully give you an appreciation; a video would be helpful. At one point the area being shown was a grassy area, hence the name. Today it is as you see it and growing. When you visit the park be sure to give yourself plenty of time to roam around the grounds of the North entrance. Other than a small amount of contrast enhancement, this is straight from the camera. Evening Light Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/ 160 sec @ f /14.

19 Nov 19 If there are any who wonder why Montana is nicknamed the Big Sky state, today's submission may help to explain. Hebgen Lake, where the condo is located, has two arms, Madison and Grayling, both at the far end of the lake where the lake ends and the Madison river meets it. The lake of course was created by damming up the Madison river a few miles downstream. The condo sits on the Madison arm and is the location of many fishing and camping areas. Some of you may remember a couple of shots from that area 4 years ago when we found ourselves in the middle of a Bison roundup which was kinda neat when you think about it. Both during that roundup drive and our visit this fall we tried to find the Madison Arm campground but never did. It was likely somewhere further down the road we were traveling but after several miles of dirty and bumpy road we quit looking. At least for the campground. However there was plenty to see along the road as well as above us. This was just one pullout where I found some color on the ground and some interesting clouds in the sky. Having a polarizing filter didn't hurt. This is straight from the camera. Building Up Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/2000 sec @ f / 9.

28 Nov 19 Departing the condo last September we spent the day driving in the snow which was with us in varying amounts all the way to Haugen as you may remember from earlier posts. Just prior to getting to the motel we crossed under the freeway and over the St Regis river to see what wildlife - think ungulates - we might find. Didn't find any of the four legged critters but we did find a large group of wild turkeys. Now that's not something we often come across so I slowed down, actually stopped, and shot out the SUV window so as not to scare them. Both the weather - it was snowing - and the lighting - almost 1800 - were awful, but I shot anyway telling my self I might be able to salvage something with software. The birds were in two groupings, 4 Toms to the right and about 20 feet to their left a group of maybe 16 Hens. They were on the other side of a barbed wire fence and the wire attached to a series of upright green metal posts. Not ideal conditions. But I figured I might as well try because if I didn't I for sure wouldn't get the shot. So for 2019's Turkey Day I sharing a shot of the four Toms minus the barbed wire and posts. All the white specs are snow and not a dirty lens. Note that one Tom is standing watch while the other three nibble. I've cropped the original for best composition, given it some sharpening, and removed the barbed wire and posts. Pardoned Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 640; 1/250 sec @ f / 9.

05 Nov 19 No triptych. Today we'll take a look at the hillside ground cover color present near the summit of Stevens Pass each October. As you can appreciate it varies time wise year by year, but it is always some time in October. This year it was in early October which was a bit surprising as all the other color occurred later in the month. Nice part about that is you get a longer season as we did this year with really vibrant color but the weather did its best to make it challenging. (Here in Eglon the color has just recently peaked and the leaves are making for some very colorful side roads and yards.) This shot was one we got between the rains close to noon; thought we might get something even better later in the afternoon but the weather said nope, be happy with what you have. So that was that. The follow on trip to try again was foiled by a combo of snowfall and an over turned 18 wheeler blocking all lanes and interrupting power for many miles. Have to try my luck again in 2020. This is basically straight from the camera save for a small amount of contrast enhancement. Almost a Fire Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 800; 1/320 sec @ f / 7.1.

07 Nov 19 Back to left coast color again for today's offering and once again from Tumwater Canyon but with a twist. It being Theatrical Thursday Jan decided to pick out something with a bit if a flare. Of all the trees in our part of the country, Vine Maples take first place for both color and vibrancy. They are small, more like shrub than tree, but definitely a tree, they are the first to turn in the fall and put on the best show. Peak color ranges from a bright orange-red to a rich red and can vary from year to year on the same tree. Regardless of the particular hue of red, they never disappoint. This year they were exceptionally red and bright, likely the best display I've enjoyed in years! There is a location in the Tumwater Canyon a few miles west of the rest area a the bottom of Stevens Pass where there resides a small grouping of these trees sitting atop a rocky shelf at the edge of the road. I photograph this group of trees every year always hoping for something spectacular; this year it happened. You won't experience what we did, but this creative approach doesn't alter the color or brightness of the leaves on the day we visited. So you at least get the idea. Other than the creative application, courtesy of Topaz Simplify 4, this is straight from the camera. Solar Flare Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 500; 1/640 sec @ f / 7.1.

01 Nov 19 It's All Hallows Eve as I write this which means, at least from my perspective, that we've officially entered the holiday season. We don't get any trick-or-treaters where we live although we just had some jerk come speeding down our narrow unlit driveway looking for the party! You can bet we exchanged some words!! So, since we aren't doing anything costume-wise or partying, Jan thought the the image for today could use a little costuming so that's what I'm sharing. About 4 years back Jan decided that she wanted to try her green thumb with dahlias and needless to say she has done a yeoman's job with that project. What started out as a small area by the garage of perhaps 4 x 6 feet has now morphed into an area in the front yard of maybe 10 x 6 and growing yearly. It's great because I have my own arboretum in which to photograph flowers either on the stem or cut and in the studio. This is a shot of one in the yard I took a couple weeks back that was just starting to open. As late in the year as it is there are still dozens of blossoms available to shoot and more on the way. But that may end soon as we are now experiencing temps in the low 30s. Time will tell. Other than the creative application, courtesy of Topaz Simplify, this is straight from the camera. Painted Nikon D500; 18 - 200 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 500; 1/125 sec @ f / 9.

29 Nov 19 Well, here we are at Black Friday and hopefully everyone had a wonder day of the four Fs; friends, family, food, and football. To be followed by a day of craziness during which all the merchants, store front and virtual, will endeavor to manipulate you to fill their coffers. Those of you my age will likely remember when Christmas shopping didn't begin till the morning after with all the major stores having put up their displays following turkey dinner on the day previous. Now it all begins in October and by Thanksgiving every virtual merchant has deluged your in-box with offers you simply can't resist, or so they hope. So in consideration of all this I thought I'd create something that represents my take on this entire spending craze. Obviously creative. Yesterday's submission was also creative if only because of all the elements I removed from the original. This time I've taken a close up of a plant I bought just for the foliage and for use as a Daily Image. The idea behind this image is that of trying to make sense of it all. It is very busy, goes everywhere and nowhere at the same time, and may leave you wondering why do such. That would be my take on this whole shopping craziness. So here's my response to it all. I cropped the original significantly, gave it some contrast enhancement to emphasis the fronds - if that's the right name, - and then put the black border around each frond. Window-Like Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 250; 1/60 sec @ f / 9 with full flash.

11 Nov 19 Last week provided us with several mornings of glorious fog! Surrounded as were are by 130 foot+ tall trees, I don't have to wander far to get shots that have a bit of an ethereal feeling about them. Looking either south from the deck off the bedroom or north towards the drive from the family room we get to see layer after layer of trees disappearing into the goo. As we lie in bed in the morning the haunting sounds of fog horns complete the picture. Perhaps in the near future I can share images with sound accompaniment embedded. Of course I could right now give you an audio clip to play while you look at the image but that isn't as sexy as having the audio play with the opening of the image. Might have to look into how that can be done one of these days. For now you'll just have to image hearing the moaning of that horn as it wends its way through the fog and trees. A HUGE THANK YOU to all you veterans who have served or are currently serving our country. Your sacrifices are GREATLY appreciated!! As are those of your families! Other than a small amount of cropping for composition and a wee bit of contrast enhancement, this is what the camera captured. Morning Mist Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 1250; 1/160 sec @ f / 9.

08 Nov 19 For today's macro/close-up we are going with another creative version of a dahlia and one picked out by Jan from a group of 5 offerings. I had a slightly different look in mind when I began to work on the original but this one came to mind as I was looking at the possibilities. The original was shot this afternoon in Jan's dahlia garden when the wind totally subsided, the light was right, and I wanted to play with some of the new buds appearing in the plants. Seems odd to me that we are getting more and more blossoms daily this time of the year, but the purples, whites, and a few yellows are really putting out. Some of those buds that appeared last week are now fully deployed, looking perfect, and offering me a chance to see what I can come up with before the season ends. For today I've picked one which I shot from the side but which unfortunately had another stem just below it and to the side so I had to digitally remove it. By slightly under exposing I was able to bring out the deep purple subtly hiding in it, and in doing so got the petals with dark edges. That gave me the idea of stained glass so that's what I did. If you have a small clear glass window in your church in need of some color, you might consider printing this out on a sheet of acetate and placing it in the window. As I mentioned above, I've removed the second stem, cropped the top and bottom for composition, and applied the effect courtesy of Topaz Glow 2. Church Window Art Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 250; 1/80 sec @ f / 9 with fill flash.

22 Nov 19 Yesterday was supposed to be a creative image, and with a little imagination one might say that the process I used could be considered just that, creative. Today's macro / close-up submission will definitely qualify as creative and in as much as my non creative liking bride chose it, I think it will be a go. There is a fern at the base of the front deck whose name I can't recall but it's Japanese "something" and I think that "something" has to do with color. In any event it is a beautiful broad leafed plant whose individual fronds are very stiff. It has a somewhat glossy appearance with a deeply patterned frond. I've modified the original some in addition to the creative effect in that I changed the color of the brown leaves to red. Thought the red made for a much nicer image. These ferns were rather slow in settling in, but are now in the process of claiming far too much of the garden. I'm thinking they need to be substantially cut back to allow some of the other rare plants near them some breathing room which would be nice as we have several rare plants in that part of the garden. I cropped off a fair amount from the right side and made the changes mentioned above. With a Georgian Touch Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 500; 1/60 sec @ f / 7.1 with full flash.

15 Nov 19 The center piece tree in our landscape is called a Rising Sun Maple. Each year it puts on a brilliant display of yellows, oranges, and red leaves which shows off the distinctive maple shaped leaves. This year it hung on to its leaves until just a couple days ago and nicely distributed them around one end of the pond. The result was having a brightly colored carpet surrounding the waterfall end and beyond. I thought it would be fun to capture some of the carpet for both traditional images and blurred as backgrounds and I did. With the multiple individual colors in addition to the strongly outlined leaves I thought that some of the shots would also lend themselves to the leaded glass look and today's macro / close-up is of that flavor. Other than a small amount of cropping and the removal of a couple distractions, plus the obvious conversion, this is what the camera captured. Window Dressing Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 500; 1/100 sec @ f / 7.1 with full flash.

17 Aug 20 We've now made it down to the beach to start taking reflections of the mountains on the sand. Those of you who may be using the Dissenter browser will no doubt recognize this location from one of the several backgrounds they use for that browser. Actually, they use several Iceland locations for their backgrounds. We started taking shots around 1500 and for the next two hours did our best to work the light to capture reflections on the wet black sand. It wasn't until I had finished taking the reflection shots and had walked back to the road that I realized that there was a large home at water's edge at the base of the mountain (just below and to the right of the large shadow on the mountain at the left edge). Must be a wonderful place to live. The combination of moving water and wind made for some constantly changing "looks" on the surface of the sand ranging from the rippled look in this capture, to encased in foam, to glassy flat. Each provided for a different experience. This image was perhaps the most difficult I've tried to work up as I could not find a way to adequately give you a feel for the vastness of the site combined with the sounds of the wind, crashing of the waves, and the squawking birds. Still not sure how I could have done it better; maybe tomorrow working in cooler conditions I'll come up with what is needed. Meanwhile I may share this again Tuesday as a B & W as it works quite well in monochrome. This is straight from the camera save for some heavy handed contrast enhancement to give a feel for the rocks. Worth The Walk Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 100; 1/250 sec @ f /11.