Daily Image - Sept 2019 Archive

10 Sep 19 Immediately before the north end of the Hood Canal bridge is a 2 lane road that taken eastward gets you to Paradise and Pt Ludlow and westward to Shine. The Shine section of the road is a loop drive whose either end is on Hwy - 104, the same road of which the bridge is a part. It is a rather picturesque drive anytime of the year with the canal on the west and some nice homes on the east. We have generally driven it in the fall as there is some nice color to use as a foreground with the canal in the middle and the Olympic mountains as the background. This past February was the first time we had made the drive in the snow, and it was a beautiful drive. We made the loop as ol' Sol was beginning to head to his resting place behind the Olympics and the combination of early evening winter light, a recent snowfall, and sunlight hitting the snow here and there was well worth the drive. It also provided for a few opportunities at playing with it all. This was taken as the action began whereas the shot I shared yesterday was from about the mid-point of the show. I've increased the contrast a small amount on the far shoreline and the mountains to give you a better idea of the terrain which was lost in the capture but which the eye could easily perceive. Except for the contrast adjustments this is what the camera captured. Shine Road Splendor Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

09 Sep 19 In the process of looking for suitable images to upload to Adobe Stock I realize that there were quite a few images I had intended to share earlier that in the course of things escaped me, so for the rest of the week I'll be sharing from among those. Today's submission is from the first snowfall we had back in February. We had gone out driving in the relatively local area looking for something wintry and hadn't really had very much luck until our return leg and found some lovely scenery on the bank of the north side of the Hood Canal bridge. It was around 1730, the sun was beginning to dip underneath the cloud cover, and the warm light falling on the snow was simply beautiful. The camera didn't fully capture the mood but it did come close. The weather was a little on the chilly side as the wind was starting to pick up some as can be seen on the water's surface, the body of water being Hood Canal which really isn't a canal but a channel. I walked from the parking area all the way to the end of the bank access and in the process encountered a couple other photographers who were apparently enjoying the beauty as much as was I. This is pretty much what the camera recorded. On a Winter's Evening Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/250 sec @ f / 9.

11 Sep 19 One more of the wintry scenes that didn't make it your way earlier, this time from Hurricane Ridge. As I wrote with the earlier submissions we were forced to leave the ridge far too early by the park gestapo who apparently needed to get home before dark so this was one of my parting shots. The weather was just beginning to put on its show of which we saw a wee bit of it while having dinner in Sequim. From what we were able to see there it must have been spectacular at the ridge but of course we'll never know. This was taken around quarter to four as the light was starting to throw long shadows across the snow while simultaneously showing well the hills and valleys forming the Olympic Range. This was early March with still a very large amount of snow on the ground and the sides of the road, there having been a heavy snowfall this past winter, as was also the case for Crater Lake as I wrote a short while back. If you've not visited Hurricane Ridge and you live in the general PNW area this is one that should be on your bucket list. Same holds for those of you visiting, especially in late winter. This is basically straight from the camera, save for a tiny bit of contrast enhancement. In Late Afternoon Light Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1000 sec @ f /11.

12 Sep 19 One of the reasons for visiting Iceland is of course to watch and photograph the Northern Lights. Combined with many other photographic sights the lights will hopefully be the frosting on the cake. As a kid I used to sit on my parent's front porch with my sister and watch the lights bounce across the sky as our father played his guitar and sang to us during our grade school years and before. Both of those happenings are no longer available and both are truly missed. Although light pollution has forever hidden the lights on the east side of Puget Sound where we grew up, they are still occasionally visible on the west side of Puget Sound where we now live but not from our home. You need to be further up on the peninsula to see them and even then it is not a very common experience. But there occasionally are clouds as part of a sunset that do a reasonable job of mimicking the lights. Such was the case one evening late last March when the sky gave us a show in purple, magenta, and blue simultaneously with the mountains giving us a palette of red, orange, and yellow. Pretty spectacular and I only had to walk a few hundred yards to observe it. All you have to do is look at your screen. This is straight from the camera. Borealis-Like ISO 400; 1/200 sec @ f / 5.

13 Sep 19 We'll complete the forgotten images with this one of a tree, or perhaps, two trees. Like last week's Friday macro/closeup, this is something along the same lines. The water in the background is the Straights of Juan de Fuca, and it is along this drive that I take the Bald Eagle shots that I occasionally share. (The western end of this body of water becomes the Pacific Ocean). On this particular day we missed the birds, but were treated to some nice blue skies with white clouds, a few deer, and other items of interest such as these trees. On the other side of the water is Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The two countries divide the body of water in the middle so it is possible to visit the other country without ever touching land or needing a passport. On this late spring afternoon the flowers were really showing off and the drive paralleling the Straights was just beautiful. IF you visit Sequim you owe it to yourself to make this short and easy drive or, better yet, walk, enjoying all it has to offer. If you just stroll along the road it will take you less than an hour unless you happen to be carrying your camera; then it might take you a wee bit longer. This is basically what the camera saw. Alpha & Omega Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 500; 1/2500 sec @ f / 9.

06 Sep 19 Let's do something different for Macro Friday and go with something really macro in size, a tree. Not just any tree, but one you can drive through. It seems like some of you felt cheated yesterday when I talked about a tree and showed you ducks. So here is a shot of that tree with Jan standing in the middle of it. The Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree is located in Leggett, CA, about 1 mile from where Hwy 1 starts off Hwy 101. The park is privately owned, opened in 1922, and the tree added - don't ask me how - in 1937. The tree is approximately 318 feet tall, 21 feet thick at its base, and 2,400 years old. About 300+ years old when Christ was born, it's been around a while. If you go out to the link provided above or find your own you will likely get a different perspective of the place from that which I provided yesterday. I'll stick with my opinion. This is what the camera recorded with a bit of exposure compensation. Chandelier Tree Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 640; 1/80 sec @ f / 9.

05 Sep 19 There are supposedly 5 different locations in CA where you can drive through a Redwood. The political climate being what it is there is apparently a ban on any further creations of same in as much that doing so is supposed to kill the tree. I wanted to visit one location that I had visited as a kid but couldn't remember exactly where it was and instead wound up visiting a park - Drive Through Tree Park - where you had to pay $10 to drive through. I balked at such but Jan insisted that we so do since we had driven to the location. [Interestingly there was no evidence that carving out that section of the tree had done it any apparent harm.] In reality the site was right on the road I wanted to travel (Hwy -1) but didn't recognize where we were and after our visit turned around and got back on the road we had been traveling, Hwy -101. Big mistake but not the only one of the trip!! GPS let us down big time. Having paid the ransom we drove through the tree - whoopee - and parked to walk around the grounds (me) and do some shopping (Jan.) Directly across from the store of "treasures" was a nice pond, so I took a stroll over towards it with the camera. As I approached the shoreline I noticed hundreds of tiny frogs jumping in the grass and then, after taking a few moments to orient myself, saw dozens of very large frogs near the edge of the pond most of whom were partially buried in the mud. They were performing a symphony to which lots of pretty damsel flies and dragon flies were paying court. I shot lots of frames of both the frogs and the flies, plus a group of Mallards, three drakes and three hens, that were initially on the bank but which had proceeded to enter the water and cruise around the perimeter for the entire time of our visit. Not sure how deep that pond was, but I'm betting at its deepest one could walk across and still be above water. In addition to the tree and the pond there were also some VERY nice wood carvings including a family of Sasquatch. The price to visit the tree definitely wasn't worth it but the pond and the carvings made it all turn out O.K. Departing the park we headed down to Eureka for a couple of days. This is straight from the camera. Afternoon Swim Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/320 sec @ f / 9.

04 Sep 19 From 1769 to 1823 the Spaniards on the west coast of North America set about building 21 missions from San Diego to San Rafael, CA. During our three tours in CA we tried to visit all of them but only made it to about 16. One of those we didn't get to visit was San Rafael Arcangel, obviously located in San Rafael, CA. This particular mission was dedicated to taking care of local ill Indians. So we decided to visit it on the return leg and while visiting purchase a set of all the 21 missions as a reminder of our tours there, something we had intended to do while stationed there but somehow never got around to doing. We still haven't, as the mission was closed on the day we attempted to visit. The missions are almost all located along the coast and are supposedly, or so we have been told, one day's mule ride apart such that visiting/traveling monks would have a location to stay each evening. Each of the 21 missions featured a unique function such that every possible need could be met by the combined group. True or not, it makes for a good story. So now, if we still want that remembrance, we'll likely have to try purchasing on line. Other than some straightening and foliage removal, this is straight from the camera. Missed Out Nikon D500; 24 mm; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/800 sec @ f /11.

03 Sep 19 As I began to write this missive we started hearing a double beep occurring with repeatable regularity that set Maggie off as she is terrified of the sounds from things like smoke alarms. I didn't think it was the smoke alarms as I had just replaced all the batteries last week but checked them all anyway and they weren't the culprit. We finally traced the sound as coming from our bedroom CO detector so I replaced the batteries in it but the beep kept going so I decided to simply leave the batteries out and deal with it tomorrow when the beeps started all over again. Now that just about drove me crazy - yes I known short trip - when we realized we had another unit in the other bedroom on the main floor and it had started beeping when the first one did. As it turned out the inside of the cover to the units had some raised 3 point type on them containing a beep code. Low and behold, the double beep code meant that at 7 years service they give off the very beeps we were hearing indicating their life was over and the entire unit needs to be replaced. Then I realized there were two more downstairs and no sooner had I gotten them upstairs then they started beeping. They were all installed 7 years and 2 months ago. Now what are the chances that four separate units will die within a few minutes of each other and right on time. Literally! Time to buy a lottery ticket!!!! Today's submission is likely the last from Crater Lake and one Jan picked out from a set of 6 versions. The last time she did this the image got a lot of positive feedback so let's see what happens this time around. This is another perspective from the first viewpoint we encountered. I moved back some from the edge this time as is evident to emphasize the surrounding trees and to also use them to frame the lake. Felt a lot less queasy being a bit further back! Being limited as we were to less than a quarter of the crater loop road the views we had of the lake were very limited. Next trip needs to either be later in the year when the road is totally clear of snow or in the winter on a snow mobile so I can cover the entire loop. Other than the obvious creative application (Topaz Impression 2) this is straight from the camera. A Turner Approach Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f /11.

02 Sep 19 As I mentioned in one of the previous mailings we had just about every kind of weather imaginable during our short two hour visit to Crater Lake. This is a shot of the storm that brought most of that precipitation and you can see it in action. The lake and Wizard Island are immediately to my back; I'm looking out across what I believe to be Williams crater although to me it looks more lake a valley, with Mt Thiesen in the distance (immediately to the left of the tree). For those who have difficulty comprehending why you don't go hiking in the mountains in halter tops and tennies, even in the summer, this day would have proved to be a good teacher! During our two hours in residence we experienced rain, sleet, hail, snow, blustery winds, and sunshine. Where I was standing to take the shot is a few feet above 18K. It was the 26th of June, with more than 3/4 of the road still under several feet of snow!! This is straight from the camera. Waiting Out the Precipitation Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; 1/1250 sec @ f /11.