Daily Image - Apr 2021 Archive

08 Apr 21 It is never good when you get an early morning call. Today for us was one of those horrible days. Early this morning our Pastor's wife called to tell us he had been taken home to the Lord just a few minutes earlier. We were both in shock and Jan left immediately to go be with her. A few days before we started going to our little church, the current minister died suddenly. His replacement who promised to be with us for the long haul left us in a lurch less than a year later for a "better" offer. Pastor Savage and his wonderful bride Nita came shortly thereafter and they have been with us since. His sudden totally unexpected death this morning has left everyone very shaken; he was dearly loved by all. He was one who loved the outdoors with Yosemite and Alaska two of his favorite places which I can fully appreciate. He also was a marathon runner earlier in his life having run over 20 of them, something I can't understand. The entire time he was with us he suffered from EXTREME back pain but now he is finally free from it. It's been a struggle today dealing with this binary of a terrible loss for us but a wonderful victory for a race well run for him. As I thought about him today I wondered how best I could come up with a fitting image for him. Knowing his love of the outdoors and especially his love of the mountains, I thought that something with mountains and him looking down still tending to his flock might be fitting. This one is for you Ernie, my friend.

12 Apr 21 We now do a 180 and walk back to the parking lot. As we do we pass Grassy Spring. When we first visited this area it was literally a grassy section with a small spring than sorta ran through one edge of it; the boardwalk at that time went right over it and met with the section where the photographer was in the previous image. Today that direct section of the boardwalk has been removed and replaced with a new boardwalk that effectively does a 270 up, across, and down to circumscribe this now fully enveloped area. Before you could kneel down and actually touch the thermophiles but now you are prevented for doing so. Tomorrow we'll take a close-up look at them courtesy of a long lens. An interesting aspect of this location is the different colors of the critters. Keeping in mind that color is temperature related, one would expect everything is the same location such as this to be the same color, i.e. same temp . . . . . or at least that's how I perceive it. This is straight from the camera. Steadily Creeping Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

13 Apr 21 So today we take a closer look at a section from yesterday's image of the bacterial mat as it is called. The bacteria coat the travertine or grass substrate making for this almost other worldly looking landscape. It is very crusty - I'm not supposed to know that - and warm, but not really hot; with the water spread as thinly as you can see there is ample area for heat dissipation. The tree-like looking things are actually pieces of the tree branches that have fallen into the spring and the bacteria have grown on them as well. When you get up really close to them they resemble coral and if one didn't know better you just might think of them as such. Next time you visit the park give yourself some time to really study these interesting critters. All of the local bookstores in town, as well a the bookstores in the park, have several good texts on them plus there is a fair amount of cheap to free brochures you can pick up and read if you are not into book collecting. This is what the camera saw. Other Worldly Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/500 sec @ f / 9.

07 Apr 21 Change in the hot springs at Mammoth can be sudden and according to the literature at the trail heads for the springs, even overnight. I've not experienced such but I have seen it change dramatically over the course of a year. For those of you who don't save these images, which will be the vast majority of you, here is a link to how the shot I'm sharing today looked the year prior. I've seen some interesting changes over the years we've been visiting, but nothing so drastic as the change to Canary Spring in this one location. I was actually a bit shocked when I saw the difference between 2019 ans 2020 but this wasn't going to be the only change I saw on the trip. The image at the link was taken from a spot a few yards to the left of where I was standing for this shot but gives you basically the same area to view. Although it appears as though the spring has dried up, it hasn't; it has simply re-positioned itself about 100 feet to the right. Other than replacing a very boring bland sky, this is what the camera captured. Dried Up Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/2,500 sec @ f / 9.

06 Apr 21 We now start our tour of the Upper Terrace. Today's submission is just an overall view but it will serve to keep everything in perspective. The boardwalk for the area called Canary Spring starts at the near end of the parking lot, goes downhill some and then wraps around the entire area. It is a dead end path but one with much to show. You can see a portion of it at the far left that wraps around at the bottom of the screen and then continues on the right of the shot going behind that stand of evergreens descending steeply to the edge of the spring. For those of you who keep these images, dig out the ones I sent in 2019. When we first started visiting Yellowstone in the late 70s / early 80s the area to the right of the frame was just green grass. Over the years the spring has been moving downward now encompassing all that area that is red and/or blue. The white area above that red/blue area was covered in water and multi-colored the year prior. Looking at the boardwalk section with all the people, draw an imaginary triangle using both ends of the section and the small grouping of trees just below the golden looking ledge. In 2019 the entire area as well as that on the other side of that section of boardwalk was flowing with water and brightly colored. All this change occurred between Sept 2019 and 2020. It is a very dynamic area. We'll be looking closely at what has transpired in the next several mailings. This is what the camera captured. The Big Picture Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1250 sec @ f / 9.

14 Apr 21 Those of you who pay attention to my constant ramblings on about YNP know that my favorite location in the park is at Mammoth Hot Springs, on the Upper Terrace complex, and is called Orange Mound. Some of you may even recall a mailing from 2007 where I shared a shot of this feature that I had taken that fall that was printed in a major nature magazine; only it was an identical image taken by another! But it made me feel good that an identical image had made it into print. I've been following this beautiful mound of rock ever since. Last fall I was totally shocked when I visited it. Almost all of the color was gone, there was close to no water flowing out of it, and it looked like it had almost died. It was sad!!! I took maybe 10% of the pictures I would have normally taken, and then moved on wondering what next would be as drastically different as this and Canary Spring. I wouldn't have to go far to find out but that's another mailing. If you save these mailing go look at those of Orange Mound from years past. If you don't, and you are curious, the blog holds many! I've cropped off the top of the shot that was just boring blue sky and brightened a section on the left (trees) that was in dark shadow. Otherwise, this is what the camera captured. Changed Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

15 Apr 21 We are going to skip two formations and move directly to the last show piece of the hot springs at Mammoth. The spot is called Angel Terrace but I can find nothing that explains the naming. It is always a stop for me whenever I visit but on the day I visited it last year it was truly over the top. The sky was clear, the evening light falling perfectly across the site, and the colors intense. Even better, the shadows provided for a cross "current" to the flowing waters and the mist in the background was at its best!! The light flowing down the travertine was playing off the waters and shadows perfectly balancing them making the terrace simply spectacular. I spent the better part of 30 minutes working the light as the setting sun was changing the scene constantly. For today's Theatrical Thursday submission I've simply converted to black and white with the intent of just presenting the vast majority of the location. For those of you who like to dissect these images there are at least four distinct bodies of water flowing in the frame. Subsequent mailings will deal with the colors and water effects. This is straight from the camera save for some slight cropping and obvious conversion to B & W. Pure Tone Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f / 9.

05 Apr 21 The subject for today is an example of how the springs look for the most part between the lower and upper terraces although there is a section above the location you are seeing for which I can't account that I've never been to so far. Goal for this next trip (26 Apr - 08 May), starting in 3 weeks, is to explore that section as there are a couple of named thermal activities located there so they must be worth seeing. The boardwalk on the right goes no further than what you can see in the shot and offers nothing more to experience than you can see from this location, just a LOT more of it. All of this section of the springs is currently inactive but that could change anytime. Tomorrow we'll reposition to the Upper Terrace and begin a tour of what is there. I much prefer the Upper Terrace to the Lower as the springs are far more accessible and of considerable more variety. For those of you who save these mailings you may want to dig up the previous mailings from the Upper Terrace to use for comparison with what I'll be sharing for the next week or so. Other than replacing the sky from later in the day when it was far more interesting, this is what the camera recorded. Midway Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1600 sec @ f / 9.

01 Apr 21 Yesterday we stood at the top of Palette Spring looking at the pool of water that is the source of the spring. Today we are looking once again at the face of Palette Spring but from a distance showing 2/3 of the entire spring. Starting at the far right of the image, if you move your eyes to the left to where you encounter the set of two dead trees, you will see where I was standing to take the shot I shared yesterday. Directly above that location you can see the boardwalk ascending taking us to the next layer which we'll explore next week. In this shot you should be able to easily recognize the volume of water pouring over the top of the spring. The entire face of the spring on both sides of those two dead trees is rapidly flowing water. Below the boardwalk where the people are standing the water comes back together and flows downhill toward the parking lot. Of note is that the water is flowing at a constant rate; when I took this shot it was running very fast but earlier on my walk, images I shared earlier, it was substantially slower. As always, timing is everything. The original was very contrasty so I had to balance the lighting considerably. Runneth Over Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 400; 1/2000 sec @ f / 9.

09 Apr 21 Several months back we happened upon a nearby location which provides for a nice view of the Olympics on a clear day. We have been frequently visiting it on days when it looks like it might offer a decent shot. About a week back we headed out to shoot the mountains and as we approached the location Jan mentioned that there was a grouping of one of my favorite plants blooming right next to the road. So after taking the mountain shots we drove back to that spot where I thought I'd try my luck with the grove of skunk cabbage. Seeing the number of plants in bloom, I foolishly left the sure footing of the road's shoulder and ventured out among the plants even while knowing their growing requirements as well as I do. It took just a few steps before I realized what a mistake that was as I found myself sinking down into the ooze with nothing available to keep me up or remove my feet from the sucking substrate. With some effort, a lot of luck, and fortunately not falling I made my way out with a few images to boot. So for today's Friday macro/close-up we are looking at one of those shots of a fully blossomed skunk cabbage in all its glory. I'd happily include a little smell to go with the image but haven't yet mastered the digital equivalent and scratch and sniff. Other than removing a fair amount of distracting elements, this is what the camera captured. At Attention Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 1,000, 1/80 sec @ f / 9.

02 Apr 21 Today's macro is a little different than anything I've shared before. One of my favorite photographers whose specialty is flower portraits talks of a style called "shooting through." In simple terms it just means letting something between you and the subject remain in place but substantially out of focus. You'll see this at the base of today's submission. I had two goals in this shot which were to display the fine hairs of the Pasque flower and its vibrant colors; in the process the flower had a visitor which just made for a nice point of interest. This is roughly a 5% section of the original shot so it is a significant magnification of the original. The actual flower is about the size of a U.$. quarter. With spring bursting out all around us, just taking a little time to sit still and watch offers lots of photographic opportunity. As I mentioned above, this is a just a tiny portion of the original shot. Otherwise, this is what the camera recorded. Sitting at the Table Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/320 sec @ f / 9.