Skagit Eagle trip

A few weeks ago, Alan and I got up at 430 and drove about 3 hours to the skagit river area where the eagles come every year to feast on salmon returning to spawn. We were not able to get there during the peak time, due to my work schedule, and some very wet days. However we managed to see more than 20 eagles.

While we saw over 20 eagles that day, we did not get any great photos, they were just too far away, and my camera was just not good enough to capture good clear photos. Makes one rethink the camera they have and thoughts of a new one are there.

Alan poses like his neices do for photos....what a funny guy!

The last three are just some pretty things we saw along the road.
Maybe next year, we will have gotten a better camera with better zoom and telephoto lens and luck out with the eagle sightings.

photos from fall

While looking for something to post, I realized most of my photos are on my external hard drive. I did not feel like digging it out of storage, because it is on a high shelf that I cannot reach and did not want the boy to laugh at me while trying to get it myself. Of course, I could have asked for his help because he is a tall boy, but I am too stubborn. I found some photos I have been meaning to post for a while. They are from our fall Colorado mountain pass tour of the aspens. I think the cows are particularly cute!

Mt. Rainier NP

After it started snowing in Glacier NP, we headed west to Crater Lake. Once there, we decided to head up to Washington and see Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Rainer. It was typical coastal weather for that area, very cloudy and overcast. Mt. St. Helens was a pretty much complete washout as once we got to the lookout, we were unable to see anything due to the complete cloud cover. We could not hang out for hours waiting for the clouds to clear, so we left for Mt. Rainier. On the way down the mountain we got to see Mt. St. Helens without cloud cover. We had high hopes for a clear Mt. Rainer. We were disappointed at first. Upon entering the park, we could only see parts of the mountain, and lots of clouds. It was upsetting, however we decided to head to the western part of the park anyways. Once we headed west, the skies opened up and we finally got a clear view of Mt. Rainier. Of course, the photos do not due it justice, it is a very majestic mountain!

Panoramic Park Photos

On the most recent road trip, I took a several panoramic photos and have enjoyed them immensely. These are some of my favorites. The first and third ones are of the Grand Tetons. The second is of Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park. The first one was taken not too long after sunrise, and the other two were sunrise photos. It is so hard to get up so early when it is cold and there is snow on the tent, but totally worth it. I have more to share, I just took way too many photos!

River Road

I had no clue as to how to start blogging on this incredible trip, so I asked Alan and he said to start from the beginning. So here are a few photos from River Road, a road outside of Moab, Utah, that is sort of the back way into town, but a very scenic drive. It includes the Dewey Recreational area. It is definitely worth the extra time and miles for this trip. The views include some amazing cliff sides with some serious red rocks, and we were lucky enough to find some wildflowers.

SPS Paint Mines

As promised, the paint mines....aren't they pretty?

As the Sun Rises

When on my recent southern Utah trip, I would get up before the sun rose to try to find the perfect spot for the colors of sunrise. I didn't always make it, but still manged to get some great sky shots before the first rays of light hit the earth or right after they started lighting up the sky. These are from Canyonlands, and Bryce Canyon. The first and last are from Bryce. The second one is from Canyonlands, I found it very cool that the sun reflected off a small area of water in the canyon, and it was incredibly bright. The third is from the road to Canyonlands, well before dawn, the moon was out and glowing in the sky. I think these are some of my favorites, because I felt like I was the only one awake to see the world. I was often the only person around, and I felt like the world was waking up just for me. I know it sounds silly, but in that moment, I knew the world was showing off for me just a little!

Trees of the trip!

I really enjoy uniquely shaped trees. I found many such trees on my recent southern Utah trip. I decided to share my favorites. The first is from Canyonlands NP, on the trail up to Upheaval Dome that ended so funnily. The next one is from Natural Bridges NM when the sun was still rising in the sky and I was on a trail to see one of the bridges. Lastly, a very cool tree from Mesa Verde, just off one of the pull offs.

Which one is your favorite? and why?

My favorite park! :)

I love hoodoos! Bryce Canyon is the place to be for hoodoo lovers like me! I was there for sunset and sunrise and got some great effects with the cooperation from the sunlight. I played a lot more with panoramic photos. They are becoming more fun. The second photo is a combination of 4 photos at sunrise.

I love this place so much I took over a 700 photos. How sad is that?

Change in plans...again!

I did not take a single photo today. I sat in a car repair place from 8 am until 6 pm, minus an hour or so eating/reading at Denny's. I have decided that New Mexico and my Jeeps do not go well together at all. Every time I take a jeep into New Mexico, something bad happens to it. I lost an entire day and had to drastically change my plans for tomorrow. I am FINALLY in Utah! I skipped several smaller lesser known places I had planned on going to today. Perhaps, I will make my return to the area soon.


However, I couldn't not post a photo. So today's photo is from Mesa Verde NP. This can be seen directly after turning into the park. I thought the snow and sky made it look super majestic.

Sunrise from my balcony

This morning I woke up incredibly early. I think I am still running on Eastern Standard Time. However, I did get to see the sunrise this morning and it was totally worth it. I took these photos from my balcony with the wind whipping. If you look closely in the last two photos you will see the dirt from the blowing wind, it's not fog. You can also see what my apartment complex looks like.

How did we miss that?

While visiting my favorite person, Amy, we went to this little park that had some pretty neat views of the river. We were about to leave, when I looked over and saw this awesome tree. I wondered how we both missed seeing it when walking out to the viewing area. We were both drawn to this tree, and spent some time under and around it trying to find the best way to show off its uniqueness. I am going to try to convince Amy to post some of her photos as well. Be sure to check them out as well. Click here.

ASH and SAND, watch out world!

I am currently blogging from Ash's living room. We went a small riverside park near where she lives. There was a break in the sky just big enough for us to see the sunset through and the fog was coming up from the river making it a very majestic scene. I know the second picture is grainy, I has issues with the focus on my camera, I think the fog confused it a little. But I like it anyways, and decided it deserved a post. This will be the last ASH and SAND gathering for a while, until she comes to visit me in the great far west. They look much better in the smaller format.

I lied

I lied, I do have a picture to post today. It was taken this evening at sunset from the parking lot at Target with a well placed bush.

SNOW

I saw snow today...I saw snow today! woohoo! I saw snow today driving to work this morning. I am so excited to see some snow! I have been waiting for some good flaky snow to get some photos. Snow led me to think of Snowy Range in Wyoming, so I decided to post some shots from up there! I miss a good old fashion cold winter! I apologize for the quality, as they were film originally.

the validation continues....

Whenever I show people some of my photos, I always include these two shots, and without a doubt these are some of the the most loved. These were taken in Yosemite National park, and is of course Yosemite falls. I can' t really take all that much credit for them. I was photographing the falls in the "normal"way, when an older gentleman challenged me to get the falls and the reflection in the shot. So I tried...and then I photographed just the reflection which is the second picture. It is not an eye trick, its right side up.

I was in Borders last night, and my eye was drawn to the calendar section, I found a Yosemite calendar. To my surprise, I found a photo that was eerily similar to the first one posted. It had the bark of a tree off to the left side of the photo, instead of the right side like mine. It validated the stranger's great idea. Thank you, Stranger, because of you, I always look to get reflections and unique angles, anything but "normal"!