Santa Says

Ho Ho Ho! What do you know? It's time for the Christmas parade again.

Which means hard to get lit up moving subjects at night, and cold temperatures. Both came through! It was chilly, not cold. Low 30s and almost no wind. But parade lasted over an hour, and after standing around that long, it's COLD!

Starting off the parade was a thoroughly restored and tricked out old military Kaiser Jeep truck. With all kinds of modern upgrades. It was being raffled off for charity. I bought a ticket, but didn't win!

The National Guard always brings out this mini KC130 plane that's always lit up. Looks pretty good.

An old tow truck, just kind of different from many of the other entries in the parade.

A old Thunderbird with lots of lights. As always, getting a good shot of anything at night like this is tough because they are almost always moving. I had so many pictures that didn't turn out because they were a little too blurry.

One of the snowplows from the highway department. They always have blades that have been painted up by kids in the local schools with different scenes. This one turned out the best.

Wrapping up with a closeup of the ball they drop at the local news years celebration. A idea they got from the New York celebration I suspect.

All in all it was interesting. Lots of people, the weather was cool but not bad. Despite pushing the camera farther to get better pictures at night, I guess I still need to go farther! Eventually I'll get it. A newer camera would probably make it easier!

Electricity! That's the Ticket!

As in maybe I should get an electric assist mountain bike. I went out again, and took the MTB. Back to the same place I was hiking last week, and cycling at a month ago. Today I rode some, but not all of the trails I hiked last week.

First off, it has changed A LOT! Had some cold and very windy days this past week. Which are really good - for removing leaves from trees in the fall. And they did. Many of the bright and colorful areas a week ago are now nearly bare of leaves. I'm glad I got to see them when I did.

No wildlife sightings either. Bugger!

And I'm on the bike again. Same results as before. I can negotiate the trails (most of the time). Traverse the downhills, flats and small hills. But the big hills leave me wheezing for air. And wishing for an electric bike to drive me up the hills! It's fun, I can cover a lot more ground, but MAN does it get tiring after a while. Especially later in the day.

OK, enough whining. How about a few photos?

A small cluster of trees that still held on to its leaves. They were coming down today as I traveled around. But got a shot of the bike and the fall colors. That's got to be good for something. The color spots were a lot fewer and far between. So I got a lot fewer photos of it.

Recognize this? Look several posts back, about a month ago. Back then, there were a couple trees that were turning, and a bunch of green ones. Now, as you can see, it's pretty much all gone. How brief the season is...

Finishing off with another spot revisited. This is the third time I've shot this spot this season. Previously it was colorful, though had lost some leaves. Now its pretty much bare. Sigh. The fall color season for this year is pretty much over here. Guess it's time to find something else to take photos of! Hope you enjoyed the fall color photos at any rate.

Where the Wild Things Are...

Back for another weekend of hiking and photography. And, as it turns out, I got quite a bit more than just colorful trees today!

Just a squirrel. Nothing too special about that. Other than it was an indication of the day to come. The wildlife is about to get...bigger.

But you didn't think I'd forget about fall colors did you? Of course not! Here's a tall tree, lit up nicely with the sun shining through it. About as bright as the yellow can get!

Walked a trail I haven't been on in a while, but has lots of leafy trees. And lots of colorful spots. And this is the time of year to see them at their best. This is a 3 shot panorama, capturing some more beauty of the season. There's still tons of colorful spots, but there are more bare spots where leaves have all come down. So peak color may have just passed maybe this past week.

Now things are getting interesting. Walking along I never even noticed these deer until I was pretty close. But instead of running off they just sort of stood there looking at me. Considering it is hunting season, I figured they'd be a lot more skittish.

As interesting as the deer were, a couple hundred yards along the trail and I came upon something even more interesting...

A dark shape appeared ahead, I slowed down. And found a young moose in a little beaver pond. Another hiker with a dog was watching it also. I guess it got spooked, as it took off into the trees. But it went the way I was going. So I moved along quietly, and soon came upon -

The whole family! Two young moose (on the left being shy), Mom in the middle behind the tree, and Big Daddy behind her! Wow! That's the most moose I've ever seen out here. And I've never seen a whole family of them. They were a little ways away and watching me. But not too concerned. I watched for a little bit, snapped a few photos, then left them to their day. Pretty neat if I do say so myself!

How about a brightly colored cluster of leaves against a bright blue fall sky? I thought you'd like it!

All in all a fun day. The weather was pretty warm, the colors were still good, and the wildlife surprises were the best part of the day. Next weekend- I may go out. Depends on weather this time of year. Maybe I'll try the bike again.

Side note - yesterday was the Worldwide Photowalk event. Which I WON last year at my location (but didn't win in the main competition. I was robbed!) But there wasn't one this year in my city. So I went out on this hike instead. And considering how good the day was, I think I did better in my Photohike than any Photowalk!

Wintrex? Now?

It's a week (and a day) later. And I'm out for another hike. Gonna get ambitious today! Because the colors are popping. And I'm going to hit BOTH of the primary hiking spots in one day.

I had to wait till Sunday. Because on Friday night it got rather cold and rained in town. While in my hiking areas, there was Wintrex! Otherwise known as snow. Several inches of the nasty stuff! It took much of the day Saturday to warm up melt off. So off I went Sunday with warmer temps and camera at the ready. And expecting to still hit a little snow.

I wasn't disappointed.

Hitting the trails, still an inch of snow. Mostly just in shady areas now. The pathways were muddy. But the day warmed up quickly, and dried out quickly too. Then it was back to good old Fall Color Quest!

A nice little pond I've shot before. There are some bright colors, especially the trees on the left in this shot. Which I'm about to get a lot closer to!

Quite strong reds along with the orange and yellows. I didn't change the colors, that's how they looked. Not too many strong reds with the trees around here, so that was really nice to see!

Getting onto one of my favorite trails with lots of Aspens, I was glad to see I got here in time to capture some nice color before all the leaves come down.

Another spot along the same trail. The leaves were reddish-orange on these really tall Aspens. And looked great! I wish they would look like this a lot more of the year.

A panorama on my way out. I shot this area a couple weeks ago, in a prior post. This is a comparison for colors, which there certainly are more of now than then. Though in spots, the leaves are already gone!

OK, its getting later in the day, time to move on to the next location. Since I didn't have a lot of time I only visited briefly but still got a couple shots.

A silky smooth water pic, just for something different. A handheld (with the help of a large rock) time exposure. Turned out pretty well considering.

Another panorama. Best way to see more color at once. This one is made up of 4 separate photos. Probably close to a 180 degree view.

Well, late in the day, time to call it a day. Start planning next weekend. The colors are hanging around, so I'll be back to find something new again.

See ya then!

More But Different

After a week off, it was time to go out hiking again, but a different spot from last week. Wanted to give the fall colors a little more time to pop out.

And, it seems they did!

A nice shot of a large group of trees turning yellow, still somewhat greenish, framing a rocky hilltop.

A little HDR action of a marshy beaver pond. Makes the weedy masses just under the water really stand out. All murky and mysterious...

As I was hiking, somehow I got off the trail I usually take. And wound up on a different one, which among other things went past the remains of this small old cabin. It still had 4 walls, but no roof. There was a door inside, but it wasn't attached. All the log gaps were gooped up on the inside like it had been used sometime recently. Not sure. Kinda looked like someplace people would occasionally visit, maybe more in the past. There was a little garbage and assorted stuff laying about inside, amongst all the tall weeds.

See, its not all fall colors! Just liked the view of this rather large balanced rock. The left side looks a little like a face to me too. While it seems a really strong wind might knock it off, its probably more stuck there than it seems.

A nice grand vista of fall colors across the valley. Was quite a nice day, and quite colorful as well. This fall has been pretty good for colors and for them hanging around. Certainly better than last year. Get ready for next weekend, cause I'm heading out again!

Huff & Puff & Hike

Remember that mountain bike I bought last year? I've ridden it a lot on the Greenway paved path. As well as quite a bit on a off-road trails park here in town. But never in the actual mountains. Till now!

Nice warm day, went out to a favorite hiking spot. Where I have tried my other mountain bike ROB (Really Old Blue) in the past. But with no suspension, it was just to punishing for me. Now I have a full suspension bike, time to give it another go!

Here's a scenic overlook shot. Which I posted because off in the distance you can see a forest fire that just popped up today or last night. It was a bit windy, but they got the fire under control in another day or so so it didn't grow too much. That's good! All the grayish spots throughout the trees? Lots of dead pine trees. Too many.

Since it's early September, its a bit early for fall colors. This little meadow area is very green. But in a couple weeks the many tall aspens here will be in full color. That'll look great. I may come back for a hike then. Check out that bike in-situ!

Here's later in the day. This area is much less green, more dried out. But you can see a little fall color too. I saw bits of color, mostly in the smaller trees. So the colors are starting...

Here's a 3-shot panorama I took on the way out. Merged together in Photoshop. Still a lot of green (and dead trees too) without much color to see yet.

So how'd I do? Well, the bike and I both survived (other than a blister on the side of my thumb). The riding was certainly a lot better with suspension. That saved me a lot. I still had to go slow and careful in the rough/rocky/loose ground areas. Which there were plenty of. Climbs were my downfall. I just don't have the juice for long climbs on rough rocky uneven ground. I often had to get off and push the bike up many of the hills. Climbing is NOT my strong suit. Good thing I never wanted to be in the Tour de France. Or Pro mountain bike racing. Casual riding is my strong suit. Cause I'm a pretty casual guy I guess!

Eye In The Sky

Got back from a recent summer vacation trip. Took assorted photos along the way, but after looking at them, the only ones worth posting were sky photos with some interesting clouds and stormy weather.

They were pretty dramatic looking, and gave me some pretty interesting images. Some were shot HDR, some weren't. Ready to check them out? No? OK, I can wait....

Hmmm hmmm hmmm........

Now you're ready? OK, here they are!

A strong storm front rolled through, and had some pretty extreme sky conditions. There was some rain but mostly just a LOT of thunder and intense looking clouds. This one had some definite mammatus cloud formation going on.

A close up of another cloud. The clouds almost seemed to be boiling. The shape was constantly changing. Looked pretty menacing, and pretty amazing at the same time.

A colorful break between one set of clouds with another darker cloud moving in. This one is a little more dramatic with the HDR effect. Was a real busy, ever changing sky.

Some extreme colors as the day got later and the light got lower on the horizon.

Quite a dramatic day don't you think?

Super Sparkly!

Already it's July 4th. America's birthday. And about half way through the year.

Time to blow some expensive fireworks up!

The evening had some clouds and a brief rain shower but quickly cleared a couple hours before the show. Temp was in the low 70s with a light breeze - just enough to blow most of the smoke away. Pretty near perfect conditions for an explosive light show.

Starting off with an unusual looking one. Kind of looks like a face, or maybe a skull. Got a well-timed (lucky) capture here.

A big sparkly pair of bursts, nice purple and gold colors.

This one looks tropical to me. Like a big palm tree.

Another big burst, this one with another bright flash just starting in the middle. 

Another burst, this one made up of a lot of smaller explosions.

Finally, a little experiment. I shoot on a tripod for fireworks - you have to. During the time exposure I rocked the camera back and forth, which gave me the effect of the light source swaying around. I took several like this, with different degrees of success. This was one of the better ones.

Timing fireworks is probably harder than herding cats. It's best if you get your camera and tripod all set up before they start. Then just shoot non-stop without paying much attention, look at them after the show. You'll probably get plenty of good shots, a few awesome ones, and some throw aways. 

Have a Super Sparkly day...

See? More Things!

As mentioned previously, the next car show, only a few days later. Must be summertime.

Was actually a pretty nice day for a car show. Temps in 70s, not much wind and few clouds (till it rained later in the afternoon. When I was on my bike and had to hide in a tunnel for about 10 minutes.)

The event was moved to a parking lot this year. Gave it a lot more room. There seemed to be more cars this year too. Lots of the stuff you always see - the Camaros, the Mustangs, the 57 Chevys, Tuner cars, etc. Anymore, I look more for the lesser seen vehicles, or the neat or unique shot on the oft-seen ones. Anyway, lets look at a few shots.

What did I just say about Camaros? Anyway, this nose shot is of a 70 1/2 model, when they changed over to this new body style. A very Orangey Z28!

A 1960s Buick Riviera lowrider. Had a pretty elaborate paintjob, as lowriders often do. A lot of work went into this car.

The bed of a Chevy Cameo pickup from the late 50s. The beginnings of the smooth sided instead of the stepsided bed for pickup trucks. This one was mildly hot-rodded and looked really nice.

A very nice, shiny 30s Ford convertible. With a lot of updates and definitely looks like a fun car to go cruising in!

OK, now, it's time for one of my favorites - DHCBWOCHO! Or Dramatic High Contrast Black & White Old Car Hood Ornaments. One of the series I shoot randomly whenever the mood and opportunity strikes!

This is an old Autocar. It's a pickup, but it's been modified. Now it's a Rat-Rod, so everything looks kinda worn, rusty, beat up and cobbled together. 'Cause it's a rat rod! I like the hood ornament though.

This one is pretty rare. It's an old Durant Motors Star Four. A briefly produced car, meant to compete with Model T's. According to the paperwork in the window, I think only 13 of these cars are known to still exist. And it was in very good condition!

Finally, a Nash Ambassador Country Club from 1954. This car must have been the fanciest one you could buy from Nash. It seemed to have every badge and thing on it you could think of. A really classy car. With a pretty ornate and large chrome flying lady hood ornament!

Ok, I guess that... wait, what? Oh yeah. I guess we are coming up on another holiday. So perhaps one more in that spirit -

A rear panel view of the American Motors Rebel Machine. Showing the Red, White & Blue striping. Because ready or not - next up is July 4th! Fireworks inbound!