Moonrise over San Antonio

As I mentioned in my previous posting, I will still be dropping in here occasionally to share photos from time to time. Here is a photo I took tonight of the moon rising over the San Antonio Cathedral near the Alamo in San Antonio, TX. I had to take a few shots to get the moon at just the right angle and to have the flag fluttering in the right direction. I happen to think this turned out pretty well. Hopefully you think the same.

FWIW...

Three Views of a Meadow

Finishing off the week with a post that takes three different looks at the same meadow in Yosemite National Park. Part of the reason for doing this is to show you that you should try to look at other ways of looking at the same image when you're out taking pictures. In other words, try different angles or orientations. Generally you'll run out of time before you run out of storage media (and if you're having a problem with that, you should really get another card). So experimentation should be the order of the day. But also I'm trying to point out how time of year affects your picture options. In the rock formation in

the background of the first image, you can see an area that appears to be "stained". That is where, in the spring, you would see Yosemite Falls. The grass and flowers wouldn't be quite as prominent, and you'd be much more likely to center the image on the impressive fall of water. Here in late summer, though, the flow has become a trickle, and so the meadow itself takes over as the feature that draws the eye.

In the first image and this one, I'm also using the footpath to both add a visual accent to the picture, and to draw the viewers eye across the landscape to get them (you) to look at the entire image.

Finally, in the third picture, I was walking down the footpath, and turned to get an image that was just the natural setting by itself. Again, same meadow, but now with a bit of a different look, and possibly even a different meaning to the viewer.

Notice how the "grain" of the grass, i.e. the way it naturally leans, causes the grasses here to look a bit greener and fuller than in the other images. Also how getting the sun a bit more "over the shoulder" makes the sky look a bit more blue too.

Hope you enjoyed this week of photos!

The Sheer Power of Stone

This is a fairly zoomed in look at what I believe was El Capitan - although I did not remember to get a picture of the identifying sign.

Regardless, I was intrigued by the blocky textures and earth tones that were displayed by this outcropping. It certainly serves to explain the draw of this park.

Of course you can also see why Black and White photos from here tend to be so powerful. You are then emphasizing the geometries and the differences in contrast rather than the more subtle differences in color.

Down By The River Side - Yosemite

As promised, a much closer look at the Merced River - one of the two major rivers that run through Yosemite. The highlights in the background are a bit overexposed due to my wanting to bring out the detail in the natural framing of the weeds and willows here. I suppose this would have been a good place to experiment with creating an HDR image. Just that I don't like to mess with my photos quite that much.

Tomorrow, we get a little closer to the main portion of the park.

Welcome to Yosemite National Park - After Driving a Few Miles

Here is one of the first images I took at Yosemite National Park. You drive for a few miles when you first get into the park before you see any of the stone features that the park is known for. Sort of like Sequoia National Park as far as that goes.

Below you can see some of the trees that follow along the river that is also partly visible. We'll get a closer look at that tomorrow!

Two Last Shots of the Giants

To finish off the week, here are two more photos of some of the giants from Sequoia National Park.

Next week we move a little further south to spend some time at Yosemite National Park.

Quick Post - Pictures of a Possum in a Tree (My Tree, not My Possum)

Took the dog out before calling it a night, and the dog kept acting like he wanted to go up the tree. Then I saw why, and brought out the trusty camera and a flash to catch the perp in the act. Thought y'all might enjoy a quick look...

Giant Forest Museum and The Sentinel

I like this photo of the Giant Forest Museum which is next to a tree called "The Sentinel". Mainly because it helps give a real sense of the size of these trees to see people and buildings right next to one. Of course with the wood in that particular tree, you could rebuild that museum about 4 times over... and have enough left to build the fence again too :-)

Those are some BIG Trees

Of course, what Sequoia is most known for are the BIG (Huge, Gigantic, Titanic, etc) trees. In these two photos I've tried to convey a sense of just how tall these trees really are.

As you might notice, the first picture is from behind the two trees, while the second is from in between them. In fact, the second photo might give you a little twinge of Vertigo if you're susceptible to such.

You don't get TOO much of a sense of solitude since you are constantly trying to avoid all the other visitors who are also gawking at the trees. But you certainly get a full sense of the majesty of these huge creations.

Free Windows 7 Themepack

Don't say I never gave you something for free :-)

For those of you already on Windows 7, or who are looking to upgrade, I've created a free Windows 7 Theme with a slideshow background of pictures from around the San Antonio Riverwalk. You can DL the file from:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U7YF1IK6

Once it's DL'd, you should be able to double-click it and have Win 7 automatically add it to the list of Themes you can choose from with the "Personalize" option from the Desktop.

Hope y'all like it!

Moon Just Above the Trees

It may be a little hard to see at this size, but if you look in the top center of this photo, there's a shot of the moon at mid-day just above the trees growing on this steep hillside.

Ideally I would have been there about an hour later when the moon would have been a little closer to the treeline, but then I may have had a little more problem getting a good focus on both.

I was also interested at how many folks walked by, looked to see what I was shooting, and then kept walking. Don't know if they didn't see the moon, or didn't realize that this wasn't a photo you could take just any day.

This Week - Sequoia National Park

As promised, this week begins the California leg of my trip. These first two pictures are of the Kaweah River as it passes through Sequoia National Park. The trees themselves are rather high up in the Sierra's, so you have a nice drive winding up to where they are.

Because it's such a hydrologically active area, there are actually a number of caves in the park. None of which I had time to visit, unfortunately.

In the meantime, enjoy these couple of pictures, and come back tomorrow for a picture of a rare alignment I was fortunate enough to catch on "film".

On the Road from Arizona to California

We've finished another week, and this is a picture of a rather interesting formation on the road somewhere between Arizona and California. It's a pity the Panasonic doesn't have a GPS chip for Geo-tagging.

In any event, I thought it was interesting how the clay wall appears to have been scraped, and the different colors of the various sediment layers exposed.

If you like what you've seen here, remember that this site runs on the "Public Radio" model. As long as folks are willing to support my work, I can keep sharing it with everyone. If you can afford to, please visit the Donations page and give. If you can't give money, please at least add a link to the site from your blog or Facebook page to help get the word out.

Until Monday, have a great weekend!

Mountain Goat and How the Trail Got My Goat

Here was another Mountain Goat actually walking up the trail. Evidently it got tired of going up the sides of the steep canyon walls, and wasn't scared enough of humans to care.

I'd suggest skipping the rest of this story if you've just eaten, or are getting ready to eat. It wasn't "pretty", and there's a reason why this is my last shot from the Grand Canyon.

I did take a number of photos on the rest of the way down, but they got increasingly "shaky" as I evidently began to get more tired than I realized. Fortunately I noticed I was doing this when I got to the Bathroom and Shelter at the 3.2 mile mark.

Generally when I hike, I'm going on the flat (mostly) or uphill (mostly). And so I can hike until I start to feel a little tired, and be sure that I can turn around and have enough energy to retrace my steps. It seems silly to say this, but having had that ALWAYS work, it didn't occur to me to think that was a bad strategy this time. I had walked about two miles along the Rim Trail (mainly flat) and 3 miles or so down the Bright Angel Trail. I still had a bottle and a half of fluid, and given that it had taken me only about an hour and 15 minutes to do all that, I figured it might take me two hours to go back up. Instead it was nearly three hours to go back just the three miles to the top of the trail. I got to the point about midway up where I really considered trying to get far enough off the trail to take a short nap in the hopes I would get enough energy back to make it the rest of the way.

Fortunately, I managed to conjure up enough strength, and had enough fluid, to make it back to the area of shops and restaurants at the top of the trail. Because I had done the last quarter mile without any fluid, I went to the nearest stand, and bought a large cup, filled it with ice, and then poured a diet coke over it.

This is your last warning, if you read past here and get nauseated, well, I tried to warn you.

I had heard that you had to be careful watering horses after a long run, and so did my best to sip the diet coke. I made myself take almost 15 minutes to drink it, and since I started to feel better, got up and started walking to where I could catch a shuttle bus to carry me back to my starting point. I at least realized that trying to walk the remaining two miles would be madness. I started to feel a little odd when I got on the bus, but convinced myself it would pass.

Unfortunately, the combination of the fatigue, the diet coke, and the sudden hydration was too much for my stomach. The shuttle was between stops, and there was no way to indicate you wanted to stop. So as I realized I was going to throw up, I also realized what I had to do. I clenched my teeth, and then forced myself to swallow it back down. It had been long enough since I'd eaten that I only had diet coke in my system, and if you've ever had a flat diet coke, well that's what this tasted like. A little syrupy and no fizz, but not that bad. A couple minutes went by, and I actually started to think I was pretty smart. My stomach would not be so easily convinced, however, and decided to make another attempt. I gritted my teeth, and again forced it all back down. This time it tasted like battery acid with a little syrup poured on top. The parking lot was coming into view, and I thought I might actually make it out of the bus and into the bushes when my stomach ambushed me. I tried to pull off the same trick a third time, but no such luck. So to avoid making a huge mess on the bus, I made sure I vomited on my shirt and pants - which soaked it all up pretty well.

The bus doors opened shortly thereafter, and I got out through the back doors. A quick look in the mirror let me know that I actually just looked as if I were really sweaty and dusty. So that the contents of my stomach hadn't changed my appearance enough to draw much attention.

The drive back to the hotel room was an hour with the AC on full blast. It was cold, but it kept the smell off of me, and out of the car. I was never so happy to take a shower in my life.

Tomorrow, it's back on the road again!

A Montage of Mammals

Saw a couple of squirrels and some Mountain Goats on the trail as I hiked down. Also ran into some mules, but since they had riders, taking photos was "discouraged".

One last shot from the Grand Canyon tomorrow, and a bit of a story of the rest of my experience on the Bright Angel Trail.

Sometimes the easiest way around is through

Here, and in one other place on the trail, the original folks who set it up decided it was better/safer to just go through the rock. Kind of makes for a nice "entry" point to the more serious section of the trail. Plus you'll notice there was already a smaller hole to the right.

Where Our Photographer Decides How Far is TOO Far

So, I convinced myself to walk to the end of the rock, and took this picture. I also took some pictures looking down, but to be honest they weren't all that interesting. I would have had to be willing to lean out over the rock to get something much more dramatic, and there's enough shaking in the next couple pictures I took from the camera to realize that even if I had done so, I probably wouldn't have been able to use the end result.

Next week is the last set of photos from the Grand Canyon, and the start of the next leg of the trip!

A Rocky Projection from the Trail

At this point, I'm far enough along the Rim Trail that I can look back at where I took Monday's picture from. In front of me, as you can tell, is a rock outcropping extending out a fair bit from the edge of the Rim. What do you suppose will happen?

Tune in tomorrow to see!

Picture of the Bright Angel Trail - A Hint of Things to Come

At this point I was continuing the hike along the Rim Trail, and came to a point where I could overlook the Bright Angel Trail. That is the same trail that is used by Mules to carry tourists all the way down to the Lodge that is on the river. The twisting trail is less for the benefit of the sure-footed Mules than it is for the Humans who also make their way up and down the trail.

There will be a lot of pictures from that trail next week.

Stark Relief - A tree at the Grand Canyon

Of course the Grand Canyon is more than just the canyon itself. There are the plants and animals that are part of the park as well.

In this photo, I was intrigued by the way the "skeleton" of this tree remained, seemingly reaching up to the sky. The colors near the trunk giving way to a bone gray in the branches. And behind the tree, a partly cloudy sky with the clouds seeming to caress what had been left behind.

That's what I saw, anyway.