Rocky Mountain Elk

Rocky Mountain Elk -- Grand Teton National Park, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 6400, f/5.6, 1/1600s

Thursday, July 9, 2015.  This would end up being an epic day.  We toured the Northern loop of Yellowstone for the first (and only so far) time.  We saw and photographed elk, deer, hawks, eagles. bison and grizzly bears along with many of the geographical features of the Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks.

This was the first animal I shot that day.  It was an elk (obviously) not too far from our campsite.  Jim was still sawing logs in his tent so I went for an early morning drive to see what I could see.  I was hoping for a moose or a grizzly bear, but I wasn't exactly disappointed by this elk.  Little did I know the grizzly bears would come later in the day.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, WY
Canon PowerShot SD770 IS

It was raining cats and dogs when we hit Mammoth Hot Springs last July.  I would have liked to have been able to spend a little more time to get some good shots, but as it was I couldn't even take the big camera out of its bag.

The Tetons

Grand Teton National Park, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/9, 1/80s, ISO: 100

This is what July looks like in Grand Teton National Park.  Doesn't look all that summery, does it?

Rocky Creek Bridge on Otter Crest Loop

Rocky Creek Bridge, Otter Crest Loop, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/6.3, 1/50s, ISO: 100

There's a Rocky Creek Bridge in California.  This isn't that bridge.  This is the Rocky Creek Bridge in Oregon near Depoe Bay.  It's also known as Ben Jones Bridge, but that name just isn't as poetic as Rocky Creek Bridge, so I'm not using it here.

There's a little pullout near this bridge beside a cove with a lot of rock/ocean drama going on when the sea is rough.  I'm no geologist, but these look like volcanic rocks to me.  You know, hardened lava?  I could easily be wrong.  Kind of cool to see this type of rock right up against the ocean.

If you're driving the Oregon Coast, don't miss Otter Crest Loop.  It has some of the best views you'll find along that drive.

Otter Crest Loop, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/9, 1/80s, ISO: 100

Otter Crest Loop, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/9, 1/80s, ISO: 100

Cape Kiwanda

Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, ISO: 100, f/9, 1/125s

Hiding in the Grass

Tule Elk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 5000

I took this picture late in the day last October at San Luis National Wildlife Refuge.  That place is hit or miss for elk photos.  I get killer shots on some trips, on others I get skunked.  Same with coyotes.  More often than not I don't see a coyote there, but I've had a couple of very nice opportunities as well.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 155, image #6326.

Psychedelic Ducks

Common Goldeneye -- Oakland/Alameda Estuary, Oakland, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/2000s, ISO: 1250

Sometimes it's not so much the birds as the reflections in the water that I find interesting in a photograph.

Common Goldeneye -- Oakland/Alameda Estuary, Oakland, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/2000s, ISO: 1000

Feeding Swallowtail

Pipevine Swallowtail -- Putah Creek, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 2500, f/5.6, 1/1600s

Another of many swallowtail shots from Saturday.  This is one of dozens of pipvines that I saw on that drive through the hills around Lake Berryessa and Napa Valley.  The wings are blurred by movement.

Pipevine Swallowtail

Pipevine Swallowtail -- Putah Creek, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/2000s, ISO: 3200

Moving on to the next flower.

I saw dozens of these butterflies yesterday near Lake Berryessa and the Napa River.  I think I saw one to a couple of dozen on very stop I made over roughly thirty miles.  Crazy.

Dressed for the Long Flight Home

Common Goldeneye -- Oakland/Alameda Estuary, Oakland, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 1000, f/5.6, 1/2000s

I saw a small flock of common goldeneyes hanging out under the Fruitvale Bridge this morning.  That's not exactly uncommon.  They looked different, though.  Scruffier.  Less colorful.

Compared to their winter plumage, they look like they've dressed down to their sweatpants in preparation for the long flight North.  The green on their head is gone and the sharp black and white lines have been replaced by brown head feathers and an almost mottled look on their back and wings.  We don't get to see this look much in California.  I'm guessing they are just about ready to fly away for the season.

Family Portrait

Stout Grove, Redwood National Park, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/4, 1/25s, ISO: 100

After a week of posting "easy" photos taken under a redwood canopy, here we have an example of a more difficult shot.  DXO has bailed me out a bit in post-processing, but the extreme difference between the light and dark sections are still evident.

This photo of my brother's family was shot a couple of years ago on a beautiful sunny day in the Stout Grove in Redwood National Park.  I joined my brother and his family for a couple of days of camping in Redwood National Park.  That was a fun trip.  There's a totally different vibe to the redwood groves in that park to what one experiences in Muir Woods.  I'm not going to try to explain that difference, at least not today.  Visit 'em both if you haven't experienced them, you won't regret it.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 154, image #7429.

One More from Sunday

Muir Woods National Monument, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/5.6, 8s, ISO: 100

Into the Woods

Muir Woods National Monument, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/5.6, 3s, ISO: 100

Muir Woods is one of those places where everyone seems to be taking photos.  I've found that it's a tough to get satisfactory photos there.  That's one of the reasons I only go when it's raining.  Besides thinning out the crowds a little, cloudy skies (or in Sunday's case a thick fog layer over the park) evens out the light.  Basically the entire place is dark rather than having some spots being dark with spots of bright light mixed in.  I was able to use a three second exposure here.  On a sunny day, the creek and path would have been lit up but the trees would have quickly disappeared into black.  Well, unless I overexposed the creek and path, that is.  Point being, this would have been a very difficult shot to pull off on a sunny day.  With the thick fog layer overhead, though, it was fairly simple.  This was the brightest spot and shortest exposure I used all day on Sunday.

The other thing rain does to Muir Woods is a bit more obvious.  It makes everything wet.  The place looks like a rain forest when it has been soaked by a good rain.  This might just be the Oregon native in me, but this is what I think a forest should look like.  Green.  Wet.  Big trees.  Water.  Salmon even spawn in that creek in winter.  So I've read, anyway, I've never witnessed any fish in the creek.  It's muddy because it's running high from the rain.  The water is often much clearer.

Big Trees

Muir Woods National Park, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/6.3, 10s, ISO: 100

If you like big trees, Muir Woods is a pretty nice place to go.  It's got a beautiful selection of old -growth redwoods.  These aren't the largest redwoods you can find, but they're big enough to drop a few jaws and the setting with redwood creek running through the valley is unbeatable.  The vegetation is more dense than what you'll find in some of the Northern groves which adds to the beauty on a wet day.

Redwood Creek

Muir Woods National Monument, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/7.1, 10s, ISO: 100

Redwood Creek runs through Muir Woods National Monument.  Signs along the creek said that Coho Salmon were spawning in the creek.  I didn't see any and it seems like a strange time of year for it but what do I know?

Surfing Fort Point

Fort Point National Historic Site, San Francisco, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/4, 1/640s, ISO: 160

I went to a screening of The Great Highway last night at Fort Mason.  It's a film directed by my friend Mark, narrated by my friend Jim and co-authored by the two of them.  They are two of the guys I've been doing recordings with over the last fifteen years or so and we had a couple songs in the movie.  It's a documentary about the history of surfing in San Francisco.

What a thrill.  The theater was packed and vocal.  It was exciting to see that they had captured something of cultural significance that would have otherwise probably been lost forever.  Cool, too, to hear the voices of gratitude afterward from the people who lived it.

The shadows being cast in this photo are from the Golden Gate Bridge.  I was thrilled when this guy rode the wave up into the sun and then turned back around for a descent into the shadows.  This is one from a series of nice shots I got of this particular ride.

Cliff Dwellers

Cliff Dwellers, AZ
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, ISO: 100, f/10, 1/200s

I read a story online once about a woman who's car broke down on a desert highway near some strange rock formations.  She liked the rocks so much she built a house around one and spent the rest of her days selling trinkets on the highway.

I don't know if that's a true story or not, but if so well then this must have been the house she built.

I don't blame her one bit.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 153, image #4937.

Sea Lions on the Rocks

California Sea Lion -- Yaquina Bay, Newport, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5, 1/1600s, ISO: 800

What this picture reminds me is just how close some of us live to wildlife.  Shoot, I live close to wildlife.  A pair of peregrine falcons have been nesting about a block from my house for a few years.  They're the fastest living things on the planet.  Can you imagine all that goes on under the water in this harbor?

I should learn how to scuba dive.

What Difference Do Tools Make?

California Sea Lion -- Newport, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 2000, f/5, 1/1000s

If you follow this blog you might be thinking to yourself that you've seen this photo before.  You haven't, but you've seen one very similar.  This is one of a series of shots I took of this particular sea lion.  The previous post can be seen here.

Why post such similar photos?  Well, I'm always reluctant to post photos on the road because I don't have my entire arsenal of post-processing software loaded on my laptop.  There's not much of a point.  My personal laptop's monitor isn't very good.  My work laptop has a fantastic retina monitor (it's a Mac) but it's my work laptop so I'm reluctant to use for anything other than a temporary back up for images if it's the only computer I'm traveling with (which is usually the case).  I can't really dive into the post-processing step until I get home, and a photo like this shows pretty clearly why I'd rather wait to post until I've gotten home rather than post on the road.

I've posted the original image below.  The difference between the two is striking.  The original is overexposed.  No problem, DXO OpticsPro 10 can take care of that.  Once that's corrected, it's still a bit drab.  DXO OpticsPro 10 to the rescue again.  Add a little microcontrast and a good cropping and it's ready to go.  Sometimes I need to pull out the big stick and beat the photo around in Photoshop.  On the road all I have is Picasa.  It's good in a pinch but not as powerful as what I have at home.

What's the point?  I dunno.  Post-processing is a huge part of photography.  It's half the fun.  In the old days of film, it was mostly just professionals and students who had access to the types of tools needed to do any sort of post processing.  Now it's available for free on the internet or for a small fee for some products and a larger fee for others.  I don't think I'd have ever gotten into photography if I had to work with film.

Backlit Hare

Black-tailed Jackrabbit -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 800

How often do you get a chance to take photos of a jackrabbit running straight toward you?

I can tell you how often it has happened for me.  I began shooting wildlife about four years ago.  I've photographed more jackrabbits than I can count.  I've got plenty of shots of them sitting in the grass.  I've got plenty of shots of their butts as they run away from me.  A week ago I had a first.  This hare didn't run away from me, instead he ran straight toward the car.  He ran straight toward the car while Pongo was hanging out the driver side window watching him!  I was able to take the best shots of a jackrabbit I've ever taken in spite of the fact that the sun was behind the hare.

Pongo didn't bark or try to jump out the window (I keep him on a long leash tied to a chair in the car just in case).  I've seen him confused before when wild animals have directly approached us.  I'm not sure if he was confused or just excited, but he bounced around a bit without losing his head and leaping after the jackrabbit.  He did a good job.

The Boneyard

Whalers' Cove, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

More like a few bones in the yard than an actual boneyard, I guess.  There's a little museum in Whalers' Cove about the history of whaling in the area (if I recall correctly) with these bones and a few others collected around the small building.

If you are in the Monterey area and you like outdoorsey stuff, don't miss hiking around Point Lobos.  There's a 5-6 mile trail that loops around the reserve.  It's a fairly easy hike for that distance.  The museum and these bones are right along that trail.  If the parking lot isn't full (it often is on weekends) you can also drive right down to the cove.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 152, image #9130.  That was my number from last week, I missed out on this week's selection.

Western Gray Squirrel

Western Gray Squirrel -- Salem, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, 1/1600s, f/5, ISO: 800

Squirrels are Pongo's sworn enemies, so he was delighted to find a large population in the neighborhood where my parents' live.  Not a walk went by during daylight hours where he didn't try to give chase.  My arm is sore from all the yanking on the leash.

I think they are cute.  Pongo assures me that they are little critters with the worst of intentions.

Harlequin Duck

Harlequin Duck -- Newport, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, 1/2000s, f/5.6, ISO: 800

I saw these beautiful birds out on the South Jetty in Newport on Sunday.  A small flock was sitting on the rocks until a large set of waves came in and forced them into the water.  Pongo and I were taking a little break from hospital visits with a morning/early afternoon drive down the coast.

California Sea Lion

California Sea Lion -- Newport, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, 1/1000s, f/5, ISO: 2000

The scene at the sea lion docks in Newport was absolute chaos, and yet this particular sea lion seemed to be sleeping through it all.  I don't know how with all the barking, lunging and growling going on.  The life of a local celebrity, I guess.

Canada Goose

Canada Goose -- Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, 1/1600s, f/5, ISO: 6400

A family emergency has yanked me out of my old, familiar routine and into Oregon.  Everything is going well so far as the family emergency is concerned.

I got a chance to get out a bit on Sunday.  Pongo and I headed out to the coast.  We drove from Pacific City to Newport taking pictures along the way.  I took the pictures, Pongo acted as navigator.  He's not very good at that but his heart is in the right place.