Critters

On the way through Titus Canyon I ran into this ornery critter. It was stretched out across the road sunning and I tried to coax it out of harms way. This only made it mad and it coiled up and started hissing.

Anybody know what type of snake this is?

(Nikon D60, ISO 110, 70 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec)
(Nikon D60, ISO 200, 2`0 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec)
Later I ran into a rather fat Desert Igauna that liked to pose for the camera.

(Nikon D60, ISO 200, 210 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec)
(Nikon D60, ISO 200, 210 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec)
The pupfish of Salt Creek seemed to be thriving. (If it can be considered thriving when your entire habitat consists of a single, small creek.) The males were vigorously defending the better nesting sites in the shallow water.

(Nikon D60, ISO 200, 70 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec)
(Nikon D60, ISO 200, 210 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec)
Finally on Dante's Peek I ran into a horned lizard that mugged for the camera. I didn't have my long lens with me and was surprised when it let me get about two feet away for this shot. Enough was enough when the next camera showed up and the lizard skittered away into the nearby shrubs.

(Nikon D60, ISO 200, 70 mm, f/5, 1/400 sec)
It was a good weekend in Death Valley and I haven't even gotten to the wildflowers yet. :^)

Fire Pit

A Day at Death Valley

Little Bee Blue

(Nikon D60, ISO 200, 70 mm, f/4.5, 1/320 sec)

(Nikon D60, ISO 200, 70 mm, f/5, 1/400 sec)

(Nikon D60, ISO 200, 70 mm, f/4.5, 1/200 sec)

At Scotty's Castle there was a bush buzzing with some unusual bees. They were a bit bigger than a large bumble bee. At first they looked to be black but when they would catch the sunlight they were a deep, metallic blue.

Moon Rock

(Nikon D70, ISO 400, 18mm, f 3.5, 30 sec)

My Death Valley excursion was a huge success. I'm still downloading pictures but the D70 only had a few images on it so I'll start with this one.

I stayed out on Racetrack Playa after dark to take some pictures of the moving rocks. This was shot with two off-camera strobes with Rosco gels held on with rubber bands. The intention was to light the rock with the blue and the tacks with the green.

Not being able to get a good preview of the images I took many shots varying the focus. I set the focus both close to capture the rock and far to resolve the stars. This was the best shot of the bunch even though it doesn't have many stars in the field of view. The exposure was a bit long as well so the stars have started to elongate.

The only editing on this picture was to crop it and adjust the sharpness a bit. With minimal work I should be able to bring out the mountains a bit more to add some impact to the image. I'm not sure what is causing the glow behind them. The view was to the south.

One thing I learned in this shoot is that I need to get some light stands. The strobes were too close to the ground and tended to be too hot in many cases.

Panorama

I took a drive to Colorado this weekend just to get this shot, luckily there was still snow on the ground. The size of this Stitch before I reduced it was 10451 x 3030.

I tried...

to stitch several photos together with PS photomerge but couldn't get it to work well enough to post.

Lake Mead Panorama

Mission Inn

This is a hotel that I stayed at in Riverside, Ca last weekend. If you've never seen it, I highly recommend checking it out. The hotel was originally built in 1876 as a 12 room boarding house.

It was added onto and changed owners several times which is why it has such an eclectic style. The hotel now has 7 restaurants, a spa, and hosts some of the most beautiful weddings you'll ever see. It has very strange passage ways to areas all over the hotel. I got lost several times while I was site seeing. It has been said that the hotel is haunted so I was a bit nervous when I saw the narrow passage ways.

Wildflower reminder

http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/ca_dv.html

Just a reminder... I'll be heading to Death Valley this weekend. It looks like this year's bloom is well established (see above link). I'll be heading up on Friday after work and staying until Sunday. Tentative plan (other than the wildflowers) is to head up to Racetrack Playa early Saturday afternoon in hopes of catching the sunset. I want to get up there a couple of hours before sunset to scout out the area and take some pictures. (And to allow time to get out if I decide the road is too bad to travel after dark.)

Everybody is welcome to come along for the whole trip or just for an afternoon.

Industrial City Center

Lizard

Machinery

Industrial

This is some weird stuff that I saw while I was passing through San Bernardino this weekend. I also saw a donkey standing nearby which I think would have really added to the weirdness but there was a scary man standing there too so I drove away quick :)

Industrial?

Stack Test

This is my first try at astrophotography (a Canon 5D attached to a telescope). According to the manual the effective focal length is 2000mm. The top two images (of Jupiter) turned into star trails. The star is ten 1 second images stacked and aligned in photoshop. There is a technique for getting rid of the camera noise (dark frame) which I'll experiment with on my next attempt.

Weekly ASSignment

China Date Farm

Tecopa California

Took a little road trip this weekend and did some hiking in Tecopa California.

PixelBlur

My dog is definitely crazy.

Dementia

I'm probably a little crazy

Busy Weekend

Cropped

Max Bean

Having some fun with my doggie Max Bean.

Shots From City Center

Painting in progress

My analogous color assignment turned into something else - it's many hours away from completion.

analogous color

Analogous Colors

Wildflowers

I'm hoping there will be a good wildflower bloom in Death Valley this year. There has been lots of rain and there is reportedly some good ground cover already. I'm shooting for the middle of April and will be going up for the weekend of the 17th and 18th. With that in mind I booked a room at the lovely Motel 6 for Friday and Saturday nights. It is close enough to Death Valley to gain quick access to the park and doesn't cost nearly as much as the hotels in the park. (Not to mention they are sold out anyway.)

Currently the plan is seek out the wildflower blooms the parched landscape. Perhaps a Kayaker or two will be out in Badwater for the chance to do some paddling nearly 300 feet bellow sea level. I would also like to hit Racetrack Playa and would love to be there for sunrise or sunset but that will depend on the road conditions. Perhaps a trip through Titus canyon might be in order as well. The plan is open at this point and the main points thus far are the wildflowers, sunrise/sunset and Racetrack Playa.

I'm posting a bit earlier this time and anybody is welcome to tag along for all or part of the weekend. I have room for three or drive yourself. Currently the only plans that would require an off road vehicle would be the Racetrack.

If you have been to Death Valley before the rare wildflower blooms are wonderful contrast. If you have never been there then you have been missing some truely unique sights.

And I can guarantee it will be a better time than my last trip through Death Valley:



=8^o

Azalea

The Assignment was childhood...Right? Just Childhood and nothing else...Right?

Childhood Memories

I started playing soccer in 1979...I played A LOT of soccer, well I still do :)