Colorado Trip

I just got home from a trip to Ft. Collins, Colorado. I was there with the Explorers for the National Competition. We were able to get some sightseeing in between competition events. This was my first rip to Colorado and it wasn't a disappointment! Of course the camera was with me and I banged off about 750 shots. Some were to capture the history of the Explorer events, some were tourist shots and then a few more were a little artsy, like this one of the fence. You see these all over the place. This one happen to be in one of the many National Parks.

Another shot I liked was this old oak tree that was dying. The neat part was that it had grown right up next to a huge rock formation. I decided to make this one into a Black & White shot. I'm thinking of matting it in a white matte and black frame for my wall.

As we were heading up into the Rocky Mountains, I spotted this Fly Fisherman in the river. Luckily there was a place to pull over a get a few shots. He paid us no never mind and just kept fishing. This was when I was wishing I had a tripod. I managed to prop my camera on a guard rail and I fired off a couple of images were I slowed down the shutter speed to about a 10th of a second. This makes for a nice effect with moving water. It gives the water a silky look. I was happy with the image I got and so we moved on higher and higher. Every few minutes we would notice the thermometer dropping a degree from the 95 reading we started out with. As we got to the 2 miles above sea level mark, we came upon some traffic congestion, which is not real good on a 2 lane mountain road! The uproar? A big area of snow with a small herd of Elk walking around. They didn't seem to mind us, and just walked around grazing and eating snow...a way they get water. I have some other images that the Elk's head filled the entire frame. Although they came pretty close to us, it is against federal law to try to touch them in the National Park. However, I found out that there are actual Elk Farms that raise Elk like cattle. As a matter of fact, when we came down from the mountains, we stopped for some dinner in a local eatery and I had an "Elk Burger"! Pretty good too...very lean. Anyway, as we continued to drive we kept seeing left over snow banks and it was now fluctuating from 55 to 47 degrees. Some of the guys decided that wanted to have a snowball fight and we let them have at it. It was funny to see a couple of them who have never seen snow, come beat feeting it out of the snow bank saying, "I can't feel my fingers!"

We were hoping to spot some of the Big Horn Sheep that live in the area, but a guide told us that at this time of the year, most of the herds are in the higher elevation where there are no roads. We did spot a couple of Deer. They would be standing right on the side of the road. One was only 10 feet from one of our vehicles, looking right into the passenger window. The only other wild life we got close to were some Chipmunks. So after the trip into the gift shop at the peak of one of the summits, we drove on and stopped for a photo-op, at the marker for the "Continental Divide". Then we turned around and headed back the way we came. We didn't get back to Ft. Collins until almost midnight and I was tired and ready for bed.

The next day was the awards presentation. We were there with our defending champion in the 9mm pistol competition. Unfortunately, he did not repeat this time. Ryan did however, win first place for 9mm Rapid Fire. That is, 5 shots in 10 seconds (done twice) at 25 yards into a bulls eye target. He also took 1st in the Nation for .177 cal Air Pistol. Another one of our team, Johnny, took 2nd place in 9mm Rapid Fire and yet another, Chris, was inducted in the National Top 20 shooters. So not a bad showing. In some of my next posts, I will highlight a few more images.

So until next time....c-ya!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

Just thought I would drop in to post a Happy Fourth to everyone. I hope in this day and age that we have our eyes wide open and remember that this day marks the most important day in our lives. Without this single day, We the people, may not have become Americans. We would not enjoy a vast and beautiful country that we can freely travel at any time we choose. We can post our blogs and write our papers in a manner that so many others all over the world can not. So Happy Birthday America!

I spent the day doing two of my favorite things...riding the motorcycle and taking photographs. I rode up to a community north of Tampa called Zephyrhills. It's the place that Zephyrhills Bottled Water comes from. I went there because some friends told me about a new Bar-B-Que place there on US 301. US 301 is a virtual ant trail for bikers. So I stopped in and tried them out. They have only been open for 3 days. I think before I hit them with the Mikey Review, I will let them get up and running a little more. Right now I don't think I would give them more than a "2-wheels" score. Then it was back to Tampa and load up the truck with camera gear so when it got dark, I would be set up for the big fireworks display in the Channelside District of downtown Tampa. I had a little problem with finding a good vantage point. I wanted to shoot from the Port of Tampa, just a little to the left and behind the main body of fireworks. I got down there a couple hours early, however, the new Homeland Security Laws will not let you take photos in the port area. I really wanted to get more of the downtown skyline in the shot. So, I scouted out a new spot that I will keep under my hat for now. It worked out pretty well and let me get a little elevated allowing me to get a different view than the thousands of people that packed into downtown. If you look closely, look from the left of the image and just above the main cluster, there is a burst that looks like a red daisy. It was incredible...I have never seen that type before. I really needed this photo shoot. I don't have any fireworks images in my stock and I have had several calls for them in photo layouts I have done. So now, I have a pretty good start with some nice images. There is a little trick(s) to shooting fireworks. If you really want some good stuff, you have got to have a tri-pod. Next is a cable release or remote trigger. Then some basic knowledge of photography in order to set your camera up for fireworks. I used my Canon 30d with a Tamron 28-85 zoom lens. It's a 2.8 lens, but that really doesn't matter when taking long exposures. I set the camera on manual, including the focus. I set my aperture to 5.6. The shutter speed was set to bulb so I could control the shutter with the remote trigger, usually 1-2 second exposures. Oh yeah, and I shot at an ISO of 125. Easy, right? Until next time...... cya!

A Bit of Cool Things!

I mentioned in my last blog entry about Washington DC. Well, I was going through some of the images I shot and a couple stood out. The first one is of a New York State Trooper and his K9 partner. The trooper was in Washington for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial to pay respect for a close friend and fellow trooper who was killed in the line of duty. As an old K9 officer myself, the German Shepard caught my eye right away, and coupled with the troopers standing tall awaiting their fellow officers name to be called out, I snapped this shot.

As darkness fell on the Police Memorial, thousands upon thousands of police officers stood around the wall of thousands more officers whose names are engraved in stone. The throng surrounding those seated in folding chairs in front of the stage known to us are as "The Survivors". These were the families...wives, husbands, mothers & Fathers, children of the officers slain in the line of duty in 2007. I pondered in my mind the two other times I attended the Memorial, and thought to myself, it's getting bigger. More men & women called to service of protecting our communities are giving the ultimate sacrifice. As the night fell, a thin blue laser beam went from the stage into the night representing the "Thin Blue Line". Everyone was issued a candle and as the first candle was lit, each person turned and lit the candle of the person next to them. We are all fellow brothers and sisters under the badge. As I walked through the shoulder to shoulder crowd, I saw this young boy. His Father is a Nevada State Trooper and he and his entire family made the trip to the Memorial for the first time. The innocence in this little boy's eyes somehow gave me a feeling of hope. Maybe he will be the one that stops the violence in the night. It brought to mind this quote... "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf" -George Orwell, 1903-1950

On another note: I did a photo session today for the local bike magazine I work with called Go For A Ride, (GoFAR). It will be next month's cover and is of a remarkable teenager and his little brother. They not only work at their Dad's motorcycle salvage yard, they build bikes. Joey's latest creation...a bike frame constructed of chain link! The welded chain completely replaces the tube style frame. Joey scoffs at people that don't think the chain-frame can hold up. In fact he has been riding this one for some time. He may be one of those big shot chopper builders with his own TV show before to long. I'll write more about him soon. Until next time....be safe and......cya!