Tranquility

Another Quatse lake picture. Each and every day, 365 days a year for the past 20 years I drive up to the lake as part of my job as the water and sewer systems operator for the little town where I live. The lake is behind a locked gate and I always have the place to myself. What a priviledge, and I get paid to do it! No two days are the same and you just never know what you'll see.

WORLDS APART

Don't know why, But I like this Pic!

Trusty deckhand

Sunny my trusty deckhand keeping an eye on things as we make our way around Quatsino Sound.

Took this shot with the Sigma 10-20, only way to get this much of my cramped little wheel house in the picture.

Cetacean

ce·ta·cean

Any of various aquatic, chiefly marine mammals of the order Cetacea, including the whales, dolphins, and porpoises, characterized by a nearly hairless body, anterior limbs modified into broad flippers, vestigial posterior limbs, and a flat notched tail.


Came across this Humpback Whale on my way back from Quatsino with the Landing Craft several days ago. Though not seen on a regular basis in this area they are known to make an appearance from time to time.

Had time permited I would like to have spent more time photographing this big fellow, regretably I was pressed for time and had to settle for a quick drive by shooting... Photos of opportunity!

Birds

Well, guys I'm running out of good quality photos to post in this blog. I'm not consider these photos for my collections, so I hope you enjoy looking at them.

I'm going to take some days off from this blog to explore the West in the next 13 days may be less, if I'm running out of gas. Hopefully I will have more photos for you guys when I return.

Aloha

Turtle Town

It's like a beach on Hawaii, there's only so much room!

After the fact

Well the heavy rain is done and the weather is much nicer but our little storm left quite

a few reminders of it's presence.

The top photo is a sink hole that just appeared in the middle of a parking lot and the bottom photo is a great big bite out of what used to be a nice grassy park. Note the 8" sewer line that used to run underground along the edge of the park... It will take many truck loads of material to fill this little washout!

These are just two examples of the many "reminders" left by our little rain storm!

FISH LADDER

There is an easy hike around French Lake which brings one to this scene. Built in the 1930's this fish ladder was built to let the Native Fish return to spawn in the Lake.

After spending $30,000.00 to build it ended in total failure!

The Refuge has never had a species of Native Fish to swim upstream to spawn!

Thank you Paul!

Everytime I put the wide angle lens on the camera I am glad I have it. Had it not been for Paul convincing me that this is something I really needed I still might not have this great lens. There's just no way to get these kinds of shots without a wide angle.

GAITORS

When hiking in Rattlesnake country some folks use Gaitors to protect from bites.

T.J. had seen a large Rattler the day before so decided it might be a Good Idea to wear his leg protectors!

Got a little rain last night...

270 mm or 10.6 inches of rain to be more exact. The lake we get our water from rose 4.5 feet overnight and came to within a couple of inches of the pumps which supply the water plant.

That's me standing in about 6 inches of water, normally the lake level is about 4 feet lower than this!

I'm running out of new photos for you guys, so these are from 2-3 years ago.
The top photo I think it was from around here in Dallas.
The bottom photo it was from San Diego Zoo.

RED DIRT ROAD

Follow this trail to Buzzards Roost. A famous Landmark in Oklahoma. If your Lucky you might find Good Fortune!

Ron loaned me his Sigma 10-20 for this Shot, I believe I was Lucky!

Blast of sunlight!

Don't very often see this so I took a picture... The sun was just burning through the fog several mornings ago and made this interesting display in the lingering fog as it shone through some Alder leaves.

What I Got

Well since Ron posted the photo of me taking a photo, I should at least show you what I ended up with. This is a Lake Lawtonka from the top of Mt. Scott. I was standing on a boulder with a 75 to 100 foot drop off. This is another photo taken with the panoramic setting on my camera.

Wave Rocks

I'm not sure I have post these photos or not. Please excuse me if I already done that.

Trying for just the right shot

This is my son Aaron trying for the best wide angle shot he could get. There's nothing like risking falling off a mountain to get the shot but he's young and still invincible. At least he thinks he is! LOL

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall

Took this picture a couple of mornings ago on the road up to Quatse Lake. I had to take a number of pictures to get the image on the camera to look like I was seeing with my eyes. After getting the light levels right I was able to get the color right by adjusting the white ballance to favor the warmer tones.

GREETINGS: FROM SPANISH CAVE

After a long climb, boulder hopping, and fighting brush, coming up the backside of Granite Mtn. we finally summited and broke over into Spanish Canyon. A short ways down on the north side is Spanish Cave with its southern view while the canyon continues easterly.

Believed to be Spanish because of three stained markings on cave wall depicting two crosses and a turtle or sun. Over the entrance is a rock formation appearing as an Angel or Butterfly. A good Omen?

Turtle and crosses are no longer visible but grafitti is prominent. Shady and cool with a smooth floor invites one to drop his pack, have a cool drink and enjoy lunch as T.J. is doing. Ron was suppose to be hiking with us today but a swollen hand from two Wasp bites kept him at home.

My thanks to T.J. for being a most able guide and hiking buddy making it possible for me to mark Spanish Cave off my must visit hikes.

Looking to the east down Spanish Canyon from this high elevation where it flattens out, then into the foothills of the next Mtn. I have to think Ron for guiding me on another most enjoyable hike that we did earlier this year in this unique area.

Inflight.

Quatse sunrise

As the days get shorter I find myself up at Quatse Lake to meet the sunrise these last few days. I took this shot at 10mm with the Sigma 10-20 this morning.

My First Post

Well there are a few flowers still hanging on out there, well at least in my neighbor's flower pot. Just though i would post something simple for my first post. I took this photo with Fujifilm Finepix S1500. Any feedback on the photo would be greatly appreciated.

The gym? What's that??

Can a prairie dog be a couch potato?

I shot this with the Sigma 150-500mm lens, hand held.

Muscle of Art!

Red Dirt.

Morning mist

Except for the sound of a Loon in the distance it was quiet, deathly quiet up at Quatse Lake this morning. A perfect morning for fishing... Too bad I had to go to work! LOL

A Re-do

Quyhn suggested I try this shot in black and white so I did. It was a very good call on his part. I think this looks a lot better in black and white. I need to remember to try this more often!

I used Capture NX to convert it to black and white and then used the tonal contrast in efex filters to bring it out a little more.

On Vacation

Parker may be on vacation but I'm trying to make sure he doesn't get soft while he's here!

We took a little hike the other day into one of the areas where they had a controlled burn a few weeks ago. It was the best time to go because we could actually see what was on the ground.

The burn left a interesting looking area.

Bodie Town CA.