A Little Bird Told Me

Posted on June 3, 2012 by artsifrtsy

I have given myself a challenge this year, I want to practice shooting birds. It’s something outside of my comfort level as a photographer and I know if will make me technically better.

Last week I had chance to visit a sculpture garden in Grand Rapids Michigan. Of course as I stepped into the gardens the sculptures became the side dish as my focus was distracted by the hundreds of birds. I was particularly drawn to the wild canaries in the tropical garden. I have taken photos of my sisters pet canary and it has alway surprised me how something with tiny eyes and no lips can be so expressive….

Listening

Looking

Wondering

Thinking

Posed

Turned

Curious

Strait forward

Singing

Shouting

The Rock Tour

Posted on May 25, 2012 by artsifrtsy

As we crossed from Colorado to Nebraska to South Dakota and Wyoming it became clear. Karen and I were on a mission to look at a bunch of rocks. Before we hit the “rock-free” monument at Carhenge, we saw our first National Park Passport Stamp spot in the panhandle of Nebraska – Scott’s Bluff.

The Park has conveniently placed these 3 styles of covered wagons in front of the monument so each visitor can attempt to recreate the painting in the lobby of the visitors center. Pretty darned authentic if you ignore the plastic oxen.

This spot is littered with markings of the Oregon Trail. Unfortunately it is impossible to get a shot of the bluff without wagons in view. We arrived right at closing and talked the rangers into letting us get stamps and then we hit the trails to take these two images and several hundred shots of bunnies.

Day 2 of our drive was a rock bonanza – we got to Wind Cave where there were no rocks or formations above ground, but apparently there is a rather large hole in the rocks below. We got our stamp, checked the cave schedule and decided we needed to head to Jewel Cave because they were closing soon. We nearly ended up with a bison inside our car on the way out of the park and got to Jewel Cave in time for stamps and an elevator ride down 200 feet to the second largest cave in the US. We went inside the rock!

The elevator was a tight fit – about 25 of us in one small box.

This cave was discovered by a fellow who foolishly thought these were diamonds…

The ranger made a big deal of letting us know that you had to fit into a hole only 7 1/2 inches tall to explore the deepest recesses of the cave. Apparently he could fit in the space. He also let us know that the rangers don’t get paid to explore. He also told us that there was a mineral in the cave that could make your dryer explode if you got it on your clothes – this was a very effective strategy for getting us to keep our hands off the cave. I also decided to just throw the clothes I was wearing away, just in case.

This is a surveyors pin that was used to map the cave – apparently your GPS won’t work down here.

We knew we wanted to get to Rushmore, but I told Karen that I had seen a special on TV about Crazy Horse – it was on the way so we went there next.

Apparently Crazy Horses Head is so large that Mount Rushmore’s heads could fit into the section that will contain his face and war bonnet. This project has been in the works for over 60 years and has been spearheaded by one family – 10 drillers are working on it now. Could be another 60 years before it’s done.

This is a scale model of how the finished mountain will look – they are working on the finger now.

As we headed towards Rushmore, we saw a lot of cars pulled off – we thought we might finally see the elusive mountain goat – but no, it was just the side of George’s face…

We got to the park in time to get our stamps and take a seat for the flag ceremony. A ranger came out and talked about integrity. He told stories of unsung signers of the Declaration of Independence. One gave his entire fortune of 2 million dollars to the cause and eventually died in debtors prison with no regrets. Amazing! Another hid in the woods while the British searched his house. His sick wife died and his children were scattered – but he was safe in the woods ready to fight for the cause. He came home and died of a broken heart. Sad story, but I didn’t get the connection. Anyway, they showed a movie about the monument and got us in a really patriotic mood and then….

They light up that big rock!

We knew we would have to come back in the morning to get the stamp at the sculptors studio in the daylight.

In the studio you can see an early model – I think Jefferson looks a bit clingy. I’m kinda glad the rock wouldn’t support the extra appendages.

On the way back up I stopped at an open vantage point to get shots of the fab four.

George

Tom

Ted

Abe

Karen was nearly busted for leaving the trail – I snapped this in case I had to bail her out. The ranger was the only one we saw who was armed on our entire trip. Karen was risking her freedom to shoot this flower…

This is Nick Clifford – an original driller on the mountain. He started working at 17 on the mountain. He was recruited for the baseball team. I got his autograph in my Parks Passport as well as a baseball card – probably the coolest souvenir from the trip.

As we left Rushmore we headed west – towards another huge rock with some stops along the way…

Not much to look at when there are no bikers there.

Sundance, Wyoming – where the “Kid” got his name, and apparently the Jail is always open.

After a good nights sleep in a hotel with actual room keys we headed to Devil’s Tower – one HUGE rock.

Climbers

I’m relived that the passport station was not up there.

More climbers

From the western side.

After this there was only one rock left to see…Rocky Mountain National Park!

One off-duty ranger was taking his 1916 Model T around the summit loop – this car was 3 years older than the park.

Overlooking Forest Park Summit

Looking down on the top of the world

Frozen lake at over 12,000 feet

The Continental Divide 2000 feet below the summit

A frozen lake thaws at the Divide.

I think we managed to visit every large rock in 4 states, and we have the stamps to prove it!

Ancient American Mysteries – Carhenge

Posted on May 24, 2012 by artsifrtsy

As Karen and I sped across Nebraska hoping to find the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument we stumbled upon something truly special. Our GPS directed us to take something called “Cut Across Road” which doesn’t appear to exist. It was getting late so we decided to stop and the next town and call it a night. We hit Harriman, Nebraska at about 5 and asked at the gas station to see if anyone could help us find the park. Not only could they not help with directions, the gas station attendant let us know she had never heard of the park. She also let us know that she had no gas and that Harriman had no motels. We asked about the next town and she warned us that Crawford had even less to offer than Harriman, “There’s nothing there!”, she warned. “Go to Alliance!” We took her advice and trekked the 30 miles towards lodging, gas, and information. Once we hit town Karen thought we should cruise the town to check our options. We stopped for gas and I noticed a brown sign (all passport stamp seekers look for brown signs) that said “Carhange – 1/2 mile”. I had heard of Carhenge – I read something about it back in the 80’s in People magazine, so I told Karen that we HAD to go there! She accepted that I was the expert and we headed down that country road hoping to see something truly amazing – we were not disappointed!

For the most complete experience I recommend that from this point on you read with the sound of Leonard Nimoy as narrator in your head…

Isolated on the Nebraska plain – what can it mean?

Made from ancient building blocks like this 73 Vega – who would have had the technology to build this?

It appears to be aligned with some specific axis. It must have been some ancient super race that built it. Their knowledge clearly exceeds that of our society. Analysis of the parts indicate that they were some how moved here from Detroit, Michigan! How is that even possible?

Time and the elements have taken their toll on the site – this Caddy is slowly sinking into the plain.

Facing directly east the opening between the monoliths elements clearly points to another clue.

Facing west the sun sets beyond this ancient and obviously hallowed place.

The mystical structure is even more mysterious as the sun sets.

A random tribute against the evening sky – a salmon leaps from the unfamiliar Nebraska ground.

Karen ventures north to the shrines offered to this mysterious place.

The fins of an ancient caddy reach up to the Nebraska sky.

Karen hurries back to the monolith to capture the sunset through it’s ancient pillars.

The colors of the evening sky illuminate the mysteriously rust-free surfaces of the monolith. I am certain that this is just as the ancients intended.

The ancient snack bar in the distance must have provided sustenance to the race of men who built this.

Sunset and mystery – what a conundrum!

From the east I wonder if this Vega is pointing to Vega?

What kind of civilization would have so expertly placed a Willys between a Gremlin and a Volare?

This close-up does little to solve the mystery – no pins or notches hold these structures together!

An ancient dinosaur stands guard over what appears to be the “rosetta stone” of Carhenge. Will this solve it’s mysteries?

Apparently some ancient sage believed that foreign cars would end our civilization. I wonder if his descendants drive Hondas?

A last look back at that snack bar fills us with wonder – we need to find someplace to grab dinner!

When we finally checked into a hotel we found that no one in Alliance had heard of the Agate Fossil Beds either. As I fell asleep at the Holiday Inn, I couldn’t help but wonder if some strange force had lead us to this place of mystery…

Little Dogs on the Prairie

Posted on May 23, 2012 by artsifrtsy

In a recent post I mentioned that I didn’t want to bore anyone with my many, many, many shots of incredibly cute prairie dogs in South Dakota and Wyoming. I received comments urging me to bore them with more shots, so I will comply with their requests.

On a recent trip of National Parks we encountered huge fearless populations of prairie dogs at Wind Cave National Park and at Devil’s Tower. They are so stinking cute it’s impossible to not stop and shoot. Once you start your brain waves change and you cannot stop. You enter a Prairie Dog Induced Coma – I capitalize because this is a technical term. I have concerns that viewing images may cause the same effect. Proceed at your own risk…

This is the prairie dog that attacked Karen – after thinking about this for a while, it may have been trying to wake her from the Prairie Dog Induced Coma (PDIC) – this little guy may have saved her life!

Some dogs operate in pairs – one alway serving as a look-out. Seems that the skinny one is usually the look-out, wonder why?

Note how the dog on the left looks both ways while his cohort continues to eat without concern.

The area to the left of the posts is the only area where humans are allowed to walk. Note that prairie dogs don’t care about our rights.

These two were talking about us, I just know it!

It amazes me that those little tails can keep them upright. This guy looks about ready to nod off.

The valley below Devil’s Tower was filled with dogs – does this remind anyone else of “Whack-a-mole”?

Nice digs! Note that another dog has violated the treaty and is digging in the dirty where people belong!

If I am allowed a favorite prairie dog, this one is it. This mother dog looks like she has been through it. I’m thinking she took on a coyote or a fox to defend her young, or maybe she cut herself shaving. Either way, she’s a badass!

It’s amazing she has such good posture, she could use a tiny 8-cupped bra. Brave little thing – my hero!

Next a series of shots taken in about 30 seconds of a very paranoid prairie dog…

Gives you whiplash.

Curious

Balanced

Butt dragger

Chomping

King of the Prairie

OK – look away from the screen before it’s too late….

Where the Wild Things Are

Posted on May 22, 2012 by artsifrtsy

286

I’m easily distracted by any photo op.

After riding the rails to Denver, Karen and I caught a cab to the Car Rental lot in Denver near the airport. As she inspected the car I caught a glimpse of a bunny face-off in the small patch of grass separating the lot exit from the street. I dropped my luggage and grabbed my camera – I no longer cared about what kind of car we would rent, or mileage, or color, or insurance, or anything else. My whole world revolved around capturing the images of those bunnies. The scuffle was short and I missed a chance to get the loser flipping backwards – but the victor hung out with me for a few shots.

Karen apparently turned around to ask me a question and discovered I was no where near the car – I heard her mutter something like “Where’d she go?” and snapped back to the present. We hopped in the car and drove the two blocks to the hotel – as Karen carried her luggage to our room I stayed in the parking lot attempting to get great shots of sparrows. I spotted something large on the roof – click – I got it!! Our wildlife adventure had begun!

Now I should clarify that this road trip was intended for us to visit as many National Parks and Monuments as possible – you see we belong to the ultra secret society of National Park Passport Stamp Collectors, we even have a secret handshake – more on that another time. Anyway, I was prepped and ready to go after those big captures, and Karen seemed eager to help me on my quest for amazing animal photos. My new ultra-fast focusing Olympus E-M5 had arrived 2 weeks before the trip. I had been practicing shooting crows with my long zoom in the back yard – I was loaded for bear – I mean really – I actually thought I might get to shoot a photo of a bear!

The next morning we headed north towards Scott’s Bluff in Nebraska. It’s along the path of the Oregon Trail. We had barely left Denver when Karen suddenly brought the car to a screeching halt – “Look!” she shouted ant pointed out my window. I grabbed my camera and caught this guy – nothing special and I never left the car – but he was actually wildlife living outside the city!

As we entered Nebraska and left the interstate we had more and more “in-car” shooting opportunities. After all we were our where the Deer and the Antelope play –

We arrived in Scott’s Bluff at 5:01 – and convinced the Ranger to let us use the stamp. Amazing shots of actual historical sites were all around us. The famous bluff that settlers saw as they left the last outpost of civilization on their way to Oregon was right there in front of us – I snapped a few, but saw a bunny and a robin and was once again distracted.

The next morning we headed towards Mt Rushmore. Along the way we passed through Hot Springs, South Dakota. There was a lovely waterfall overlooking main street – I wish I could show you a photo – instead I took these shots:

Actually I took about 40 shots trying to get that bee in focus – totally worth missing the waterfall shot!

Soon we were entering Wind Cave National Park. I have heard that there is a Cave of some size there, I can’t vouch for that but I do know that there are buffalo there in abundance.

I saw this one and had to jump out of the car to climb up a hill to get a better angle. He was just the tip of the iceberg. This guy was huge and right near the road – I never left the car for fear that he could trample me!

He actually tried to get into the car when Karen flipped a U and offered to let me shoot out her window – She didn’t think he was all that close until he was coming into her window!

We sped off and managed to get about 30 yards away from the beast when we discovered prairie dogs – I won’t bore you with the dozens of adorable photos I took while still only yards from the very large buffalo – here’s a single shot of one for perspective:

And a few more wild things we saw at Wind Cave:

As we left Wind Cave headed for another park with a hole in the ground I managed to capture this meadowlark on the park’s sign post.

We spent the next few hours touring caves and a huge carving of Crazy Horse – I was having withdrawal until we spotted this small herd of deer on the way out of Crazy Horse – BTW – that carving will be amazing once they get the horse done.

That evening we made it to Mount Rushmore. We saw a bunch of cars pulled over as we got close to the park. We were sure they were shooting a bear or a mountain goat so we pulled over – turns out it was just George Washington’s face – bummer.

We went to Mount Rushmore and saw the flag ceremony that night and returned in the morning to shoot in the daylight. What a patriotic experience – I was filled with national pride…and I got this shot!

We headed towards Wyoming and onto Devil’s Tower. Stunning! So many prairie dogs!

This one attacked Karen – lunged towards her and screeched while she was photographing another dog – these guys were camera hogs!

We jumped back over the Nebraska line to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. We walked for a couple of miles and never saw any agates or fossils, but there was a bird bonanza!

From there we went to Fort Laramie, Wyoming were I saw no animals at all – not even a pony for the Pony Express. So we turned south to head to Rocky Mountain National Park.

We hit the park just before 5 so we only got to get one stamp. We thought we might drive to another station but we saw antlers below the roadside – I asked Karen to pull over and we hiked back up the road to find this little fellow:

Karen thought he wasn’t paying enough attention to us so she did some jumping jacks – this was his reaction:

We started back towards the next station when we saw this youngster on the roadside:

As I got close enough to see beyond the brush I found his pals.

At this point I told Karen I would rather take pictures of these guys than get a stamp – we both shot about a hundred shots of these guys and drove back to the main part of town to find a hotel. We found a cool little place next to the golf course and guess what we saw almost outside our room – a young bull watching the goose races!

If we were seeing this many animals outside the park I was sure that this park was going to be amazing, and it was. No historic buildings or markers. Just wildlife at every turn. So many elk we just quit stopping to shoot.

At the Ranger station we saw this guy – totally unafraid of us.

At the first few stops we saw lots of birds and chipmunks

When we climbed to Forest Park we got to see what a marmot looks like.

Here Karen gets her shot at one after being thwarted by a rude Chinese tourist.

As we approached the highest point on the loop around the park and the continental divide we saw no animals at all – lots of wind and snow, but apparently nothing hangs out any higher up than the marmots.

As we descended back to the meadows leading to the park exit we saw another grouping of elk. I thought it would be good to get them in their natural habitat instead of on a golf course – but as I got out of the car and started to cross the meadow I saw that these were no elk – holy cow! Moose!

I got to within about 40-50 feet and saw her head come up – I snapped about 5 shots and slowly backed away.

As we left the park I actually did get those last few shots of elk in their actual habitat –

Now I’m back home, back at work. I did hear a bird calling yesterday and ran outside with my camera – no dice. Something about being out on the road that gives me stealth. I guess it’s time to go back to still life.

Starting in the Middle

Posted on May 20, 2012 by artsifrtsy

I’ve been thinking about writing a blog for a couple of years now. I would think about how to start it and how it should be organized. Every time I started to write I think about how my story should be organized, how it would make the most sense, how it would evolve – all the while writing nothing. I thought about what my influences were, what got me started, my first camera – organizing this and making sense of it stopped me from starting. I may talk about those things someday, for now I’ll just start from the middle, the very recent past.

In my professional life I am highly organized, I’ve been told its a rare trait for an artist. In my personal time I tend to get the most out of more spontaneous things, enjoying experiences as they happen.

I just got home yesterday from a series of wonderful spontaneous experiences. My sister, Karen and went on a train trip followed by a week of zigzagging across the plains and mountains visiting national parks.

Side bar – Karen’s really my sister-in-law, but a few years ago she just started referring to me as her sister – I love that, I have wanted a sister since I was about 3. I used to pretend that I had a sister named PeeWee (our chihuahua), I told friends at school about her and her adventures in our backyard – Karen is much better than my imaginary sister, and she’s quite a bit taller and doesn’t shed.

Our adventure started with a train trip. Karen and I were both devoted to my Grandpa. He was a Union Pacific employee for over 35 years. Karen and I have collected train memorabilia, hunted railroad spikes, and even chased down trains in the desert. Neither of us had been on a long train ride (my only train ride was in Disneyland), so we decided it was time to give it a try. We embarked in Emoryville. Being a train geek, I was excited to so close to trains and tracks at the station.

If you’ve never traveled by train, I highly recommend it. You show up at the station, print a ticket at a kiosk, go to the track and get on your assigned car. No lines, no luggage screening, no TSA agents. Just get on the train. We checked our tickets and walked right onto car 631.

As soon as we stepped onto our car we were greeted by Pete, our sleeper car attendant. He stowed the luggage and settled us in. He insisted on helping us even with small things. Karen is really a “people” person so she set out to learn a bit more about Pete. He wasn’t giving anything up and even squirmed about having his photo taken. This only made us want to know more about him. Karen quizzed other train staff for clues, asked Pete seemingly unrelated questions, and made unreasonable requests – Pete never flinched or gave up anything except that he loved trains and was an expert on the history of the California Zephyr. Here’s a photo of Pete reflected in a window of the door of our sleeper car.

A little about our accommodations – we had a “room-ette”, a car built for 2 that has facing recliners that convert into a lower bunk and a shelf that drops to create the upper. It’s compact but efficient, pretty comfortable for a small space.

Karen wasn’t sure about all the buckles, she assumed her sleeping accommodations were verticals and complained that the seatbelt was not very comfortable.

Once Pete prepared our beds, Karen checked out the top bunk. Once again the utility of the safety features eluded her:)

Seriously, traveling with Karen is a blast. She find humor in the strangest things.

The thing about traveling by train is that there’s lots of room to move around. From the sleeper car you can walk from car to car, passing through the dining car on the way to the lounge. The lounge is spacious with large booths and comfortable recliners scattered throughout. It’s a great spot to take in the scenery and try and take some photos. The scenery is one of the great things about riding on the train, looking out the ample windows is like watching the most amazing nature show. Wildlife, cities, farms, scenery – all passing into view. I almost hated to sleep for fear of missing some of the show.