Saturday Shot 30 MAY 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Welcome to the Saturday Shot on Sunday!
I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted — with the advent of Twitter and Facebook, I’m actually finding myself posting to the blog less. I also find myself visiting fewer blogs. I suppose everything goes in waves, and these things will be no different, right? Anyhoo, let’s get to the business at hand.
This is another photo from last year’s vacation at Yellowstone National Park. Here’s the story behind it:
It had only been three months since our accident; we’d only had Stella two months. Of course, Murphy’s Law dictates that if something was going to go wrong with the truck, it would happen while on vacation, right? Right. In accordance with the law, that’s exactly what happened. While driving through the park during a big ol’ thunderstorm, the check engine light began to glow.
The next morning, we made a few phone calls from our cabin and found a Ford dealership in Cody, Wyoming. We could have taken our normal route to Cody, which would have been back over the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, and that would have been just fine because that’s a beautiful drive. It was also a drive we’ve seen a number of times before. Every time we come into Cooke City (our normal vacation home base) we come via the Chief Joseph. Whenever we leave Cooke City and head toward home, we do that via the Chief Joseph. So on this day, we decided upon an alternate route: The East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
Yes, it was a longer route, but we really didn’t care. We were on vacation, after all. Plus, that was the only entrance we’d never used. Which meant we had yet to explore that area of the park.
Along the way, we passed Sylvan Lake. There was still a tremendous amount of snow surrounding the lake, and look! It’s still partially frozen! Absolutely photo-worthy. The East Entrance of the park did not disappoint. I was, however, disappointed that we didn’t make it back over that way again for more photos. Hopefully, next time.
As promised, here’s your bonus shot — another photo of Sylvan Lake, from a different angle and converted to black & white:
We won’t be able to return to Parkadise this year, so all I’ll have to sustain me are my photographs and memories. Fingers crossed we’ll see another trip out west in the future.
In case you’re wondering — the problem with Stella was some sort of blockage, the details of which I don’t remember. While serious, it wasn’t serious enough for us to have to spend money and fix it right then. We brought the truck home and into our local dealership, where it was fixed under our service contract and cost us nothing.
Saturday Shot 09 MAY 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 8:58 am
I can’t resist. Today’s Saturday Shot is another from the Georgia Aquarium. I gotta admit, I was pretty fascinated by the alligators. Took lots of pictures of them.
It could be because this guy in particular stayed so near the plexi. He didn’t move much, yet I still enjoyed shooting him. I took full body shots. Photos like this one of his eye. Pictures of his feet. The whole time, he kinda looked like he wasn’t really enjoying it. That one eye looking at me seemed to say You are SO lucky we’re separated by this plexiglass; if it wasn’t here I would TOTALLY eat your ass.
Seriously. Look at that eye! Can’t you see it?
Saturday Shot 02 MAY 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, May 2, 2009 at 5:47 pm
It’s Yellowstone Country again! I know a lot of people are tired of seeing cold and snow, but here in my world today it’s rainy and dreary, and I wanted some pretty in my life. I think this shot is pretty.
I got this photo our first day out after arriving in Cooke City, Montana. We took a drive partway up the Beartooth Scenic Highway (US 212) and stopped near a huge snow field so the kids could get out and play. I must have taken a couple hundred pictures of my kids in the snow, trudging through drifts and sometimes falling thigh-deep in the white stuff. It was a lot of fun.
I saw this scene across the street, so I waited until there were no cars, and raced to the other side the shot shot shot. I got as close to the water as I dared — I had visions of the snow giving way beneath me and plunging me into this creek that I knew absolutely had to be icy cold. Because of that, I didn’t stay long, but it looks like I didn’t have to. Look at the picture I got!
Saturday Shot 25 APR 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 4:54 pm
I finally got the photos from our trip to the aquarium downloaded, though I still have yet to go through them. All 548 of them. Getting this done is probably going to take some time.
This photo, however, immediately caught my eye. Could be because of the deep blue field the jellyfish is against. Could be the hint of movement detected in the jellyfish. It could also be because this was the first photo my cursor landed on.
As I get photos processed, I’ll be adding them to my Flickr photostream. I may also add them to the albums here on my website; I haven’t decided yet.
Now, I must go and prepare for tonight’s dirt track races. Have a wonderful weekend!
Loud & Exhilarating. And Loud. Did I Mention Loud?
by Lynn Daniels on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 10:49 pm
I meant to post this before today, but I only just started getting the photos processed. Who knew picking my mother up from the airport (and the prior prep) would consume so much of my time?
Yes, my mother’s in town, visiting for a month. I’m exhausted already, but I wanted to be sure to get this posted.
This past Saturday, I got my First Time. We went to qualifying at the 2009 NHRA Southern Nationals at the Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, GA. I’d been to a couple “test & tunes” and lower-level drag races, but I’d never been to NHRA-sanctioned races before. Talk about an experience! (All photos in this post are clickable — see them all and more in my Flickr photostream)
First of all, it was loud. Very, very loud. And very crowded. It was kind of funny — the first Top Fuel dragster raced down the track, and it was loud. The next race was two Top Fuel dragsters. Talk about a shock to my system! Not only was it much louder (twice as loud, to be precise *snicker*), but — and I don’t know how to say this without sounding a bit pornographic — my entire body was vibrating long after the race ended.
The funny cars were no slouches in the volume department, either. They were equally fun to watch, and seeing their crews lift the entire body after the burnout and prior to the race cracked me up every time.
The crowd really was enthusiastic, often jumping to their feet for the Top Fuel races. Unfortunately, that meant I couldn’t see the end of the race; half the time I couldn’t tell who won. Thank goodness for the giant screen toward the end of the track. When I couldn’t see the actual race, I’d watch the finish on the screen. Not that it mattered. Most of the names were foreign to me, so the winners made no difference. Still, I got to see the starts, and that was good enough.
It was fun seeing the races in person, hearing names over the loudspeakers I’d heard on television so many times (just a couple of ‘em; it was still exciting). Partway through the day, we left the stands and wandered the pits for a while. We saw some of the cars up close and watched teams make adjustments to their cars. We were right there when Tony Pedregon’s team fired up his funny car. I managed to get a single shot before being chased away by the toxic fumes.
Of course, while we wandered the pits, there was more to see than just the racing teams…
Sitting in the stands, and we were really stuffed in there, it was easy to tell who many of the folks were there to see: the Force Team. Huge cheers went up when John Force and Ashley Force Hood raced, and there seemed to be a mass food/bathroom break afterward.
Overall, a good time and lots of fun. And a long day. Since it wasn’t too hot, it never really got too miserable. Next time, though, I bring my dSLR. The point-n-shoot camera was fine for the first time, but I want better shots. 
Saturday Shot 18 APR 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 9:16 am
I figured I’d try to slide my Saturday Shot in before we left for the races today.
This week’s photo comes from last year’s Yellowstone trip. One thing that strikes me every time we visit is the large number of “tree skeletons” — those little bits of trees remaining after the forest fire — throughout the park. They still stand tall and proud, but without any of the greenery one is accustomed to seeing adorning them. Don’t they look like skeletons? They’re very light in color and very naked — skeleton-ish.
They’re always somewhat creepy to see, especially considering how they got there in the first place. When you look at these acres of dead trees, you can almost see the fury of the fires that consumed that life. Almost hear the crackling flames and smell the burning wood. I think this photo is made a little more foreboding by that storm brewing overhead. The only thing that would have made this photo even more eerie ( <– that word looked so wrong, I had to look it up in the dictionary!) is a bright bolt of lighting slashed across the landscape.
Saturday Shot 14 MAR 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Happy Pi Day, everybody! Earlier this month we had Square Root Day, and now today’s Pi Day. It’s a mathematician’s dream!
It’s also Saturday Shot Day, and for today’s Saturday Shot, we’re going back to Yellowstone Country. Back to the Beartooth Scenic Highway (US 212), to be more specific. I know people in snowier climes are tired of seeing the white stuff, but pictures like this still blow my mind. Granted, we were at a higher elevation, but c’mon. It’s snow. In June!
One of our favorite websites ( Cooke City Sinclair ) which has webcams of our favorite vacation homebase (Cooke City, Montana) tells us that they’ve had almost as much snow up there this year as they had last year.
I really really really would rather be there than here. I want to go back. Big surprise, right?
Saturday Shot 14 FEB 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 8:26 pm
I hope you’ve had a wonderful Valentine’s Day, and are enjoying a great President’s Day weekend. Since my birthday’s so close to Valentine’s Day, it’s kind of hard on SoundGuy, so I tend to take pity on him. We usually don’t do V-Day gifts, but we did enjoy a nice dinner this evening, so it all works out.
Anyway, on to this week’s Saturday Shot. It’s a picture from our Yellowstone vacation this past June. A view of a storm coming in over distant mountains. Based on the keywords I’ve applied to the photo, it looks like I took this picture somewhere near Tower Junction and Mammoth Hot Springs, if that means anything to you.
There are two things I really like about this shot. First, those clouds just kill me. I’m fascinated by that definite line just about the mountains. I also like the very Wyoming brush there in the foreground. More than once, as we drove through the park, we spotted coyotes foraging through that brush. Actually, it was MiniMe who usually spotted the coyotes. But don’t bother — I looked. No coyotes in this picture.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Saturday Shot 07 FEB 2009
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, February 7, 2009 at 9:34 am
For today’s Saturday Shot I dug back through my Yellowstone vacation photos and came across this one of Porkchop Geyser. I’ve always thought this thermal feature, located in the Norris Geyser Basin area of Yellowstone National Park, had a particularly interesting history.
Initially, this geyser (named for its shape) was considered a hot spring with occasional eruptions. Over the years, silica built up and partially closed off the vent, turning the feature into a perpetual spouter in 1985. Unusually cool water (less than 100° F) constantly shot into the air, and the roar was loud enough to be heard all the way in the parking lot. Pressure built underground until in September 1989 it finally exploded, shooting rocks over 200 feet away. Some of the rocks immediately surrounding the vent were upended, and still border the feature today.
Norris Geyser Basin is pretty remarkable itself. It’s the hottest geyser basin in the park, the most acidic, and the most active with measurable uplift in the ground. The first thing you notice about Norris is the sharp, permeating odor of sulfur. That rotten egg smell. MiniMe can’t stand it. Both LittleDude and I love it; to us, it’s a sure sign that we’re in Yellowstone.
There are just over 2 miles of walkways, ever-changing to accommodate the constantly changing landscape, taking you past the many different thermal features in the area. In fact, when Porkchop erupted back in 1989, it was before the astounded eyes of park visitors.
Can you imagine?
Saturday Shot 17 JAN 2008
by Lynn Daniels on Saturday, January 17, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Today’s shot comes from a marathon photo session that took place yesterday. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve decided to immerse myself in Project 365 this year, which means a large part of my day has turned into thought about my photograph for the day: Have I got the shot yet? Should I shoot this, that, or the other thing? Do I have a camera with me? Will this work for a picture? Can I get a good angle on that? The amount of time this project has ended up consuming is remarkable.
Almost every Friday, SoundGuy goes down to his recording studio. He’s put two musicians together and they’re trying to get some songs written. They’re laying scratch tracks, lobbing ideas back and forth, and trading barbs. When SoundGuy suggested we all go to the studio yesterday (since the kids had the day off from school), I jumped at the chance.
Are you kidding? The chance to shoot musicians at work? Hell, yeah! Plus they’ve been doing some construction in that building, and even if I couldn’t get anything out of the musicians, I knew I’d find good shots with everything else going on.
Today’s Saturday Shot only just barely missed being my Project 365 shot for the day. It came down to this one and the one I posted on my Project 365 blog, and the other one won. But I knew I had to use this one here, so it all worked out in the end.
This is Jeff. He used to sing with a Christian rock band. Here, he’s trying to sing his idea for Bradley, the guy in the other shot. As I watched both men work with their guitars, I became fascinated by their hands, and thought it might be interesting to let their motion blur the shots.
Some attempts were epic fails, but this one…this one was a win.
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