More fun with the new camera

Nothing new here - just working with the new camera and flashes.

Plus I thought I'd play with some black and white.

Cheers,

Marc

Portrait time!

With a new camera, and largely also because it had been FAR too long, I dragged everyone in front of the camera...my favorite people!

Otherwise, nothing new to say.

Other than happy Mother's Day!

Cheers,

Marc

Coronal Mass Ejection - Aurora!

After returning from the camping trip with Ian, I loaded up the motorcycle for a tour on the Forest Service Roads around the Olympic Peninsula. It was a lovely ride Friday across the southern stretch of the Olympic National Forest and Park - I really saw only 2 cars (though the road was remote and rough, I didn't expect even them).

It was nearly noon when I emerged from the forest on the south west corner, and knew I wanted to camp at Lake Crescent on the northern edge of the park, so I made my way there as the campground was first come first served. I planned to set up camp, get up at midnight to photograph the Milky Way reflected in the lake, go back to sleep, and then head home.

When I woke to my alarm at midnight, I immediately knew something wasn't quite right - the sky was too bright. That didn't stop me (and I am glad it did not). I made the short walk in the darkness from my campsite to the lakeshore, and was surprised to see loads of people there staring at the sky.

It doesn't look like this to the naked eye - more like bright wispy clouds, but the camera with its longer exposure time saw the color. What should have been a 30-minute photo excursion turned into 2 hours. I never had the place to myself, but the aurora really got better as time went on. It started with this red and green, but then progressed to the "dancing" lights so often described. It really was a neat experience.

Cheers,

Marc

Columbia River Gorge

It has been raining and raining here - but we finally lucked out and hit a string of nice days. I am taking a week of vacation, but Catherine and I had a sudden change in plans. Thankfully, Ian was willing to come camping with me.

We went to see the wildflowers at Rowena Crest on the east side of the Columbia River Gorge. On the way there, we took a short hike to see Falls Creek Falls, but the Forest Service Road leading there was not in good shape. We also got lucky in that a pickup truck was ahead of us, and a pothole filled with water nearly swallowed the thing - so I backed up until I could turn the van around. We went with plan B, Panther Creek Falls.

After that we drove to Rowena Crest to scout the place out for sunrise photos. Unfortunately, the flowers were a bit past prime - but not so far past to stop me from going back. We headed to our campsite, a place managed by the Corps of Engineers (near a damn of the Columbia River). It was free, but had no fire rings - so we left. Next stop was an Oregon state park. They had spaces and fire rings, but literally every square foot had goose poop in it...on to campground #3. We crossed the Columbia River into Washington, and that campground was just right (or so we thought).

We both slept like garbage because the trains on both sides of the river, with sound magnified by the cliffs on our side, ran every 15-30 minutes. We got up at 2 am to go photograph the Stonehenge WWI Memorial and the Milky Way.

After that, we made the 30 minute drive to Rowena Crest where I photographed the sunrise. The lack of clouds made the sky pretty drab - but we had the place to ourselves that with the very still air and chilly temps made for a pleasant stroll.

Cheers,

Marc