News and Adventures
Aurora Borealis, where are you?
It was Saturday morning when the email came in from the University of Alaska Fairbanks: Solar event on the west limb of the sun appears to have been large enough to produce significant auroral activity…for viewers in southern Canada and the northern tier of the United States. Cool! I may finally get to see a real live aurora borealis! You know, that Northern Lights thing. When’s that again? Tonight? Aw, man, the forecast for Seattle tonight is (wait for it…): Cloudy and Rain. OK, we can deal with this. We have the...
read moreNot Just Another Pretty Picture
Folks have been asking me recently about the little mugshots they see next to some of the comments on my blog posts. When I post a comment, for example, a small thumbnail image of my choosing, known as my avatar, shows up next to my comment. (See the first comment below.) Several others on my website also have their avatar showing, but most just get a big blue sideways “G” next to their comments. So what’s the deal? Do you need to have an account on my website and every website where you leave comments to have your avatar...
read more127 Minutes
There’s just something about a slot canyon that’s irresistible. Faced with the choice of a tight, curvaceous space with high, colorful walls just barely far enough apart to squeeze through, or a large wash fit for an army invasion, there’s just no comparison. So last year when my friend Jeremy invited me to go along on a photo trip to the Southwest, including a side trip to the famous Antelope Canyon in Arizona, he didn’t have to ask twice. While I’d like you to think that I risked life and limb getting these...
read moreBearly Got the Shot
OK, it’s time to do the grizzly bear story. I’ve been putting this one off because frankly, I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed because I didn’t get the shot. Well, I did and I didn’t. Let me explain. A couple of years ago, I signed up for a Mountaineers Photography trip to Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia. This park is known for its dramatic mountain scenery where Mount Assiniboine itself has earned the nickname “the Matterhorn of the Rockies”. We were...
read moreLights! Camera! More Lights! Seriously! Please?
This is one of my all time favorite stories, because it shows that no matter how much you prepare, there are just some things that you can’t anticipate, and you have to be able to improvise to get the job done. A couple of years ago I signed up to participate in a photography workshop in Provence, in the south of France. While I was really excited to photograph the lavender and quaint villages the area is famous for, I knew I had to spend a few days in Paris shooting on my own before joining the group. So I did what I always do before...
read moreWhat the Heck is a Moonbow?
A few years ago when I was really starting to get into digital photography, I was looking through a list of photography workshops being offered, and one of them struck me as being particularly interesting: students were going to photograph a “Moonbow” in Yosemite National Park. Well, that sounds pretty cool! What the heck is a moonbow? Well, as you probably have guessed, it’s a rainbow created by the moon. This particular one would involve a full moon and the mist from the heavy spring flow of Yosemite Falls. I hadn’t...
read moreGo West, Young Man!
This is the time of year when a lot of folks in the Pacific Northwest start itching to get back to hiking and backpacking in a snow-free environment. Not everyone wants to avoid the snow up in the mountains, but lots do. So the question of where to go when your favorite trails are still under several feet of snow always comes up. Well, truth is, you can head in any direction from Seattle and find good spots this time of year as long as you watch your altitude, but today we’re going west – just about as far west as you can go and...
read moreAin’t it foggy outside?
“‘Cause if it is, I’m staying in my warm sleeping bag!”, I half whispered, half yelled to the annoying interruption to my sleep outside my tent. “No no, get up! I have a plan!” came the reply. Uggg. Really? It was serious pea soup out there last night, and conditions weren’t looking any better this morning – not that I could see jack in the predawn darkness as I peered out. “What’s the plan, Jeremy?” Jeremy always had a plan, and it was usually a good one, so I was paying...
read moreIt’s Nice to be Accepted
Got the news on Friday that I’ve been accepted to participate in the Issaquah ArtWalk this summer. This fun family event is held on the evening of each first Friday from June through September in historic downtown Issaquah. Admission is free and there’s plenty of free parking. Stay tuned, and I’ll post more details as the dates approach.
read moreThink Sun!
As Seattle settles in for another three months of winter and much of the rest of the nation braces for Winter Storm Walda and its associated blizzard conditions (I do not make this stuff up), I’d like to take you to a warmer place and time and focus on something really warm – the sun! Early last year I noticed that the U.S. was due for an annular solar eclipse in May. An annular solar eclipse is essentially a total eclipse that didn’t work out – the moon is too far out to completely cover the sun. But hey, I’ve...
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